McMaster University Retirees Association (MURA) MURAnews - Computer/Technology

How to change your MacID password, Summer 2016 [updated June 2024]

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 02:17:04 GMT

Why have a MacID?

The MacID is a UTS-assigned identifier that is not the same as your student or employee number. Your MacID is the part of your current or former McMaster email address that precedes @mcmaster.ca, for example smithjp.

Retirees are entitled to have a MacID for life. It provides access to free services including a McMaster email account, on-campus wireless access, some library e-resources and the McMaster Virtual Private Network (VPN).

If you do not have a MacID, you may request one by contacting the UTS Service Desk.

Change MacID Password / Reset a Forgotten MacID Password / Recover Forgotten MacID

Go to the UTS Account Management page for information about changing your MacID password, resetting a forgotten password or recovering a forgotten MacID.

There is excellent information on password safe practices, including examples of weak and strong passwords, and ideas on how to construct a strong password that will be easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess. This is available at the Information Security password security web page.

Authentication Questions

Authentication questions are used to help you reset a forgotten password. To set up or update your questions, go to https://maciam.mcmaster.ca, sign in with your MacID and password, click on your name in the upper right hand corner of the screen, choose Preferences from the drop-down menu, and on the next screen, click Edit Authentication Questions.

Technical Support and Help

if you require assistance please contact the UTS Service Desk.
The UTS Service Desk is located on the McMaster Campus in Burke Science Building Room 245.

McMaster email account

Retiring employees may choose to keep their McMaster email account. Retirees without an email account can request one by filling in a request at the UTS Client Services - Service Desk portal.

[Ed. note: this page was updated June 2024]

UTS services for retirees, Winter 2017 [updated June 2024]

Mon, 30 Jan 2017 14:59:01 GMT

Retirees often ask what services the University Technology Services (UTS) Help Desk supports for retirees.

The UTS Service Centre recently confirmed their current mandate for providing service to retirees. UTS is able to provide support for:

If the source of the computer issue is beyond the services listed above, such as hardware or other types of software problems, the Service Desk may also suggest that the retiree seek alternative assistance from a certified retail outlet.

Contact the UTS Service Desk

More info:

McMaster email information for retirees and emeritus professors

How to change your MAC ID password, MURAnews Summer 2016

Retirees in the McMaster online directory, MURAnews Winter 2018

[Ed. note: updated June 2024]

McMaster Optimal Aging Portal, Fall 2016

Fri, 14 Oct 2016 19:42:31 GMT

MURA hosted a workshop about the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal at 1 o’clock on Thursday, November 10th at the McMaster Health Forum on the 4th floor of Mills Library on campus.

Attendees learned how to use the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal, a web site that gives access to high-quality information that can help you remain healthy, active and engaged as long as possible, and to manage your health conditions. The Portal aims to be a trusted voice on healthy aging for the public. There are many other online resources that deal with health and aging, but what sets the Portal apart from the crowd is its emphasis on providing only the best evidence, and telling you why it’s considered the best. The Portal filters out the noise and makes it easy to understand how scientific evidence and other types of information can help you.

This excellent resource was developed here at McMaster as part of the Labarge Optimal Aging Initiative.

Below is an excerpt from the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal blog.

Exercise plays an active role in treating depression. One of the important benefits of exercise is how it can enhance mood and sense of well-being. Chalk it up to endorphins and other “feel good “chemicals in the brain that are released when we’re physically active. But can it help with depression?

Depression is a widespread, chronic and often debilitating condition that is particularly common among older adults. To make matters worse, depression is difficult condition to treat. Many people are reluctant to admit to a mental illness or don’t respond well to treatment with medication.

A recent blog post on the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal highlights a review of 18 research studies including over 1000 older adults with depression. The review found that exercise does have a ‘moderate’ effect in helping to combat depression. The results are encouraging and support making exercise part of the treatment plans for older adults diagnosed with depression, or who are at risk of depression.

According to the evidence, all types of exercise are beneficial but “alternative” programs, such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong, were found to be most effective.

Depression can have severe consequences for older adults and better ways to diagnose and treat the disorder are urgently needed. Though it may not provide a cure, exercise can be recommended as uneasy and safe addition to depression treatment — with few negative side effects and many additional benefits— to help reduce depression symptoms and promote healthier outlook.

To read the full blog post (including more details on the supporting research evidence for this topic), visit The McMaster Optimal Aging Portal -- information about healthy aging you can trust.

PRESTO card & public transit - an update, Winter 2016

Sun, 31 Jan 2016 03:34:02 GMT

by Marianne Van der Wel

PRESTO is an electronic fare card system now in place across 10 provincial and municipal transit agencies in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA) and Ottawa. They are: Brampton Transit; Burlington Transit; Durham Region Transit (DRT); Hamilton Street Railway (HSR); Miway; Oakville Transit; OC Transpo; the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC, all streetcars and 26 subway stations); UP Express; York Region Transit/Viva (YRT/Viva) and GO Transit.

Each transit system has its own fares, rules and regulations, which means there is no easy description to cover all situations. You may need to check with the individual transit agency for details.

Using PRESTO on the city bus

In general, when using a municipal transit system with only one fare zone — as for those in the cities of Burlington, Oakville and Hamilton — you tap your card on the device nearest the entry when you get on the bus and that's it.

Using PRESTO on GO transit

When using GO transit, the rules for using PRESTO are more complicated and if these rules are not followed, mistakes can be quite costly.

Taking the GO bus with PRESTO

Tap on when boarding the bus. The PRESTO fare payment device is located on the bus, near the driver.
Tap off when leaving the bus. You should do this even when using the bus to connect to a GO train.
If you fail to tap off when exiting the bus, you will be charged the fare for the farthest distance on that bus route. The amount you owe will be deducted the next time you use your PRESTO card.

Taking the GO train with PRESTO

Tap on using one of the GREEN PRESTO fare payment devices located in the train station. Be sure to check the screen on the device to confirm that a fare has been deducted from your card. A beep and a green or yellow light indicates a successful transaction. If you see a red light, talk to a station attendant prior to taking your trip. If you forget to tap on, you will not be able to pay on the train, will be considered to be travelling without valid payment, and may be fined.
Tap off on a GREEN PRESTO fare payment device in the station when you reach your destination. If you forget to tap off, you will be charged the fare plus an additional amount. There is no senior’s discount on these “missed tap off adjustments”, which may range from $2 to $11.30.

Setting a default trip for the GO train

One way to avoid potential problems resulting from failure to tap off after a train journey is to set a default journey. For example, if your usual train journey is from Aldershot to Union Station, set this as your default. You will no longer need to tap off at the end of any train journey to Union Station where you have tapped on at Aldershot. To take a trip from your default station to a destination other than your default, you will need to use the “override” button before you tap your card at the beginning of the journey and tap off at the end.

