Is It Safe To Copy/Paste Passwords From Your Clipboard?

Passwords, whether they’re for an online service or for our local Windows account, need to be guarded carefully. A leaked password can often help anyone with malicious intent guess what your other passwords might be. People who use important numbers like their birthdays in their password put themselves at even greater risk. General safety protocol says you shouldn’t use the same password for multiple accounts, nor should you write it down anywhere it can be found easily. Many people resort to using password vaults i.e. services like LastPass so they don’t have to write passwords down or bother to remember them. For the most part a password vault is a safe and secure way to store passwords unless of course users compromise security by copying passwords to the clipboard. The clipboard is a Windows feature that every single app on your system has access to. There is no way to filter out which apps can and cannot access content on the clipboard. If you’ve installed a malicious app on your system then copy/pasting passwords to/from your clipboard is a security risk.

When You’re Not A Risk

We say copy/pasting passwords from the clipboard is a potential security risk but not that it is a given security risk. If you only have trusted apps, downloaded from a trusted source with valid licenses etc, running on your system then you don’t have anything to worry about. Copying your password to your clipboard so you can paste it into a password field is not dangerous.

When You Could Be At Risk

If you install apps that Windows warns your against, ones that look unsafe, use keygens and cracks, or download apps from untrustworthy repositories instead of the official website you might be at risk. The risk doesn’t come so much from the app but from the source it is downloaded from. The app installer might be bundled with a malicious program. The keygen or the crack you’r using might be phoning home without you knowing it.

Your browser might also pose a risk if you have a shady website open though in this case, you should probably exercise caution when visiting a website.

If you have a clipboard managing app installed, one that maintains a history of all items copied to your clipboard, you might also be at risk. Unless the app regularly scrubs items from its history, it might be a risk to copy your password or any other sensitive information to your clipboard.

The Human Error Risk

To err is human and err humans do. You’ve probably heard of people accidentally sharing inappropriate links to their social media account because said link had been copied to their clipboard. The same can happen with a password copied to your clipboard. You might accidentally paste it inside a document or presentation you’re working on, an email you’re writing, or just your latest Facebook post.

How To Stay Safe

1. Don’t install shady apps. Don’t use keygens or cracks.
2. Always download apps from the official website
3. If you have to download an app from an untrusted source, run it through Virus Total to be safe
4. If you do copy a password to your clipboard, immediately copy an image or something else to it once you’ve pasted it where you want it to
5. Weight the need to have a clipboard managing app against your ability to keep your sensitive information out of your clipboard. If you know for a fact that you won’t be copying your Facebook password to the clipboard, ever,  only then will a clipboard managing app be safe to use

These risks aren’t limited to just passwords. If you ever habitually copy sensitive information to your clipboard such as the answer to a secret question, activation codes, or your credit card number, you put yourselves at risk. It’s safer to not copy passwords or any other sensitive information to the clipboard.

Tech Term Confusion: “Memory” Means RAM, Not Storage

Some people say they have “a smartphone with 64 GB of memory”, but they don’t. Those people might have smartphones with 64 GB of disk space, or storage, but that’s different than memory. It’s time to clear up this tech term misconception.

Memory Is RAM, Storage Is Your Hard Drive

Memory–also called RAM–is short term. Computers (and smartphones) load data into memory when they’re working on it.

Disk space (also called storage, or hard drive space) is long term. Computers store data on their disk until they need to retrieve it later. This is where your apps and personal files are stored.

These are two different types of hardware, and they aren’t interchangeable.

Why It Matters

This isn’t just a pedantic argument about which word to use. It matters when attempting to describe smartphones, computers, and other devices.

For example, Apple makes a variety of iPhones with different amounts of storage.  The iPhone 6s is available in with either 16 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB of storage. All iPhone 6s models have 2 GB of built-in RAM, or memory. It’s not correct to say “an iPhone 6s with 64 GB of memory”. Instead, it is correct to say “an iPhone 6s with 64 GB of storage and 2 GB of memory.”

You may be able to figure out what people are talking about when it comes to iPhones, but it gets complicated when talking about other devices. There are a lot of Android devices out there, with varying levels of storage and RAM. If someone says they’re using an Android phone with “4 GB of memory”, that would mean a nice high-end phone with a lot of RAM. If that person is using the term wrong, they could instead mean a low-end phone with very little onboard storage–and likely even less RAM. That’s a big difference!

Similarly: if someone says they’re using a computer with 16 GB of memory, that would generally mean they’re using a beefy computer desktop with a lot of RAM. If they’re using the term wrong, it could also mean they’re using a small Chromebook with very limited local storage and even less RAM.

