Baby Monitor Hack ( hacked ) ?

This is about this best and easiest to understand article I have read on this subject. I want to thank the guys at  FargoTek Computer/Network/Security Solutions for putting this together. You can find them at http://www.fargotek.com/  They are a great group of guys and we highly recommend them. You can find them also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FargoTek

 Baby Monitor Hack ( hacked ) ?

Didja Hear? Parents in Ohio were jolted awake when all of a sudden a strange voice began screaming through their child’s baby monitor. Adam and Heather Schreck were both sleeping in their home when they heard a man yelling at their daughter. Heather picked up her cell phone to check the wireless video monitor in Emma’s room and was startled when she realized the camera was panning the room without their assistance.

A couple in Texas had a similar experience in August 2013. Mark and Lauren Gilbert heard strange noises coming from their two-year-old daughter’s room. When they went to Allyson’s room to check on her they found that their child’s monitor had been overtaken by a hacker; a strange voice was yelling profanities at their baby.

Just as with the Schreck family, the monitor turned in their direction and the intruder started cursing at them before Marc could rush over and unplug the monitor. The couple said the hacker accessed their wireless network, even though it was password-protected. The hacker was able to address the child directly because he had seen her name on a wall decoration which was above her bed.

Please keep in mind that a hacker with a 'cantenna' can access your wireless network from a very long way off. Just because your notebook doesn't get a signal on the porch doesn't mean someone else can't access or monitor your network from a mile away, meaning that even though you don't think anyone in your neighborhood would break into your network, someone far away might.
Here are 5 steps to help secure your network, I mentioned most of them on air today.

1.Enable encryption on your access point. Using 128-bit encryption or higher makes your Wireless Network more secure. WEP and WPA are entirely different encryption schemes. WEP has been proven insecure and can be cracked in a few minutes using free utilities that can be downloaded from the Internet. Using at least WPA is recommended, because it is much more secure, but is sometimes a bit harder to set up correctly than WEP is, and isn't completely secure.[1][2] Some older access points or wireless cards do not support WPA2. If you have one of these, it is recommended that you purchase a newer one that supports WPA2, depending on how important you consider your security.

2. Set the router access password. Anybody who gains access to the router configuration settings can disable the security you have set up. If you forget the password, most routers have a hardware reset that will restore all of the settings to factory defaults. The best option is to use a random sequence of the maximum length of characters - you only have to type that once, so it is not a big thing. When you connect to the router via LAN cable while setting it up, you can copy and paste the password onto the router and onto your local setting, so you never need to type it again.

3. Enable MAC Address filtering on your Access Point or router. A MAC (not to be confused with the computer model 'Mac') address is a code unique to every wireless networking card in existence. MAC Address filtering will register the hardware MAC Address of your networked devices, and only allow devices with known MAC Addresses to connect to your network. However, hackers can clone MAC addresses and still enter your network, so MAC address filtering should not be used in place of proper WPA2 encryption.

4. Disable remote login. The first router worm brute forces its way into the router in this manner. Most default usernames are set to Admin. It isn't hard for a virus/worm to crack the password if the username is known. The good thing is that routers normally have this disabled by default. Be sure to confirm that it is disabled when you first set up your router and periodically thereafter. If you need to update your router setting remotely, only set up access for the time you are going to be connected.

5. Disable wireless administrating. Finally, change the setting that allows administrating the router through a wireless connection to 'off' (meaning that you need to connect with a LAN cable for administration). This disables any wireless hacking into the router.

Thanks to smaller, cheaper processors, speedier wireless connections and the explosion of smartphones and tablets, it's becoming easier and more affordable to digitally link just about any object eg, -- sports equipment, watches, light bulbs, washing machines, thermostats, cameras, refrigerators , ect… Like a PC, the devices have operating systems and processors. And when they are connected to the Internet, hackers can break in and seize control.
Think about this, By 2050, analysts project, there will be 50 billion Internet-connected devices, or five such gadgets for every man, woman and child on the planet. Protect yourself by protecting your network..

How to Stop Videos From Starting Automatically on Facebook

There is nothing more irritating then being at work, school or simply at home and a video kicks on and starts to cause all kinds of problems. Facebook has the habit of streaming videos no matter what kind of weak powered Chrome Book you might be on. There is a simple solution to this and I will walk you through it.

If you are Running Firefox then follow these simple instructions.