Get to know your tapping devices

Be aware that there are PRESTO devices in the train stations other than green fare payment devices. Similar devices with a YELLOW background are for activating or checking the balance on your PRESTO card.
If you accidentally check your balance at a device with a GREEN background, instead of a YELLOW one, push the CORRECT button on the device or ask a GO agent to help you. Otherwise, the PRESTO system will assume that you are starting a train journey.

For more information on PRESTO

See PRESTO card & public transit in GTA/Hamilton area, Summer 2013.
Go to the Presto web site or the GO Transit web site
Visit a customer service outlet (e.g., HSR Ticket Office, 36 Hunter St. E., Hamilton; Municipal Service Centre, City Hall, 71 Main Street West, Hamilton; Municipal Service Centre, Dundas, 60 Main Street, Dundas)
Call 1-8-PRESTO-123 (1-877-378-6123).

For information about fares and discounts, transit schedules, transfers, customer service outlet locations and PRESTO device locations, call GO Transit (1-888-438-6646), Hamilton Street Railway (905-527-4441) or Burlington Transit (905-639-0550).

If, however, you are an infrequent user of public transit or find using PRESTO not to your liking, you can continue to use cash and paper tickets in accordance to the rules of the transit system in question.

Spam and McMaster email accounts, Winter 2016

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 13:46:35 GMT

Many MURA members continue to use their @mcmaster.ca email account after retiring.

Some of you have asked how you can limit spam or junk email (irrelevant or inappropriate email messages sent to a large number of recipients). You can turn on spam filtering in the Outlook Web App (OWA), a web-based service that lets you access your McMaster email account.

Go to OWA, sign in to your account, and follow these instructions: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-office-365/anti-spam-policies-configure

Set your account to automatically direct spam to your ‘Junk E-Mail’ folder. Here’s how: From the ‘Options’ dropdown box at the top right of the page, select ‘See all Options’, and then choose ‘Block or Allow’ from the left menu bar. Select the ‘Automatically filter junk e-mail’ button, then scroll down and click ‘Save’.

It also can help to add what is called an ‘X-Spam-Flag’ which will filter many spam messages based on criteria that are frequently updated and tweaked by the University to capture messages that are likely to be spam. To do this, sign in to OWA, then add an X-Spam-Flag following these instructions.

If you still receive messages in your Inbox that you consider to be spam, you can add the sender’s address to a filter so that future messages from that address automatically go into your Junk folder. Using OWA, select the message, right-click on it and choose ‘Junk E-Mail > Add Sender to Blocked Senders List’. (Those who use the Outlook mail program will find similar options available.)

It’s important to check your Junk folder frequently, as it’s possible for messages to end up there that are not considered junk by you. When you find one, again using OWA, right-click on the message, choose ‘Junk E-Mail’, and click to add the sender’s address to your ‘Safe Sender’ list. Always check the contents of your Junk folder before emptying it to prevent losing legitimate messages.

Antivirus software available from Campus Store, Fall 2015

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 23:04:39 GMT

Although we no longer use discs to transfer information from computer to computer, it is still important to protect our computers from viruses. Phishing scams and other types of internet fraud have been much in the news lately, but computer viruses and other types of malware are still around and can cause significant damage to your computer.

There are many antivirus programs available, at a range of prices. One economical option to consider is Trend Micro, which is available to McMaster retirees from the McMaster Campus Store's Computer Centre for $13.50 per year. Please note that, unlike staff, faculty and students, retirees cannot download Trend Micro from the Campus Store web site. Retirees need to visit the store to get a copy of the software.

More info:

Campus Store Trend Micro Antivirus Licenses page
visit or contact the MacMicro computer department in the Campus Store at macmicro@mcmaster.ca or 905-525-9140 ext. 27873

Other types of antivirus protection may be available through your email provider (e.g. Cogeco) or by online purchase (e.g. Bitdefender).

Phishing is an email fraud method in which the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking email in an attempt to gather personal and financial information from recipients. Typically, the messages appear to come from well-known and trustworthy web sites.

A computer virus is a piece of code that is capable of copying itself. A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your email program to spread itself to other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk. Computer viruses are often spread by attachments in email messages.

Malware is an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software, including computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, scareware, and other malicious programs.

Setting and managing passwords for computers and related devices, Winter 2015

Sat, 31 Jan 2015 02:58:44 GMT

Want a better PASSWORD? from McMaster Daily News

Follow these eight tips:

Create long passwords

A longer password is always harder to crack. For example, a six-character password can take as little as 11 hours for a computer to guess, while a nine-character password could take up to 10 years for a computer to hack. Try to use a password that is 8-12 characters long.

Create strong passwords

Use all the character types that are supported by the system. Increasing the password complexity is another great way to lengthen the time it would take a computer to guess your combination. Also, never use common letter or number combinations, words or phrases — for example, do not use your birthday or username in your password.

Never share your passwords

Seriously, do we even have to explain this one? Your passwords allow you to access private, sensitive information. Nobody should ever know your passwords.

Never reuse your passwords

If you inadvertently share the password to access your email, would that put your banking information at risk? Be safe, and don’t reuse your passwords. Choose a new password for every account you create, and use a password manager to keep track of them. Which brings us to the next point ...

Use a password manager

You have a lot of passwords to remember — from email to banking to your MacID, and other sites in between. Password managers are applications that keep track of your passwords for you, making it easier to keep your information protected by long, strong and unique passwords. McMaster IT suggests LastPass as a great example of a password manager.

Use two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication (also known as 2FA) requires users to provide more than just a password to access their information. An individual's identity can be authenticated using any of these factors:

Something they know (i.e., a password)
Something they have (i.e., a phone)
Something they are (i.e., a fingerprint)

Two-factor authentication requires the individual to provide two of these unique identifiers in order to access their information.

Manage your password recovery process

Most internet services offer a self-service password recovery process. This usually involves some combination of an email, an Short Message Service or a secret ques tion. Make sure you understand and properly configure the password recovery process for the web sites that are important to you. We recommend using the recovery option that sends a reset code to your phone, if it is available. Avoid using the secret questions if other options are available.

Change your password if you suspect it has been compromised

Whether someone peered over your shoulder or your favourite online forum was hacked, it's a good idea to change a password if you think it has been compromised. You can change your MacID password anytime using the resources and information at the UTS Account Management page.

Reminder: MacID password changes - keeping your account with Mac active, Spring 2014

Thu, 01 May 2014 02:28:45 GMT

In the Summer 2013 issue of MURAnews, we told you about the new rules for MacID* passwords instituted by University Technology Services (UTS). These rules aim to raise MacID passwords to a more secure standard.

