Category: News You Can Use

Listy is a simple, free way to catalog your favorite stuff

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Listy is a simple, free way to catalog your favorite stuff

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

You can list your favorite albums, books, movies, TV shows, video games, sites, apps, wines, beers or social posts.

 

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.

Listy is a free and simple app for making lists of your favorite things. It automatically includes related images, like book or album covers, and you can create shareable visual lists with the free app on Mac, iOS, or Android. It’s a handy way to quickly share recommendations with friends.

You can list your favorite albums, books, movies, TV shows, video games, sites, apps, wines, beers, or social posts. Your list shows up with the appropriate cover art: Any book, album, TV show, or movie you list will be paired with its representative image, just as whatever wines or beers you list will include images of their bottles.

MAKING LISTS IS SIMPLE

  • To make a list you first pick a category—like books, movies, video games. Then you add items one by one. Unlike many other apps, you don’t have to register or log in to start using it.
  • When you start typing the name of something, Listy searches a database to find it. That item, along with its image and other basic info, is added to your list.
  • You can sort lists by title, genre, rating, data added, or other info, depending on the category.
  • For films, the app automatically adds the movie’s release date, description, and fan score, drawn from the Movie Database, a free, community-built platform that’s now used by 400,000 developers and companies. It also notes where the movie is available to watch online.

EDIT AND SHARE YOUR LISTS

  • Once you’ve added items, you can edit your list to change its order or to delete or update items. You can also mark items as watched, read, played, or tasted.
  • You can share any of your lists as an image, making it easy to post lists to your social network of choice. You can also text or email a list as an image.
  • You can make as many lists as you’d like, each with as many items on it as you want.
  • Lists can be backed up to iCloud so they stay in sync between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

LIMITATIONS

  • You can export lists as images or in Listy’s own proprietary file format, but you can’t open or edit the app’s lists in other text apps.
  • You can’t send someone a link to a list. You have to attach the list as an image.
  • You can’t yet collaborate on a list with others, though that feature is in the works. The company has been careful about privacy: Its site uses no cookies.
  • You can use Listy for to-do lists or lists of ideas, but it’s not designed primarily for that. Better to use other simple free alternatives like Apple’s Reminders or Google Tasks, or dedicated to-do apps like Things.
  • Listy has a limited number of categories. If you want to make a list of your favorite snacks, animals, cartoon characters, or other categories the app hasn’t added yet, you’re out of luck, though new categories are added monthly.

ALTERNATIVES

 

Smishing vs. Phishing: Understanding the Differences

Posted on by esimantiras

 

Smishing vs. Phishing: Understanding the Differences

 

source: proofpoint.com  |  image: pexels.com

 
What have smishing offenders learned from their phishing email counterparts?

Email-based credential theft remains by far the most common threat we encounter in our data. But SMS-based phishing (commonly known as smishing and including SMS, MMS, RCS, and other mobile messaging types) is a fast-growing counterpart to email phishing. In December 2021, we published an article exploring the ubiquity of email-based phish kits. These toolkits make it straightforward for anyone to set up a phishing operation with little more than a laptop and a credit card. Since then, we’ve tracked their evolution as they gain new functions, including the ability to bypass multifactor authentication.

In this blog post we’re going to look at smishing vs. phishing and what smishing offenders have learned from their email counterparts, as well as some significant differences that remain between the two threats.

Setting the (crime) scene

A modern email phishing setup can be as simple as one person with a computer and access to common cloud-hosted services. But for a smishing operation, the picture is somewhat different. While software smishing kits are available to buy on the dark web, accessing and abusing mobile networks requires a little more investment.

Continue reading “Smishing vs. Phishing: Understanding the Differences” →

5 Ways to Make Your Passwords Instantly More Secure

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5 Ways to Make Your Passwords Instantly More Secure

 

source: cnet.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

If you think your passwords are uncrackable, think again.

Despite years of warnings, experts say most people are still using weak passwords to protect even their most sensitive information. Many people are reusing those insecure passwords to protect multiple accounts, putting more of their data at risk should any of the accounts be compromised.

