40Tech

No, LastPass fans, the title of this post doesn’t mean that you need to tell me I’m an idiot for switching. LastPass is still my favorite password manager, although I do enjoy 1Password’s user interface. I recently decided, though, that it would be prudent to have a backup of my passwords in a secure place, outside of Lastpass. I already had a license for 1Password, so that seemed like the perfect spot. Here’s how I backed up my LastPass passwords to 1Password. You could use the same method to migrate from LastPass to 1Password, too.

It seems like every day we read of a website that has been hacked, and had its users’ login details leaked. One of my favorite services, LastPass, now offers a service to help you discover if your information was leaked by a website. The service, LastPass Sentry, uses PwnedList to monitor whether your credentials have been stolen.

If you follow tech news at all, you know of the epic hacking of Mat Honan’s digital life. His story didn’t involve weak passwords, but generally underscores how important it is for all of us to take an inventory of how secure we keep our online information. One component of this involves your passwords, and one step in password security is making sure that your passwords are strong.

Just when you think you’ve seen everything, along comes the Yellow Jacket iPhone case. If you’ve ever been bothered by the bulk of the stun gun that you carry around in your front pocket, then the Yellow Jacket might be the iPhone case for you.

The past year has seen the shattering of the myth that Mac’s are impervious to malware. Despite this, I don’t run resident anti-malware software on either of my Macs, opting instead for a program that scans for viruses on demand. Am I tempting fate?

Prior to the Flashback malware fiasco, Apple’s platforms had a reputation for being secure. That reputation might not have been deserved, if a report from the first quarter of 2012 is to be believed. That report, which predated the discovery of the Flashback trojan, took a look at the number of vulnerabilities that major tech vendors reported. The numbers might surprise you.

Editor’s note: Today, 40Tech is pleased to present you with a guest post from Lazy Man of lazymanandmoney.com.

The second week in February was a very bad week for me. On February 6th, I had received a legal threat from LifeVantage regarding my ProtandimScams.com site. I was still crushed by my beloved Patriots losing the Super Bowl. (Hey, I put up with their 1-15 seasons and Lisa Olsen scandals, so I’m milking the Tom Brady era for all it is worth). On the 8th, my websites stopped working. I went to my Putty window running a Unix top command to see what was the matter. The load average had spiked from its normal level of around 0.50 to 120. If you aren’t familiar with Unix, Top, or Putty, this means that either something on your site isn’t working right or Yahoo decided to feature you on its home page. Here’s what happened next.

Enter a URL into its search box, and ScanURL pulls data from Google’s API, as well as PhishTank and Web of Trust. It also includes direct links to the Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Tool for any domain/website, and provides links to other online reporting and scanning services. ScanURL really does a nice job of being a one-stop destination.

You and I have at least one thing in common. We’re both going to die at some point in the future. Before that happens, remember that digital data can be more important than real world goods. You take steps to arrange for the disposition of your physical possessions in the event of death. How about your email account and other online accounts? If you’re a Gmail user, the Backupify blog recently took a look at what happens to your Gmail account when you die. That article got me thinking beyond just email, to how to best make sure that your digital assets pass to your next of kin when you die.

One of the bigger security-related stories over the past week concerns a vulnerability in WiFi Protected Setup (WPS). WPS is designed to be an easy way for inexperienced users to set up a secure network, using methods such as inputing a PIN from your router into your computer or other device. The problem is that the PIN, which is 8 digits long, is susceptible to brute force attacks. In fact, a free tool named Reaver can crack that PIN in just a few hours. This vulnerability exists regardless of the kind of security you’re using on your network, so even WPA2 is at risk. This means that the kid next door could get Reaver running, go off and watch a movie, and a few hours later he is in your network. The solution? Turn off WPS. Unfortunately, you can’t do this with modern Linksys routers.