Our final blog post of the school year is written by tech guy, Jeff Coburn.

Every time you check there seems to be more news on cyberattacks and threats.  There are two things you can do to combat these threats:

1. Shun all technology (phones, computers, television, digital can openers, etc.), live completely independently and off-the-grid (solar, wind, sheep-treadmill-powered generators), and hide your money in a mattress.  Or…
2. Be as well-informed as possible about what to do.

Let’s focus in this post on option #2…..
 
Here are a few simple things you can do to keep yourself safer when living in an online world.

• Don’t panic!  Mistakes happen when people panic.  If you get an email or a popup that seems fishy, the best thing to do is take a step back, access your situation, and don’t freak out.  Freaking out rarely solves anything…

 

• Avoid the unknown.  If you don’t know who the email is from, avoid clicking links or downloading attachments until you can verify the person’s identity.  
  • For businesses, go to their website to directly access information instead of using links in emails whenever possible.  (For example, if you get something from your bank stating “click here to check on your account”, do NOT click the link…instead go to the bank site directly, login, and deal with whatever you need to. ) Hackers can make “fake” sites look very legitimate.
  • For individuals, rule of thumb is to “not trust strangers”….figure out who they are and what they are about first, then act accordingly.

 

• Don’t pass it along.  If you get a suspicious email, don’t forward it to friends.  Doing so can increase the chances someone else will accidentally click on the bad link.  (Not a good way to keep friends…)  If you can take a screenshot of the email, pass that along instead, or you can describe the email (who it is from, the contents, etc.) without forwarding it. 

 

• The only constant is change.  Change important passwords (work and home) frequently.  It may be a huge pain in the derrière, but it is better than getting hacked.  Also use “strong” passwords: at least eight characters, combinations of uppercase and lowercase, numbers, special characters, etc.

 

• Really, don’t panic….  This is worth repeating.  Hackers are like animals or small children…they can smell fear.  (If someone tried to hack my bank account, they would probably just laugh when they found out there was nothing in it to begin with, but still…)

 

• When in doubt, check it out.  If you think you have a bug, run a virus check.  If you think you’ve been compromised, change your passwords.  If you think you have an issue, check with your friendly neighborhood techie for another opinion.

For more tech tips from Jeff, check out his YouTube channel.

This week's blog post was written by tech guy extraordinaire, Jeff Coburn.

When I think of the word “etiquette”, an image develops in my mind of someone prim and proper, pinky outstretched, as they quietly sip on their tea.  With that in mind, here are some “prim and proper” suggestions I would like to recommend around email etiquette.  (Several are from personal experience…hopefully you can learn from my mistakes) 

• Address the email last. There have been plenty of times where I have sent an email before it was finished by accidentally clicking the wrong button (I think my tea sipping pinky gets in the way).  A good way to avoid that is by not addressing the email until you are done composing it.  This may feel counter-intuitive in the beginning; most people think “who do I need to talk to?” and then “what do I need to say?”, but doing the email addresses last helps me with premature sends, as well as oftentimes forcing me to skim over the email one more time before sending it out.

• Walk away when you are up in flames.  Frustration is a part of life. If you find yourself frustrated, mad, or generally PO’ed about something, the best bet is to walk away from email for a while.  Once you have a cooler head, then compose your thoughts.  If needed, write something in a word processing document first, then let it sit on your computer for awhile.  If you’re still rip roaring mad, consider whether you should talk to the person directly instead (yes, we can still exercise verbal communication).  Don’t send something you will regret later or that will make things worse.

• Use subjects that make sense.  The subject line should be like a bumper sticker: here is my main idea in as few words as possible.  The person should know what the general idea will be about before opening the message, and the subject should help the recipients search and find the email later.  Also, please avoid using ALL CAPS for subjects (or email messages, for that matter)…no one wants to feel like they are being yelled at.

 

• Know when to Cc: and when to Bcc: The Cc: (carbon copy) and the Bcc: (blind carbon copy) can be powerful tools when used right.
  • Cc: - Commonly used when you want to include someone on a message as an “oh, by the way….”.  You send emails to people you want answers from, a dialogue with, or action from.  You Cc: people that you only want aware of the situation.
  • Bcc: - Most people shy away from blind carbon copying people for good reason: it feels like “tattling” or talking behind someone’s back.  If you send an email to someone and Bcc: it to someone else, the original recipient will not know the Bcc:’ed person has a copy.  There are, however, some instances where using the Bcc: makes sense.  For example, if you want to send a message to a group of people but not share their email addresses (maybe they don’t all know one another), that is a good use of Bcc.  Another great utilization is to prevent a slew of “reply all” messages to the masses; if you leave the “to” blank, the Cc: blank, and in the Bcc: add individuals or a group, only the original sender will get the reply if someone hits “reply” or “reply all”.  That will cut down on unwanted clutter in everyone else’s mailboxes and ensure they still consider you the bee’s knees.  If you need help using Bcc:, find a tech to walk you through it. 

Hopefully these suggestions assist in your proper use of email and cements your standing as a respectable online communicator. (And with that said, I’m off to view one of the classics…pretty sure there is a Three Stooges rerun on right now.  That Shemp is genius!) 

Happy computing!
Jeff C.

For more tech tips from Jeff, check out his YouTube channel.