by can_admin | Feb 27, 2019 | Uncategorized
We’ve had some questions on that “Momo Challenge”, and if we think it’s a real threat. What is it? News stories are making the rounds of kids YouTube videos having hidden clips 1/2 way through the videos suggesting kids to hurt themselves or others, with ‘Momo’, a scary doll, scaring them into doing it. Personally, the image of ‘Momo’ is scary enough (it’s a bust from a horror movie sculptor, and its meant to catch your attention…which is exactly what it does!)
So…is there any truth to this? Snopes.com has always been good at debunking internet hoaxes, and published a great article about the challenge, and it’s subsequent social media craze recently: https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/02/26/momo-challenge-suicide-game/
So, what’s the verdict? Spoiler alert…it’s both! YouTube, and Kids YouTube have never been something you should let your kid have free reign of- period. There are probably some rare instances where YouTube videos were hacked and ‘spliced’ with suggestive content, but it’s very few and far between, and now erroneous news stories are glamorizing it. All this extra attention makes the media- and kids- want to google “What is Momo”, and try to find these videos themselves…which is exacerbating the problem. This is nothing “new”; this is actually a few years old, but it’s gaining popularity now because it’s being shared on social media and people are spreading news articles about it without considering the source or accuracy.
Bottom line: If you’re going to let your young kids watch YouTube, watch it with them and subscribe to trusted channels where you have vetted the source and approved it. Also, be cautious about what you share online, and try to verify accuracy or research before sharing a post with others. No technology use should be unattended- whether the app is “designed for kids” or not.
by can_admin | Feb 7, 2019 | Uncategorized
Many of you know I recently took a trip overseas to Italy…and while I didn’t want to think about it, the possibility of losing my phone or getting it stolen was a real threat. Not only would the inconvenience and expense be huge while on vacation, but it would be a HUGE security breach if my phone were to end up in the wrong hands. The fact is it’s more damaging to lose our iPhone than to have our wallet stolen (think about that for a moment….because it’s very true!). I talked about the threats of passwords that were “socially engineered” before, and just how much damage it can do if someone gets ahold of all of your online accounts (get a refresher on what this is here: https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/what-is-social-engineering). Fortunately, there are some great preventative steps you can- and should- take now before you get your phone stolen, you lose it, or it stops and you need to upgrade.
- Turn on Find My iPhone: Open Settings, click on your name, select “iCloud”, click “Find My iPhone”, and make sure it’s on (the button is green). If you lose your phone, you can go to any computer or other iPhone, go to iCloud.com and sign in with your AppleID username/password, and you can track where your phone is with a fairly accurate map. If the phone is lost, and you think it has the potential to fall into unknown hands, you should activate “Lost Mode” while on iCloud.com, to protect your data.
- Ensure You Have a Backup: Likewise, making sure you have a good backup is key to prevent problems. Most of our clients use the nightly iCloud backup…when your phone is plugged in to power and charging for the night, and connected to wifi, it will automatically backup to iCloud if you have space (if you don’t….upgrade your iCloud.com storage space, it’s well worth the $2.99/month). However, just because you think this works, doesn’t mean it always is. Check it by opening Settings, click on your name, select “iCloud”, and click “iCloud Backup”. Make sure it’s turned on, and verify the date it last backed up. If you don’t have wifi, or don’t like backing up to “the cloud”, plug your phone into your computer, and manually sync it with iTunes every few weeks, or at least before you take a big trip.
- Password Protect It!: We say it all of the time, get a good password. But this means multiple things. First of all, put an unlock code on the phone so that it requires a code, your fingerprint, or FaceID recognition to unlock the phone. Second of all, make sure you know your AppleID password, and it’s a good, strong password, and you don’t need to look it up anywhere to remember it. Your credit card is tied to your AppleID, as is your emails, and if someone can get into your AppleID account, they can do a lot of damage, so make sure that password is secure.
- Two-Factor Authentication: We’ve talked about this in the past, but it’s also very important in the off-chance that your phone is lost or stolen. This will require two steps for anyone to gain access to your account…it will require them to know the password AND provide a txted or emailed code for verification. We STRONGLY recommend making sure this is set up, and that you add a spouse or trusted friend’s phone number to the list of “trusted phone numbers” so that if your phone is stolen, you can be in contact with this other person to verify your identity. Here’s how to set up two-factor authentication if you haven’t done it already: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204915
