New year, same you. And that’s OK! You don’t need to makeover your entire life to have a good 2024.

But I can tell you firsthand it’s totally worth it to spend a few minutes cleaning up your tech life. Keep reading for steps to banish junk mail, make your phone less annoying and improve your cybersecurity. You got this!

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With constant network connections and so many bad actors out there, you must always remain vigilant. They’re always looking for ways to get you, and your phone has one vulnerability you probably never thought about. Tap or click here to stop making this simple and dangerous mistake you’re making every day.

Sure, sophisticated hackers can hijack your Wi-Fi, but your privacy and security can be compromised at an even more basic level.

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Are you stir-crazy yet? If so, we get it — nearly six months of lockdowns can make anyone frustrated. And even though plenty of essential businesses are still open (and more nonessential ones re-opening every day), it can be tiring to find that your favorite hangouts like sports bars and the mall are closed after all this time.

But no matter how hard we try, we can’t rely on delivery for everything. Sometimes, the items we want just aren’t available on Amazon. But as long as you have a mask on your face, most businesses will let you in without any issue. Tap or click here to see the best face masks ranked.

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Years of marriage will hone a spouse’s instincts, and we often know when something seems funny. Smartphones, tablets, computers, and smart tech absorb adulterous evidence like a sponge. Once suspicions are aroused, a digital trail could contain many clues about a potential dalliance.

When looking for evidence of a cheater, partners can dig up a lot by looking at what or who a person searches for on the web and social media. On Facebook, you can see every single person someone has searched for if you know the secret.

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Back in the days of yore (say before the mid-1990s), we depended on our five senses to find signs that our significant other was cheating — lipstick on the collar, suddenly paying more attention to grooming, spending more time at the office, etc. Ironically, in this digital era, technology seems to be giving the cheater more cover than the cheated.

It’s not difficult for a cheater to hide his or her digital tracks. Luckily, while technology has changed, human behavior hasn’t. You can still feel something’s wrong and your spouse or significant other is acting weird.

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Forgetting your password can be such a pain. With so many websites and services online, who has time to remember all of their important logins for every single destination on the web?

Thanks to Google’s latest authentication feature, you don’t have to – at least, for some of Google’s specific sites. If you’re someone who’d prefer to use biometric information such as your face or fingerprint to log in to your accounts, you’re in luck.

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In the past, the scariest thing that could happen to your smartphone was to get hacked, or have a critical security flaw. As our tech devices now come paired with digital assistants built-in, we have more issues to worry about.

This particular security issue is unfortunately with the Siri personal companion for iOS users. You probably know already know that to use the virtual assistant, all you need to do is say, “Hey Siri.” The digital assistant is activated once those wake-up words are uttered.

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Take a moment to think about all the private data stored on your computer. You probably have all your photos, videos, resumes, contacts, documents and other sensitive information saved on your PC or Mac. Someone could do a lot of damage with that information, which is why it’s important to know how to spot computer spies.

You may not know this, but your work computer probably has spyware on it. Employers often install bossware onto work devices, which lets them see every keystroke you make. Here’s all you need to know about the secret software watching your every move at work.

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From a creepy techno-bully to a bogus nuclear strike warning, Google’s Nest security cam was all over tech news this past month for all the wrong reasons. Possessed security cameras are nothing new but now, if hackers start using them to inflict all sorts of terror and mayhem to ordinary families across the country, that’s apparently where the lines are drawn.

Nest has previously washed its hands of any lapses in its security systems by claiming that the hacks were caused by the camera owners’ own undoing — that is, poor password selection and a failure to enable the all-important two-factor authentication option.

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What would you do if you lost your iPhone? Or worse, if it was stolen? The right thing to do is to first use Find My iPhone to try and locate, and in the worst-case scenario, remotely wipe it.

Next, you will probably report the iPhone as lost or stolen to your carrier or Apple to prevent the gadget from being resold. There are serial number blacklist, IMEI locks and more importantly, Apple iCloud account locks that can prevent your phone from being reactivated.

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How secure is your Android phone? You probably follow the basic advice of using a passcode or fingerprint to unlock your phone. You stay alert to suspicious emails and install the latest security updates. But what about your lock screen?

Your lock screen can inadvertently tell the world a lot about what you’re doing with your phone. Someone peeking over your shoulder or poking around on your unattended phone may be able to see your notifications, including previews and contact names from text messages.

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Apple does a great job of giving you the tools to keep your account and gadgets secure, but just like any other connected service, Apple IDs are constant targets for hackers and scammers lurking out there.

Hackers are exploiting the sheer number of Apple users to their advantage, trying out different email addresses stolen from other data breaches to try and infiltrate accounts.

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You may think you’re a pro when it comes to watching Netflix. You watch movies like “Black Panther” and TV shows like “That ’70s Show” so often that it seems you’ve watched its entire catalog.

You’ve watched entire seasons of shows like “Sons of Anarchy,” “Orange is the New Black” and “Stranger Things.” You’ve spent entire weekends binge-watching Netflix originals like “Making a Murderer.”

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People cheat. Not everyone, not all the time, but extramarital affairs are downright common. Even now, in the age of serial divorces and polyamory, when marriage is as flexible — and even disposable — as it ever has been, devoted husbands and wives succumb to temptation.

When looking for evidence, partners usually turn to spy apps. These secretive phone apps track everything a person does and where the person goes. Click or tap here for five smartphone apps that will get the job done.

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]]> 485786 https://www.komando.com/downloads/use-a-usb-drive-to-lock-and-unlock-your-pc/445175/ Wed, 25 Apr 2018 21:00:29 +0000

© Siiixth | <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-illustration-usb-flashdrive-metal-steel-master-key-lock-image83491561"> Dreamstime.com </a>

Think about all of the critical information stored on your computer. With so much of our lives being conducted in the digital world these days, I’m sure it’s a ton.

Most of our computers contain such things as banking information, tax documents, saved passwords and more. Can you imagine someone snooping around and getting their hands on all that? Scary, right?

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]]> 445175 https://www.komando.com/gadgets/siri-is-reading-your-hidden-messages-out-loud/447652/ Fri, 23 Mar 2018 18:55:25 +0000

Have you ever received a message on your phone that you would not want read aloud? One that is meant for you and you only?

Even if the message being made public would not be the worst thing to happen, it’s still not an ideal situation. They are meant to be private for a reason, so let’s just try and keep them that way.

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If you think about it, our smartphones hold so much information about us. It knows who your contacts and friends are, it takes snapshots of our lives through photos and videos, it knows where you’ve been and where you’re headed, your browsing habits, your financial transactions, and your shopping habits; it knows virtually everything about you!

But how secure is your smartphone against would-be snoopers and hackers? I hope you’re using some kind of security system on your gadget to protect your privacy.

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