“It’s the total account takeover scenario,” said John Buzzard, lead fraud and security analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research, referring to a cybercriminal cracking one password and then using it to access other accounts. “Consumers lose control over their entire digital lives.”

World Password Day, which takes place on Thursday, is a good time to review your digital security. Sure, it’s a totally made-up celebration that Intel created in 2013. But it’s still a good reminder to take a close look at your logins and make sure they check the required security boxes.

Continue reading “5 Ways to Make Your Passwords Instantly More Secure” →

Text scams surge as robocalls decline, report finds

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Text scams surge as robocalls decline, report finds

source: usatoday.com  |  image: unsplash.com

 

You may have noticed receiving fewer robocalls over the past year, but a new report finds scammers are increasingly using a new way to reach consumers: text messages.

A report from the Consumer Watchdog office of the nonprofit U.S. PIRG is urging the Federal Communications Commission to pass new rules against robotexts, including requiring phone companies to block illegal text scams.

“Illegal robocalls and robotexts likely will never go away,” an excerpt from the report reads. “But they’ll continue to plague us as long as enforcement is lax, phone companies don’t try harder and enough consumers fall for scams to make it worthwhile for thieves.”

Spam texts have surged over the past year, jumping from 1 billion sent per month in July 2021, to more than 12 billion as of June, according to RoboKiller, a service specializing in blocking unwanted calls and texts.

Last year, acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed new rules requiring wireless carriers to block illegal texts.

In a statement released last October, the agency said complaints about unwanted text messages in 2020 more than doubled from the year before. 

“We’ve seen a rise in scammers trying to take advantage of our trust of text messages by sending bogus robotexts that try to trick consumers to share sensitive information or click on malicious links,” Rosenworcel said in last year’s statement.

The top scam texts of last year involved bogus delivery messages claiming to represent Amazon, the U.S. Postal Service or other companies. The messages say an order can’t be delivered or will arrive tomorrow, with a malicious link consumers click, the watchdog report said.

Others included fake messages from banks and texts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the number of robocalls has declined over the past year, in part because of FCC rules requiring the use of technology to better identify robocalls and efforts by the agency and states to go after robocallers. 

 

Actively Exploited Microsoft Office Security Flaw Has No Patch But Here’s A Workaround

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Actively Exploited Microsoft Office Security Flaw Has No Patch But Here’s A Workaround

source: hothardware.com  |  image: microsoft.com

 

Malware and virus threats are practically commonplace, even a daily occurrence for some users these days. Unfortunately for many users in the Microsoft ecosystem, leveraging popular Office applications is a common security attack vector for many of the ne’er-do-wells of the Internet.

In that regard, Microsoft‘s Security Response Center has issued guidance to help add preventative layers to a newly discovered critical vulnerability or error (CVE). Specifically labeled CVE-2022-30190 by Microsoft, the vulnerability does not use the previous vulnerable attack vector of macros. In fact, macros as an attack vector for malware has been mostly patched out in many recent versions of Office applications anyway.
Continue reading “Actively Exploited Microsoft Office Security Flaw Has No Patch But Here’s A Workaround” →

A designer and a NASA Scientist Fight a $244 Billion Problem

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A designer and a NASA scientist team up to fight a $244 billion problem that’s hiding in plain sight

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: pixabay.com

 

The debut project from Brooklyn-based Betterlab takes aim at a condition that affects a third of people worldwide.

 

earsightedness doesn’t sound that scary, but more and more people around the world are suffering from its clinical name: myopia. Because of myopia, China can’t find enough pilots, while the world is losing $244 billion in productivity a year, and that’s just the beginning: By 2050, more than half the world’s population is projected to have myopia—and as many as 10% of that group will go blind from the condition.

The problem was once primarily genetic, but new cases are increasingly attributed to kids getting too much screen time and too little sunlight for the eyes to develop properly. And while research has found that preventing myopia isn’t much more complicated than spending enough time outside, a new pair of glasses developed by designer Todd Bracher and a former NASA scientist aims to fix myopia without forcing anyone to change their behavior, take drugs, or wear special prismatic lenses. They were a finalist in our recent World Changing Ideas awards.