This is why it’s important: If something is wrong with your computer, and you tell your technician/tech savvy friend/random Microsoft Store employee that your computer is low on memory, that means you need to install more RAM or close some programs. But, if you’re using the term wrong, it could mean that you just need to run Disk Cleanup and free up some space on their disk. If you want someone to accurately help you with your problem, it’s important to know which of those two things is causing it, and call it by the right name.

Yes, It’s a Little Confusing

Unfortunately, one reason people are confused about this is that storage is a type of memory. After all, they’re both even measured in the same units–GB, or gigabytes.

To make things even more confusing, we’ve started calling certain kinds of hard drives “flash memory”. An iPhone with 64 GB of disk space has 64 GB of flash memory. But that 64 GB of flash memory is long-term storage rather than short-term RAM. It’s hard to blame anyone for getting confused when the tech industry keeps throwing around confusingly similar terms.

But now you know the difference: Random access memory is distinct from hard disk space and flash storage. It’s important to know the difference, especially when you’re trying to solve problems with your computer.

How to Create and Use a Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc in Windows 8 or 10

How to Create and Use a Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc in Windows 8 or 10

Windows 8 or 10 allows you to create a recovery drive (USB) or system repair disc (CD or DVD) that can be used to troubleshoot and restore your computer. Each type of recovery media gives you access to Windows’ advanced startup options.

You can also copy your computer’s recovery partition to the drive, creating a backup copy. After you create the backup copy, Windows will allow you to remove the recovery partition from your computer, freeing up gigabytes of space.

Create a System Image Backup the Easy Way

Microsoft might include backup tools in Windows, but they only do the bare minimum and they are confusing. If you want to back up your entire computer the easy way, Acronis True Image 2016 is the way to go.

Acronis True Image 2016 can back up your entire computer, including your operating system, applications, and data, and then restore it to the existing computer, or even a completely separate computer.

And if you upgrade to Acronis True Image Cloud, you can optionally store a complete backup of your entire computer in the cloud as well as on a local drive.

Creating a Recovery Drive (USB)

To open the recovery drive creation tool, press the Windows key and type recovery drive. Click or tap the Settings category and launch the Create a recovery drive application. In Windows 10 you’ll search the Start Menu for the same thing.

The Recovery Media Creator opens on your desktop. If your computer came with a recovery partition, you can copy it to the recovery drive. Of course, this will use much more space, so you’ll need a large enough USB drive. After copying the recovery partition, Windows will ask you if you want to delete the recovery partition on the hard drive. On the Surface with Windows RT, Microsoft claims that this can save you about 3.5 GB of hard disk space.

Click the Next option and you’ll be prompted to select a connected USB drive. Click the Create button and the files will by copied to your USB drive.

After the process is complete, you’ll be asked if you want to delete the recovery partition. If you do delete the recovery partition, you’ll need the drive to Refresh and Reset your PC in the future.

Creating a System Repair Disc (CD/DVD)

The ability to create a USB recovery drive is new in Windows 8 and 10. In Windows 7, only system repair discs were supported. This option is also present in Windows 8.

To open the disc creation tool, press the Windows key, type recdisc, and press Enter.

The disc creator will open on the desktop. Select the disc-burner drive with a writable CD or DVD in it and click the Create disc button to create a recovery disc.

Using a Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc

A recovery drive will normally not be necessary. If your computer fails to boot several times, Windows 8 or 10 will automatically bring up the advanced startup options, which allows you to troubleshoot and fix it.

If Windows can’t even bring up these tools, you’ll need the recovery drive, system repair disc, or a Windows 8 or 10 installation disc. Insert the recovery media into your computer and restart. Your computer should boot from the recovery media automatically. (If it doesn’t, you may need to change its boot order.)

Once it’s booted from the recovery media, you’ll see options for troubleshooting and repairing your PC. You can refresh and reset your PC or access advanced options to use system restore, recover from a system image, or automatically repair your computer. You can even get a command prompt that will allow you to fix problems by hand.

If your computer can’t boot, you should try the Automatic repair or System Restore options. Refreshing or resetting your PC should always fix the problem, too.

Oops, only 10 days, not 30 to change your mind about Windows 10!

Microsoft has reduced the I-changed-my-mind period in Windows 10 by two-thirds, cutting it from 30 days to 10, the company confirmed.

Users who upgraded to Windows 10 were able to roll back to the preceding Windows as long as they did so within 30 days. To make that possible, Microsoft stored the older operating system in a special folder on the device's drive, consuming up to 5GB of storage space. After the grace period expired, the folder's contents were deleted.

