Category: Technology Explained


YouTube Safety Tips

Posted on May 30th, by Cathy Olsen in Popular, Social Media, Technology Explained, Tutorial. 8 comments

YouTube Safety

We have all tried to be vigilant in monitoring what our kids do on the Internet.  Even with my best intentions, my kids have often 'clicked too far' on YouTube.  So what should a parent do to keep YouTube Safe?  Keep reading for some technical and practical tips you can follow to keep YouTube entertaining and fun!

YouTube Safety Tip #1 – Turn on SafeSearch

I have previously written a post on how to turn on YouTube SafeSearch.  See YouTube for Kids.  The safe search will block all content that is identified as 'inappropriate, violent, lude.'

However, since I wrote that post, I have realized many shortcomings with this safesearch setting.  This isn't a one-step solution.  The Safesearch feature relies on YouTube users to be accurate in their descriptions and titles for their movies.  As you can imagine with the millions of … Read More »



What is a DDOS Attack?

Posted on March 28th, by Cathy Olsen in Information Security News, Technology Explained. No Comments

The news has been full of stories of attacks on American banks.  Wells Fargo, Bank of America among them.  The attack also slammed other sercvices including Netflix, Google earth.  These attacks have been claimed by a group called “Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam Cyber Fighters” in response to an online video clip that denigrates Islam.  There are many complex issues surrounding the politics and the means of the attacks.  This was one of the largest DDOS attacks seen.  I'll break it down for you so you can understand.

What is a DDOS attack?

DDOS stands for “Distributed Denial of Service” attack.

Ok .. I'll explain even further

What is a DOS attack?

A denial of service attack occurs when a hacker sends large amounts of data to the victim website making it impossible or difficult for legitimate users to use the website.  Old School example: Remember the … Read More »


iPhone 5: Pros and Cons

Posted on September 21st, by Cathy Olsen in Mobile Security, Technology, Technology Explained. No Comments

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I just got my reminder e-mail that the iPhone is not available at the Apple store today. Yay!!  You can expect the Apple stock to go up as Apple received 2 million orders in the first 24 hours of announcing its release date!  Well, there are some key changes to the phone and I thought I would pass on my thoughts.

iPhone 5 Pros:
[list style="star"]

4G LTE – Where 4G is available, speeds will compare if not be better than your home wireless!  The 3g network averages speeds of 3.5Mbps, where the 4G LTE service can run as fast as 20 Mbps.  The speed of 4G LTE may depend on the support in your area.  You can stream video, have Facetime chats, etc.
Lighter – weighing almost an ounce lighter than the iPhone 4s it feels nice in the hand
Longer wider screen – … Read More »



Go Daddy Attack: Questions you need to ask your web service provider TODAY!

Posted on September 11th, by Cathy Olsen in Technology Explained, Web Surfing. 1 Comment

 

Go Daddy Attack Story: The Morning After

GoDaddy.com just released a statement statement that the outage was due to internal networking errors and not because of an outside attack.  There was much speculation that the @AnonymousOwn3r claimed responsibility for the attack.  Possibly they were just leveraging this outage and making a claim as an external attack.  There hasn't been too much information regarding the nature of the outage or attack.  Most likely it is related to a Denial of Service (DOS) outage.  Denial of Service (Old School Definition): Denial of service would be same as someone leaving the phone off the hook without telling you.  Your phone line would be busy and no one in the house could make or receive calls.

What does this mean for you if you host with GoDaddy?

So far GoDaddy.com claims that no personal information, usernames or passwords were released … Read More »



Internet Explorer Explodes Again!

Posted on June 25th, by Cathy Olsen in Recent Trends, Technology Explained. 1 Comment

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[heading style="1"]STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER![/heading]

There is a vulnerability in the XML core of IE that has been exploited.  There currently is not an update available from Microsoft.

[quote style="1"]ENGLISH: Your machine could be OWNED if you traverse a website that has this exploit enabled![/quote]

Since the last time I wrote on Internet Explorer it was the most common web browser used.  Because of the rise of MAC computers and users liking the features and possibly security of other browsers the popularity of Internet Explorer as a browser has decreased tremendously. (In 2009, Internet Explorer usage was at 70% and now in 2012 Internet Explorer usage is at 25%)

Back in my security lab days, my fellow lab rats would refer to Internet Explorer as “Internet Exploder”!  ha!  One of the first questions I ask when people are having problems with pop up's … Read More »





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The Securemama blog is updated regularly to teach and help people with technology and Internet. Keep it Fun!  Keep it Safe!

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