Category: Digital Security

ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 30!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

What an exhausting and long year since last August – my last full vacation!

And exhausting … for ALL OF  US! I am so fortunate to have been able to  work with such amazing and incredible colleagues at The Computer Help Desk over the past … 500+ DAYS! Yes, it has been that long since we started working remotely, late in March of 2020!

Without ALL of their support, humour, leadership, imagination, guidance  and every single possible ‘intangible‘ that each and every single one of them, ALL BRING to our Teams meetings, emails, texts, GIFs, Emojis, Jeopardy, Quote Contests, it would have been impossible to accomplish a fraction of what WE ALL DID AS A TEAM!

THANK YOU ALL!

A few key UVic and BC websites for returning to campus in September for everyone!

  1. Return-to-Campus Guidelines now available
  2. Return to campus info for students
  3. Communicable Disease Plan now available
  4. UVic News
  5. Update on getting your COVID-19 vaccine
  6. Remote work arrangements announced for the fall
  7. Working remotely
  8. Post-secondary studies during COVID-19
  9. NEW COMPUTERS IN CALL! YAY!
  10. NEW FURNITURE IN CALL! YAY!

Not to worry . . .

August 30th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

 

Pandemic


I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

~~Bogman~~

 

Jeopardy – Revenge of the Memes – Poll for Next Jeopardy in October 2021

“TO INFINITY …. AND BEYOND!“
or 
YOU GET TO CHOOSE THE NEXT
JEOPARDY MOVIE QUOTES!

The NEXT JEOPARDY is already in the planning stages!! The Categories, such as “SkyNet”, “Altair 8800” and “Slide Rulers” will be my choices, but the Quotes will be suggestions from CHD Consultants!

I knew going in to the June Jeopardy this year … might … be a “Blast From MY Past”! And  although many are well known Science Fiction movies … not so well known amongst our Consultants! 🙂

So next time, I will let ALL the CHD Consultants give me feedback on the movies quotes THEY want to try and guess … from THEIR generation! This is, to quote Robbie the Robot … “DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER” time as I may not have seen any of the movies THEY have grown up with! LOL!

I created a Poll at MS:Office 365, using Forms,  for all the Consultants to fill in. I guessed at some movies and also left room for ‘Others..’ and a text box for comments too! Not only did it refresh my skills at Polls (it had been a year!) but it will bring everyone together again and might even add a bit of competitiveness to Jeopardy next time.

And imagine the Consultants … the “Jeopary Shaming” if someone gets one wrong! OH, the horrors! 

The actual Poll is below (screeen grabs) and each has a clickable link TO the Poll, but I have limited access to “Only people in my organization can respond“. Security reasons! A good test of settings too!

 
And it will eventually generate some stats and comments too, all part of Forms at MS:Office 365! Early results are in,  below, but a long way to go! And if you haven’t noticed, I am a big fan of MS:Office 365! So much more is coming in the weeks and months to come! Make sure you check out the Microsoft Office 365 at UVic OAC Blog Page for all the latest stuff!

ENJOY!
          
TTFN!

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

JEOPARDY – June 2021 Famous Computer Quotes

“DANGER WILL ROBINSON!“
or 
“I’m sorry Dave.
I’m afraid I can’t do that“
Famous Computer Quotes !

ANOTHER CALL JEOPARDY YESTERDAY FOR HELP DESK! The theme this time was ‘MEMES‘ and the movie quotes were all from famous SF computers, androids, robots, AI, replicants, ‘bots or even organics (people!) for them!

                      Click On Jeopardy ‘MEMEs R US” to go to a PDF version in another Tab

I sure had fun creating this new updated version, which included all kinds of memes and .gifs that are Computer Help Desk related! So, for a new feature here, will identify EACH QUOTE in EACH CATEGORY below, with a link to the IMDB movie page too! And as most of them are potentially ‘older’ movies, many Consultants have not SEEN these awesome movies! So a quick way to go to EACH MOVIE that I referenced! I will call this .. CHDMDB for Computer Help Desk Movie Database! 

