New Technology

If you want to see the latest in technological innovations then it is worth browsing the crowd funding website indiegogo.com. The site has two main functions, a crowdfunding platform for startup companies and a marketplace for their products. Backers (initial investors) get benefits offered by the startups, this is usually in the form of a discount on their products or early access when the products are released to market. Once the products have been developed they can then be sold through Indiegogo's marketplace. They guarantee shipping of the marketed products, or a refund will be given if they are not delivered in time. One of the risks of being a backer is that a product may never get finished, but you can choose how much you want to invest. 

Some of my favourite products include: Scribit USD399 + shipping (https://tinyurl.com/y925g6ev) - This devices hangs on a wall and can draw any 2D image that you upload through an app. This looks really cool and it can also erase what is has drawn so you can change the image whenever you want. As an example it can draw the weather forecast every morning or draw the daily menu for a shop. Lumen - a metabolism tracker USD299 + shipping (released date April 2019 https://tinyurl.com/y8wxsdv3) - This device is is a small breathalyser that can advise whether your metabolism is burning carbs or body fat. It can advise what diet to follow to achieve your goal (weight loss or gain). The product I like the most is the auto guitar tuner, the Roadie 2 (USD129 + shipping https://tinyurl.com/ydgmyh3b). This tuner is placed on the guitar tuning pegs and will automatically tuner the guitar string to the correct pitch. It can be set to various tuning types as well as standard tuning. Very handy if you are trying to tune a 12 string guitar in a hurry!

To find and/or fund other interesting innovations go to indiegogo.com.

Have I Been Pwned?

Do you know if your email address or logon details to various websites have been hacked? In hacker slang, to "pwn" is to take control of someone's access or computer.  While hackers and cyber-criminals have the means to identify hacked accounts, the average person will find it difficult to know whether their details have been compromised. It is becoming increasingly common for websites to be hacked and the details of their users compromised. Some of the largest breaches include 164,611,595 Linked In accounts, 359,420,698 MySpace accounts and 152,445,165 Adobe accounts. The hacked details may include usernames, passwords and personal information. These details are sold or published online. In 2013 web security expert, Troy Hunt, developed a platform that made it easy for a person to check if their details had been hacked. The website is called Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) and is accessible at https://haveibeenpwned.com. It had also become obvious to Hunt that companies were slow to release details of data breaches and this left end users exposed. As a result, people can now register on his website and be alerted when a data breach occurs that matches their details.

HIBP has been so successful that other companies are integrating their products with this functionality. In particular the Mozilla Firefox browser is using the site to advise users when they are browsing a compromised web page. Mozilla will be releasing a new tool called Firefox Monitor that integrates the ability to search for compromised emails in the browser.  1Password (a password management app) is also using HIBP to advise their users if their logins have been compromised and their details need to be changed.

So what can you do if your account details have been hacked? The most important thing is to reset your password and security information as soon as possible. This is why getting an alert from HIBP is useful. Another common problem is that people tend to use the same password for many sites. So if one site is compromised then access to the other sites is also compromised. Using a password manager is a good way to avoid this issue. Password managers can generate complex unique passwords for every site. Not only can they generate passwords but they can be used to login automatically from your web browser. This way you don't even need to know your passwords or bother typing them in. 

Another useful security measure is to use multi-factor authentication (MFA). This is particularly relevant for high risk websites such as personal banking or government sites. With MFA, a username and password will be only the first means of authentication. Another another mechanism is needed to verify your identity. This can be in the form of an sms to your mobile, or using a one-time password (OTP) that can be verified from an app on your phone app. 

Lastly think carefully about the type of security information you use when registering an account. If you use real information and this is hacked, that can be used for identity fraud (by someone pretending to be you when registering a credit card etc.). If the website is low risk (e.g. a recipe site) then use bogus information that is kept in your password manager, in case you need to recover the account. There are many options when it comes to password managers, so check the review from PC Mag here to choose the right one for you: http://au.pcmag.com/password-managers-products/4524/guide/the-best-password-managers-of-2018

IoT

IoT or Internet of Things is the term used to describe the digital capture of information from the world around us. This is essentially the idea of sensors capturing information and sending it through networks (either mobile phone networks or low powered local networks) that can then analyse the information and act upon this as needed. As an example, some councils have implemented this technology to determine when rubbish bins are full and need to be collected, thereby ensuring the bins are emptied only as needed.

As networks have become more common and technology has made sensors cheaper, the IoT concept is becoming a lot more practical and affordable. The main idea is to use cheap battery powered sensors that don't require a lot of bandwidth (the amount of information they capture and send is usually very small) to automate a process or provide information that may not be easily available. You have probably used these systems already, for example when parking in a parking lot with digital signage advising you of the number of bays available. This would have come from sensors detecting vehicles coming and going from the parking lot. Some parking lots now have sensors on the bays and can advise patrons where the empty bays are per aisle. This technology is very useful in an increasingly data driven world. The type of sensors available are also becoming increasingly varied.

