Month: February 2018 (Page 1 of 2)

I find it fascinating–and a little troubling–that my kids’ schools require them to do much of their homework and projects on their laptops, yet my kids seem challenged to perform some of the more basic functions of using a computer. So, I feel I need to block off some time and teach my kids a few of these basic operations.

Lots of folks have their various lists of topics they believe are important to convey to young people. Here is mine:

1. Always be checking for the latest operating system patches

With Windows, the default is that Windows is always checking for updates. I think that’s a good thing. Nevertheless, my kids should know how to get to the Windows Update configuration screen and make sure they’re up-to-date just to be sure.

Occasionally, Microsoft will push out a large update like their Creators Update.  Of course, these large updates always hit at the wrong time: like the night before a paper is due that hasn’t been printed out yet. Thus, my kids need to plan ahead: if they know they’re going to need their computers fully available for work on a particular night, they should try to power through any updates in the proceeding nights just to reduce the chance of interruption.

2. Always be checking for the latest Java updates

Like Windows, hackers like to find exploits in Java since it’s everywhere. So, like Windows, computer users should always be vigilant about new Java updates. Java is pretty good about detecting new available updates, but, depending on your settings, it may or may not update automatically. So, I’m constantly checking the system tray and, in particular, looking for the Java icon that usually indicates a new update is available. If one is, I’ll launch the Java console and get the update. My kids should be on the lookout for Java updates, too.

3. In general, check the system tray and notifications panel frequently

I rely on the system tray to let me know about Java updates, but it’s pretty good at alerting me to other potential problems, too, such as letting me know I haven’t ran anti-virus in a little while (see #4). Similarly, the notifications panel occasionally lets me know about important events or problems on my machine–it will also sometimes post useless information there, too, like entertainment news and related fluff so you might want to take action to reduce some of that noise. In any event, kids, please frequently check your system tray and notifications panel. If you see an alert there that you don’t understand, let me know.

4. Run anti-virus frequently

I used to explicitly deploy Microsoft Security Essentials to all the machines in my household, but since most of my machines are now on Windows 10, I don’t need to worry about that as much.  However, I need to make sure Windows Defender is set to run periodically and automatically get updates: or, rather, I need to show my kids how to do these things. Laptops make running AV scans a little more difficult. I might set Defender to run every night at 1:00 AM, but if the laptop’s off at that time, Defender won’t be running. So, I think it’s important to show my kids how to open up Defender and manually start a scan. More fundamentally, I need to make sure my kids know what a computer virus is and how you can go about protecting your machines from them.

5. Backup your files frequently

We had an iPhone crash recently and my kid cried half the day at having lost lots of important information. I’ve certainly lost valuable files in computer crashes myself. As a household, we need to do a better job at backing up our files. I have a NAS and take a few other steps to set up redundant file backups, but I definitely need to teach my kids more about backing up their important files and I probably need to provide some resources to them, too, to make the process easier. Regardless, the kids need to know where their important files are on disk and how to at least back them up to one or two alternative locations, like a flash drive and maybe the cloud.

6. Manage your passwords responsibly

In a previous post, I talked about the importance of never using the same password twice (you could probably say the same thing about userids) and how I use the tool Password Safe to make all that easier. This is yet another concept I need to convey to my kids.

7. Install important plugins in your browsers

Browsers and email are two of the most popular ways for computers to get infected with malware.  I think/hope enough people (including my kids) know about how to be safe with email: don’t open email from people you don’t know and especially don’t open their attachments, be very careful about the links you click in an email, etc. I don’t think that level of awareness is there with browsers, though.

When I set up laptops for my kids, I install lots of plugins on their browsers to reduce the risk of their machines getting infected by visiting a malicious site (or even a legit site that’s been compromised). Unfortunately, these plugins usually makes for an unpleasant browsing experience. My kids need to learn a) the importance of locking down their browsers in this manner, b) how to decide when a site and its third party components looks legitimate (hint: takes a lot of experience) and c) how to whitelist the bare minimum components in those plugins to make the site functional for their needs.

8. Use email safely

I guess I should probably still call out this point, because I’m sure my kids don’t understand the finer points about being safe in the email channel. Microsoft has identified some pretty good points here and probably going over a few examples with the kids would be a good exercise, too.

9. Cover your webcam

Two years ago, the Internet was abuzz with the fact that Mark Zuckerberg tapes over his webcam.  It’s not a bad practice. It’s not uncommon for malicious software–and even school software–to turn on a kid’s webcam and start recording. My kids should know: a) where their webcams and microphones are on their devices, b) how to turn these devices off in their settings and only turn them on when needed and c) be prepared to cover these devices with an appropriate tool or tape if nothing else.

10. Be thoughtful on social media Don’t be an admin on your machine

As a parent, I’m supposed to instruct my kids about being safe on social media–and I do–but I think that’s kind of a “gimme”; plus, I think they hear that message from other sources, too. So, I’m going to skip that one in my list and go to the next one: don’t do your day-to-day work as an administrator.

Most windows machines have two default roles: administrator and standard user. As you might guess, administrators have full access to all the important parts of the machine while standard users are locked down from a lot of these critical areas. As a result, standard users can do less harm on a computer and the network than an administrator can. If you’re running your computer as an administrator, which most people do, and you inadvertently install malware, it’s pretty much game-over. However, if you’re running as a standard user and get infected, the malware/hacker has to escalate privileges and/or bypass User Access Control to do any real damage. Unfortunately, our hacker friends have indeed found ways to bypass User Access Control (UAC), but still, the more obstacles you can put in their paths, the better.  So, kids, do your day-to-day stuff as a standard user.

Well, I still have several items left in my list, but I will stop at ten for now. Time to put my talk into action!