(Click Character-for IMDB profile / on Movie/TV Show- more info)
I’m sorry Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.
HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey
OH dear!
C3PO … in every Star Wars movie ever made!
Shall we play a game?
WOPR in War Games
Number Five … is alive!
Johnny Five (#5) in Short Circuit
Daisy, Daisy …..
HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey
42
Deep Thought from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
We’re doomed!
C3PO … in every Star Wars movie ever made!
He’s not any kind of program, Sark. He’s a User.
Master Control Program from TRON 
You’re part of a time travel experiment that went a little … ka-ka.
Al via Ziggy from Quantum Leap
Doo-Do-DOO-Do-DUMMM?
Alien visitors in Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Forget it, mister high-and-mighty Master Control! You’re not going to make me talk!
CLU (Codified Likeness Utility) from TRON – Original version
Everybody good? Plenty of slaves for my robot colony?
TARS in Interstellar
Good-bye Dr. Brand. See you on the other side Coop!
TARS in Interstellar
DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!
(Robby the..) Robot in Lost in Space – original B&W TV Series!
Fiery the angels fell. Deep thunder rolled round their shores. Burning with the fires of Orc.
Roy Batty in BladeRunner
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.
Roy Batty in BladeRunner
What about the others? Can I help them?
Now that I fulfilled my purpose … I don’t know what to do …..
Sonny in I, Robot
I am superior, sir, in many ways,
but I would gladlyu give it up to be human.
Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation
(1st ever ST:TNG episode!)
You must talk to him; tell him that he is a good cat, and a pretty cat, and ….
Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation
(Worf instructions for Spot!)
Believe me, I’d rather not to. I may be synthetic, but I’m not stupid.
Bishop in Aliens
Look Dave. I can see you’re really  upset about this.
HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey

 

Next Jeopardy (October 2021??) will involve Movie Quotes, again, for the categories, but … the CATEGORIES will  be based on a Poll in Teams that I will create soon! So they will be more current i.e. released AFTER most of our Consultants were BORN! Some of the movies I referenced, some of the PARENTS of our CHD Consultants .. might not even have seen!

But, guilty pleasures, if I have to recommend TWO of the movies, do yourself a favour on a Saturday night and watch War Games and 2001: A Space Odyssey! You will not be disappointed in either! The original trailers are below. And for TV shows, try Quantum Leap and The Hitchhiker’s Guide  to the Galaxy (Original BBC production!)

WAR GAMES
(and yeah, that IS Ferris Bueller!)

2001: A Space Odyssey

Quantum Leap

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy ORIGINAL BBC 1981

ENJOY!
     
TTFN!

Passwords and Passphrases – Security

Passwords
&
Passphrases
!! SECURITY !!

My password is ... 'password'
                My password is … ‘password’

Almost every single day, there is news of a new security breach somewhere, and that includes Canada too. And just one aspect of computer security is using a VERY difficult to guess password or passphrase. 

What is the difference? To make a long passphrase short … IS a password! Passphrases are longer and are often REQUIRED to be longer than the passwords that we have become familiar with. 

In fact, coming soon to a UVic keyboard near you, will be new password/passphrase requirements!

      • Increasing passphrase length from 8-30 to 12-128
      • Allowing all 95 ASCII characters (including spaces) to be used in passphrases
      • Checking all new passphrases through Have I Been Pwned’s password API
      • Send automatic emails upon passphrase change to preferred email

All of the above AND MORE
are explained at
Nav’s CISOVlog! 

CISOVlog
                                                                                    CISO Vlog

And in addition, something called MFA, Multi-Factor Authentication. Basically TWO things you need to know or provide, in order to proceed securely to a UVic or other important site. Think of it as an extra lock on your way into your home, each lock needing a unique key. If you don’t have the first key, you are stopped. And if you don’t have the SECOND key, you are also stopped!

This is  great news and will  provide ADDITIONAL and IMPROVED security for all of UVic and that means for ALL OF US! Check out, of all places, Wikipedia for a ‘Wikipedia’ explanation of (MFA) Multi-Factor Authentication.

So, the next client might not be swearing at you … they might be providing you with their PASSWORD! WHICH THEY SHOULDN’T DO! 

Some fun and interesting links below about famous movie hacks and security!

Stay safe, healthy & SECURE!

Movie Hacks and Security

  1. The Ultimate Hacker Movies List for December 2020
  2. The Complete List Of Hacker And Cybersecurity Movies
  3.  10 Hacker Movies You Should Watch: What Hollywood Gets Right
  4. 9 top hacker movies and TV shows of all time
  5. Hacker Keren Elazari rates 12 hacking scenes in movies and TV for realism
  6. 7 Great Cybersecurity Scenes from Movies
  7. 12 famous passwords used through the ages
  8. Top 10 best hacking films of all time
  9. 20 times Hollywood got hacking right (and oh so wrong)
  10. Best Hacker Cyber Security Movies – Docs & Series of all times

Hacker Breaks Down 26 Hacking Scenes From Movies & TV | WIRED

Best Hacking Scenes In Movies

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

IT Security Quotes … or What Could Go Even WrongER!