Federal funding through the smart cities program has provide councils with a means to develop innovative solutions to make their suburbs and cities more livable, productive and sustainable (https://cities.infrastructure.gov.au/smart-cities-program). The City of Joondalup is using this funding to implement monitoring of the Yellgonga wetlands through the use of sensors, satellites and drones to collect real-time environmental, water quality and public usage data. There are also trials of smart monitoring of irrigation systems (only watering as needed). 

This technology is not limited to suburban areas though. In agricultural settings, sensors can be fitted to watering troughs to advise if they are no longer working and need repair. Stock fitted with sensors can advise of movement and general health and lead to virtual fencing solutions (https://www.iotforall.com/iot-applications-in-agriculture/). Monitoring of silos and tanks levels can be easily automated. Temperature of grain silos can be monitored to ensure the health of the stores. The key benefit of IoT in rural areas is that it doesn't rely on an existing mobile or data network. Low bandwidth radio networks can be used to set up an affordable monitoring systems in any location (https://www.sigfox.com/en/agriculture). 

To find out more about IoT in Australia visit the IoT alliance site at http://www.iot.org.au/ 

Smart speakers

Smart speakers are devices that have voice recognition technology embedded which enables them to interpret spoken instructions. This technology has been used in smartphones for some time (e.g. Apple's Siri) but is now being extended to smart speakers that can be used in your home. There are currently three main companies that are rolling out these devices, Google (Home), Amazon (Echo) and Apple (HomePod) and each brand has integration with their company's products,

As an example, the Amazon Echo (www.amazon.com/echo) smart speaker uses the Alexa voice recognition system and is orientated to providing shopping services on the Amazon shopping site, as well as streaming video and music from the Amazon platform. The same applies to the Google and Apple devices for their respective media platforms.

As well as providing information, they can also connect into some smart devices in your household to automate things, like turning on and off lights, or lock and unlock doors (with the right smart equipment). Google Home will integrate with the Google Calendar and can provide information about your daily tasks, as well as integrate with your entertainment system if you use a Chromecast streaming device. Google Home has extensive support for home automation devices so is probably a good option if you want to integrate with other smart devices such as air conditioners (store.google.com/product/google_home).

The Apple HomePod (www.apple.com/homepod) uses Airplay 2 to communicate with other Apple devices to manage audio and video streaming, and in particular, works well with Apple Music. So if you have a large library of Apple music then this is a convenient option for streaming music wirelessly throughout your house. The HomePod also has smart acoustic technology which manages directional sound for ambient audio or focused audio for directional sound.

There are benefits to these smart speaker, especially if you have a lot of the compatible technology in your house already. The convenience needs to be balance against the possibility of a lack of privacy.  Given the revelations that have been made about the abuse of privacy recently though failures by some of the technology companies (most recently Facebook) it is a relevant concern about the level of trust we have with these listening devices and how that information is kept safe. I guess the risks need to be measured against the rewards so it is up the buyer to make that decision.

Cryptojacking

You may not have heard the term Cryptojacking but it is one of the newest threats to your computer security. The good news is that it is not malicious in the sense that it won't destroy your data. The bad news is that it will most likely slow your computer down and decrease responsiveness of your system.

Cryptojacking is the use of your computer's processor (CPU) to mine crypto currencies (see my  article on crypto currencies for more info). The reason this has become such a big problem is because it is reasonably trivial for cryptojacking to occur. All it takes is for a website to load a piece of javascript through your web browser, and it will start the mining process. You will probably not even notice this initially. You can check if your CPU is spiking by opening the task manager in Windows (press ctl+shift+esc) and then click on the performance tab. If the CPU graph is showing a lot of activity then it is possibly a cryptojacking script. You can easily test web browser by going to https://cryptojackingtest.com. The site will attempt to load a cryptomining script on your web browser and will determine if your browser is vulnerable to these scripts. If your web browser is vulnerable, you can load an adblocker extension (such as ghostery ghostery.com or privacy badger eff.org/privacybadger). Test again once this is loaded to be sure it is effective. The Opera browser has built in protection for cryptojacking, so is another option.

It is not all bad news though, cryptojacking may become a useful alternative to web advertising. Instead of a site displaying ads, it may request CPU access while you are visiting the site. If this can be done in a way that obtains the reader's consent then this could be an ethical alternative to web advertising. At the moment, we are in the early stages of using this technology so it would be wise to protect your web browser from these scripts.

