Quick Tip Tuesday

If you're using Signal, there are privacy settings worth looking at. (and if you're not using Signal, listen to Super Simple Security Principles episode 20, Signal: A Safe and Private Communication App).

Under Settings –> Privacy –> Phone Number, you can choose who can see that you're using Signal. The Signal default is that only people who have your phone # can see you. You can change it so that by default, nobody can see you're on Signal except people you've contacted directly.

Does your bank send you alerts when you spend more than $100 in one charge? Or online charges? International charges? Most banks (all 4 of the ones I use) will alert you when a charge occurs above a specific amount. But you have to configure it. For most credit cards, you can also enable these kinds of alerts.

Look in settings for alerts on your bank or credit card's website (or an app if you have one).

Once upon a time, it wasn't safe to open some emails.

Thankfully, those days are long past. It is now safe to open any email.

The risk comes if you download anything in the email or click on anything in the email.

Episode 16 of Super Simple Security Principles gets into this a bit more.  Check it out if you haven't already.

Do you use Venmo? I was shocked to find out that, by default, anyone on the internet can see your transactions in Venmo.

If you love to share, you can set the default to just friends. Otherwise, set it to private. You can also modify all your past transactions to hide them.

Click here for instructions on how to make these changes.

I'm laughing at myself right now because of the title. Hopefully, some of you are too.

Seriously though, screenshots are invaluable when helping figure out what has gone wrong, so share them with your support team.

If you don't have a support team, sign up for our forum, and let us be yours.

Here are some links describing how to take screenshots on different devices.

Windows

MacOS

iPhone or iPad

Android Phone

When browsing on a computer, instead of clicking to start a new search, you can use Ctrl+L on Windows or Cmd+L on Mac to select the address bar so you can type your search.  Over time, little things like this can save you a lot of time.

You can receive email notifications when we produce a new Super Simple Security Principles podcast episode.

Just go to https://ihpacademy.com/podcast and fill in your name and email, and we'll let you know whenever a new episode drops.

We'll even include the episode's transcript if you prefer reading to listening.

You should pause before automatically clicking the button to make a popup disappear. They are frequently asking for permission to access personal data: your location, contacts, or photos.

Consider whether you want to allow them to proceed.

E2E Encryption is an abbreviation for End to End Encryption.

Usually used when referring to messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Signal, and Messenger, it means that your messages are encrypted from your device to your recipient's device. WhatsApp / Signal / Facebook are unable to read the messages in transit.

For now, anyway. Lawmakers in the EU are attempting to force tech companies to include backdoors, allowing them to view all messages. Stay tuned.

Ransomware is malware (short for malicious software) that prevents you from using your computer or phone and asks you to pay to restore your access.

It is most commonly spread through phishing attacks, but can spread the same way as any other malware.

If you'd like to know more, click here for a Berkeley University FAQ.