New Guide to Public WiFi Security

There are hundreds of fantastic things we can thank the World Wide Web for. But, sadly, that doesn’t mean it isn’t without fault.

There’ll always be people who try to exploit the naivety or recklessness of others. That sad state of affairs extends to cyberspace. Criminals will often try to intercept sensitive data over wifi networks – and there’s no better place to try that than on (often unguarded) public servers.

But don’t worry, there are ways to combat this. This guide will run you through everything you need to know about how these cybercriminals operate, and provide you with effective ways of preventing and countering an attack.

Thanks to our friends at surfshark, here is a great guide.  Click here for more.

How to Unsubscribe From Unwanted Email

Unsubscribe Links Made Easy

The cleanest way to get off a list is to use the built-in unsubscribe option. That link is generally buried at the bottom of the message, in tiny type or made to not even look like a link, all the better to keep you subscribed.

(The chance that the unsubscribe link is a trick—a way to confirm you are a real person—is low. But be smart about it; if something looks fishy in any message, just delete it.)

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Google Gmail

Gmail makes it easy to unsubscribe on the desktop. Whenever it notices a working unsubscribe link in a message, it puts its own unsubscribe link at the top of the message, right next to the address of the sender's email. In fact, sometimes it appears in place of the Spam icon in the toolbar. Click it and a giant Unsubscribe button appears.

On mobile, tap the three-dot menu up top; if the sender offers an easy unsubscribe option, the word Unsubscribe will appear on the menu.

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Microsoft Outlook

Prominent unsubscribe links are also found on Outlook.com and the Outlook apps as well. On the web, it says "Getting too much email? Unsubscribe" at the top of a supported message.

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Apple's iOS Mail App

On the built-in iOS Mail app, look for a banner reading "This message is from a mailing list. Unsubscribe" atop your messages, which will email the sender with the unsub request.

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Edison Mail

Edison Mail for iOS, macOS, and Android shows a large Unsubscribe button at the top of a message (with a Resubscribe button if you change your mind). Edison Mail also offers a Block option on messages, so you never have to see anything from the sender ever again.

What's interesting is that not all email apps recognize unsubscribe links the same way, or support them within the same messages. Thankfully, when you're on the mobile apps that support multiple services (usually Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, and IMAP accounts), you can unsubscribe across all the services.

Unsubscribe Services

Want to unsubscribe from mail in a big batch? Several services make it possible. The downside: you have to give these services complete access to your inbox for them to find messages with an unsubscribe option; sometimes that includes your contacts. Like Heinlein said: TANSTAAFL.

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Unroll.me

Available on the web or via a mobile app, Unroll.me looks into the heart of your Outlook.com, Gmail/GSuite, Yahoo Mail, and Aol email account to locate messages you probably don't want. You can also try an email address from another service.

In return, you get a list of all the senders you could nix; pick the ones you don't want, and Unroll.me does the rest. It also offers a service called The Rollup so you can re-subscribe to select mailings, but they'll get funneled to you via Unroll.me in a daily digest. You can edit (or deactivate) The Rollup any time.

Unroll.me is free, but it does want full access to your messages and contacts. Its parent company claims that it ignores personal email and anonymizes the messages it sees, but it's using all of the data to sell market research.

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Unsubscriber by Polymail

Unsubscriber is not cheap at $19, but that's because it's not making its money by selling your info to marketing firms and third parties. Created by Polymail—one of our 20 Tools for More Productive Email—the site asks you to log in via your Google account and then offers full bulk unsubscribe and archive tools.

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Leave Me Alone

With Leave Me Alone, you pay for credits ($2.50 for 50) that you can apply toward doing unsubscribes; one unsub per credit. It supports Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, iCloud, Aol, and any IMAP accounts. Connect them all. There's also offer an account option for big teams.

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Clean Email

A single account at Clean Email is $29.99 per year, or you can do up to five users for $49.99 per year or $99.99 annually for a full team (there are more expensive monthly options starting at $7.99). Like many others, it offers a web interface that aggregates your web-based email services (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, IMAP accounts) in one big inbox that can be cleaned up in a few clicks, whether you're bulk unsubbing, black-listing senders, or setting up filters and rules.

How to Use Siri Shortcuts to Record a Police Encounter

Being stopped by police can be a difficult and even scary experience. Hopefully, the incident can be resolved smoothly and peacefully, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious, just in case. That’s why you may want to take certain steps, including texting someone your location and recording the encounter. You can do all that, and more, with your iPhone and a handy Siri shortcut.