According to the new standard, MacID passwords will now expire after 12 months from the last password change. This means that you will need to choose and enter a new password every year. You likely received a notice from UTS recently saying that passwords upgraded during last springʼs campaign will expire soon and need to be changed as soon as possible. You will be unable to use your MacID if you do not change your password.

Any new password needs to fit the new standard instituted in February 2013.

The UTS Account Management page has information about how to change your password, password requirements, etc. UTS recommends clearing all saved instances of a MacID password before changing it. Saved passwords are often found in, for example, email programs on computers and Wi-Fi logins on smartphones.

Please contact the UTS Service Desk if you have questions or encounter difficulties.

* A MacID provides authentication to applications such as McMaster email accounts, the campus Wi-Fi network and the McMaster Virtual Private Network (VPN). Your MAC ID is not your 7-digit employee number. It is an identifier that usually includes part or your entire surname. For retirees using a McMaster email account, itʼs the portion of your email address preceding "@mcmaster.ca", e.g. jpsmith@mcmaster.ca.

Mac photo ID cards for retirees, Fall 2013

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:41:58 GMT

McMaster photo identification cards have replaced the old blue employee cards, which are no longer valid.

Retirees are encouraged to replace their current blue ID cards with new retiree Photo ID cards that allow the following services:

Photo ID
Borrowing books from the Library
Use of the athletic facilities such as the Pulse (Gym)
Entry into controlled-access staff lounges on campus
Access Control (controlled access to various buildings, labs, stairwells)
Meal Plan (Activated in Commons Building 128)
Verification of status

Effective October 11, 2013, the Photo Identification Office will be located in the Campus Store (known to most retirees as “The Bookstore”) in Gilmour Hall. Cards are produced Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. – 12 Noon and from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. on a first-come, firstserved basis. No appointment is required. Please bring the following documents with you:

Your old blue card (if you have one)
Your employee number
One piece of government issued photo ID (e.g. health card, driver's license)

Additional information is on the McMaster Parking Services retiree web page.

McMaster's new safety app, Fall 2013 [updated July 2021]

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 21:51:43 GMT

McMaster’s new safety app - a must have!

The university has launched a safety app for smart phones. The app was formerly called McMaster University Safety Security & Transit (MUSST), and is now called the McMaster SafetyApp.

Features:

Safety alerts, including campus closures and emergency instructions.
A list of contact information for emergency and non-emergency security concerns.
Multiple ways to report a concern directly to the McMaster security department.
A “Friend Walk” option that allows someone to watch your travel route home, which enhances the existing Student Walk Home Attendant Team.
A map that shows where crimes have happened on and close to campus
Support resources and emergency plans.

The app is free and available for both Android and iPhone platforms. Visit your app store or go to https://security.mcmaster.ca/safety-app/ to download, or contact McMaster Security for more information.

PRESTO card & public transit in GTA/Hamilton area, Summer 2013 [updated July 2021]

Wed, 31 Jul 2013 00:36:35 GMT

by Marianne Van der Wel

PRESTO is an electronic fare system that allows transit users in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) to use a single fare card to move between and within participating transit systems. Fare savings can be significant, particularly for seniors. Participating transit systems within the GTHA include GO Transit, Hamilton's HSR and Burlington Transit. For a complete list of participating transit companies, see the PRESTO web site listed at the end of this article. Please note that although the Toronto Transit System is not yet a full participant, you can use the Presto card at some subway stations.

The PRESTO card integrates the various fares, rules and policies of several transit systems. Hence it is important to check with the systems you use most to determine what will work best for you, and to obtain the most current information. For instance if you use the HSR system, you can use the PRESTO card to buy monthly or annual HSR passes at discounted prices, and also use it as an e-purse that you fill up with funds for use on any participating transit system. An e-purse works much like a debit card. Each time you use the card, PRESTO calculates the proper amount to debit your e-purse to cover the journey.

Ordering and Activating Your PRESTO card

You can order your PRESTO card and load money onto it online with a credit card (minimum load is $10), or do it in person at a Customer Service Outlet using cash, debit and - at some service outlets - a credit card. The PRESTO card will be sent to you within 30 days after ordering online. If you buy your card at a customer service outlet, you can use it immediately. Depending on which transit system you obtain your card through and whether or not you are a senior, there may be an initial fee of $6.00. You will need to activate your PRESTO card within a specified time period by using the PRESTO card to pay a fare or by tapping it at a balance station found at some Customer Service Outlets and most GO stations. If you miss the activation period you will need to phone PRESTO before you can activate the card. Preloaded PRESTO cards, available at select HSR outlets, may already be “active”.

Registering Your PRESTO Card

Though not compulsory, it is recommended that you register your card with PRESTO, either on-line or by phone, before you use it. There are a number of advantages to having a registered card:

Your balance is protected if the card is stolen or lost, although there is a replacement cost of $6.00.
Online refills and automatic refills are available only for registered cards. This is discussed below under ‘Reloading Your PRESTO Card’.
For those who can claim a public transit tax credit, information is automatically tabulated for registered users and made available in February/March for the preceding year.
There are some frequent-use discounts in the PRESTO system. For seniors (ages 65 and over), discounts are significant and are available only through a PRESTO card registered in your name.

The Tap On, Tap Off Experience

At first the experience of using your PRESTO card may seem awkward but the transit staff is generally most helpful. When you use GO Transit, you tap on when you board and must tap off when you disembark, else you will be charged the price of the longest trip possible (which could be as far away as Oshawa from Hamilton). For instance, if you take a GO bus from McMaster to the Aldershot Go Station, tap on when boarding the bus and tap off when leaving. In Aldershot look for the tapping stations near the entrance to the GO station and tap on again. When disembarking from the train, again look for tapping stations in the GO train station and tap off. If you take the same journey often, you can set it as a default trip eliminating the need to tap off.

In Hamilton, when using the bus, one only taps on when boarding. There is no tap off. The PRESTO program automatically keeps track of how much time you have used for your trip, eliminating the need for transfers when using multiple buses over a period of less than 2 hours.

Checking the Balance on Your Card

Your balance will show briefly on the PRESTO tapping station each time you use it. You can also check your balance on-line (if you registered with PRESTO) or you can go to a balance tapping station. These are located at most GO stations and at the Dundas Municipal Service Centre and Hamilton City Hall.

Reloading Your PRESTO Card

You can reload i.e. add money to, your PRESTO card at Service Customer outlets. In the Hamilton area these are located at:

GO Stations in Aldershot, Burlington and downtown Hamilton (36 Hunter Street East)
COMPASS Station, Student Centre, McMaster University
HSR Service Centre at 36 Hunter Street East.

