Answers...

to commonly asked questions.

vpn

Which VPN should I get?

Can you recommend a software for corporate security(vpn, firewall etc)
___________


VPNs are a very good way to maintain your privacy when traveling or at home. A vpn usually comes as a computer application and an iPhone or iPad app as well so you would use the same log in to use either. The ones I point people to as first time vpn users most often are:

NordVPN (easiest to use)
ExpressVPN

As you become more experienced using VPNs you'll start to discover that not all are created equal and you may find that one vpn better suits your needs than another. (Example: trying to use your Netflix account when abroad) But for general privacy most of them are great.

For more info on VPNs, here's a great site to read up.

Another email account compromised.

Hey Scottie. We are getting these odd e mails that are not coming from us. They are also being sent to several clients. Can you help us or give advice? Thank you

Thanks for your response.  Employer and I have been in the mountains all day so I am going to try this first thing in the morning.  Also troubling is it is not letting me send out emails from my email, hence this email from my friend's account.  If you have any tips on that let me know.  Do you think the hacker changed my password?
___________


In this case, the new sender has been adding an attachment to your email with a password. I opened it and it contains a few garbage installers pretending to be flash or vlc. Of course you should not open them or install them.


Then leads to…



This is all fake. Do not interact with it. Viewing the header information will help to discover possible clues as to where this email is originating from. Change your email password immediately.

Why can't I email with a vpn on?

Thanks for your help by the way. I got Google Chrome and just signed up for Nord VPN. There weren’t a lot of instructions besides logging in once you pay. so I got that far, but now my emails are not sending. I have to turn it off to send. Can you help me with that?
___________


There could be several possibilities. By the way, I experience the same issue on my own VPN as well. Most likely, your email provider is using Port 25 and most VPN's block port 25. Depending on the type of email you're using, gmail, iCloud, etc… you could try configuring your incoming/outgoing server settings with a different port. 587 is also a standard email port. You could try using a different location. Connecting to one IP may not work whereas another may allow the email through. You could also fall back to using a web browser to check email such as gmail.com or iCloud.com etc… None are practical but as I say, security = inconvenience. Overall your best bet would be to find out if your email service has a alternative incoming/outgoing port. There may also be a setting within Nord that would allow it as well.

Is it time for a VPN?

Is it time for us to start using a VPN?
___________


Yes. The federal government just passed a law allowing your ISP to monetize your info. In other words, they can now sell personal information they collect by viewing what you do via your internet connection. Here's the new law: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/34/actions

A VPN (virtual private network) hides your home's IP address by routing all your internet traffic through a third party server. It prevents your service provider from seeing exactly what you are viewing. They only see that you are connected. Not your content. If you do not care about your privacy, there is no need to consider using a VPN. However, if you prefer to keep your browsing habits and history private, you should be in the market for a VPN.

For a great place to get started familiarizing yourself with what a VPN does go to:
https://www.bestvpn.com/best-vpn-services/

This image is a theme.plist hack