Version 1.5.12 is finally here and pushed out to the production servers. As always, our customers don’t need to do anything to get this update. Happy holidays and let us know if you experience any problems with the latest service at support@golockbox.com.
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
If I took your laptop right now, I could access that data in just a few minutes, probably less. Really I could. And, I wouldn’t even need to know your computer account password. That is unless that data was encrypted …
If you don’t know what encryption is, it’s simply the process of scrambling data so that it’s difficult to read. In order to read the data, or “decrypt” it, you need a secret key that no one else but you knows, such as a password.
Sounds complicated? Expensive? It’s neither. Everything you need is already built-in on the operating system you’re using right now.
Remember that in order for encryption to be effective, the secret used to protect the data needs to be difficult to guess. Many of the tools above uses your account password. This means that 1) you need to have a password in the first place, and 2) that the password you’re using is strong.
Take care, and good luck.
–Kevin
P.S. Stolen laptops are just one of the many ways identity thieves and malicious hackers can get a hold of your customer’s data. Learn how you can put real Internet security experts to work for you and your customers with our affordable, easy to use secure file transfer service.
Malware comes in all sorts of sophistication flavors, but here’s a small piece of professional advice that will help you the next time your computer gets infected and help you prevent most future infections:
The secret to the above process is in steps #1 and #2. Step #1 sets up an account that has the capabilities and system security privileges to remove a majority of infections. Step #2 places controls on your account, so that if it does get infected, the infecting program can not compromise the rest of the computer do things like resist removal attempts.
This approach has helped me numerous times, from helping family members remove infections from their home computers to assisting Fortune 500 companies analyze, remove and prevent malware infections on critical networks.
Good luck,
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
After what seems like months and months of gathering customer feedback, code development, testing and then doing it all over again, I am happy to announce that LOCKBOX SFT version 1.5.9 is finally here! Version 1.5.9 is stuffed with a bunch of new features and improvements, but here are some of the key ones we think you should know about:
Thanks and let us know if you experience any problems with the latest service at support@golockbox.com.
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
The production servers just got updated to version 1.5.6. Normally we like to release more often, but we have strict software quality release criteria that we just won’t bend on (and that’s a great thing!).
Many minor updates went into this release, including:
Thanks and let us know if you experience any problems with the latest service at support@golockbox.com.
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
Last week email marketing firm Epsilon had their systems breached according to several sources, such as CNN. Customer email lists of major companies like TD Ameritrade, Citi, AT&T, 1800Flowers, and more were reportedly stolen as part of that breach. What this means for you is that instead of receiving random phishing emails from companies that you don’t have accounts with, you’ll likely start receiving more targeted phishing emails from companies that you do have accounts with (which some security folks have termed ‘spear phishing’). Here’s what you need to do to better protect yourself over the next couple of months.
What You Can Do
When it comes to phishing email attacks, we’ve all been taught to look carefully at links before we click them, making sure it’s from a trustworthy source. I want you to shelve this idea for a little while and get into the habit of “manually typing in URLs“. That’s right. If you receive an email, for example, from Bank of America indicating you need to change your password with all sorts of links to click, ignore them (even if they look 100% legitimate and you actually do have an account with that bank), open up a Web browser and manually type in the URL for Bank of America that you personally know and trust.
The reason for this is because of what is known as a open redirection vulnerability. This type of vulnerability allows hackers to present you with a valid URL that you recognize and trust, but when you click on it you’ll still get redirected to a fraudulent site designed to steal your passwords. Get into the habit of actually manually typing in URLs for your important accounts and this problem almost goes away entirely. Your accounts stay safe, and everybody (but the bad guys) wins.
Good luck,
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
This came across my desk this morning http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/people/natalie-portman-joins-list-of-compromised-celebs-20110322-1c4bt.html. It’s an article about how celebrities are getting their online accounts hacked, and the latest victim being Natalie Portman from the movie Black Swan.
Celebrity or not, we all have online accounts (Facebook, email, bank, etc.) and data we wish to keep private and secure. Here are the top 3 things that you can do right now to help better ensure that your online accounts don’t get hacked into:
On the topic of #1 and #2, there are plenty of password manager applications you can use to help you easily create and kept track of your strong passwords. We recently developed a password manager for iPhone, but you could easily achieve the same results by writing them down on a piece of password and keeping that paper in a secure, physically locked location like a safe. Here is the password tracking template (LOCKBOX – Password Sheet – Template) I was using for several years and kept in a safe before I switched to electronic tracking of my passwords. It’s not very fancy, but it will get the job done if you decide to go this route.
Good luck,
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
And here I thought today couldn’t get any better … I just received an email from Apple notifying me that LOCKBOX Passwords just went live on Apple’s AppStore!
If you’ve got lots of passwords to remember and don’t want the pain of having to write them all down on paper all the time, then this app is for you! Check it out on the AppStore at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lockbox-passwords/id420857097?mt=8&ls=1.
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
In our efforts to continue enabling businesses and professionals to protect their customer’s personal data, we will be releasing our iPhone app called LOCKBOX Passwords shortly on the Apple iTunes store. Until then, here’s a brief description.
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LOCKBOX Passwords is an iPhone and iPod Touch application that enables you to manage your most sensitive passwords. It frees you from the pain of having to memorize multiple passwords and lets you access them conveniently from your mobile device. LOCKBOX Passwords features enhanced security features that add additional layers of protection for your data. Unlike other applications that try to do everything under the sun, this application focuses on being the best at managing and protecting your passwords.
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Stay tuned!
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
Production servers were upgraded earlier this morning to the latest and greatest. This upgrade included:
Thanks and let us know if you experience any problems with the latest service at support@golockbox.com.
–Kevin
LOCKBOX SFT, the easiest to use and most secure file transfer service