You may also obtain $20 preloaded PRESTO cards at the Dundas Municipal Service Centre and/or Hamilton City Hall as well as re-load your card or Month Pass, check PRESTO balances, and settle monthly PRESTO overdrafts.

If your card is registered you may reload it online or you can set it up to reload automatically. With automatic reloads, an amount specified by you is added to your card when your balance falls below a set limit. Without automatic reloads, your balance may fall below zero. In this case, you can complete your journey and go into overdraft that you can settle before your next trip. There is a small service charge for this overdraft protection

Senior Passes and Fares

To take advantage of senior fares, available to people 65 and over, you need a registered, activated PRESTO card. You must then go to the HSR Service Centre at 36 Hunter Street East, a GO Station Service Counter or the COMPASS at the Student Centre, McMaster University and show 2 pieces of Government ID to change your adult PRESTO card into a Senior PRESTO card. From that point on, all fares are calculated at the senior discounted rates.

Some examples of senior savings are:

GO Transit: 55% off the adult fare for single trips
HSR Single Trip: $2.05 instead of the adult fare of $3.25 cash or $2.50 per bus ticket (good for 2 hours from initial boarding)
Monthly Pass: $32.50 instead of the adult pass for $110 (not available for purchase from the 14th-16th of each month)
Yearly Pass: $325 (not available in adult fare and not available for purchase from the 4th-7th of each month)

Senior Identification: Be prepared to show proof of age when asked on pubic transit. If you do not have this, you can get a senior identification card at the downtown HSR station for $3.00

Web Links and Phone Numbers

PRESTO or 1-877-378-6123

HSR or 905-546-2424 x1882 (905 527 4441 for automated information)

McMaster COMPASS Information Centre or 905-525-9140 x21000

GO Transit or 1-888-438- 6646

Personal Note: As a senior, I found the setting up of the PRESTO awkward and inconvenient and using it did take getting used to but I am glad I switched as I find using PRESTO much more convenient and I save a lot of money.

MacID password changes - keeping your account with Mac active, Summer 2013 [updated July 2021]

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 21:30:14 GMT

University Technology Services (UTS) has recently changed the rules for MacID passwords to a new, more secure standard. You will be unable to use your MacID if you have not changed your password to fit the new standard since February 19, 2013.

In addition, MacID passwords will now expire after 12 months from the last password change date.

A MacID provides authentication to applications such as McMaster email accounts, library e-resources, the campus Wi-Fi network and the McMaster Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Your MacID is not your 7-digit employee number. It is an identifier that usually includes part or all of your surname. For retirees using a McMaster email account, it’s the userid portion of the email address userid@mcmaster.ca.

The UTS online password change tool and a description of the new requirements are available on the UTS MacID help page.

UTS recommends clearing all saved instances of a MacID password before changing it. Saved passwords are often found in, for example, email programs on computers and Wi-Fi logins on smartphones.

Please contact the UTS Service Desk if you have questions or encounter difficulties.

Campus Store Computer Department, Winter 2013

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:57:57 GMT

- by Janice Rischke

While we were working at McMaster, many of us were in the habit of purchasing our computers and related supplies from the McMaster University Campus Store, also known as the bookstore, previously known as Titles. I recently visited the computer department at the store and discovered that many of the services offered to employees are also available to retirees. The computer department routinely works with customers to customize systems to suit every need and budget. They also supply service and technical support for their products.

The Campus Store computer department carries Apple, HP, Sony, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Toshiba and ASUS computers, as well as printers, software, accessories and supplies. If you are looking to purchase any of these items, it is worth getting a quote from the McMaster Campus Store. Although educational discounts are not generally available to retirees on Apple products, you may be able to take advantage of special educational promotions on other brands of hardware and software. For example, MURA members may purchase Trend Micro antivirus software for $13.50 per year.

The McMaster University Campus Store is a self-supporting organization, fully owned and operated by the University. The store contributes over $1.25 million annually in support of student success. Consider including it as an option when you are shopping around for computer equipment or software.

You can find out more about the computer department at the Campus Store by visiting their web site, sending an email, or calling 905-525-9140 extension 27873.

Having trouble reading PDF files? Summer 2012 [updated July 2021]

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 03:08:24 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

From time to time, MURA’s web site posts files using a format called PDF. PDF is an acronym for Portable Document Format. The PDF format presents documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware and operating system. Hence it is a popular format for information sharing on the web as it can be read by almost anyone provided they have a current version of the program for reading PDF files, which is supplied for free by a software company called Adobe.

It is important to update your version of Adobe Reader whenever such a request is made on your computer. Using an older version will mean, at some point in time, that the PDF files you wish to access will not be readable or will be only partially readable.

If you have an outdated version or none at all, you can download a current version of the Adobe PDF reader program free of charge.

If you are accessing a PDF file with an Apple or Android mobile phone, please note you will need to select an Adobe reader for that device.

When downloading a current version of Adobe reader, it’s best to un-check the box that says: “Yes, install McAfee Security Scan Plus - optional” unless you have McAfee as your antivirus software.

Maintaining a Windows computer, Spring 2012

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:10:29 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

While perusing the net, I came across an article entitled 5 Ways To Make Your Windows Computer Lightning Fast. I think the term “Lightning Fast” is an over-statement, but do feel the article has merit. You will find it in “Yahoo! News” , or do a web search using part or all of the phrase “5 ways to make your windows computer lightning fast”.

I suggest you avoid the advice about disabling applications given in section 1: 'Run the Essentials' unless you are really comfortable around a computer. Also, be very careful about uninstalling unwanted items as suggested in section 2: 'Fluff unless you’re sure of what you’re doing. If you do decide to try these options, please remember it is always wise to do a complete backup of your system before any major clean-up of your system in case something goes wrong.

Another tip: I could not find the menus described in the instructions for section 1: 'Run the Essentials' for my home version of Windows 7. By searching Windows’ “Help and Support” using the key words “auto run”, I discovered I needed to download an “Auto Runs for Windows” program from the MicroSoft web site.

Which email system is best? Winter 2012

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:12:05 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

When choosing a system for reading and sending email you should consider cost, where you access your email (at home or also away from home), privacy, backup of messages in case your computer fails, and exposure to advertising.

All email messages come to you, and are sent, via servers on the internet. To access your email from home, you first need to connect your computer to the internet using an internet service provider such as Bell Sympatico, Cogeco, Primus, Rogers, Shaw, etc.

Here are some pros and cons of different types of email services.

