Mobile devices have been often considered as less risky. Desktop and laptop computers, the thought goes, are far more susceptible to hackers and cyber criminals. That’s true to some degree. But hackers are clever enough today to compromise tablets and smartphones, too. And there’s one particular mobile device that gets compromised far more often than every other. Reported by a recent story by Business Insider, it’s the iPhone that is the most hackable mobile device.

Hackable

Business Insider reported on the latest statistics from Web security company SourceFire, which released the report “25 Years of Vulnerabilities.” This report charted the Critical Vulnerabilities and Exposures — better known as CVE — of a host of software and mobile devices. The CVE is the standard that security companies use when charting cyber-exploits. SourceFire found that 210 CVE reports had been filed on the iPhone. For comparison’s sake, Android only had 24 CVE reports.

Reasons

What’s behind the disparity? Why should the iPhone suffer so many more hack attacks? There isn’t one simple answer. Business Insider, though, questions if the popularity of the iPhone is behind the higher numbers. Naturally, it makes sense that hackers would like to target one of the most popular mobile devices. There’s a fault with this argument, though. This past year, the buzz and market share of Android-powered mobile devices soared. But while this happened, the number of CVE reports on Android devices actually fell. So as the devices grew to become more popular, they actually suffered fewer attacks.

Going after the king

A recent interview with the SourceFire report author on the ZDNet Web site suggests another reason for the high number of iPhone hacks: Hacking the iPhone might represent a challenge worthy of the most skilled hackers. Consider how Android devices work. They make use of an open platform. This means that developers could create malicious third-party apps that users can download themselves onto their phones. That’s not very much of a challenge for hackers. But hacking the iPhone, which does not boast an open platform? That’s a real test of a hacker’s skill.

Think size is all that matters when picking a computer monitor? Think again. Different types of computer monitors boast different features. Some react especially speedily to commands, and are, because of this, favorites among avid video gamers. Others recreate the sharpest colors imaginable, and are better-suited to animators and graphic designers. The message here? Purchasing a computer monitor takes research. But if you do your research, you will find that LCD computer monitor that works best for you.

The factors

The Lifehacker Web site recently took a closer look at LCD monitors. And, as writer Whitson Gordon says, size isn’t the only factor that matters. Actually, it may be one of the least important things to consider. As reported by Lifehacker, fans of video games might prefer what is known as a “TN” monitor because their screens refresh at a quicker rate. Graphic designers, though, might prefer an “IPS” monitor that boasts sharper colors and better viewing angles. The message of the Lifehacker story? You ought to do your research before buying your next monitor.

Monitor types

The Coding Horror blog, by writer Jeff Atwood, says that most monitors sold these days are TN models. This is because these monitors are less expensive. They also have screens that respond swiftly. But TN monitors aren’t perfect. Coding Horror ranks their viewing angles and color reproduction capabilities as only average. Users can also choose IPS monitors, which boast excellent color reproduction and excellent viewing angles. Their response times are solid, though not as quick as those of TN monitors. The downside? They are the most expensive monitors in the marketplace.

The affordable choice

A solid middle-ground option for some users could be VA or vertical-alignment monitors. As Coding Horror says, these monitors feature good color reproduction and viewing angle capabilities. Also they are more affordable than are IPS monitors. The downside? Colors shift when you look at these monitors at an angle. Plus the response time for these monitors is just average.

Hackers are becoming increasingly clever when it comes to accessing the data stored on smart phones. And hackers are accomplishing this even though consumers protect their phones with lock-screen passcodes. As a recent story on the Lifehacker technology Web site says, passcodes have never been a foolproof way to protect your smart phone. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to better guard your phone. And there are services you can enlist to protect yourself if you’ve lost your smart phone or someone has taken it.

Passcode exploits

According to the Lifehacker story, recent passcode exploits have worked differently depending on whether hackers were targeting the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phones. For the iPhone, the exploits allowed hackers to get into the Phone app, not the iPhone’s home screen. This meant hackers are able to use other’s phones to make calls, see users’ contacts and access users’ photos, even though they didn’t gain total access to the phone. For the Galaxy, hackers managed merely to flash phones’ home screens for around a second. This is a short period of time, but sufficient to allow hackers to launch an app or start downloading one which can unlock your phone completely.

