Data Privacy Day: know the risks of Amazon Alexa and Google Home

Here is a great discussion of whether you should be concerned with Amazon Alexa and Google Home

See the Naked Security article here.

The article addresses the following topics:

• Your technology is listening
• Lessons from the Dyn attack
• Defensive measures

Sonos’s New CEO Wants To Connect With Alexa, Google And All Services That Matter.

Patrick Spence, Sonos new CEO, has a new mission: Keep Sonos alive in the face of the innovative disruption from the rest of the industry. Amazon’s Alexa and now Google’s Home Products are part of this competition invading the networked speaker environment. Sonos is a manufacturer of home speaker systems that have their own unique connectivity. Instead of embracing standards they have stood alone with their products not interfacing with other manufacturers products.

The Alexa is a good example of this type of device providing more than just sound, but services as well to access information or purchasing merchandise. Integrating this product with internet programming like IFTTT provides an extension to personalize its services.

So if Patrick Spence gets his way, Sonos will be connecting to these other devices that are exploding onto the market. I hope so.

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/8/30/12709452/sonos-amazon-alexa-announced

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/business/sonos-john-macfarlane-ceo.html?_r=0

You aren’t using Plex?

Here is quick video on how to setup Plex server for yourself. Once you get started, you will probably need to pick up a large storage device to store your content. Have fun!

Use Alex to control your Plex Environment

Alex is one of those neat devices that if you pay attention to the enormous number of skills that are being attached to it everyday can help to add a lot of enjoyment in your home or office. Yesterday I ran across this article in engadget that discusses a new skill you can add to your Alex Tap, Dot, Fire TV or newer model Fire tablets. Below is a video on how it all works:

Crypto Virus–How Can I Protect Myself

If you don’t already know it already we are a great supporter of Sophos’s Security Products and they have quite a few that will protect you from the bad, bad world out there. Crypto attacks are devastating when they hit you and can cause you lost business as well as personal losses that you can never recover from.

Sophos has a new product they released in November of last year that helps to revolutionize the protection of your computer device. Intercept X in combination with Sophos’s Central Endpoint Protection Advanced as a wonderful One-Two Punch. Take a look at the video below:

How do you backup your photos?

Almost everyone these days take pictures with some form of digital photographic device whether it is your phone, digital camera or your own personal Drone . Unlike the old days when you had your negatives and  prints to fall back on today a cyber attack or drive failure can wipe out your entire photo library.

Suzy Pratt wrote an article for Digital Photography School discussing the methods you might consider in protecting your photographs. Rule of thumb for backups, have at least three copies (the original, and two backups) with the backups on different storage media and at least on copy of premise. Falling this basic rule will help to prevent the heartache of losing everything from either a hardware failure or from a dreaded cyber attack.

I have my photos backed up locally on two drives in my computer, a USB drive a take offsite and most of photos go up into the cloud to SmugMug for safekeeping as well as making them available to family and friends. I’d also love to hear from you about how you protect your digital memories.

World Wide Security Expected to Top $1 Trillion Over the Next Five Years

The Cybersecurity Market Report, published by Cybersecurity Ventures discusses this expectation. This same firm expects Cybercrime to top $6 trillion over the same period.

If you are entering the job or in college looking for job direction, this seams to be a real opportunity for you. Sad but true. It is important to focus on security wherever you touch the Internet. We are starting see a direction that includes your phone and other mobile devices as well. Take a closer look at the Naked Security Article here.

19 crooks, 7,000 false identities, 1,800 drop addresses, and $200 million in credit card fraud

Interesting article about a group of crooks that created an elaborate scheme to defraud credit card companies of $200 million dollars. See Cory Doctorow’s article here.

And if you are interested in the US Attorneys Office’s Press Release you can find it here.