November 2016
                         
  Digital Forensics           IT Support           CyberSecurity 
Female hand holding black mobile smart phone with smart home application on the screen. Blurred house on the background. For access to all of the controls of your house and caring of home security.
Articles of Interest




Confused businessman looking at his laptop in his office How Quickly Can 650,000 Emails 
Be Reviewed?
by Patrick Logan
President & Certified 
Computer Examiner

Actually, the FBI did not need to review 650,000 emails in eight days.  When electronic documents such as emails are reviewed for content, they are processed using eDiscovery software.  This software indexes all words that are in each document and calculates a digital finger print for each document.  The digital fingerprint is then used to compare documents and determine duplicates.  In large cases like the FBI's recent search, a list of key words is used to search the emails to reduce the number of documents that need actual review.  Once the duplicates were removed and the list of emails that matched the relevant keywords determined, the FBI only had to review a small fraction of the original emails that were discovered.

Meet the 
Seltek Team
 


Seltek is pleased to welcome and introduce Tracy Kneebush.  Tracy is  originally from Michigan and recently moved to Richmond from Dayton, Ohio to be close to his two grandsons, ages 2 years and 10 months.  He and his wife of 25 years are excited to make their new home in the Richmond area.  

Tracy has been involved in all aspects of IT dating back "before Windows was a thing."   He sold PCs in a small shop, dabbled in phone support, provided in-home service for Dell and most recently administered nearly 100 users in multiple offices and data centers.
 
Tracy says that what he loves most about IT is "you never have to worry about doing the same thing day in and day out and the ever-changing landscape."  This allows him to play with new toys and be on the cutting edge.  Whether it's the latest cell phone, tablet, computer or gaming system, he must have it. 

Other Seltek News

Congratulations to Patrick Logan, Seltek President, who now serves as the Board Chair for Tech For Troops Project

Tech for Troops

Support T4TP when you do your holiday shopping on Amazon. T4TP will receive 5% of your purchase at no extra cost to you. Visit smile.amazon.com.  #StartWithaSmile

Join T4TP Wednesday nights for volunteer events.  4:30-7:30.  4840 Waller Rd., Richmond. 



Keeping Your Smart 
Home Secure
by Liz Calder
IT Support Specialist
 
Televisions, refrigerators, baby monitors, security cameras; the list of devices we connect to our home networks is growing exponentially.  However, most of us rarely think about the security risks they bring to our homes. 
 
The truth is, if a device connects to the internet (or even just to the home network), it is vulnerable to hacking.  The degree of threat may vary.  For instance you likely consider a Smart TV recording your conversations is less of a threat than a home security system failing a hacking test.  Internet of Things security is still an evolving technology and is far from perfect.  However there are definitely steps we can take to make things more secure.

1. If you don't need to connect it, DON'T.  If you bought a smart TV to watch Netflix, it makes sense to want to connect it to the internet.  But if you just bought the TV because you like the model and you are not going to be using it with WiFi, do not bother with the WiFi connection.  The safest device is still a disconnected device.  Better yet, disable WiFi and Bluetooth connections you are not using.

2. Change the password (and check the security settings).  Whether it is your firewall, home router or your baby monitor, the default passwords are posted on the internet.  The first thing you should always do when setting up a new device is change the password.  For a firewall or router, it is a good idea to set a schedule for periodic password changes.   Note: it is helpful to keep a Password Database to track your changed passwords. 

3. Make sure your WiFi is secure.  Review your WiFi to make sure you are using the best security available. Use a different admin and access password.  Also use the strongest available security encryption and a password for your guest network.  

4. Use a separate network for your Internet of Things devices.  Most modern WiFi routers are programmed to allow more than one network.  Consider using a dedicated network (or the guest network) for your IoT devices.

5. Update your device firmware periodically.  Firmware is the programming that makes your device function.  If the manufacturer becomes aware of problems and security holes, they will publish firmware updates to fix it.  Set a schedule (such as every quarter) to check for firmware updates for your devices.

6. Choose devices carefully.  Read up on your devices before you purchase them and check the manufacturer's security and privacy policies.  Favor devices that do not use cloud services.  Determine whether or not it will work if you discontinue any subscription.
For added security, consider an IoT security device .  

The Internet of Things brings a new set of security challenges to our homes.  Making wise decisions about which devices we connect to the internet and the security measures we keep in place can help mitigate the risks.  

Pop-up Alert Virus Scam 
by Kara Mueller
IT Support Specialist and 
Certified Computer Examiner

In the past few months, there have been a number of clients who have experienced an internet pop-up warning them about a virus. The alert can appear on PCs and Mac computers through normal browsing activity. It manifests just like a pop-up advertisement, but is often disguised to look like part of the Windows or Macintosh operating system. When the pop-up appears, if the sound volume on your computer is on, you may hear an alarm and a voice warning you to call tech support. 

There are many different variants of pop-up messages, but most will give you a "tech support" phone number to call. Unfortunately, the person who picks up on the other end is only out to scam you and will ask for money to help clean your fake virus. They may also request entry into your computer to "fix" the problem (and may install malware while logged in).
 
Nearly all of these alerts are difficult to close and can only be dismissed by force quitting your web browser or restarting your computer.
 
There is some good news - last month, the FTC filed suit against the owners of four companies accused of creating these fake virus alerts. Unfortunately, more could still be out there. If you see one of these pop-up ads, never call the telephone number and never give a stranger remote access to your computer.   Click here for more information on the FTC suit .
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