No magic bullet

As these exploits show, having a lock-screen passcode is no guarantee that hackers won’t have the ability break into your phone. As the Lifehacker story says, passcodes today are no more effective at keeping out hackers than are standard passwords. This means you will need to take the extra steps if you wish to protect your phone from cyber criminals.

Protection

As with all things tech, you can do something to make it more difficult for a hacker to break into your smart phone. First, use a strong password, one containing letters, numbers and symbols, for your lock-screen passcode. Next, make sure to encrypt your phone’s data. Finally, Lifehacker recommends using services such as Apple’s Find My iPhone or the independent app Prey. These apps enable you to track your smart phone and erase its data when you lose it or somebody takes it.

Smartphones, tablets and laptops are wonderful tools: They enable us to search the Internet, answer e-mail messages and watch video whether we’re sitting on the train or waiting for our flight at the airport. Yet these devices can certainly be dangerous, too. If they fall into the wrong hands, your information, from your online banks accounts to your e-mail messages to your Facebook pages, can fall victim to cyber thieves. And there’s little restriction to the damage they can create. Fortunately, there are steps that you can use to safeguard your privacy even in today’s age of mobile computing, and as Forbes says, these steps are really easy.

Protect Yourself With Passwords

We all count on a host of gadgets today, everything from smartphones to laptops to tablets. Imagine if you lose one of these devices? What if they’re stolen? How much information could the wrong people access, and just what damage might they do by using it? Thankfully, you can protect yourself by requiring users enter a password to open your device. That way, if somebody steals your tablet, that individual might not be able to get into your online bank account.

Google Alerts

Do you know what people are saying about you online? You might want to. You do not want all of your secrets traveling around the Internet. Forbes recommends that you create a Google Alert on your name. This way, every time anyone types it online, you’ll receive a message alerting you. You can then check out what’s being said about you. Consider this a very easy way to track your online presence.

The Sign Out Step

Finally, Forbes reminds you to sign out of your accounts every time you’re done with your online banking, Facebook updates or e-mail retrievals. Because, you don’t want someone else to stumble upon your computer and snoop around your personal sites simply because you forgot to sign out. And if you’re using a public computer such as one at your local library or bookstore? Signing out is an more important step.

Google Reader, the popular RSS reader, is all but gone. Google revealed that it would eliminate the service once July 1 rolls around. This has hit several of the service’s biggest fans hard. The reality, though, is that there are other options. Google decided to close the service since its user base was progressively falling. But the closure of Google Reader provides an important lesson to consumers: There’s no guarantee that your preferred, cloud service won’t disappear, as well.

Nothing’s permanent?

The world of the cloud is an ever-changing one. Companies add new products. And also they pull those that aren’t performing well. That’s what happened with Google Reader. It’s something that Farhad Manjoo, a writer with Slate, says that consumers should expect to see more often. Nothing that lives in the cloud is assured everlasting life, Manjoo writes. Google promoted Reader as if it was going to be an enduring part of the company. But that obviously isn’t the case. So be warned, Manjoo writes, there’s no guarantee that your other favorite cloud software will live forever, either.

The pitfall with the cloud

This can be viewed as a downside to the cloud. In the days when software came on discs and we downloaded it to our computers, there was more permanence. Sure, companies would go out of business and manufacturers would discontinue software. Nevertheless, you still had access to software, even though the companies behind it terminated it. After all, it was saved on your computer and you still had the discs. This isn’t the situation with the cloud. When something is yanked from the cloud, it’s gone.

Google’s challenge

What does this mean, though, for Google? In a recent story, the Economist writes that canceling Google Reader may seem like a small decision. Google does have to make money, and it seems sensible that it wouldn’t devote resources to a service that is no longer growing. Nonetheless, the decision to kill Reader might make users suspicious the next time Google launches a new product and wants all of us to flock to it. Why, consumers might ask, should we? Since of course, there’s no guarantee that Google won’t kill that new product one day, too. And this isn’t just an issue that Google faces; it’s one that every company that operates in the cloud might eventually need to tackle.

