The recent Equifax Cybersecurity Breach was an eye opener like no other. The personal information of 145 million Americans were taken, including but not limited to social security numbers, addresses, and credit card numbers. This means that some enterprising and unscrupulous individuals have access to confidential data — and were able to accomplish this with relative ease. In light of this, cybersecurity experts have put out a number of helpful tips to help you maintain your safety online.
Use special passwords:
As much as possible, avoid birthdays, chronological number sequences, literary quotes, and popular song lyrics. According to News.USF.edu, hackers have software to guess and crack passwords in seconds. Instead, use phrases or statements known only to you (“The chair is against the wall”), or the first letters of each word in those statements (“tciatw”).
Don’t use the same password more than once:
Utilizing duplicate passwords for multiple accounts make it easier for hackers to enter these accounts.
Change passwords every six months:
Though this seems tedious, switching up your passwords can make a world of difference.
Avoid clicking on links in emails and opening attachments:
Ensure first that the emails are authentic, meaning that they don’t come from trick email addresses (e.g. “lotsamoney.com”). To check if links are safe, just hover your cursor over them. Doing this will show the address. In line with this, steer clear of any ads or apps in these emails.
Be wary of apps:
If you really must download apps, do so from the app store for your operating system. And before you install them, check to see if they won’t be accessing unnecessary information (e.g. a drawing app doesn’t need to see your contacts list).
Use secure networks:
If you can, avoid using public WiFi networks. They may be convenient, but they’re not secure. Connecting to public WiFi leaves you vulnerable and exposed to any hackers keeping an eye on that particular network. (Related: Software security group demonstrates how hackers can use ransomware to harm and potentially kill hospital patients.)
Keep up to date with security measures:
Make use of antivirus software and ensure that it’s up to date, and make it a point to do the same for any security features your browser and operating system may have. This will give you a much-needed extra layer of protection whenever you’re online. In addition, choose multi-factor authorization. It’s an extra bit of work but totally worth it, since a second level of verification can notify you if and when someone is attempting to hack into your account.
Look for the lock:
Specifically, the little green padlock before the website URL in the web address bar. The padlock serves as an indication to let you know that your login and account information is encrypted and won’t fall victim to unauthorized access.
https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/science-futures/simple-steps-for-preventing-your-online-presence-from-being-hacked/
Cryptocurrrency Dramas
Pretty sure I don’t like the idea of a programmer’s bug wiping out my cash deposits…
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/08/cryptocurrency-300m-dollars-stolen-bug-ether?CMP=share_btn_gp
Are You Keeping Score On Your Intuition?
From a newsletter by Scott Bywater.
I’m a big fan of testing and measuring. I don’t like anything that’s wishy-washy.
I like it to be proven, measurable, factual.
That’s one of the things that attracted me to direct response marketing.
And yet, I’m a big believer in the unseen, in intuition.
But only because I do this…
Whenever I get an intuition, I write it down in a book.
It doesn’t whisper.
It’s in the background.
And often, you have to take time out of the beta brainwave and move into the alpha brain wave (i.e. go and grab a coffee, go for a swim, or for a walk in the botanic gardens) for that intuition to kick in.
Anyway, you’re probably skeptical.
But here’s what I suggest you do.
Write down your intuitions in a 3 column sheet.
First column = intuition.
Second column = actioned, yes or no?
Third column = end result.
Do this and I bet you’ll find you’ve been ignoring one of the biggest goldmines accessible to you.
There’s a reason why everyone from Oprah to Donald Trump to Jim Carrey believes in it.
Got an intuition we should have a chat about growing your business?
Then go here:
http://meetme.so/meetwithScottBywater
All for now,
Scott Bywater
Attack The Day
Attack it, Seize it and Hold it!
The Coming Financial Crisis A Look Behind the Wizard’s Curtain
(I received this email from a friend and thought it worth sharing. I have met the author and he really DOES know his stuff.)