You can enable a feature called Click To Play that replaces Flash content with a static image that you have to click on before the media will load and play. This is what it will look like.

To enable Click To Play -

1) Type about:config into your URL bar. This will bring up a warning but simply ignore it and dismiss it.

2) Type plugins.click_to_play into the search bar and press enter. This will bring up the file on your screen.

3) Right click on the file and then select Toggle.

4) Restart Firefox and when a video that use to auto start will instead be replaced with the above image.

Free Computer Antivirus?

There is a HUGE question that most people have, is free antivirus any good? I hope to help you out with this small article and let you know the ups and downs of not paying for your internet protection. In reality most antivirus is the same, some are a bit better in some areas while others are stronger in other areas. The simple answer is yes, go for the free stuff but there is a small catch to the answer.

 One of the best advantages of owning an antivirus is that it protects your sensitive information. There’s are 100's of virus that can steal important information from your computer such as your credit card number, bank account number, social security number and so forth. If you end up with a virus it could be mush worse then just a slow computer so yes, you do need antivirus.

I do not work for or earn any money from the following companies, please look over them and pick what you like but after the least you will need to keep reading because there is one more thing you need to know.


http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
http://www.avast.com/en-us/index
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download
http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html
http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus

There are others but these are some of the better ones.

One other thing that you need to know about keeping your computer and information safe is that you really should get a program to protect you from malware, do not fret, this is free as well. After you have downloaded your anti virus then download one of these as well. These will help protect your privacy from spyware.

http://www.superantispyware.com/
https://www.malwarebytes.org/

Now you are as safe as you can get and you have not paid a dime.

Old Time Radio OTR

While this may not be a hack in the conventional way "how to listen to OTR" is asked quite often. Sometimes people just want a story to listen to or they are setting up a computer for a parent or grandparent and want to show them some of the "cool" things it can do.

These are 2 of the best sites where you can download and even stream some of the old programs. Please feel free to let me know of any other sites that you have found helpful. I know there are hundreds out there but so many of them want you to buy a cd or download and these are 100% free.

http://www.oldtimeradiofans.com/

A great selection of downloads are available.




https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio

This is one of my favorite sites on the internet. It not only has free OTR but old movies, TV shows, books and now even video games.

How To Remove Facebook Graph Search

Are you tired of, concerned about or simply annoyed with your private information being thrown out to the world when it come to Facebook? This is a simply way to stop it from ever happening again. This is NOT my video but it deserves a look at because of the subject matter.

Play Atari and other old consoles in your browser LEGALLY for Free

Would you like to play the old games on your computer and tablet and not worry about a virus or the legality of it. There is a solution to your having fun, walking (playing) down memory lane, stay away from viruses and not worrying about the NSA breaking down your door.

The fantastic website archive.org has started adding video games from days gone by. The have made it so you do not need to download an emulator and instead lets you play the games in your web browser. "Simply click on a system below to browse through available games and cartridges and try them out. Where possible, links to manuals and additional information are available for reference."

Start your fun and head over to  https://archive.org/details/consolelivingroom

Has Your Email Been Hacked?

The fear of many people is that their email has been hacked and they might not even know it till it is to late. Personal information, pictures, credit information and just your sense of security can all be stolen. There are a couple of things you can do to check your account, one is simply checking the information on your page and the other is a great website that you can run your email address through.

1) If you have google mail it is easy to check the history of IP address used to access your email. If someone other then yourself is accessing it then it will show that persons IP address. Lets start from the beginning.

A - Open your gmail account
B - Scroll down to the bottom of the page
C - At the bottom right hand side there will be the words "Last account activity" with the number of minutes or hours it has been since your account has been accessed. Under this is the word "Details" and it will be underlined. Click on the work "Details"
D - A pop up window will show on your screen and it will give you details of when and were your account has been accessed. If you are the only person then you can feel at least safer that you have not been hacked.


2) There is a web site that takes all of the email address that have been openly hacked, places like Yahoo, Sony and Adobe of all had user information hacked. Adobe (best known for PhotoShop) lost over 150 MILLION user information to hackers.

Thankfully there is an easy solution to check if your email information has been compromised. http://haveibeenpwned.com/  covers many of the companies. It only asks for your email account and you do not have to give it any other information. When you enter your account it immediately tells you if you are safe or if you need to change your passwords.

I hope this has helped.