Reclaim your Windows 10 privacy

The advent of social media has enabled advertisers to target their consumers better than ever before. But, are you aware that your operating system could also be helping companies display personalized ads based on your online searches? Read on to learn more about Windows 10’s flawed privacy settings and how you can fix them.

Turn personalized advertising off

For those unaware, Windows 10 assigns each user an ‘advertising ID’ which it uses to personalize your ad experience based on your recent browser history. If you’re someone who is okay with seeing generic ads targeted to you based on demographics rather than your ID, we recommend turning this feature off.

1. To do so, head into your settings by clicking on the magnifying glass symbol next to the Windows logo, at the bottom left of your screen.
2. Next, type in Privacy -- click on it, and select General.
3. Then, slide the option which states ‘let apps use my advertising ID for experience across apps’ to Off.
4. Lastly, open your web browser and go to this link. Once there, select Off for ‘Personalized ads wherever I use my Microsoft account’ and ‘Personalized ads in this browser.’

This resets your ad ID, allowing you to experience the joys of web surfing without the creepy targeted advertisements.

Disable Cortana

Voice-controlled digital assistants have become big business. Microsoft aims to capitalize on this market with Cortana, an incredibly resourceful, built-in assistant that allows to you quickly set reminders, schedule events and send email, among many other intuitive features. It uses the information it collects similar to how Google's Android-based assistant does it. However, it can become overbearing at times.

1. To turn it off, click on the Cortana icon in the taskbar, followed by the notebook icon on the left hand side of the pop-up panel.
2. Click on Settings, this should present you with the first option which says, ‘Cortana can give you suggestions, ideas, reminders, alerts and more’, you can slide that to Off.

Once disabled, the Cortana option disappears and you’re now presented with a search bar which you can use to search for things online or on your desktop.

Stop peer-to-peer file-sharing

With P2P file-sharing enabled, Windows 10 shares downloaded updates to your PC with other Windows 10 users by default. This helps other users update their systems faster, and speeds up your upgrade downloads, as well. However, if you are unhappy with your files being utilized by other users, you can turn it off.

1. Head over to Settings once again.
2. Click on ‘Update and Security’, followed by ‘Windows Update’, then ‘Advanced Options’ and finally select ‘Choose how updates are delivered.’
3. By default, the ‘Updates from more than one place’ is on, followed by two options: distribute updates only to PCs on local network, and shut off P2P updates entirely.
4. If you want to disable this feature entirely without worrying about specifics, then move the slider to Off.

If you want to share your files with PCs on your in-house network only, leave the the slider in the On position and select the button which says ‘PCs on my local network.’ For more detailed instructions on how to stop P2P updates, click here.

Blunt Microsoft’s Edge

Remember Internet Explorer? Think of Microsoft Edge as the same, just on steroids. The tech giant’s fancy new browser is chock full of features -- such as Cortana Integration and typing prediction -- which may make you uncomfortable, since all the features send data back to Microsoft. To turn off these intrusive functionalities, open Edge and click on the menu icon in the far right corner (three horizontal dots).

Once in, click on ‘View Advanced Settings’. There you have the option to disable Adobe Flash -- which stops those Flash cookies from going anywhere. You’ll also encounter a bunch of settings you might want to disable under the ‘Privacy and Services’ section.

These simple security tips will stop Microsoft from tracking your online movements for good! In case you’re interested in protecting your privacy, don’t hesitate to contact us today for all matters security related.

Don’t fall for distributed spam distraction

One of the most frustrating things about using email is seeing dozens of spam messages every day. Fortunately, they’re just minor annoyances that are easy to remove from your inbox. However, hackers have developed a way to make spam much more insidious. Here’s what you need to know about modern spam attacks.

Understanding DSD
Distributed Spam Distraction (DSD) is designed to inundate your inbox with thousands of nonsense emails. There are no dangerous links, ads, or attachments involved, just random excerpts of text stolen from books and websites. What’s more, the email and IP addresses used are all different so victims can’t simply block a specific sender.

These attacks last anywhere from 12 to 24 hours and can flood inboxes with as many as 60,000 messages. While they may seem like harmless annoyances, the true purpose of DSD is to draw victims’ attention away from what hackers are doing behind the scenes.

And what they’re doing is exploiting your personally identifiable information (PII) to make unauthorized purchases or pilfer cash directly from your accounts. The DSD acts as a sort of smokescreen to hide payment confirmation messages behind a deluge of spam messages.

New tactics
Over the years, hackers have developed new tactics involving DSD. Several reports have shown that, instead of nonsensical emails, hackers are using automated software to have their targets sign up for thousands of free accounts and newsletters to distract them with authentic messages. This allows DSD blasts to slip past spam filters that have been designed to weed out malicious code and gibberish text used by traditional DSD attacks.

What’s even more worrying is that any ill-intentioned individual can go to the dark web and pay for DSD services. They just have to provide a hacker with their target’s name, email address, and credit card numbers -- all of which can also be purchased in the dark web -- and pay as little as $40 to send 20,000 spam messages.

How to stop it
DSD is a clear sign that one of your accounts has been hijacked, so whenever you receive dozens of emails in quick succession, contact your financial institutions to cancel any unfamiliar transactions and change your login credentials as soon as possible. It’s also important to update your anti-spam software (or get one if you don’t have one already) to protect your inbox from future DSD attacks.

Hackers only initiate DSD attacks after they’ve obtained their target’s email address and personal information, so make sure your accounts and identity are well protected. This means you should regularly change your passwords and pins, enable multi-factor authentication, set up text alerts for whenever online purchases are made in your name, and be careful about sharing personal information.

For more tips on how to deal with DSDs or other cyberattacks, call us today. We offer powerful tools and expert advice that will ensure your business’s safety.