I have gotten a lot of questions about the Heartbleed Bug and I want to address it here.  The actual description of the bug and what it does is pretty technical, but simply put there was a flaw in the encryption system used by many supposedly secure online sites that allowed criminals to steal user id's and passwords if they were aware of the vulnerability and they targeted the site.  The flaw was in place for as long as 2 years, and nobody knows how many criminals might have taken advantage of it and how many user passwords were stolen.

This link, sent to me by a client, shows which commonly used sites are known to have been affected by the vulnerability.   You can see many popular sites are on this list, including Facebook and Gmail!

If you have read anything about the Heartbleed Bug you will have seen that the recommendation is to change all of your passwords.  You, me, and everybody else are suffering from password fatigue, and changing all your passwords is a giant endeavor. 

My recommendation is to focus your password changing energies on your email accounts and any accounts you have for banks or other financial institutions.  Even if your email service isn't on the list of affected sites, your email address is the key to all your other accounts. Remember, if you forget your password at your bank, or at Amazon or Itunes, or just about anywhere else, they will let you reset it by sending you an email link.  If you keep your email account safe the rest of your credentials should be safe as well!

Unfortunately in today's world changing your email password can be a major endeavor in itself as you will have to change the settings on all devices which receive email,  including your computer, your tablet, and your smartphone.  If your email provider offers it, I also highly recommend enabling two step verification, explained in more detail in the next article, as it is your best bet to keep your email account truly secure. If you need help with any of this please schedule an appointment - the entire process can be completed in an hour or less. 

Two step verification, also called two factor verification, is a process where access to an account is not allowed until you prove who you are in more than one way. The first "step" is almost always your account password. The second "step" is usually a code that is sent via text to your cell phone, or automated call to your home phone, or emailed to your primary email account. Once you enter both the password AND the code you have access to the account.

Usually you are given an option to "trust" or remember the device you are using (your computer, or your cell phone, or your tablet) so you won't have to enter a code again for that device. You must have cookies enabled on your browser, and make sure you only choose that option for your own computers or devices, not any friend's or relative's systems you might use.

Most banks and other financial institutions use two step verification to make sure that your accounts are only being accessed by you. Email providers like Gmail and Microsoft (Hotmail and Outlook.com) allow you to turn it on as an option.  Yahoo Mail has it, although it's difficult to find any information about it at Yahoo. Unfortunately AOL, Comcast and Verizon mail don't offer it, but as more and more hacking and cracking scandals are publicized I expect this to become the standard.

If your email provider offers it, I highly recommend turning in on and using it!

Email programs such as Apple Mail and Outlook, and the email apps in devices like iPads and iPhones, don't have a way to enter the two step verification code.  In order to accommodate this issue you will need to get and enter a unique password for each application. I'm not going to sugarcoat this - it's a pain in the neck and not easy to figure out unless you know about it in advance, and something I have helped several clients with during service calls. Click on the links to see the process for Gmail and Microsoft.

If you don't have access to a secondary device (you lose your cell phone on the road, or aren't home to get your phone call, or can't access your email) you will be unable to access your accounts on new devices until you get home.

Even though it might seem that Microsoft is determined to confuse and frustrate us all in their quest to make the Windows 8 into something people will actually feel comfortable using, they have finally come out with a version that is pretty much usable by all. Windows 8.1 Updated (why didn't they call it Windows 8.2??) was released on April 8th and I highly recommend that all of you Windows 8 folks make sure you are updated to that version. 

Windows 8.1 was released to the public in October of 2013, and if you bought a Windows 8 system after that date and dropped it off for me to set up I would have installed 8.1 as part of my service.  However if I set up your Windows 8 system at your home or business I wouldn't have done the upgrade as it takes many hours. 

If you are already on 8.1 the update should happen automatically, although you might have to restart your computer to be sure it completes. If you are still on Windows 8 you will have to update to 8.1 before you get the update.   

So how do you know what version of Windows 8 you have?  The simplest way to tell the difference between the three versions is to look at the Windows Start screen. Make sure you enable images for this email if you want to see what to look for.

Here is the original Windows 8 Start Screen.  If this is what you see it's time to upgrade!

 

The Windows 8.1 Start Screen looks very similar but notice the little down arrow in a circle in the lower left hand corner - this leads to a screen showing all of your apps in small boxes.  If you have that down arrow, you have Windows 8.1.  You should get the update automatically, but you might have to restart your computer to complete the installation.

Look in the upper right of your Start Screen.  If there are search and power icons next to your name, you have Windows 8.1 Updated - the most recent version of the operating system.  If this is what you are seeing you are all set!