With last week's Anniversary Update, aka version 1607, the 30 days were reduced to 10. (Microsoft identifies its major upgrades using numerals representing year and month of the release.)

Microsoft said that the behind-the-scenes change had been triggered by data gleaned from the voluminous telemetry it collects from Windows 10 devices. "Based on our user research, we noticed most users who choose to go back to a previous version of Windows do it within the first several days," a spokesman said in an email. "As such, we changed the setting to 10 days to free storage space used by previous copies."

While there was no reason to doubt Microsoft's explanation, the timing of the change was almost certainly driven by the July 29 expiration of the year-long free upgrade offer. With that deal off the table -- and retail prices for an upgrade running between $110 and $200 -- there was less need for a generous trial because fewer customers would be upgrading.

Microsoft itself had linked the roll-back and the upgrade offer, and used the feature as a "get out of jail card" when critics panned the company's aggressive campaigns. Microsoft regularly pointed out that users could restore Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 within the 30-day span if they were dissatisfied, thought they had been pressured into upgrading, or believed they had been duped.

Windows 10's return period -- which lets users roll back to the preceding OS -- has been reduced by two-thirds, to 10 days.

The new 10-day period also applies to reverting to a previous build of Windows 10 for testers participating in the Insider program.

Why Adware is so popular in downloads

If you've ever downloaded software, chances are you've experienced an all-too-common surprise: ads or other unwanted programs that tagged along for the ride, only to pop up on your PC uninvited. Turns out there's a highly lucrative global industry making it happen, with "layers of deniability" to protect those involved.

That's according to researchers from Google and New York University's Tandon School of Engineering, who will present this week what they say is the first analysis of the link between so-called "pay-per-install" (PPI) practices and the distribution of unwanted software.

Commercial PPI is a monetization scheme whereby third-party applications are surreptitiously bundled with legitimate ones. When users install the package they requested, they also get a stream of unwanted programs riding stowaway. They may find a barrage of ads overrunning the screen, for example, or a flashing pop-up warning of malware and peddling fake antivirus software. Alternatively, the system's default browser may be hijacked so as to redirect to ad-laden pages.

Making all this happen are networks of affiliates -- brokers who forge the deals that bundle the extra software with popular applications and place download offers on well-trafficked websites. They get paid by PPI businesses directly, sometimes as much as $2 per install, the researchers found. Legitimate developers often don't even know their products are being bundled with extra stuff.

As part of their study, the researchers focused on four PPI affiliates, routinely downloading their software packages and analyzing the components. Most striking, they said, was the degree to which downloads are personalized to maximize the chances that their payload will be delivered.

When an installer runs, the user's computer is first "fingerprinted" to determine which adware is compatible. The downloader also searches for antivirus protection and factors those results into its approach.

"They do their best to bypass antivirus, so the program will intentionally inject those elements -- whether it's adware or scareware -- that are likeliest to evade whichever antivirus program is running," said Damon McCoy, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at NYU Tandon.

Google has long tracked web pages known to harbor unwanted software offers and updates the Safe Browsing protection in its Chrome browser to warn users when they visit such pages. But PPI affiliates are constantly adjusting their tactics to avoid user protections while intentionally delivering unwanted software, the researchers said.

Part of the problem is what the researchers call the "thin veil of consent" that users grant inadvertently when they download the software they want.

"If you've ever downloaded a screen saver or other similar feature for your laptop, you've seen a 'terms and conditions' page pop up where you consent to the installation," said McCoy. "Buried in the text that nobody reads is information about the bundle of unwanted software programs in the package you're about to download."

The presence of a consent form allows these "stowaway software" businesses to operate legally, but what they thrust on users treads a fine line between unwanted software and malware, McCoy said. "We're hoping to expose these business practices so people are less likely to get duped into flooding their computers with programs they never wanted."

The researchers' paper, titled "Investigating Commercial Pay-Per-Install and the Distribution of Unwanted Software," will be presented at the USENIX Security Symposium in Austin, Texas, later this week.

A fun way to compare your flight options...Hipmunk

As the family is preparing to hit Disney soon, this website is a must for those surfing for good airfares.  

As anyone who has ever tried to compare flights will tell you it's a confusing business. Different airlines have different costs, flight lengths and changes, and trying to keep track of it all to work out which flight is the best for you is nigh on impossible.

That's the problem Hipmunk was created to solve, and it does it very well. Enter where you want to go and when into its search engine, and Hipmunk will organise all the available flights in a simple timeline.

This shows you the difference in cost, the difference in airport changes, or the actual times of the flights in one glance.