Digital Self Defense

I watched a very interesting keynote speech recently by Pernille Tranberg and Steffan Heuer, authors of "Fake It!: Your Guide to Digital Self-Defense". They are journalists, so are familiar with information gathering techniques. The main thrust of their argument is that we are currently in an era where data about people is a commodity and companies are grabbing as much information about us as they can to build detailed profiles of our behaviours and preferences. They discussed how your digital identity needs to be managed in order for your privacy to be maintained. The presenters were referring to the digital persona we create online through platforms such as facebook, linkedin and other social media services.

These are publicly accessible trails of our lives, and while they may be useful tools for communicating with friends and family, the data that is able to be analysed can be very revealing. If you ever thought that you have nothing to hide, then take a look at the facebook information gathering tool stalkscan.com. This will show you everything that is publicly accessible in a person's facebook profile, from likes to posted photos, comments etc. It is in the interest of companies like facebook for individuals to have a casual attitude towards privacy, as this is the basis of the their business model. They commoditise your personal information so they can target advertising in a very specific way. Are we really prepared to give up so much information for these "free" services? We can compare attitudes towards the environment in the 1960s with today's attitude towards personal data access. It is somehow not part of our collective consciousness to be concerned about information privacy. Is this because people don't care or are simply not aware of how much information is being traded in these transactions? Would you be happy to hand over your mobile phone number when buying a groceries at a store? Most people would not like to give out this sort of information in real life but this is a common trade when using online services.

Not all is lost though as governments are realising the importance of this issue and the potential for abuse of our personal information. In Australia, the ACCC are running a digital platforms inquiry, which specifically looks at the issue of information gathering by these large corporations
(https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/inquiries/digital-platforms-inquiry). In Europe, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into effect on 25 May 2018 (www.eugdpr.org). This is the result of four years debate in the EU parliament and will bring into law the following protections for personal information: privacy laws will apply to companies that process information in the EU even if they are based elsewhere, penalties of up to 4% annual global turnover breaches of privacy, improvements to consent for use of personal information. In addition the following rights are being implemented: Notification of data breaches, Right to Access your personal information, Right to be Forgotten (data erasure) and Privacy by Design, a principle where platforms will build privacy into their products.

Until such time as governments can catch up with the information grab that is currently underway in the digital world, there are ways that you can defend yourself. A very thorough and useful guide can be found at the electronic frontier foundation's website ssd.eff.org. You can also get some tips from Pernille Tranberg and Steffan Heuer's website www.digital-selfdefense.com. If you would like to see their keynote speech on digital self defense go to https://youtu.be/VVibUH9Wm6w

Real-time payments

The finance industry has been working on a platform to allow real time transfer of funds between bank accounts. Currently, payments can take a day or two to be received between different banks as they need to go through a clearing house to be processed. The New Payments Platform (NPP) has been developed by industry partners to enable real-time clearing of funds between banks. This has been under development since 2012, with the Reserve Bank aiming to achieve a real-time payment system by 2016. Last year the system was tested in a limited rollout to some financial services companies. One of the first companies to use utilise this platform is Bpay. They are rolling out a new payment service this year called Osko (https://www.bpay.com.au/osko). Individuals will be able to register their mobile number or email address with their bank which can be used as an identifier for payments to them. This will make it easier to know how to pay someone (no more bsb and bank account numbers required) and the payments can be made instantly at any time. There will be a 280 character limit for the payment description, which allows for more details to be included than is currently possible.

As the NPP becomes more widely available, companies will be able to use this for payroll and superannuation payments. This will enable payments to be received in near real time and allow documents to be included with the payments (such as payslips). Payments will no longer be restricted to  business hours, making it easier to achieve payment deadlines. This will depend on industry making the most of the NPP but this is likely to change how payments are made in Australia. Watch this space as things will be changing in 2018. For more details visit the New Payments Platform Australia website (https://www.nppa.com.au/)

Appy New Year

With Christmas and New Years celebrations over with, it is time to face the bill for the holiday excesses. For assistance with financial tasks, there is the Pocket Book app (https://getpocketbook.com). This Australian based app will help you manage your finances by linking to your banks accounts and automatically categorising your spending habits. It also has a budgeting function (called safely spend) to help you manage your cash flow. In addition, the app can notify you of upcoming bills so you can avoid late payment fees. The app is free which is nice, but also means that they use your information to make the app profitable. Their privacy policy (https://getpocketbook.com/privacy-policy/) states how they do this and if you are comfortable with sharing your information to gain access to the app then it is worth while.

