{"id":6744,"date":"2012-08-09T13:38:12","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T12:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/?p=6744"},"modified":"2017-02-28T23:07:35","modified_gmt":"2017-02-28T23:07:35","slug":"secure-your-google-account-now-heres-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/diary\/secure-your-google-account-now-heres-how.html","title":{"rendered":"Important Stuff &#8211; Securing Your Digital Lifestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you weren&#8217;t following the horror story of Wired journalist Mat Honan&#8217;s personal hacking over the weekend, then do yourself a favour and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wired.com\/gadgetlab\/2012\/08\/apple-amazon-mat-honan-hacking\/all\/\" target=\"_blank\">read his article<\/a>\u00a0or watch his interview on This Week in Tech below.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_29457\"  width=\"480\" height=\"270\"  data-origwidth=\"480\" data-origheight=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fXixIEw0Y4E?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s clear that Apple and Amazon&#8217;s security\u00a0procedures\u00a0were less than impressive. \u00a0They have already been changed as a result of this incident, however this will be of little comfort to Mat, or you if something\u00a0similar\u00a0finds you in the future. \u00a0Cloud services are becoming increasingly important in our digital lifestyle and we really should be paying more attention to their security. \u00a0Here are some tips on safeguarding your own accounts.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"sj-gblock\">\n<script language=\"javascript\">\n<!--\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-5598479065369258\";\ngoogle_ad_width = 300; \ngoogle_ad_height = 250; \ngoogle_ad_format = \"300x250_as\"; \ngoogle_ad_channel = \"7058025304\"; \ngoogle_ad_type = \"text_image\"; \ngoogle_color_border = \"FFFFFF\"; \ngoogle_color_bg = \"FFFFFF\"; \ngoogle_color_link = \"52a79f\"; \ngoogle_color_url = \"CFFFDF\"; \ngoogle_color_text = \"000000\"; \n\/\/--> \n<\/script>\n<script language=\"javascript\"  src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div><strong>Turn on\u00a02-step verification<\/strong> &#8211; Mat admits he could have done quite a few things better but top of his list is to turn on Google&#8217;s 2-step verification. \u00a0Enabling this option (from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/settings\/security\" target=\"_blank\">Google Security settings<\/a>) ties your account to your phone which receives a\u00a0text or voice message\u00a0code from Google when you sign in.<\/p>\n<p>So even if someone has access to your email address and password they can&#8217;t access your account. \u00a0You&#8217;ll need to sign in like this every 30 days and everything that uses your google account (for example that RSS reader on your smartphone) will need a new single use Application-specific password. \u00a0Check out the video below.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_49899\"  width=\"480\" height=\"270\"  data-origwidth=\"480\" data-origheight=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zMabEyrtPRg?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Review Your Password\u00a0Procedures<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; By now we all know the rules about using strong passwords, the longer the better and we should be using a mixture of upper and lower case letters plus numbers and symbols. \u00a0Read this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.grc.com\/haystack.htm\" target=\"_blank\">interesting article<\/a>\u00a0to understand how this password &#8211;\u00a0<span style=\"text-align: center;\">[<\/span><strong style=\"text-align: center;\">PrXyc.N(n4k77#L!eVdAfp9<\/strong><span style=\"text-align: center;\">]\u00a0<\/span>may actually be weaker than this much easier to rememeber one &#8211;\u00a0<span style=\"text-align: center;\">[<\/span><strong style=\"text-align: center;\">D0g&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;<\/strong><span style=\"text-align: center;\">]<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We also know we should have a different password for every site we use, you don&#8217;t want your password to be obtained from one\u00a0inherently\u00a0less secure site (for example the comments system of your favourite blog) and then be used to access say your online banking. \u00a0But with so many logins to\u00a0remember these days it seems impossible to stick to these rules. \u00a0Thankfully there is an answer and utilities like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agilebits.com\/onepassword\" target=\"_blank\">1Password<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastpass.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">LastPass<\/a>\u00a0will create secure individual passwords for each site and allow you to retrieve them using one super-strong master password. \u00a0They work across multiple OS&#8217;s and even on your mobile devices too.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6772\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6772\" class=\" wp-image-6772\" title=\"1Password\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1password-logins-full1.png?resize=500%2C343&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1password-logins-full1.png?w=550&amp;ssl=1 550w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1password-logins-full1.png?resize=300%2C206&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-6772\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">1Password Manages Your Passwords Across Multiple Platforms<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6791\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/email-back.png?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6791\" class=\"wp-image-6791 \" title=\"Gmvault backing up email\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/email-back.png?resize=200%2C129&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"129\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/email-back.png?w=693&amp;ssl=1 693w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/email-back.png?resize=300%2C193&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6791\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gmvault : Two Days to go and Almost a Quarter of a Million Emails to Backup<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Backup!<\/strong> &#8211; If you&#8217;ve got this far give yourself a pat on the back, you&#8217;ve made some important changes.<\/p>\n<p>Now it&#8217;s time to back\u00a0up your entire Gmail account. You probably have years of email in there and we use a great little open source utility to create a local backup incase the unthinkable does happen.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/gmvault.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Gmvault<\/a> works with Windows, OS X and Linux and will backup your messages and\u00a0attachments\u00a0which can then be viewed locally in your\u00a0favourite\u00a0email client or be restoring back up to your Gmail account in the cloud.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Future<\/strong> &#8211; Ultimately there&#8217;s always going to be a compromise between security and convenience, but as Mat concludes in his article, this whole password thing seems to be pretty broken at this point. \u00a0Until someone solves the issue of proving our identity we\u00a0hope you&#8217;ll find these tips useful. \u00a0We&#8217;re no security experts but you&#8217;ll certainly be more prepared than most even if you only use one or two of them. \u00a0Give us your top security tips in the comments below.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Want More?<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; You should\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/ottomate\">follow us<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AutomatedHomeUK\" target=\"_blank\">Like us<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook, or subscribe to our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds2.feedburner.com\/automatedhome\">RSS feed<\/a>. You can even get these news stories\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/feedburner.google.com\/fb\/a\/mailverify?uri=AutomatedHome&amp;loc=en_US\">delivered via email<\/a>, straight to your inbox every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you weren&#8217;t following the horror story of Wired journalist Mat Honan&#8217;s personal hacking over the weekend, then do yourself a favour and read his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2017-02-28T23:07:37Z","apple_news_api_id":"f9d17046-1198-4654-b28a-540fa1ee4a3d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2017-02-28T23:07:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A-dFwRhGYRlSyilQPoe5KPQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,18,28,31],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-6744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diary","category-internet","category-software","category-tutorials","tag-featured"],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1password-logins-full1-1.png?fit=550%2C377&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6744"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6744"}],"version-history":[{"count":109,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34752,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6744\/revisions\/34752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}