Another (maybe easier) way to Password

Today I googled, “how many passwords does the average user have?” and the top answer that appeared stated that a research study conducted by NordPass reports that an average person has approximately 100 passwords.

This sounds like a lot to remember, not gonna lie, but to go a step further depending on devices you’re using and how your various accounts are setup for login, you are also probably using a combination of pins, patterns, biometric authentication (fingerprints, facial recognition, etc.), the more common two factor authentication, and then of course the good old trusty password and if you’re lucky your using some form of password management to keep track of all those passwords.

If you’re overwhelmed, that’s okay, we know there is a lot to remember when logging in to all your various accounts. However, there is a new login technique that became available this year called the passkey which is promising to solve phishing and prevent password reuse.

Now you’re probably asking what is a passkey, well according to Hoffman-Andrews article on What the !#@% is a Passkey? from the Electronic Frontier Foundation website eff.org.

The passkey is approximately 100-1400 bytes of random data, generated on your device (like your phone, laptop, or security key) for the purpose of logging in on a specific website. Once the passkey is generated, your browser registers it with the website and it gets stored somewhere safe (for instance, your password manager). From then on, you can use that passkey to log in to that website without entering a password. When you go to a website’s login page, you’ll have the option to “Sign in with a passkey.” If you choose that option, you’ll get a confirmation prompt from your password manager and will be logged in after confirmation. For all this to work, there needs to be passkey support on the website, your browser, your password manager, and usually also your operating system.

Pros

  • The fact that each account has its own passkey helps prevent phishing and won’t let you log into a fake scam site.
  • Using a passkey, you can usually skip the traditional two-factor authentication as it counts using your devices unlock pin, facial recognition, or fingerprint as the other factor of authentication.
  • If you’re always forgetting your password and having to reset it often, you’re going to be forced to use a password manager, so the issue of forgetting your password has been solved.
  • Never have to come up with a new password as passkeys are generated and then stored.

Cons

  • Not all websites support passkeys yet.
  • Syncing between Apple, Windows, and Android is tricky.
  • Still must set up multiple passkeys for each account.
  • If somehow you lose your device, and the password manager is unlocked/opened your accounts are vulnerable.
  • Passkeys are device specific so you would need to have passkeys stored on all devices your access accounts with.
  • The solution for this is to backup passkeys on your password manager using the cloud and then copy the file to the different devices, use a USB device, or passkeys can be stored in high-security chips that are built into newer devices.

To conclude, passkeys still have room for improvement, when it comes to website support and the ability to sync between platforms. However, for most purposes, using passkeys will represent a significant improvement in security helping to protect you for phishing.

A Proper Backup Solution

Today we are going to talk about backups. Are you doing backups? Are your backups protected from hardware failures, viruses, ransomware, acts of god? Are they scheduled to run automatically or do you need to run them manually? We will dig into a few of these topics today.

First. Are you doing backups? If your answer to this is no then we need to talk. If you care about your data at all you should be doing backups. Everything from your important business data, all the way down to the pictures you took of your grandkids needs to be backed up. So, no matter who you are chances are you need some backups.

Let’s discuss some types of backups and the pros and cons.

Cloud storage. Cloud storage has several advantages. It’s easy, it happens automatically, and it’s available on most computers and phone types.

But cloud storage has it’s drawbacks. It can be slow depending on your internet connection speed. Backup space can be very limited. Meaning you could run out of room before you backup everything. There is only one copy in most cases. So, if you delete a file it is immediately deleted from the backup. If you get a virus or ransomware it can spread to your backups almost instantly, although some providers are putting systems in place to help prevent this. These options must be setup per computer so may not be manageable on larger networks.

Thumb Drives/External Hard Drives. If you purchase a drive big enough for all of your data, you can store everything you want. And drives are inexpensive so getting one that is big enough is easy. Usually you can oversize the drive and keep multiple copies. You can buy multiple drives and rotate and keep one or more off-site.

Drawbacks of this method are it is mostly a manual process. There are some programs to help automate it, but most require some amount of manual intervention. Also thumb drives have a higher failure rate than other drives. While it is not that bad, it is a consideration.

Server based backup solutions. Server based backup solutions are a must have for any business that needs to backup multiple computers and systems on a regular basis. They can be automated, scheduled and can require no intervention from the end user to run. Good systems will be isolated from the user network so that any virus/ransomeware attacks don’t propagate to the existing backups.

The initial setup of Server based backups can be very involved. But once thy are up and running they can run for a long time without intervention. Although they should be checked regularly to make sure everything is working as intended.

So, we’ve established that you probably need backups. But which backups are appropriate for you? Well that depends on who you are and what you’re backing up. Multiple types of backup are always recommended. Off-site backups are always recommended.

If you are a home user that is just wanting to protect your pictures of kids or grandkids, cloud storage and a couple of thumb drives will do the trick. The cloud storage covers the off-site and the thumb drive covers the multiple types.

If you are a business with lots of important data you should have a server based backup system. In addition you should have a second form of backups like external hard drives with a copy of the backup server and possibly other important systems. The external drive should be stored off-site to protect against fires, tornadoes and other potential building losses.

Like most other topics, these are just the basics. A good starting point.

If you need help designing the perfect backup solution, we can help. Contact us today.

Windows Shortcuts you should be using

Did you know there are many keyboard shortcuts to make you life easier when working on your computer? If you don’t, you are about to. These shortcuts can make your computer experience much more efficient with less frustration.

Select, Cut, Copy, And Paste Text
You can select text with Shift and the arrow keys. Also you can use Shift and Page up/down to select a whole page of text at a time. Or if you want to select everything just hit Ctrl+A.
Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, and Ctrl+V are used for cut, copy and paste. All you have to do is select the text you want to work with and copy or cut it with Ctrl+C or Ctrl+X. Then go to the new location and paste it with Ctrl+P.

Lock your computer.
Win+L is a quick way to lock your computer.

Switch between open programs.
Alt+Tab is a quick way to switch between open programs. Just hold the Alt key and hit Tab until you get to the program you want, then let off the Alt key and it will put that program in front.
Win+Tab or Ctrl+Alt+Tab pull up a list of open programs. Then just arrow to the program you want and hit enter.

Open multiple programs on one monitor.
Win+Arrow keys will snap a program to the left or right side of your screen. Use this to view two programs at once. You can also use the up and down arrows to maximize or minimize the program. Hitting Win+Arrow keys twice will lock the program to that side of the screen so the up and down arrows will move it to the top or bottom of the screen.

Take a screenshoot.
Win+Prt sc will take a screenshot of your current screen and copy it to your clipboard. Then just paste it into any program that can display a picture.

Magnify your screen.
Win+(+) Will magnify your screen. Use Win+(-) to reduce the size. Ctrl+0 will bring it back to normal.

Other shortcuts you can use.
Win+Crtl+D opens a new virtual desktop.
Win+Crtl+ switch between virtual desktops.
Win+M will minumize all open programs and take you back to the desktop.
Win+, quick view of desktop. Your programs will reappear when you release the keys.
Win+R will bring up the run prompt. Just type in the program you want to run and hit enter.
Ctrl+Shift+Esc Opens task manager.
Win+E Opens file explorer.
Win+A Brings up the notifications menu.

Hopefully these shortcuts will make your computing experience more productive. If I missed your favorite shortcut, please let me know.