If you need help with fitness goals this year then the My Fitness Pal app (https://www.myfitnesspal.com/) is highly recommended. This app makes it easy to keep track of your daily food intake. You can scan barcodes of packaged products using your phone or manually enter food portions that you consume. The app has a large database of food types and this is used to analyse the macro (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) and micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals) in your diet. The result is a comprehensive overview of not just calories consumed but also the nutritional value of your food. The app can also track exercise and show you a daily balance of the calories in versus the calories out. It integrates with activity trackers (such as Garmin or Fitbit) to determine how many calories you have expended. You can also track your weight and it will remind you to jump on the scales to keep track of your goals. The app is ad supported or you can buy a premium subscription, which also unlocks additional features. As always, check the privacy policy to ensure your are comfortable with how they use your information (https://account.underarmour.com/privacy?locale=en_US).

Good luck with your New Year's resolutions and hopefully these apps will make them easier to achieve.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is the term used to described new forms of digital currency that can be traded on the Internet. The most popular of these is Bitcoin, which was founded in 2008. Other popular cryptocurrencies are Ethereum and Litecoin. The underpinning technology is called blockchain. This allows for transactions to be made using a ledger style system. All transactions can be viewed on the ledger, making it a transparent system. Each transaction has a digital fingerprint that can't be faked, and thereby making it a trustworthy system. Blockchain relies on decentralised processing by multiple computers using a peer to peer network, in much the same way that bittorrent shares files between computers. To perform a transaction using bitcoin, you will need a digital wallet. This is used to store your transactions and the private key, which is used to encrypt your transactions and verify your digital identity. It is the encryption that creates the trustworthy part of the system and is why these are called cryptocurrencies.

When a transaction is made, it is added to a block of transactions. Miners will mathematically verify this block and ensure it is consistent with the previous block in the chain (hence the term blockchain). The blockchain (or ledger) is verified through a mathematical fingerprint (hash). Each transaction has to be mathematically proven in order for it to be verified. This is called mining. Computers that perform the mining calculations are rewarded with bitcoins. The difficulty of the calculations (and as a result, the processing effort) increases as more transactions are made. This means more power is required to verify a block of the blockchain as the number of transactions increases. So mining was a lot easier a few years ago, but requires more processing today and is therefore a more expensive process.

You may have seen in the news that Bitcoin has been reaching an all time high value. Currently it is sitting over US $10,000 per bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has gone through an exponential increase in value since 2016 when it was sitting at around US$500 per bitcoin (https://www.investing.com/currencies/btc-usd). This rapid rise can lead to swings in value as investors seek to profit and others are driven by FOMO (fear of missing out). Economists have seen this behaviour before (in the dotcom craze) and warn that this can lead to a bubble in the market. As more investors seek to buy the cryptocurrency, its value will rise, as there are only 21 million bitcoins that can be traded. The fundamental value of using a cryptocurrency is yet to be proven and only when there is mainstream support for using the cryptocurrency can it become truly useful. Some retailers are starting to offer payment with bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) but this is limited to a small part of the market. There is history of bitcoin trading sites getting hacked or the founders embezzling the funds. As usual it pays to be cautious when dealing with your hard earned cash. The largest trading site is coinbase.com

There are clear benefits in using a distributed transparent and trustworthy ledger system. From a banking perspective this could simplify and minimise the cost of interbank transfers. Currently it can take days for money to transfer between banks, with a block chain system this could be completed in a matter of seconds. This leads to benefits in time for the customer and cuts down on fees for the bank. There is no doubt banks are looking to use this technology but it can also be a digital disruptor to their way of working as the threat of cryptocurrencies becoming legitimised grows. For more information about cryptocurrencies take a look at the articles at www.coindesk.com/information/

GSuite for Small Business

Last month I wrote about Microsoft's Office 365 cloud offering for small business. Google also offer similar services with their GSuite products, which includes, email, calendar as well as apps for documents (Docs), spreadsheets (Sheets), presentations (Slides), file storage (Drive) and video conferencing, amongst many other apps. The main difference is that Google is a cloud based company first and foremost, so their services are delivered with Cloud and mobile access at their core. Google Drive operates similar to Dropbox, where files are synchronised from your local device to the cloud and back to other devices you have connected to it. You can also create a shared space where team members can share files. This is called Team Drive.

GSuite allows collaboration and sharing between members of the same organisation. Pricing is based on a monthly user subscription and the Business plan is currently $10/user per month (https://gsuite.google.com.au/pricing.html). For a small business. this is a quick way to get the services needed to run a business available, with little up front cost. The Office apps are cloud based, so do not offer as many functions as the Microsoft desktop apps, although they are compatible with the Microsoft formats. If you want the advanced functionality of Microsoft Office apps, you can either buy the Microsoft suite and still use the storage with Drive, or go with the Office 365 subscription mentioned last month. You will get similar services either way, it depends what you are familiar with.


For more information on GSuite take a look here (https://gsuite.google.com.au/).