It’s no easy task remembering all the passwords and usernames we need to get into our favorite Web sites. That’s why it’s so alluring to tell our browsers to remember these passwords, whether they’re for our favorite sites or for our online bank accounts. The sad thing is, this convenience comes with a risk. If somebody steals your laptop, this criminal can readily access your favorite membership-based sites. This can include your online bank account. It is possible to protect yourself, though, by telling your browser to forget your passwords and usernames. And New York Times tech writer J.D. Biersdorfer just recently provided simple step-by-step instructions.

Firefox

Erasing stored passwords on Firefox is simple. If you’re using the Windows version, click on the tools menu and then choose options. If you’re a Mac user, go to the Firefox menu and then choose preferences. This will bring up the options box. Once that comes up, click on the security tab and then click on saved passwords. Finally, click remove all and the usernames and passwords will be gone. You could also choose the view saved passwords option to pick and choose which passwords to erase.

Chrome

If you’re using Google Chrome for Windows, first choose the Chrome menu. Next, choose settings and pick show advanced settings. Click on the manage saved passwords link. Then you’re able to choose the passwords you’d like to keep and those you’d like your browser to forget. To do this on a Mac computer, first go to the Chrome menu, then choose preferences. Next click settings. Choose the show advanced settings option. In the passwords and forms option, you’ll find manage saved passwords. Click that. This allows you to erase specific passwords.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 and beyond

To eliminate saved passwords from your Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 browser and later versions, click on the “tools” menu, choose “safety” then select “delete browsing history.” A box will appear. Turn on checkboxes located next to “form data” and “passwords” and click the “delete” button.

Passwords aren’t good enough anymore. That’s been proven often by hackers, who crack passwords to get into the internal Web sites, computers, devices and online bank accounts of small companies around the world. Fortunately, Biztech Magazine has advice: Business owners can take steps to prevent the security holes of passwords. They can protect their Web sites and devices with two-factor authentication. This kind of move will greatly reduce companies’ susceptability to cyber criminals.

How it works

Two-factor authentication works so well mainly because it requires users to take two separate actions to log onto a machine or Web site, according to the Biztech story. That’s enough to chase away most cyber criminals who will go on to concentrate on organizations with weaker protection. In a typical two-step authentication setup, end users must use both a password and something else to log onto their machines or Web sites. An end user might have to swipe a smart card or insert a token. A company may even rely on biometric identifiers as the all-important second step.

The starting point

Not all your employees, though, are going to be pleased about two-factor authentication. It requires more effort on their part, of course. But Biztech offers some suggestions for smoothing this rollout. First, the magazine suggests you select a second factor that will result in the least amount of disruption among employees. For example, Biztech uses the example of smart cards. Mobile devices such as smartphones are usually not compatible with these cards. That might be deal breaker for some businesses. Companies that have workers that work from a wide variety of locations might not do well with physical tokens.

Take it slowly

If you want your employees to be comfortable with two-factor authentication, you’ll want to roll out your program slowly. This will give your workers time to adjust to the reality that their log-on procedures are going to be going through a fairly momentous change. Additionally, it gives you the chance to educate your staff on how two-factor authentication works and why it’s so crucial to the company’s security.

Your small business requires new technology to stay competitive. The reality is, investing in new technology is definately not cheap. Luckily, small business owners are due a significant tax break this year that could make it easier for you to improve your business’s technology tools. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 includes a sizable tax break for businesses that purchase new technology. Here’s a primer from BizTech Magazine on how the tax break works and just how much cash you could save.

An important tax break

According to the BizTech Magazine story, the Taxpayer Relief Act provides small businesses the ability to write off as much as $500,000 in new technology and equipment purchases in 2013. That’s substantial, and can provide small business owners with the financial opportunity to update their computer equipment, modernize their payroll software, purchase new forecasting tools and even boost their social media presence. In other words, the tax break can give small business owners their best chance at competing in the current challenging marketplace.