Continue reading “A designer and a NASA Scientist Fight a $244 Billion Problem” →

Anatomy of a Phishing Scam…

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Anatomy of a Phishing Scam As Told Through Scamming the Scammer

 

image - phishing

source: blog.avast.com. |  image:  pixabay.com

to view all images associated with this blog post, go to Avast.com

Here’s a “scam the scammer” SMS conversation to highlight some of the red flags to look out for the next time your “boss” messages you.

Sometimes it feels like scammers are coming at you from every direction these days. They’re on the phone. They’re on SMS. They’re on social media. Sorting the real from the nonsense can feel like a full time job but, for some people, that “job” turns into fun.

That’s what happened recently when a professional woman in New York City decided to play around a little bit with her “boss,” (spoiler: not her boss) who was making odd requests via text. And while “scam the scammer” situations like this one are often hilarious, they’re also a great way to learn about the methodology that scammers use to trick people into giving them money. 

So let’s take a look at the following “scam the scammer” SMS conversation to highlight some of the red flags to look out for the next time your “boss” messages you. 

1. They set up a situation where you can’t talk to them on the phone.

“Josh” makes it clear up front that he can’t talk on the phone. Obviously there are some situations where this is legitimate — like if he was actually Josh and was actually at a conference — but “Cris,” as an employee, would likely know if her boss was out of office. The scammer is hoping that Cris doesn’t know her boss’ schedule.

Continue reading “Anatomy of a Phishing Scam…” →

DoD IAPM Guide

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DoD Identity Awareness, Protection, and Management (IAPM) Guide

 

Click the image above to view this amazing guide & resource

 

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE The Identity Awareness, Protection, and Management (IAPM) Guide is a comprehensive resource to help you protect your privacy and secure your identity data online. The IAPM Guide is divided into chapters detailing key privacy considerations on popular online services, mobile apps, and consumer devices available in the market today. Each section provides you with tools, recommendations, and step-by-step guides to implement settings that maximize your security. The guide is updated periodically. While some of the chapters in the IAPM Guide deal with technical issues, they do not require a technical background to follow. The U.S. Department of Defense creates this guide to provide recommendations for readers to keep their identities private and secure online. Please note the information presented here is subject to change.

Firewall: Definition, technology and facts

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Firewall: Definition, technology and facts

source: livescience.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Learn how a firewall filters out cyber-threats, while still letting you access everything you want to look at online.

 

A firewall is a  online security measure to protect your computer from viruses and other malicious attacks. You can use the internet to communicate with around 4.9 billion people worldwide, according to the International Telecommunication Union, and access more knowledge than at any other time in history. 

The downside is that everybody also has access to you. This includes hackers and viruses that want to steal your data, take control of your computer or even destroy it.

To stop this from happening, a firewall controls the data flowing between your computer and the internet, according to the Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering. Think of this like a border guard checking your passport when you go on holiday. A firewall inspects data to make sure it has the right permissions. If it does, it can pass through — if it doesn’t, it’s instantly blocked.

 

FIREWALL SECURITY: YOUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

A firewall works at your computer’s ports. When we’re talking about computer networking, a port isn’t the same as a jack or socket you plug your monitor into. Rather it’s a virtual entry point where your computer exchanges information with other networks. 

Continue reading “Firewall: Definition, technology and facts” →

BBC World Service resurrects shortwave broadcasts in war-torn Ukraine

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source: tpr.org  |  image:  pixabay.com  |  contributed by Artemus FAN Steve Jones

 

The BBC has resurrected an old school way of broadcasting in order to reach people in the crisis area of Ukraine: Shortwave radio. What is shortwave, and why has the BBC decided to begin using it again?

It’s almost a forgotten technology in the United States, except for some Americans of a certain age, or maybe their parents or grandparents or even great grandparents.

Shortwave was used extensively during World War II and the Cold War. For many years, shortwave broadcasts were spread around the world over Voice of America. Russia had Radio Moscow and other countries had their own shortwave broadcasts.

What exactly is shortwave radio?

Continue reading “BBC World Service resurrects shortwave broadcasts in war-torn Ukraine” →