Office 365 for Small Business

If you have a small business and want a more professional digital image, such as your own email domain e.g. myname@mybusiness.com.au, then you may want to consider using Office 365. The benefits of using Office 365 are enterprise level email service, team collaboration through Sharepoint document management as well as video and audio conferencing through Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams. Office 365 allows small businesses to use these enterprise level services without requiring the on premise setup of servers and equipment as these are all provided from the Cloud (using Microsoft's services). You will still need your own PCs or tablets to use these services, as well as a reasonable internet connection.

Office 365 plans are based on a subscription model and are charged per user per month. The cost will vary according services provided and the following plans are suitable for small businesses:

• Business ($7.04/user/month) - Office apps, cloud file storage and sharing. No email.
• Business Essentials ($13.20/user/month) - Email, cloud file storage and sharing. Video and audio conference through Skype for Business. No desktop office apps provided. 
• Business Premium ($17.49/user/month) - Includes essentials services plus the office apps. 

Note that pricing is based on a user per month but is billed annually. A pro rata monthly rate will be slightly more expensive (https://products.office.com/en-au/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?tab=2).

Just another note on email usage. A user can have multiple email addresses (e.g. info@mybusiness.com.au, accounts@mybusiness.com.au), but all emails will go to one mailbox. It is possible to have multiple business domains E.g. myname@business1.com.au and myname@business2.com.au, but sending from both requires a bit of finessing, but is possible. If you want to keep the emails in separate mailboxes then you will need a subscription for each mailbox.

There are many benefits for small businesses to use the subscription service. Access to enterprise level services at a fraction of the setup costs are a good deal. Note that the initial setup may require a professional to configure, but once setup, should be relatively easy to maintain.

Spam management

Spam is unsolicited email that you get in your inbox, usually attempting to sell you something or entice you to a website. This email can be annoying if it arrives en masse but some spam can also be malicious, attempting to phish information or install malware on your computer. Depending on your email provider, they will usually have a spam filter applied to your email, but these can be overcome if you signup for marketing emails, or your email address is added to a spam list.


One of the largest spam databases has been discovered recently, weighing in at a massive 14GB and approximately 711 million email addresses. Worryingly, some of these email addresses also included passwords. These are likely to have been harvested from hacked sites such as Yahoo. If you want to identify whether your email address is on the list then go to https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and check there. If you do find your email listed, then it is a good idea to change the passwords associated with that email address so that hackers don't use those details to gain access to your information.


The other issues with being on the spam list is that you are likely to get more spam emails. Once your email is added to a spam list it is difficult to remove it. While legitimate companies will provide an unsubscribe feature, this can be used by illegitimate spammers to confirm that your email address is active. So once you click on the unsubscribe link, you will be targeted for further emails. As mentioned earlier, depending on your email provider, the spam protection may vary. The larger email providers like GMail and Outlook.com allow you to identify spam in your inbox, and this helps fine tune the settings for your email. Bigpond don't have the same level of protection so you will need to use a client based spam filter to fine tune the spam settings. Spamfigher (http://www.spamfighter.com/) is a paid product with a free ad supported version, that can be added to the common email clients (Outlook, Windows Mail etc.) to provide additional spam protection if required. Some anti-virus products will also include spam protection as part of the security suite.


Often the best way to beat spam is to avoid it. To prevent your email address being used for spam, use a separate junk email address for signing up to sites or marketing lists. This way you can check the junk email occasionally for any legitimate email but keep your private email safe from spam. For more information on tuning your spam filter in gmail and outlook.com, take a look at these sites.


https://support.google.com/mail/answer/1366858
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Help-keep-spam-out-of-your-Inbox-in-Outlook-com-a3ece97b-82f8-4a5e-9ac3-e92fa6427ae4

Limiting internet data usage

If you are unfortunate enough to only have access to mobile broadband or satellite broadband, then chances are you will need to keep a close watch on how much data you use over the month. These plans have a limited allocation (or quota) and you will either be charged excess usage fees, have your internet shaped (limited speed) or have no internet access at all, if you exceed your monthly quota. As a result it is important to manage your bandwidth usage, and there are a few ways to do this.

One of the most common causes of excess usage is system updates. In the case of Windows 10 PCs, these updates are mandatory and can be large, especially for feature updates. There is a way to prevent automatic downloads on Windows 10 by changing your network setting to a metered connection. Go to Start > Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > and then either Advanced or your Connection name. Set Metered Connection to On and you will now be prompted when updates are available. It is still advisable to apply updates regularly, especially security updates, but at least with this setting on you can choose when to download them.

iPhones and iPads are also bandwidth hogs when it comes to updates. These can be as large as a gigabyte for major updates. Apple does not make it easy to prevent these updates but if the pre-requisites aren't met then it will not download the updates. In particular, the device needs to be on charge and connected to a wifi network. Disabling wifi when you charge your phone is one work around. For other options take a look at this post (https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-9741). It is possible to restrict automatic updates of Apps on iOS devices. This can be done by going to Settings > iTunes and App Store and disabling all the options under Automatic Downloads. This way you can choose to update Apps when you have the bandwidth available.


