St. Andrew’s parishioner Kelly Bourne is a recently retired IT security professional. Kelly is providing a series of articles to help us all understanding the importance of computer security and to give us help in being safe on-line. (You can share these with others, too.)
This page will be updated as new articles are posted (with the newest at the top).
Sextortion is threatening to release explicit images or video unless the victim pays the criminal. Sextortion can be initiated on any site, app, messaging platform, or game where people meet and communicate. The number of cases of sextortion are rising rapidly….read the full article here: 04-Sextortion.pdf
Traditionally online accounts and websites required that users entered an account ID, aka username, and a password to log in. This was relatively convenient but had a significant downside. If someone learned your username and password, they could log in and take control of the account. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds an additional security layer beyond knowing the password. With MFA in place even if someone knows your account ID and password then the account is still safe…Read the full article here: 03-Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).pdf
Passwords remain the most common method of authentication for accounts, applications and websites. Virtually everyone that uses a computer has had to use or create a password. Because they’re so widely used, cybercriminals try to determine the passwords of potential victims. There are several methods of discovering or ‘cracking’ passwords….Read the full article here: 02-Passwords.pdf
Phishing attacks can come in the form of a text, an email or a phone call. The essence of this scam is that the call appears to be coming from a trusted person or entity. For example, from a member of your clergy, your bank, a friend, a relative, an authority figure or a government organization. The bad guy is hoping that recipients will lower their guard if the sender appears to be someone trustworthy…Read the full article here: 01-Phishing.pdf