I talked to a friend today.
Smart Dude, but he hadn’t quite grasped this whole Bail In operation.
It’s important to know what is being planned here. Your bank account could be at risk.
So let me explain it simply.
A strategy has been devised by the Global Financial Mafia (and I use that term advisedly) to protect banks – particularly the large banks – from the financial calamity that is going to result from the explosion of the derivatives bubble.
What is the “Derivatives Bubble?”
Derivatives are essentially bets – yes, like Vegas – bets between financial institutions primarily on the direction of interest rates. One bank thinks rates are going up, the other thinks they are going down and they bet.
The bet becomes a security, like a stock or a bond.
Then people bet on those bets and others bet on the bets of the bets and the bets pyramid to….
Today, there are about $1.2 QUADRILLION dollars in derivatives on the planet. $1,200,000,000,000,000.
About $227 Trillion are held by U.S. banks. $227,000,000,000,000.
The figures are mind numbing.
Banks can use depositors money to help fund their derivatives.
We are talking fiscal insanity.
Warren Buffet has called derivatives, “Financial weapons of mass destruction.”
Sooner or later this bubble will break. Banks who made bad “bets” will suffer catastrophic losses…or will they?
With the new “Bail In Strategy” (designed by the world’s top central bank in Basel, Switzerland) banks that suffer losses and are failing can take money from depositor’s accounts and convert the money to bank stock.
You’re scratching your head now thinking, they can’t possibly take my money….
The trouble is that once you put your money in the bank, IT IS NO LONGER YOUR MONEY. It’s the bank’s money. Yes, they owe it to you. But you are an “accounts payable.” You are what’s called an “unsecured creditor.” And unsecured creditors are paid out from a failing bank after the derivatives holders – the bank itself.
How much they can take is a question, as the FDIC, in issuing a memo on this procedure for U.S. banks, specifically omitted any mention of deposit insurance. Perhaps the insurance will apply, but Bail Ins are new, have never been done here before and the FDIC did not mention insurance in their Bail In memo.
To get the full story of who is behind this and how to protect yourself, read my new book, The Coming Financial Crisis A Look Behind the Wizard’s Curtain. Print or digital.
It is written in “plain english.” Learn what is in progress and how to protect yourself.
Knowledge is power. Get some.
http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Financial-Crisis-Wizards-Curtain/dp/0996968644/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452065397&sr=8-1&keywords=john+truman+wolfe
Do Not Let Schooling Interfere With Your Education
Spot on the money Mr Twain!
Why You Should NEVER Throw Your Boarding Pass Away, Not Even After Your Flight
Marketing Email and Newsletters: UX Findings Then and Now
Summary: New research finds big changes in newsletter design and in customers’ attitudes toward marketing email.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/newsletters/
Three-year legal drama settles $191,000 phone bill
$191,000 Phone Bill From 20 Hours Use of Stolen Mobile
The MINUTE you lose your phone, borrow somebody else’s phone and notify your service provider!
Is What You Are Told True?
Cecile posted a wonderful quote this week from Carl Sagan that was never so apt as when applied to those scammed by the medical profession into thinking that vaccinations were the result of the drop in infectious diseases:
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.
There is a quote to the same effect, attributed to Mark Twain but allegedly unproven as penned by him.
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
Despite the disputes over it’s authenticity, it is, unfortunately, observably true!
So next time somebody presents you with data conrary to what you have previously been told, it might pay to stop and fact check the contrary data. And relying on daya presented by an “authority” as being more valid is very often a lazy and incorrect choice. Especially if they are asking you to trust their authority rather than actually looking for your self.
You cannot live long enough in one lifetime to learn all you need to know by direct observation, so you have to take in a great deal of data second hand, that is written by someone else who observed. But you do have to exercise more judgement with second hand data than you do with that you directly observe. One thing you have to ask is, “Is there a slant being given, is there a vested interest being forwarded with this data.”