If your updates are not causing your bandwidth usage then it may be the content that you are downloading. Video streaming will quickly use up bandwidth, this includes the likes of Netflix, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Any site that shows videos has the potential to eat into your precious monthly quota so keep a watch on the sites you visit.


Unfortunately there is a big disparity between prices for data on mobile broadband and other forms of broadband. Until this improves, it pays to be careful about what is download over these expensive connections.

Cyberwar and ransomware

Ransomware has been making the news lately with the WannaCry and, more recently, Petya strains grabbing the headlines. These threats were so dangerous because they easily spread to unpatched computers. The reason these malware attacks were so effective was because they used a zero day exploit that was developed for cyber attacks by the U.S. National Security Agency (called EternalBlue). The exploit was made public by hacking groups and Microsoft did develop patches to protect their systems, but the issue is that many systems remained unpatched resulting in outages to many businesses. More exploits are being released. The CIA hacking tools were released on Wikileaks in March 2017 (https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/) which will no doubt lead to further malicious threats being released in the wild.

So what is a patch? These are software updates to the system developed by the software vendor. Microsoft regularly releases patches to improve performance or fix security flaws on Windows systems. These show up as Windows Updates. It is a good idea to apply these updates as they are released. In fact, Windows 10 doesn't give you the option, it enforces the updates automatically. This does require internet access in order for the updates to be downloaded though.

So the computers most effected by these exploits were running older Windows systems (mainly Windows 7) and Microsoft took the rare step of releasing a security patch for Windows XP (which is no longer supported and doesn't get security updates any more). Even though WannaCry preceded Petya, many systems were still impacted when Petya was released. Initially it was thought that Petya was another ransomware threat but it turned out that it was not possible to get the encryption keys and the email address used to contact the criminals was shut down, making it impossible to get in contact, even if a company wanted to. It would appear that Petya was written to destroy data while acting like ransomware. As this threat first appeared in the Ukraine, it would seem that they were the initial targets of the attacks, which subsequently spread to the rest of the world.

With the continued release of these exploits that are used by nation states for cyber warfare, it raises issues about disclosure to the software vendors. Is it ethical for a government to withhold these zero day exploits from the vendors, especially when they can be used for criminal purposes? More to the point, it has become critically important that companies maintain regular updates to avoid being attacked by malware. It is surprising to me that many companies do not stay on top of this. For the home user, it is also important to ensure that they maintain regular patching for their system and software they use (such as Microsoft office, Adobe reader, Adobe flash and java etc). Be aware though that updates must come from a trusted vendor site and not a third party website as these can be used to inject malware instead of legitimate software. For more information on how to maintain patching in Windows go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12373/windows-update-faq. For Apple Macs check this link https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201541.

Backups

TL;DR

• Backups are not often considered important
• Cloud storage services can mitigate risk of data loss
• External drives and NAS are other options for backup
• Test backups and keep a copy offline

For most people, backups are the sort of thing you don't pay attention to until you need them. A number of clients have recently required specialist data recovery as their hard drives had failed and they wanted to get back their precious photos and documents. These services can cost upwards of $1000 so it is generally the last resort. The reality is that hard drives and storage devices do fail, so it is always worth have at least 2 copies of your data. Fortunately there are a number of ways you can do this these days.

Cloud services such as Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive or Microsoft's OneDrive are all ways that you can store documents and photos somewhere other than your PC. Most cloud services offer a free service but this is usually limited to a few gigabytes of storage. This won't last long as photos and videos will easily fill that space in a very short time. Paid options are worth looking at (especially compared to the price of professional data recovery) and if you are bundling in your subscription with other services, this can be good value. In the case of Drive and One Drive, if you are paying for the G Suite or Office 365 packages then you will get increased storage bundled in with those plans (see https://gsuite.google.com.au/intl/en_au/pricing.html and https://products.office.com/en-au/office-365-home). The other benefit of cloud storage is that you can access your files from other devices and locations. Be aware though that you will need a reasonable internet connection and data quota in order to sync your files to the cloud. 

A more traditional option is to backup to an external drive. These are readily available from Officeworks, or other tech stores, and a reasonably sized 2 TB portable drive will cost around $100.  Windows PCs and Macs require require an initial setup to connect the external drive for backup, but once this is done, they will automatically backup after that. The guide to backing up in Windows 10 is available at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17143/windows-10-back-up-your-files and for Macs you can access this at https://support.apple.com/en-au/mac-backup.

