A Broken Record

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll say this again, and again, and again. Just like an old 33 skipping to play the same 30 seconds of music over and over and over …

Sorry, It’s Monday, and a torrent of issues are showing up in my feed, all related to email and end-users not following basic hygiene.

Let me repeat the basics of email hygiene, ONE MORE TIME.

• Use 2FA.
• Use unique passwords for each site.
• Do not use a device you do not own
• Never save credentials to a device.
• Check your sent mail folder.
• Check your deleted items folder.
• Keep your anti-malware updated.
• Keep your operating system patched.
• Keep your mail client updated.
• Keep your browser updated.
• Do not open unexpected documents.
• Do not open unexpected links.
• If it looks strange, IT IS…
• YOU DID NOT WIN THE <REDACTED> NATIONAL LOTTERY
• “FREE PUBLIC WIFI” is like an STD; it’s the gift that keeps giving.

Do visit one of the compromised data dump sites, (one is https://haveibeenpwned.com) and check for your various email addresses.

Just to drive this home, I will relate the following, from a firearms class I gave many eons ago:

The M1911, also known as the Colt 1911, or the Colt Government, is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated pistol chambered .45 ACP cartridge. 1911 has 11 safeties; 10 are located on the weapon. The 11th is the person operating the weapon.

To bring this back to today, any number of technology safeguards can be implemented, but if basic common sense is disregarded they are useless.

A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history, with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila. Mitch Ratcliffe.