Internet Vendor or Social Media

Examples:

Gmail (Google); Windows Live Hotmail (Microsoft); Yahoo!Mail (Yahoo)
Facebook

Pros and cons:

Messages remain on the Internet web server. This provides:
- built in backup
- email access from any Internet connection in the world
No fees. These companies are primarily supported through advertising.
Does not provide connection to the internet. You must contract with an internet service provider to access your email from home, or use an outside connection such as at a library.
You never have to change your email address, even if you change your home internet service provider. Your email is somewhat less private than with the other types of service; ownership can be claimed by the people running the site.
You are exposed to ads, some of which are not always tasteful and sometimes can be devious or misleading.

Web Host

Examples:

Internet service providers such as Bell Sympatico, Cogeco, Primus, Rogers, Shaw, etc. also provide email hosting
McMaster’s MacMail
Host vendors such as HostPapa, or Canadian Web Hosting

Pros and cons:

More ownership control of your email
Email access through a web browser from anywhere in the world
If the web host is not your internet service provider, you can readily change providers without having to change your email address
A choice of leaving your email messages on your web host's server or downloading them to your computer (See the “How to Download and Backup” footnote).

Advantages of downloading:

the best control over the ownership of your email

no exposure to any web host advertising

Disadvantages of downloading:

Messages that have been downloaded to your PC cannot be accessed from other locations unless you have software that lets you access your PC remotely. You can check your email from other locations, but only emails received by the host since your last download will be available.

You become responsible for backing up your emails.

Checking your email from other locations may be harder because you will not be familiar with the interface your email web host uses.

Costs:

If using an internet service provider email service is included with your internet service connection fee.

If using McMaster MacMail there is no charge for McMaster retirees, but you must contract for a connection to the internet with an internet service provider.

If using a host vendor there is a monthly fee, and you must also contract for a connection to the internet with an internet service provider.

How to Download and Back Up

To download your email messages to your computer, you will need to connect to your web email host with an email application such as Outlook Express or Mozilla’s Thunderbird for PCs, or Apple Mail for Apple computers. My personal favourites are Thunderbird and Mozbackup, a utility to backup Thunderbird's email.

See a review

Download the software

Both packages are open source. See Saving Money With Open Source Software, MURAnews, Spring 2010 for more on open source.

While Microsoft Outlook Express provides the same service as Mozilla's Thunderbird, I have discovered that backing up email through Outlook Express is less than desirable. For Apple users, Apple mail provides the ability to download your messages. Please do back up your messages once downloaded!

Email predators are becoming more sophisticated, Summer 2011

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 22:53:58 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

When you change your password for an internet account, the vendor will often send you an email notice in case someone else is tampering with your account. This is a good thing. A few months ago I changed my Paypal* password and received a legitimate email warning. A half hour later, however, I found a second email warning, again supposedly from Paypal. Upon investigating this second “Paypal” message, I found a huge clue: “If you didn’t change your password, submit your details through our secure form in order to reset it, or confirm your change by ignoring this notice.” It almost sounds right but a legitimate company would not instruct me to fill in anything or to go to a web site linked from an email when security issues are at stake. Other clues were found in the recipient’s email address which was: “sevice@paypal.com <update@service.com>”. In addition to ‘service’ being misspelled, the actual address in the angled brackets has nothing to do with Paypal. Of course, other text in this message was full of helpful advice such as: “Never share your password with anyone.” and “Create passwords that are hard to guess”. If I had filled in this form, it’s highly likely a predator would have had my password and gone on a shopping spree with my credit card.

Here’s another example of the sophistication of net predators. I received an email from “Canada Post <tracking@canadapost.ca> “. The address “canadapost.ca” is the legitimate web address of Canada Post but I had not sent a parcel, and wasn’t expecting one. Upon careful examining of the message I found: “Dear client! Your package has been shipped. The tracking# is: 267CA23POST2617Z and can be used at “http://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/track/personal/findByTrackNumber?execution=e9s1 [www.rogatica.net]” Even though the link I was instructed to use is that of Canada Post, the address in the square brackets isn’t. I didn’t touch that link! Instead I went to my web browser, independently typed Canada Post’s web address and put the tracking number in the Canada Post system. Sure enough, the tracking number was bogus.

The most insidious email I received came from ScotiaInfoAlerts saying someone had used my debit card for the sum of $7.82. I do not have a debit card! I examined this message inside and out. The web address in the message was legitimate, as was the phone number I was given to call. I went to the Scotia Bank site “http://www.scotiabank.com”. That was fine, but when I added “/InfoAlerts” at the end I was warned I was being re-directed away from the Scotia web site. I did not proceed. Upon further investigation the best clue was in the “reply-to:” in the email header. It pointed to a yahoo account which ScotiaBank would never use!

During this investigative journey, I used Mozilla’s Firefox as my web browser with settings set to warn me about any such redirects. Please check the information found under "Help" in your browser for such a feature.

*Paypal is an Internet application that lets you pay online with relative security using your credit card.

Campus wireless network, Spring 2011 [updated July 2021]

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:01:50 GMT

Retirees who use wireless access to the internet while on campus might want to check out the latest in campus WiFi security. University Technology Services (UTS) encourages wireless users to switch to MacSecure.

[Editor's note: During Summer 2017, McMaster launched a new wireless network named Mac-WiFi with greater throughput and less susceptibility to interference. UTS asks that users use Mac-WiFi in place of MacSecure. More information on the UTS McMaster Wireless page.]

Email security and etiquette, Winter 2011

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:24:08 GMT

by Marianne Van der Wel

Email is a great way to stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues -- especially those who don’t live close by. Email is also a great asset for making organizations such as MURA more effective. As with all tools, however, there are a few things to keep in mind when using email:

Email is not Private

Please do not assume that email is private, ever! System managers have legitimate access to all information on the computers they manage, through which your email passes and on which your email resides. Did you know that when a message is returned as undeliverable, a copy is often automatically sent to the system manager? Did you know that your email can pass through many host computers on the web before it reaches its destination?

It's also possible that you might send email to an incorrect but similar address. I have personally received email intended for others and, yes, I have unintentionally sent email to the wrong person.

Finally there are those unscrupulous people who intentionally try to “crack” other people’s internet traffic including emails.

Watch Your “P's and Q's”

Since your email is never 100% private and because it’s the nice thing to do:

Use capitals sparingly. The use of capitals implies SHOUTING and is often interpreted as anger. Also a message in all capitals is difficult to read. If you have trouble changing case, send your message in all lower case letters.

Choose your words carefully. If you are feeling angry or upset and wish to express that in an email, send it to yourself first. That way, if you hit the send key prematurely, you send your worst first draft to yourself. After reading the message you sent yourself you may wish to reword it, being just as emphatic but more polite. There’s an old saying: “Honey catches more bees than vinegar”.

Do not share email addresses without permission. When sending email to several people or a large group, do not assume that everyone on your list wants to share their email address with others on your list. To prevent people from seeing each other’s email addresses, use Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc).