Another option for local backup is to use Network Attached Storage (NAS). These are essentially hard drives that connect to your network and can be used as centralised storage for backups and file sharing (photos, videos etc.). The benefit of NAS is that you can backup multiple computers to the same storage on the network. QNAP and Synology are popular brands and their products start from $150. You may need to purchase the hard drive separately so consider this when evaluating these options. To backup to a NAS device, you will typically use the software that comes with the product. Ensure that your router is fast enough to support the network traffic (at least gigabit ethernet). For more information go to https://www.qnap.com/en-au/ and https://www.synology.com/en-global/support/nas_selector.

Cloud and local drive backups are not exclusive and I would recommend using both. Having multiple backups can reduce the risk of losing your data to a ransomware attack or other failure.  It is also worth testing your backups by restoring a file every now and then. You don't want to find out after the fact that your backups are not working, so test these regularly. So before your computer storage fails, make the effort and get a good backup, fast!

NBN Address checker

If you were wondering when the nbn will be available at your home or business, the nbn have recently improved their address checker on their website (http://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/check-your-address.html). This will now give an estimate of the availability of the nbn at your address and the type of connection you can get. It is based on nbn's updated three year construction plan. If a rollout is not planned or underway then you will be advised that you can access the skymuster satellite service. This is an improvement as previous searches only advised when building may commence and did not give a detailed description of what you may be able to access. 

In the Chittering Shire, the address checker advises that nbn fixed wireless services are planned to be available in March 2017 in Upper Chittering. It should be noted that these plans are subject to change, but this is looking promising for that area. Lower Chittering and Bindoon are slated for October to December 2017 and will also be receiving fixed wireless within that coverage area.  Building has also commenced in townsites throughout the Gingin Shire, with some sites already available.

The nbn coverage map is useful if you would like to see how far the fixed wireless coverage goes in your area. It will also show the progress of the fixed wired technologies and can be accessed at the nbn website (http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/rollout-map.html). 

Tech for non-profits

If you are involved in a not-for-profit (NFP) or income-tax-exempt (ITE) organisation, then it may be possible for you to get discounted technology for the use within that organisation. TechSoup is a global alliance of technologies companies that provide discounted products to NFP organisations. Donor companies include Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Symantec and Adobe, to mention a few. In Australia, Connecting Up is the Australian partner of the TechSoup alliance and you will need to register with them to access these discounts.

Some of the examples of products available under the program are all of Microsoft's licensed products including Office suites and Desktop and Server licenses. There are some limitations as to the number of licenses that can be redeemed within a two year allocation cycle. Similarly, Google's Apps for non-profits (G Suite) is available and this provides access to Google's cloud services for business, such as docs, email, calendar etc. There are also security products available and discounts on accounting software. In addition discounted hardware can also be redeemed, including laptops, desktops and networking equipment. A full list of donors and products can be found here https://www.connectingup.org/discounts. Connecting UP also offer a premium membership model which costs $150 per annum. In addition to accessing the partner program (which is available under free membership), you will also be able to access events, mentoring and promotional facilities provided by Connecting Up (https://www.connectingup.org/membership/benefits).

Joining Connecting Up is as simple as registering your details and providing information about the NFP. Within three working days, your details should be validated and if successful, you can then start ordering from their site. Being listed on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Register or income tax exempt on the Australian Business Register will help with qualification for the program. In addition, donor companies may require other criteria to be met for their products. Details can be found at https://www.connectingup.org/help/will-my-organisation-qualify-connecting-ups-donation-and-discount-program.

Once you have qualified and your account is setup for purchasing, you can place a donation request through the Connect Up site. Not all products are free. Some are discounted from retail pricing. In addition, there may be an administration fee charge by Connecting Up when making donation requests. Some partners restrict the number of requests that can be made. The details are available at https://www.connectingup.org/help/how-often-and-how-much-can-i-order-from-each-of-your-partners. 

So if you are involved in a NFP group that may benefit from reduced tech purchases, I would recommend taking advantage of the discounts offered by Connecting Up. For more information go to their website https://www.connectingup.org.

Square Up POS app

I have previously written about mobile payment options for merchants provided by the major banks and PayPal. In this edition I am going to discuss another point of sale solution which provides a lot of functionality for a shopfront.

Square Up is an online provider for payments and point of sale. They started with an Apple only app but have now expanded that to Android devices. The square app can accept payments through these devices using a card reader which you can purchase from them ($59 for the contactless card reader or $19 for the chip reader). Credit card payments processed through Square attract a flat rate 1.9% fee. The benefit of square though is not just in the card processing. In fact, you don't even need to use the payment gateway to access the extensive features of the point of sale app.

The app provides extensive ability for creating shop items and can track insights on purchases and repeat customers (if the details are added). Customer feedback is incorporated into the receipts provided via sms or email. If you already have a payment gateway then you can record the transaction as a paid item and this is tracked against your sales.

