How to preview URLs to avoid dangerous links Do you know the difference between a link and a URL? The link is the text you see in an email or on a webpage, and the URL is the underlying address that you will be redirected to once you click. Hackers can easily disguise the link…
There’s a 75% chance that *your* Social Security Number was leaked. What should you do? The story starts with a company called National Public Data, which gathered and aggregated data about you, me and the rest of the US population, then sold it to companies who wanted to target us for sales. They did a…
Operating with your Microsoft 365 account This series of articles will help you access and use your Microsoft 365 account that your organization has made available to you. Article Index: Using Multi-Factor Authentication Reset your password This article is a work in progress. Articles will be added as warranted. If you have questions…
Don’t log in! Would you log into the Microsoft 365 online website in this image? Did you spot the problem? This article helps you identify fake websites and gives you one more reason to get a password manager. More info: What is a URL? Mozilla.org How to check if a website is legit Chase…
Microsoft will stop support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025 If you are still running the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system, you have 14 months to make a decision. After that date there will be no security updates, patches, and no further technical support from Microsoft. This article will help you to plan…
Consider the following situation: Someone you’ve communicated with before sends you a personalized but unsolicited email with an attachment. You check the return email and confirm that it came from the person’s legitimate email address. Even though you were not expecting the email, you open the attachment anyway. The Microsoft Office document prompts you to…
Please update your various devices/systems. There have been some recent challenges to the security of Windows and the Chrome browser: A Windows Wifi takeover attack can allow a hacker access to your computer through Wi-Fi without your knowledge or interaction. Chrome has patched 4 zero-day attacks in just two weeks. Most devices will automatically update…
Get your computer issue resolved faster… these 9 important details will help identify the problem. Sometimes computers don’t do what we expect them to do. OK, perhaps more than sometimes. When they don’t, you want to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible. That’s where we, HDF & Associates, come in. We would like…
Privacy simplified. With the free DuckDuckGo browser You share your most intimate secrets with your search engine: medical, financial, and personal issues, along with all your day-to-day concerns. All that personal information should be private, but – on Google – it’s not. On Google, your searches are tracked, stored, and packaged up into a data…
Malware, phishing, ransomware… so many terms. Do you know what they all mean? We all know that our computers are under attack, and we most likely know many of the types of these attacks. But there are probably several types that you are not aware of, leaving you vulnerable. Please review this short list of…
A reboot a week keeps the doctor away Would you like to prevent most of your computer problems with a simple procedure that takes all of 3 minutes once a week? Would you do it? It’s as easy as rebooting your computer… in fact, it *IS* rebooting your computer. To find out why rebooting…
Do you know how to protect yourself online? Two minutes to find out! So, the holidays are over and you’re back at work. Are you focused, or will you fall into one of the many online traps? This quiz will remind you of the most important points to keep you safe! Please take two…
You want to find out if its naughty or nice… This is the time of year to be extra careful with emails. We are often busy with deadlines during the holidays which can lead us to rush more than normal. This could allow us to miss scams that we ordinarily would catch. Be careful, read…
Don’t click on that ad! Stay away from sketchy websites if you don’t want to get infected. Sounds familiar, right? But does that mean that legitimate sites are always safe? Unfortunately, no. The risk comes from the ads embedded in the sites that may infect your computer. But, how could a legitimate site embed a…
Who is responsible for your computer’s security? You can expect your IT support folks (if you have them) to put security layers in place to protect you and your equipment, but if you bypass that security…. then who is responsible? Yes, it is vital to install and maintain an antivirus solution on your device(s), and…
What to look out for Tech support scams are attempts by scammers to use scare tactics to trick you into fake technical support services to supposedly fix device or software problems that don’t exist. At best, the scammers are trying to get you to pay them to “fix” a nonexistent problem with your device or…