Do not always use “Reply All”. When replying to an email message, ask yourself if everyone on the list wants to see the response or if it’s useful to them. If the answer is no, reply only to the sender.

When replying, consider removing some of the previous conversations. When replying repeatedly to a message, it can be a good idea to remove some of the earlier text if it no longer adds to the conversation. Long older messages below the current conversation are often difficult to read, particularly for small mobile devices.

Subject Line

Use your subject line to indicate what the message is about. If you need a reply by a certain date, also indicate that in the subject line. Many people get a large number of emails. Glancing at the subjects of incoming emails helps them decide what to read first. If searching at a later date to find an email, a subject line that has little to do with the message content does not help. When you are responding to a message and you change the subject of the original message or add another topic, alter the subject line to indicate the change or addition(s). Do not leave the subject line blank as that is of no help.

Scams and Phishing

Though the use of email is mostly positive in my experience, scoundrel and criminal activity does exist. I recently received an email from a friend saying she was stranded in England, had been robbed, and was desperate for financial assistance. I knew my friend was not in England but right here in Hamilton and ignored the email. Someone had cracked her Facebook account and from there got into her Gmail account and used it to send phoney pleas for cash. (My friend has since changed her Facebook and Gmail accounts and is using separate passwords for both accounts, which we recommend.) Cases like these are rare but do happen. While some email systems do a better job of protecting you from scams and phishing than others, the only guaranteed protection is to be ever vigilant.

Web caching, using help, control keys for copy and paste, Fall 2010 [updated July 2021]

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:27:06 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

a) Web Caching

When you view a web page, the documents, images and computer coding are usually stored on your computer in an area called the “web cache”. This is done so that, if no changes have been made to the page, your computer does not reload the page each time you access it. This reduces internet traffic, and also allows you to quickly go back to a page you previously viewed. Most of the time this works well. However, sometimes a change made to a page is not detected right away, especially if the change is small or occurred shortly after you last accessed the page. In that case, you are not seeing the most up-to-date information.

There is a way to ensure the page is freshly loaded from the internet and not from the “cache” area on your computer. In Mozilla’s Firefox, click the "Reload" circular arrow to the left or right of the web address bar. For Microsoft (MS) Explorer click the "Refresh" double arrows to the right of the web address bar, as pointed out in the image below.

Chrome and Safari also have a similar feature. If reloading a single page doesn’t give you recent updates, you may want to clear (reset) the entire “cache” storage area. Please check your browser’s help pages for instructions.

For more information on web caching, see:

Web cache - Wikipedia

Caching tutorial - Mnot.net

b) When All Else Fails, Use Help

In the last issue, I reported on removing credit card information that may be stored on your computer when using online forms. See the article.

For MS Explorer, I mentioned a “Safety” tab where browsing history can be deleted. However, I've learned that browsers can be set up in many ways, so you may not have this MS Explorer “Safety” feature. If not, search in your Browser's help pages for “Delete history” or “Delete webpage history”.

c) Copying and Pasting

In Sharing web links, from the winter 2010 MURAnews, I explained how to share your favourite web link without having to retype it.

I have since learned that in some browsers the highlight disappears as soon as you open the Edit tab at the top. In that case, you can use your control key (CTRL) along with the “C” and “V” keys to copy and paste the web link.

Here’s how:

highlight the URL at the top of the browser window

press the CTRL key, and while holding it down, press the “C” key

release both keys

go to where you want to paste the link, for example in the body of an email you are writing

press the CTRL key, and while holding it down, press the “V” key

release both keys

The use of “CTRL-C” for copy and “CTRL-V” for paste can be used in circumstances other than web links as well.

Clearing credit card information after using online forms, Summer 2010

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:21:09 GMT

Online Forms Can Leave Credit Card Info on Your Computer

- by Marianne Van der Wel

One of my favourite web sites is Canada Helps, which allows me to make online donations or send electronic gift cards for over 83,000 registered charities. For this I use my credit card with a small monetary maximum limit. To my dismay, I noticed that when I was using another form requiring a credit card for this or another site, my credit card number was already stored on my computer, including the security code from the back of the card. This is a convenience I don’t want, preferring to retype my credit information each time. To ensure that a web site is using a secure connection when you are entering sensitive information, check the link address for an "s" after the “http” as in https://....

To remove information from your computer after you use an interactive form, clear your web browser’s history. Note that other stored information such as user names, in addition to credit card information, will be deleted by this process.

For Firefox, look under “Tools”, then select “Clear Recent History”. Choose “Everything” from the list for “Time Range” as the other settings do not seem to work, then choose “Form & Search History” from the menu below and finally press “Clear Now”.
For MS Explorer, go to “Safety” and then “Delete Browsing History”.
For Apple's Safari, use "Help" (F1). Under the "Index" tab, search for ":history"
For Google"s Chrome, use the “settings” icon, then “tools”, “options” and “under the hood”

Computer passwords, Summer 2010 [updated July 2021]

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:38:07 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

Passwords are crucial to protecting your computer data, your money and your identity. Trying to remember your passwords is also a challenge, particularly since rules for forming passwords differ depending on the site or application.

Creating secure passwords

In the case of banking, credit cards and cell phone accounts, you are generally allowed exactly four numbers. On the other hand, for computer applications and web site accounts the rules vary tremendously. Most online computer accounts such as insurance, email, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, blogs, meetup groups, news feeds, and sites to promote causes allow at least 6-8 character passwords. Some allow only letters of the alphabet and numbers, while others let you add some or all special characters. While nothing is 100% secure, here are some tips to help.

For computer applications, in addition to changing your password periodically and not using previous passwords, choose a password that is hard to guess. Using random characters is best since they are difficult to crack using computer software. Never write your passwords down or store them in easily recognizable files. Avoid birth dates, or family and pet names. Instead choose variations of a single password that is as random as possible and at least 6-8 characters long.

For example the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science suggests generating "reasonably secure" passwords by

choosing two unrelated words such as

“unix fun”; “book goat” or “august brick”

joining the words with a non-alphabetic character or two and then
making at least one change, for example, uppercase a letter or add another character to one of the words, preferably not just at the very beginning or end of the password. Using this method, you could generate these passwords:

unix+fUn bo!ok29goat august,=bRICK

For an even more secure method, make up a phrase or sentence with punctuation that is easy to remember. Then choose the first letter of each word and the punctuation (if allowed) as your password. For example the sentence

Disturbing, confusing Life of it’s own!

would generate the password

D,cLoi!o!

For the four digit numeric passwords required for banking, credit and cell phones follow similar guidelines. One possibility is to choose a four letter word and use the numeric position of the letters in the alphabet as the password (e.g. “face” gives the password 6135, ”hide” gives 8945).