IT Security Quotes
. . . . or . . . .
What Could Go Even WrongER!

I work from the Desk of VicU Computers Helpers. Pleeze conform to me your pazzword or your Internet will dissolve.

Yeah, right. IT Security is a huge, HUGE issue and is now part of our digital lives – both personally and professionally. And for good reason.

So, right off the top, the best and most informative sites are HERE AT UVIC! If you haven’t visited, read or been told about these incredible resources, then now is your chance. And since a picture is worth 1000 words …. here are 6000 words!

Click on each image below to go to the UVic site.

Information Security
University Systems status update
Phishing
Phishing emails spotted at UVic
Phishing emails spotted at UVic
Phishing Awareness Training Campaign
Antivirus Software for Students
VIDEO: 5 Common Cybersecurity Questions Answered
VIDEO: 5 Common Cybersecurity Questions Answered
Personal Perspectives from UVic’s Chief Information Security Officer
UVic Team Triumphs at National Cybersecurity Competition

 

Enroll in any computer security training that UVic has to offer! Refresh your Cyber Spidey Sense Skills all the time! Be aware of Phishing attempts! And be even MORE VIGILANT now that we are working from home – the same skills you are honing for work, are as important for your home digital security too!


“If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, you will be hacked. What’s more, you deserve to be hacked.”
     – Richard Clarke

“My message for companies that think they haven’t been attacked is: You are not looking hard enough.”
     -James Snook

“The five most efficient cyber defenders are: Anticipation, Education, Detection, Reaction and Resilience. Do remember: Cybersecurity is much more than an IT topic.”
     – Stephane Nappo

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it.”
     – Stephan Nappo

“USBs are the devil. They just are.”
     – Overheard at SecureWorld, Atlanta

“IoT without security = Internet of Threats”
     – Stephane Nappo

“One Person’s “paranoia” is another person’s engineering redundancy.”
     – Marcus J. Ranum

“Two things about the NSA stunned me right off the bat: how technologically sophisticated it was compared with the CIA, and how much less vigilant it was about security in its every iteration, from the compartmentalization of information to data encryption.”
     – Edward Snowden

“If security were all that mattered, computers would never be turned on, let alone hooked into a network with literally millions of potential intruders.”
     – Dan Farmer

“You have to make sure that your hard drive is external from your computer. If you put yourself in the minds of the thief, they want to make a quick buck. They don’t really care about your hard drive, just your computer. An external hard drive is critical. In my case they left the hard drive behind and I was able to plug it into my new computer. It was the key to everything.”
     – Michael Stelzner

And once again, similar to yesterday’s post “Famous Computer Quotes or What Could Go Wrong!” these are just a few of my favourite ones!

Oddly, there aren’t too many current IT Security videos at YouTube that I hoped for. So that means, as I mentioned above, check UVic’s own sites for the most current and most pertinent information about computer security! My Go To pages! They are listed below too!

If I had a single favourite quote, it would be this ……

Enjoy!

  1. Information Security (UVic) and more important links
  2. University Systems status update (UVic)
  3. Phish Bowl – Phishing emails spotted at UVic
  4. Phishing Awareness Training Campaign (UVic) and video
  5. Antivirus Software for Students (UVic)
  6. Inside IT VIDEO: 5 Common Cybersecurity Questions Answered (UViC)
  7. CISO Blog – Personal Perspectives from UVic’s Chief Information Security Officer
  8. CISO BLOG Video Endpoint Protection
    🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESS WINNER 🔥     
  9. 8 Cybersecurity Quotes to Apply to Your Online Habits
  10. 24 Best Cyber Security Quotes That Will Blow Your Mind
  11. 8 Tweetable Cybersecurity Quotes To Help You (And Your Business) Stay Safer
  12. Top 20 Cybersecurity Quotes You Need to Hear
  13. 101 Data Security Tips: Quotes from Experts on Breaches, Policy, News & More
  14. CQURE Hacks #42: That Can Fool Anyone. Don’t Ignore Social Engineering
  15. Simulated Phishing Training (video) (February 2021)
CISO VLog Simulated Phishing
                                                                             CISO VLog Simulated Phishing

As long as there are words out there, there will be interesting topics! 


And videos too!

ENJOY!
     
TTFN!

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