Beating Bots, Spies & Cock-ups - easy and secure sending of files

We’re delighted to announce a timely update to  Beating Bots, Spies & Cock-ups All about safely and securely sending files and documents.  Keeping your personal and business information private on the Internet.

suits Windows and Mac, Office 365, Office 2019, Office 2016 and earlier

New!  April 2020

The April 2020 updated book has a timely chapter on Zoom.  How to use the service safely. Default settings that must be changed to prevent intruders and ‘zoombombing’.

Online Calls and Conferencing – how to make online single or group calls, choosing the best, most private, calling service.

Viber — this popular messaging/call app now covered.

 

We all send personal information over the Internet.  Credit cards, social security, birth date, account details and a lot more.

Even the tiniest one-person business shares private information over the Internet. That can be customer details or business information that would be useful to criminals, business rivals and more.

It’s up to us to make sure our information is kept private. No-one will do it for us.

Simple or Sneaky ‘How to’ advice for simple and secure communication, safe from prying eyes. Also sneaky tricks for hiding files or hiding them in plain sight!

Beating Bots, Spies & Cock-ups shows how keep your personal and business details private. Mostly using tools you already have or are freely available.

Anyone’s information can be copied and misused. Don’t think you’re too small, insignificant or innocent to matter.

Hackers and criminals (“Bots”) take personal information, combine those details with other information and sell it.  Identify theft is huge business.  A single stolen credit card number (with expiry and CVV) can sell for $5,000 on the black market.

Government agencies (“Spies”) around the world harvest information from the Internet.  The sad truth is that powers to spy on the Internet are not limited to terrorism.  They can and do spy for any reason, often without a warrant or notice to you. Emails, web traffic, files on cloud storage and more is monitored.

Accidental intrusion is also possible (“Cock-ups”).  Someone might not be trying to snoop on you but might come across information they aren’t mean to see.

Beating Bots, Spies & Cock-ups has step-by-step advice for

• Securely sending information, files and documents
• Protecting files that you have to send by unsafe ways.
• Keeping your files and documents under size limits.
• Splitting large files so that can be sent.
• Securing files shared over cloud services like OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive.

Recipients

Beating Bots, Spies & Cock-ups considers the people who get your secure files.  It’s no good sending an encrypted file if the receiver doesn’t know how to open it!

Windows and Mac

Window and Mac users get a lot from Beating Bots, Spies & Cock-ups.

Most secure sending methods work for either Mac or Windows.

We note the options that at limited to either Windows or Mac completely or need extra tools to bridge the Microsoft/Apple divide.

Quick Start

The first chapter of Beating Bots, Spies & Cock-ups gets you sending quickly.  How to safely send file and documents by various means.

Then there’s detailed chapters on each type file exchange method, how to secure it and how the receiver can open and use the files you send.

• Direct Messaging
  • WhatsApp, Signal, Skype, Viber (New!) and Facebook Messenger
  • Which messenger is the most private?
  • Send any file, not just pictures, music or documents.
  • Some aren’t secure unless you know the right options.
• Online calls and conferences  <– New!
  • WhatsApp, Signal, Skype, Viber, Facetime and Zoom.
  • Which service is the most private and secure?
• Zoom  <– New!
  • A detailed look at the now-popular conference platform
  • What are the privacy and security concerns.
  • Default settings in Zoom you should change before any calls.
• Microsoft Office documents
  • Document password encryption in Windows and Mac
  • Unlocking a document
  • Beware the Office sharing options.
• PDF’s with password lock
  • Making a PDF with a password lock
  • Easy on a Mac, not so easy with Windows.
• Email
  • The least secure sending option!
  • How to secure email.
• Drives and USB memory sticks
  • Protecting files saved on portable storage
  • Encrypting the entire drive with Windows or Mac.
• Cloud Storage
  • OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive.
  • Securing online files
  • Sharing options
• Secure Containers
  • Bundle many files into a single encrypted file for transport.
  • Splitting a large file into smaller pieces that fit under a sending limit.
  • RAR, ZIP and Virtual Drives. Even using Office documents as a secure container for other files.
• Nerd Tricks
  • Extra tricks that us nerds use to secure information
  • Renaming files, splitting into smaller parts and self-extracting archives.
  • Password tips
    • Simple ideas to making up your passwords
    • Really sneaky tricks for super-secret passwords.

Finally, there’s some Geeky Tech Talk more info on encryption standards and security technologies.