I Can't Believe He's Gone

Or not butter.? Or something.

I don't visit Facebook all that much anymore.? Only a few notifications sneak in, but a pervasive notification this January of 2024 is: "I Can't Believe He's Gone" - with a friend tagged.

It's a scam - an incitement to click the associated link. The scam must be working with some people in order to be so...ubiquitous.

Want to make sure you're not a source of "who to tag"?

If you use Facebook, I encourage you to control your privacy settings and not accept the defaults. Here's the big one.

??Hide your friends list - don't make it public.

What's this do for you?? A lot.

Facebook users frequently bemoan that they've been "hacked" when what happens instead is this: they've been copied without anyone knowing or lifting their account credentials.

How's that even occur, and why do scammers do it??

How (but don't try this at home)

1. Visit someone's profile.
2. Right click on the image of that person's picture. You can save that image.
3. Make a new profile with that person's name.
4. Iterate through that person's friends list and send a new friend request to each one.

You see it, right - #4 is the goal. 1-3 are the set-up.? As fast as I typed that, those steps are done.

If you keep your friends list private, there's no incentive for the copying; scammers move on to someone else, a simpler, more effective target.

Do Try This At Home - Make Them Private

1. When you're logged into Facebook, go to Account (your picture in the upper right)
2. Go to Settings->Privacy
3. Go to Settings
4. Look at the Audience and Visibility Section on the left - click How people find and contact you
5. Make this change.

And Also Do This - Bolster Your Credentials

1. When you're logged into Facebook, go to Account again
2. Go to Settings->Privacy
3. Go to Settings
4. Go to Password and Security
5. Click on Two-factor authentication - make sure you've turned it on. Facebook makes you do a bunch of clicking to confirm - doesn't just show you.
6. Consider also changing your password. You can do that from the same menu.

Is now a good time to ensure your LinkedIn account has a strong password and multifactor authentication?? (Yes, yes, yes)

And beware requests to click that come from LinkedIn members as well - of course.

Your clicks are valuable.

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The Mighty Apostrophe.? What Makes Him Tick.

What's up?? Who's interested?

The apostrophe decided to make an appearance today.? Here's his job, as he states it:

??Indicate contractions.? (Do not -> don't)

??Denote possessions (It's mine - Heather's)

AND ALMOST NOTHING ELSE!

Sometimes you see people handwrite their addresses. Like this:

The Noggles'

1234 Appian Way

Somewhereville, MO 55555

Resist!? When you pluralize - and merely pluralize, you do not "possess" or "contract."? I hope that helps.

Another usage, nice edge case.? If you're making a possessive that ends with an "s" plural, where do you put the apostrophe??

Option 1: At the end of an s.? "The Jones' house"

Option 2: Put it at the end, and then add another s.? "The Jones's house"

Whether you choose option 1 or 2, be consistent in the usage in your writing.

It is what it is (it's what it is?)

Sometimes you see something like this: "The animal was nursing its paw."? In this usage, it's possessive, but the word itself is "its," and that's a word.

The sentence isn't "The animal was nursing it is paw" - so no apostrophe.

What other gotchas have you seen?? What do you think of "two weeks' notice" - is that correct? Check out that lowest link.

Great guide here: Strunk & White's The Elements of Style - https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X

(You might also see it in indicating a decade - "The 90's" - just...eww.

Want more detail?? This is pretty good: https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp

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DMARC(ation)

If you've got a domain name live on the Internet, chances are you've got email for that domain. Familiarize yourself with three things:

DMARC - Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance - instructions on how to handle sketchy email that someone mimicking your domain sends.

DKIM - DomainKeys Identified Mail - Digital signature for your email. Can be used to detect "spoofed" or faked email. Faked sender addresses. Also known as "how to keep your important email from being marked as spam by your recipient" - if your DKIM is clean.

SPF - this goes in your DNS (domain name server) configuration file.? SPF shows which mail servers can legitimately send email for your domain.

These are your best fighting chance against emails from you being marked as spam and phishing.

Google and Yahoo are requiring mass emailers to have these in place in February of 2024 and beyond.? https://dmarcian.com/yahoo-and-google-dmarc-required/

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Featured

Catch the wave!

"They call it Posiedon's Rage. It's an attraction at Mt. Olympus Water Park in Wisconsin Dells, and last summer we decided to give it a try after a day doing everything else there..."

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/heathernoggle_cyberhygiene-ownyourclicks-cybersecurity-activity-7029919925154578432-8dhb

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Recent Appearances

On 1/10/2024? I spoke with 417 Breakfast Club networking group about small business and behaviors to help keep their information secure.

SecureTrust.io also published my article The First Three Levels of Human Cybersecurity.? https://securetrust.io/cybersecurity-insights/three-levels-of-human-cybersecurity/

Upcoming - a few things in the hopper you'll hear about in two weeks!

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Available to Consult

I love to share what I know, and if a quick conversation can help you on your way in your business - something to do with people, tech, and/or entrepreneurship, let's talk.

I've got some open time to work early this year - projects of all sizes. Who doesn't need a business strategist musician punster cybersecurity advocate writer? ??

??????????

https://calendly.com/hnoggle/15min