For more information on password security there are many more web sites such as:

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Secure-Password

https://informationsecurity.mcmaster.ca/password/

Aids for remembering passwords

There are programs with specially encrypted databases that will help you keep track of passwords. For example Mozilla's web page describes the password manager which is available if you use Mozilla's browser, Firefox. This free, open source software is discussed in Saving Money With Open Source Software, from the Spring 2010 MURAnews.

Similar password managers are available in most browsers you might use.

Other open source and commercial password managers are also available. If choosing a free one, it’s often better to choose one that also provides a commercial upgrade to discourage viruses, etc.

If using a password manager is not for you and you need a record, create a computer file with a name that has nothing to do with protection (i.e. avoid words such as pass, password, protect, secure). Put the file on a memory stick and store the memory stick in a location that is not near your computer.

Saving money with open source software, Spring 2010

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:12:34 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

Open source software is free software available to the public that has been developed by a consortium of people sharing their time and expertise for a variety of reasons -- to gain experience, to share expertise, or to prevent commercial monopolies from taking over the net. Open source software web sites often suggest donations but I’ve never been pressured to do so. Not only is open source software free but it often rivals and, at times, surpasses the quality of commercial packages.

Open source software is available from several web sites. One of the most popular is Source Forge.

The open source packages I use are:

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser and its Thunderbird email program, both with updated security features.

PDFcreator, a wonderful tool that lets me create PDF, JPG, GIF and other graphical file formats from ANY program simply by printing to a virtual printer called PDFcreator.

Open Office, developed by Sun Microsystems, provides all the same tools as Microsoft Office such as word processing, spreadsheets, database, drawing and presentation software. You will need to learn some new key strokes to do the same tasks as you are accustomed to with Microsoft, but since this package is free you can save a lot of money! Open Office is also very good at converting from and to Microsoft formatted files including the newer docx formatted files that some people cannot read with older Microsoft software.

For the technically inclined, the source code for all open source software is freely available in addition to the executable program in case you wish to modify the program.

For more information about open source, see: http://www.opensource.org.

Trend Micro and antivirus software, Spring 2010 [updated July 2021]

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:24:14 GMT

As of January 2010 McMaster’s new preferred campus antivirus program is Trend Micro. Since only active employees working on McMaster-owned computers are eligible to download Trend Micro OfficeScan free of charge, retirees are blocked from downloading this software.

Retirees working on or off campus on McMaster-owned computers are eligible to download Trend Micro to those computers. To accomplish the software download, University Technology Services (UTS) suggests:

that a support person in the retiree’s department do the download on campus, or
that the retiree contact the UTS Service Desk to arrange for a free download. Proof that the computer is a McMaster asset, such as a letter from the retiree’s department chair, will be requested.

Trend Micro can be downloaded by retirees for personal use for an annual fee of $13.50 from the Campus Store MacMicro Computer Department.

Phone: 1 (905) 525-9140 ext. 24417
Email: macmicro@mcmaster.ca

There is also good free antivirus software available. Three such packages are:

If you choose one of the free packages, please read the information for each package carefully to determine what protection the package offers and does not offer. For terminology related to computer viruses, please see Computer Scamming, Phishing, Adware And Spyware, from the Fall 2008 issue of MURAnews. When downloading a free package also read the instructions very carefully as it is very easy to download the professional (not free) versions. The free packages tend to provide good protection without all the bells and whistles. Some will require you to register.

Whatever you decide, please make sure you first uninstall your previous antivirus program (if any) BEFORE installing your new antivirus program, and please do not use the internet WITHOUT an antivirus program.

Sharing web links - making short links from long ones, Winter 2010 [updated July 2021]

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:47:49 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

a) Copying and Pasting Links

b) Making Links Shorter

Do you find yourself wanting to share web links you have discovered that point to articles of interest? Often these links are long and cumbersome and simply do not fit into your document or other means of communication.

For example, when compiling the MURAnews, we often want to show links that are very long yet must fit on a single printed line. One way is to reduce the font size so much that the links are hard to read without a magnifying glass.

You may have the same issue if you use Twitter to share a web page with your friends and colleagues. With Twitter’s limit of 140 characters including blanks, long web addresses are not feasible. The solution? Use TinyURL. On this web site, you can enter a very long link such as https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/29/six-maps-that-will-make-you-rethink-the-world

TinyURL will generate a shorter link to the same web page such as http://tinyurl.com/y8o6vgh9, that will never expire.

c) Twitter: Useful for Sharing Links

You do NOT need an account to read a Twitter page: Try http://twitter.com/cbc to read CBC news articles
Twitter provides a nice way of pointing to a variety of web sites and blogs that you may wish to share.
Create a Twitter account

Dangers of online contracts, Fall 2009

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:53:00 GMT

Purchasing a Product On-Line That Involves a Subscription

- by Marianne Van der Wel

A year ago I had difficulty removing a virus from my computer using the software I had installed. A friend in the computer business had recommended another antivirus program so I downloaded it, paid for the package with a credit card and tried it out. It did successfully remove the virus but subsequently brought my PC to an unusable crawl. Within two days I abandoned the second package and switched to a third, which worked much better. I totally forgot about the second package.

In August 2009 (a year later), I got an email congratulating me on renewing my subscription for another year and a charge of $39.95 USD was levied to my credit card account. Quite an unpleasant surprise!

Since the message I had received was an automated one, I could not respond directly. I did send a response to the company guessing at what I thought was their email. It went unanswered. Hence after a day or so, I called my credit card company.

The Legal Versus the Ethical

My credit card company informed me that this transaction was perfectly legal as I had implicitly agreed to have my subscription automatically renewed each year by not writing to the antivirus company to cancel. I was told my only recourse was to ask the company for a refund, and was given an 800 number to call.

I phoned immediately to discover a recorded message that this antivirus company does not offer phone support and to check out their web site. I did that next. After searching the company's web site for over half an hour, I submitted a request for cancellation to the company’s webmaster using an interactive form as I could no longer remember the original details to submit the cancellation to their sales department.

Protecting Yourself When Purchasing a Subscription Online

If you subscribe to anything online, save the information the company sends you regarding your purchase.
When you receive the purchase confirmation notice, read the WHOLE notice. If you do not find the ”Terms of Service”, (the fine print!) which should include renewal information, check the company's web site. If you can't find it, contact the company.

Back up! Back up! Back up!, Fall 2009

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:03:03 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

Do you store important items on your computer such as your photos, music, tax documents or a favourite program? How would you feel if you lost any of these? Having lost two computers due to hardware failure 10 months apart, in the last 1.5 years, I REALLY appreciate having backups! Performing backups is easier and cheaper than ever.