Reddit user Robert Petersen created a shortcut called “I’m getting pulled over” that will pause any music playing on your phone, turn down the brightness, and activate “Do Not Disturb” mode. The shortcut will also send a message to someone with your status and location and start recording a video of the encounter. Here’s how to set up and use this shortcut.

Allow Untrusted Shortcuts

First, make sure the Shortcuts app is on your iPhone. The app should already be there as long as you’re running iOS 12 or higher. But if it’s missing, download and install it directly from the App Store. Next, you’ll need to allow untrusted shortcuts. However, before you can do that, you need to run at least one shortcut.

Open the Shortcuts app and run a shortcut. If you haven’t yet created any shortcuts, which would appear in the My Shortcuts section, tap Gallery and select the name of a shortcut. Tap the Add Shortcut button, then tap the My Shortcuts icon. Tap the shortcut you just added to run it.

Now, go to Settings > Shortcuts. Under Sharing Security, turn on the switch next to Allow Untrusted Shortcuts.

Add and Set Up Shortcut

Open Safari on your phone and go to the page for the “I’m getting pulled over” shortcut. Make sure you get the latest version of the shortcut, not the original called “Police." Swipe down the Add Shortcut screen to review the actions this shortcut will take. At the bottom, tap the Add Untrusted Shortcut button.

At the next screen, type the phone number of the person you want to notify via text when you run this shortcut. Or tap the plus icon to access your contacts and select a specific person.

Tap Continue, then add a contact for someone whom you want to receive a copy of the video of the encounter. Tap Done.

Run the Shortcut

You should test the shortcut before trying to run it in a real-life situation to make sure it runs properly and you know how to use it. Open the Shortcuts app, tap My Shortcuts, then tap the shortcut’s icon. You can also say “Hey Siri, I’m getting pulled over." The shortcut then runs automatically, though there are a few points at which you will need to step in.

The shortcut requires you to press the red recording button to stop the video, then tap the Use Video link to create a text message. Tap the arrow next to the generated text message to send the video to your assigned contact. You can then choose whether or not you want to upload the video to iCloud Drive or Dropbox.

Any element of the shortcut that you previously set up can be changed at a later date. From the My Shortcuts page, tap the ellipsis on the shortcut and modify any of the variables you wish to change. If the shortcut is running as expected, keep it in mind the next time you’re pulled over by a police officer and want to record and notify someone about the encounter.

Email security and privacy awareness course

Given the amount of free time many may have at this time, or at least time you have to sit in front of your computer screen, it may be a good time to evaluate your awareness online to the dangers you face.  To that end, this blog will focus on email security and many of the aspects of it you may not be awareness.  Thanks to our friends at Mailfence, a privacy-conscious email provider, they have created a free course you can take to raise your awareness.  Click here for the course.  There is some reading involved, but it is well worth it.

A Guide to Public Wifi Security Risks & How to Use it Safely

There are hundreds of fantastic things we can thank the World Wide Web for. But, sadly, that doesn’t mean it isn’t without fault.

There’ll always be people who try to exploit the naivety or recklessness of others. That sad state of affairs extends to cyberspace. Criminals will often try to intercept sensitive data over wifi networks – and there’s no better place to try that than on (often unguarded) public servers.

But don’t worry, there are ways to combat this. This guide will run you through everything you need to know about how these cybercriminals operate, and provide you with effective ways of preventing and countering an attack.

Thanks to our friends at Surfshark, here is a comprehensive guide you can use to stay safe.

Online Gaming Safety

If your life is similar to mine during this Pandemic, you may have a child/teenager sitting in front of a computer screen playing games to pass the time away.  Given that, you should educate yourself a bit about safety and online gaming.  To that end, here is a great resource for educating yourself.  Click here. 

The guide is helpful for the following:

• The rise of online gaming and how millions of active online players and 2.4 billion casual mobile gamers are now a target of cybercrime.
• Facts and statistics around online gaming privacy: in 2011 77 million accounts were hacked on the Playstation Network, and in 2014 70% of South Korea's population (aged between 15 and 65) had their data stolen whilst playing online.
• Common forms of cyberattacks targeting online gamers (e.g. gaming malware, in-game ransomware, keyloggers (password stealers), so-called ‘power-up’ scams, and phishing campaigns, etc.).
• Practical and useful tips and advice to avoid being a victim of cyber attacks when playing online, including tips for parents with kids who play online games.