c/cybersecurity-tips

My friend's coffee shop in Austin got hit with a ransomware attack

It happened about six weeks ago, and they lost all their point of sale data for a weekend. The attack came through a fake invoice email someone clicked. Now I use a password manager for everything and set up two-factor auth on my business accounts the next day. It made me realize how easy it is for a small shop to get targeted. Has anyone else had to help a local business recover from something like this?

Remembering when a simple firewall felt like enough, but my old router's firmware got exploited last Tuesday.

I had to scramble to flash new firmware after finding it was part of a botnet, which makes me wonder, how often do you guys check your home network gear for updates now?

Had my truck broken into at the job site in Denver last week and my work laptop with all my client quotes was gone.

Now I encrypt every single device with a password that's over 12 characters long, no matter how much of a pain it is to type in every morning.

I finally stopped reusing the same password everywhere after my kid's Roblox account got hacked.

The hacker got into my email because I'd used the same password for both, and that's when I saw how one weak link can take down everything. Anyone have a password manager they actually like, or is it better to just use a physical notebook?

Appreciation post: My kid's school email got hacked last month

I got a weird text from my son's teacher asking why he was emailing her about gift cards. Turns out his school account password was just his birthday. I had to walk him through setting up 2FA on his school Gmail. Has anyone else had to deal with this with younger kids?

My sister's kid asked me why I have a password on my phone and it made me think

I was babysitting my nephew, he's 8, and he grabbed my phone to play a game. He got confused when it asked for my passcode. He said, 'But it's just your phone, who would take it?' I told him it's not just about someone stealing it, it's about all the stuff inside. I explained how if I lost it, someone could get into my email, my bank app, and even my photos. His eyes got wide and he said, 'Oh, so it's like a lock on your diary.' That simple idea hit different. I always thought of it as a basic step, but framing it for a kid made me realize I should explain it better to other people, not just do it. It's not just a tech thing, it's protecting your private stuff. How do you guys explain basic security stuff to people who don't get it?

Had to pick between a free VPN and paying for one last year

I was setting up a new laptop and needed a VPN for public Wi-Fi. The choice was a free service with ads or paying $60 a year for a known brand. I went with the paid one after reading a report about free VPNs selling user data. It's been solid for 14 months now, no weird slowdowns or pop-ups. Has anyone else made that call and regretted it, or found a good free option that's actually safe?

Vent: My friend's 'strong' password was just their dog's name with 123 at the end

Honestly, I see this all the time. People think adding a few numbers makes a password secure, but it's still super easy to guess if it's based on public info like a pet. I told them to use a passphrase like three random words instead, but they said it's too hard to remember. How do you convince someone to actually change their habits when they think their current way is fine?

Update: I thought that cheap password manager was fine until it got breached

Lost about $300 from a saved card when my master password got leaked from their servers. Anyone know a better service that's actually secure?

Warning: My cousin in Tampa just clicked a link in a text about a 'missed delivery' and got his bank info stolen...

PSA: I thought those 'free VPN' ads were just trying to sell me something, but my cousin in Seattle got his bank info stolen using one.

He downloaded a popular free VPN app last month to watch a show, and a week later saw weird charges from another state. Honestly, the app was logging his traffic and someone got his login details. Has anyone found a trustworthy free option, or is paying the only safe way?

Just stopped a phishing attack by checking the sender's actual email address, not just the display name.

A fake 'IT Support' email looked real, but the address ended in @gmaill.com instead of @gmail.com, which I caught before clicking anything.

Pro tip: My friend's kid just got scammed out of his Fortnite account because of a simple mistake.

We were at a barbecue last month and his 12-year-old was really upset. He said he got a direct message on Discord offering free V-Bucks if he logged in through a link. He clicked it, typed his info, and his account was gone in minutes. The guy running the grill, who works in IT, just shook his head and said, 'Never, ever click a login link someone sends you. Always go to the real site yourself.' It was such a basic thing, but seeing it happen to a real kid made it stick. Has anyone else had to help someone recover from a phishing scam like that?

Update: My work's public Wi-Fi in Chicago got spoofed at a conference

Honestly, I saw a fake network with the hotel's name and almost connected before my VPN flagged it. Has anyone else run into a rogue hotspot like that?

Found a weird trick that stopped a phishing email from my 'boss' last week

My kid clicked a link in a game chat and our router got hit

My son was playing Roblox last Tuesday and clicked a link from another player that said it gave free Robux. Within an hour, our home Wi-Fi in Austin slowed to a crawl and our smart lights started acting weird. I had to factory reset our Netgear Nighthawk router and change every single password, which took me all evening. Has anyone else had to deal with something like this from a kid's game?

Finally convinced my mom to stop reusing the same password everywhere after her email got locked out last Tuesday.

She had 'Fluffy2012' on everything from her bank to her streaming services. Anyone else have a go-to method for explaining password managers to family?

Checked my password manager stats and it flagged 22 of my saved logins as reused across different sites.

Looking back at my old sticky note password system versus using a password manager now

I had a physical list of about 40 passwords stuck under my keyboard in 2015, but switching to a password manager last fall meant I could finally use strong, unique codes for everything without the panic of losing that one piece of paper.

I thought the 'shred' command on my Linux machine was just for show until I saw a forensics report recover a 'deleted' file from a drive I only formatted once.

Now I run 'shred -n 3 -z -v' on any drive before I donate it, but is there a faster method for a 2TB drive that's just as secure?

My hotel wifi in Denver last month gave me a scare

I was staying at a place near the airport and logged into the free guest network to check my bank account. The login page looked a bit off, but I didn't think much of it until my phone's VPN app popped up a warning about a strange certificate. I got off the network right away and used my phone's data instead. Has anyone else run into a sketchy public wifi login that made you stop and check things?

Warning: My email got hacked 3 years ago because I reused a password

A security expert friend looked at my old habits and flat out said 'you're using the same password for your bank and a gaming forum, that's asking for trouble.' He was right, because that forum got breached and someone tried to drain my account. I switched to a password manager that day and now every site gets a unique, long code. Has anyone else had a close call that finally made them change a bad security habit?

Update: My email got hacked 3 years ago because I reused a password

Back in 2021, my main email account got taken over after a forum I used got breached. I had used the same password there as my email. The hacker got in, changed my password, and started sending spam to my contacts. It took me two full days to get control back by proving my identity to the provider. Now I use a password manager and make every password different. Anyone else have a story about recovering from a hacked account?

My brother said to never click 'remember this device' on a public computer. He was right.

Switched from a free VPN to ProtonVPN and my connection speed doubled.

Used a free one for a year, thought it was fine. Then I tried ProtonVPN's free tier and got 85 Mbps instead of 40. The difference is they don't sell your data to pay for it. Anyone else find a secure free option that actually works?