Determine what data you do not want to lose (e.g. photos, documents that you have no desire to recreate, vital business documents). This is usually your "My Documents", "My Pictures" and “My Music”, as well as your "Desktop" folder and possibly your "Downloads" folder.
Determine how much disk space these folder use.
Buy an external disk that will fit your current and future needs. Allow room for growth. You have 3 basic choices:

A flash memory stick with 64 Gigabytes (GB) costs $160-$200; 32GB around $90; 16GB approximately $45 and 8GB around $30
An external portable disk drive. These do not require an external power source and plug into a USB port with a cable. A 250GB device with the required USB cable can cost $85-$110
A regular external hard drive. These also plug into a USB port with a cable but are generally little larger in physical size and do need a separate power supply. These drives cost $80-$150 for 500GB to 1000GB (one terabyte).

To actually perform the backups, there are many options besides your operating system utilities. Some external disks come with software that allows you to automatically back up your files as you create them. There is also free software that allows you to synchronize folders, even whole drives, and schedule the backups automatically. One is SyncBack.

If you prefer not to use a backup utility, you can use your copy command to transfer files to an external device.

Note that local email programs such as Outlook Express and Thunderbird use special databases and hence are generally not backed up and recovered using standard backup techniques. For Thunderbird, there is Moz Backup (my personal favourite!).

Computer security - antivirus, spyware, spam, phishing, Fall 2009 [updated July 2021]

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:31:44 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

No Charge Antivirus Software

Trend Micro: McMaster retirees are eligible for a preferred price on Trend Micro, McMaster University's official antivirus software. See the Campus Store MacMicro Computer Department TrendMicro Anti-Virus Licenses page.

Avira: If you are not a fan of Trend Micro, try Avira's free antivirus program that ranks on par with some packages costing $50 or more annually. Pat Foran from Toronto’s CTV recommended Avira in a CTV video presentation in September 2009. Look for it at Avira’s web site.

Spyware, Scams & Phishing

A year ago, in the fall 2008 MURAnews, I reported on computer scamming, phishing, adware and spyware. Pat Foran’s “Secure Computers” video report on CTV in 2009 also touched on these topics. To prevent identity theft, never respond with personal information to web site addresses that come in emails (phishing). Pat’s report warned of this and, to help identify bogus sites, he recommended using McAfee’s free SiteAdvisor software.

You can also get a bogus site when you mistype a web site address. Hence, if you supply personal information, look at the site carefully for legitimacy and compare it to what you saw the last time you used it. Again, McAfee’s SiteAdvisor may help you identify bogus sites. Pat Foran further recommended Windows Defender to protect against spyware when using Microsoft Windows. Windows Defender is now built in to Windows 10.

To fight spam, use SPAMfighter, a free spam filter for Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail.

Computer scamming, phishing, adware and spyware, Fall 2008

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:23:21 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

WARNING! ALERT! While computers can be a wonderful tool, they also attract the negative. There are many folks on the internet who will try to scam or defraud you! How? They’ll send you an email that, at best, will annoy you or, at worst, will - if you respond - empty your bank account or download a destructive virus to your computer. As you browse the web, your activity is being watched and you may get unwanted emails as a result as well as adware/spyware when visiting certain sites.

Some Definitions

SCAM: An annoying email that asks you to buy something, or get a bigger, better widget.

PHISHING: This is generally more dangerous as the message will try to trick you into replying with personal information or downloading a destructive virus which can be in an attachment. Damage can also occur simply by opening a suggested web site in the message.

ADWARE: Wanted or unwanted pop-up windows that can be destructive. One encounter asked if we wanted to buy something. We said no! It started to download anyway and we shut the computer down immediately to interrupt the download.

SPYWARE: An unwanted program downloaded to your computer without your knowledge when visiting a web site. Usually it just tries to figure our your interests so you can be targeted by advertisers. Sometimes the program can be destructive. You may have read about people who ended up with huge long distance phone bills as a result of spyware.

Protecting Yourself

Be alert and ever vigilant. Never respond to an email asking for personal information no matter how authentic a message or web site looks. Such emails can come from a cable company, a phone company, a bank, a security company, an update for software, including antivirus software (that you can’t quite remember having or not) or an offer for a trip or investment opportunity. This is especially devious if the message happens to be a company you deal with. Only offer personal information if you initiate the transaction and then only what is normally required. One software company wanted a birth date along with the credit card information in order to make a purchase online. Too much information in our opinion and we did not proceed with the order.
Use an antivirus program: An antivirus program is a must but when choosing one ask what the program detects. Some detect only viruses while others also track adware, spyware etc. Have a program that checks your emails and make sure this feature is turned on. Also perform a full system scan on a regular basis (say once a week). Another consideration in choosing an antivirus program is the resources it uses...some can considerably slow down your computer.
Choosing an email and web page browser: While your best protection is being alert and ever vigilant, email and web browsers are not created equal when it comes to alerting you to scams and minimizing phishing/adware. Do look into alternatives to Microsoft’s Outlook Express and Explorer. For example: Mozilla’s free Thunderbird (email) and Firefox (web browser), both part of the Open Source consortium and Apple’s Safari which is now available for Windows. We have even noted differences in the behaviour of Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail.

Wireless home networks - some words of caution, Winter 2008

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:33:31 GMT

- by Marianne Van der Wel

A wireless home network can provide convenience in homes with:

more than one computer
printers and scanners that support wireless technology
a laptop computer you want to use in different locations in the home.

But wireless convenience introduces security concerns. Wireless network activity is broadcasted like radio waves. So, without proper protection, anyone close to your home such as a neighbour or a person parked nearby can use your “air time”. Even worse, people with enough know-how can read your online activity and get into your computer. Your passwords, online banking activity, personal emails, etc. are at risk of being seen and copied by an outsider.

Most home wireless networks use hardware called a router which is slightly slower than high speed internet. The wireless range is about 100 feet. A new wireless standard coming on the market, designed to be faster, has an even longer range.

While no wireless network is as secure as a hardwired one, you can protect your computer and personal information on a wireless network.

How? Use encryption! Encryption is basically a formula that turns ordinary data into “secret code”.

One thing you need to know if you are installing a wireless home network is that encryption is not automatically set up when a wireless router is installed. It must be done as one of the installation steps, or as a retrofit for an already existing wireless system.

Some types of encryption provide better protection than others because they are more difficult to decode. The recommended encryption standard available today is WPA [WiFi Protected Access]. When WPA is selected during setup of the router, you will have to supply a key. The longer the key you choose, the more difficult it will be for anyone to “crack” the encryption. The older encryption standard, WEP [Wired Equivalency Privacy], is fairly easy to crack and not recommended.

Below are some web sites that explore this field further:

How Home Networking Works

Setting Up a Wireless Network (Microsoft)

How to Buy Home Networking Products

Wireless Router Guide