Help for 2012, too

The tax relief act provides even more benefits to small business owners. According to the BizTech story, says that the new law also retroactively ups the amount that businesses can deduct for equipment purchases made in 2012. This amount will be jumping significantly from $139,000 to $500,000. This retroactive move allows small business owners to write off more of new tech or equipment investments that they’ve already made.

An important boost

The higher deduction limit could help small businesses succeed in what has grown into an ever more competitive business environment. One way for businesses to give themselves an advantage is by investing in the latest technology and equipment. The taxpayer relief act deduction give small business owners the chance to do this without spending quite as much of their hard-earned dollars to do so.

Here’s what attracts cyber criminals: easy targets. This means that you can leave your small business exposed to a cyber attack if you don’t secure your company’s Wi-Fi systems with passwords or if you rely upon passwords which are ridiculously easy to guess. In a current story outlining steps that business owners can take to protect themselves from cybercrimes, Entrepreneur Magazine advises that you do the small things that may make most hackers move on to easier targets.

Encryption Matters

Entrepreneur recommends that you first encrypt all of your significant data, everything from bank routing numbers to credit-card account information to employee Social Security numbers. Hackers like to steal these details. It’s how they ultimately drain money from your small business. Entrepreneur’s advice? Turn on the full-disk encryption tools that come with your computer’s operating systems. On Windows, this tool is named BitLocker. On Macintosh computers, it’s known as FileVault. The tool, once activated, will encrypt every file and program on your drive.

Lock it Down

Here’s a surprising fact from the Entrepreneur story: Many businesses become the target of cyber crimes only after burglars physically break into their offices and steal their laptops or other devices. Once armed with your equipment, cyber criminals can potentially gain access to important company accounts and information. That’s why employees should, prior to leaving for the day, run a cable through the Kensington locks – the small metal loops attached to most computers and laptops – on their electronic devices and lock them to their desks. This might prevent some criminals, obsessed with completing their theft quickly, from bothering with the devices.

Wi-Fi Protection

Wi-Fi networks are often vulnerable to hackers. That’s why Entrepreneur Magazine suggests that businesses depend on wired networks instead. If your business clearly needs a Wi-Fi network, make sure you protect it using a challenging password. Entrepreneur Magazine recommends a password made up of letters, numbers and symbols. Record this password and hide it in a safe or other secure place.

Here’s what attracts cyber criminals: easy targets. Which means that you can leave your small business open to a cyber attack if you don’t guard your company’s Wi-Fi systems with passwords or if you trust in passwords which are absurdly simple to guess. In a current story detailing steps that business owners can take to safeguard themselves from cybercrimes, Entrepreneur Magazine advises that you do the little things that may make most hackers move on to less difficult targets.

Encrypt your Data

Entrepreneur recommends that you first encrypt all of your significant data, anything from bank routing numbers to credit-card account information to employee Social Security numbers. Hackers want to steal these records. It’s how they ultimately drain money from your small business. Entrepreneur’s advice? Turn on the full-disk encryption tools that are included with your computer’s operating systems. On Windows, this tool is labeled BitLocker. On Macintosh computers, it’s called FileVault. The tool, once activated, will encrypt every file and program on your drive.

The Lockdown Approach

Most computers have a Kensington lock port, a small metal loop that users can run a cable through to lock them to their desks. If you want to truly protect your business, require that employees take this protection measure. It might sound silly, but the Entrepreneur story said that businesses are often hacked after burglars break in and steal laptops along with other devices. A cable strapping a laptop to a desk won’t stop all thieves. But it might scare away those who want to strike especially quickly.

Wi-Fi Vulnerability

Many hackers break into the Wi-Fi networks operated by businesses. That’s why it is very important for businesses to protect these networks with passwords that are improbable for hackers to crack, usually long codes featuring numbers, symbols and letters. Naturally, such passwords are difficult for you to remember, too. Solve the problem by writing down your passwords and keeping them in a locked safe or other secure location.