Logging into the Square Up web portal provides details on sales history and sales items. This is a very useful resource for small businesses as it provide insight into the top sales items and sales times as well as a number of other metrics. It is also possible to expand the solution to multiple locations (if you have a number of shopfronts).

Square Up also provide an employee management function for $3 per month per employee. Employees can log their time into the app and it also allows restriction of access to certain functions per employee. This may be useful for more complex businesses that have multiple employees.

So for a free app it provides a lot of functionality and can either be used as your payment gateway provider or with an existing provider if you have one. For more information go to the Square Up site at squareup.com.

Anti Virus and Privacy

It is common these days for software to be available for free. While this has made it easier to access software, vendors still need a business model that generates revenue for them to support the development and maintenance of these products. Anti virus products have followed this trend and there are now a number of free and paid products available. Most of these free products work on the basis that you get basic real time scanning protection with additional functionality available as paid options. Yet these products have deep access to the operating systems and as a result are capable of gathering a lot of information about your computer. The information they gather can be used for marketing purposes and this is of commercial value. Some vendors bundle 3rd party products into their installations to make the products commercially viable. So the question becomes how is your personal information used by these vendors?

AV comparative's performed analysis of 21 anti virus products and documented the results in their Data transmission in Internet security products report (http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/avc_datasending_2014_en.pdf). To evaluate how well the products rated on information disclosure, they reviewed the privacy policy and the end user license agreements (EULA), monitored the information that was sent from the computer and sent a questionnaire to the vendors asking for details of the information that is captured by their products. The information was then collated and vendors were rated on the level of protection provided for user privacy. It should be noted that AV vendors do require some information in order to manage their product licenses and to improve virus detection rates. The main concern though is if that personal information is collated and sold on for marketing purposes. As an example, web sites can be tracked by AV software to ensure that known malicious sites are blocked. Yet it is also possible that this information can be kept and data mined by the vendor.

The AV products that were rated best with respect to personal information disclosure were:

1. AhnLab
2. Emsisoft
3. eScan
4. BullGuard
5. Fortinet

Products rated the worst (or vendors did not disclose what information they kept):

1. McAfee
2. Microsoft
3. Symantec
4. Trend Micro
5. Webroot
6. AVG

There were many products that had a mixed rating for personal information disclosure. The products rated best for privacy considerations overall were:

1. AhnLab
2. Avira
3. eScan
4. Fortinet
5. Panda

It should be noted that this report was release in 2014 so may be out of date with respect to the latest product versions. In general, it is worth reading through the EULA and privacy policies to understand how your information can and will be used by the vendors. Also be wary of any 3rd party software that is bundled with the free AV product as this may disclose your personal information too. It is usually best to untick the box for add-ons and other products when installing these products. While privacy seems to be a commodity we are happy to trade for free stuff, it is worth considering the implications of what is done with your information. If you are interested in how you can better safe guard your online information take a look at the EFF's surveillance self-defense site at https://ssd.eff.org/en.

Paper replacement apps

Despite the promises of a paperless office it seems that we are printing and producing more paper documents than ever. I don't think that will change any time soon but there some apps that can be used to replace the handy paper pad. I have been trying out a few apps that are suitable for a Windows 10 tablet with a stylus. There are a number of options available from the Windows Store, but I have whittled down the choices to three apps: Nebo, Bamboo Paper and Graphiter.

Nebo, by MyScript, is my favourite as a paper notebook replacement. You can organise your notebooks into folders and create separate notebooks for different uses. One of the best features is that Nebo can convert your handwriting into text. It does this on the fly and seems to be very accurate, even with my scratchy handwriting. You can also draw boxes and shapes in diagram mode as well as math formulas. This can all be exported to Word for further editing purposes. I did find that the layout of converted text can be tricky to manage but this is not a big deal if you export it.

Bamboo Paper, by Wacom (who are known for digital pen editing), is a worthy mention. For simple note taking, this a very useful app. It doesn’t provide text recognition but it is easy to use and feels very natural when writing. Paid features allow you to add highlighters, crayons and paintbrushes as well as a variety of colours for each of these tools. This is handy if you want to use the app for sketching and drawing as well as note taking. This is a good all round pen app but if you want a specialised sketching app then Graphiter may be a better choice.

Graphiter provides a pencil for free use but the value of the app comes from the paid options. This allows you to use coloured pencils, pens and a blending tool. The ability of this app is only limited by your own sketching prowess. The demo shows very detailed real life drawings that are possible with the app. You can customise the heaviness of the pencil as well as the pencil width to allow for detailed sketching.

Overall I have found that Windows 10 tablet mode with a stylus is very useful and there are many choices of apps to make the most of this mode. For further information follow the links below.

http://myscript.com/nebo/

http://bamboo.wacom.com/

http://graphiter.com/