Why You Should Encrypt

Data Encryption is one of the most useful defense tools that you have at your disposal.  If you are not familiar with encryption, you should be.  Encryption in a nutshell is the process of scrambling your data so that others cannot view it. One of the main benefits of encryption is the fact that others are not able to see your data, and encryption is very hard to break!  Another benefit is that the Feds cannot make you unencrypt your data as it falls under the fifth amendment ;)

Example:

I have a text.txt file that has all my passwords in it like so:

Not encrypted:

gmail password 1k3,dmvl3

facebook password 1k38K2k1nL

Encrypted:

;alkjsdf09u21j3oijrf09jasdfklj;23lkjr9as-dhjfoai;sid;klj23908jasdlfk

132p90ajdsf;jasdkl;fj982u389jflpakjsdfkajlsdf98h198hioajsdlkfajsd9f8ahsdfpij23roifjsdafpodin

Truecrypt is super easy to use.  You can grab it from http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads
It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file or encrypt a partition on your HDD.  There is a how-to on setting up virtual encrypted disks on the Truecrypt site. 

Tor it up!

Almost everyone has been at that Cafe using the free WiFi to check email, Facebook, ect.  Any of the other people sitting there could be stealing your data without you having the slightest clue.  Luckily there is a way to protect yourself from those people.  One way is called Tor.  Tor is a network of computers and servers that are setup for you to tunnel in to.  Doing this encrypts the data being sent and makes it quite a bit more difficult to crack.  Not only is it protecting you from the people in the Cafe, but it is keeping you anonymous while surfing the Web.  Basically how it works is you connect to a machine, which is connected to a machine, which is connected to another and so on.  This routes your traffic through all those machines so it looks like the data you are sending is coming from the last machine in the line.  You will see a big hit in data speed, but your privacy is worth it.  You can download the Tor suite with a built in browser from http://www.torproject.org.  They even have a Android app.

The 2012 Macbook Pro

Its that time of year again, where Apple announces their new line of equipment.  The 2012 Macbook Pro's are getting a change in hardware.  They will have upgraded processors that test have shown to put out an extra 17% efficiency compared to the 2011 version.  This does not come without a down side though.  The new MBP's will be ditching the optical drive, Ethernet port, and Firewire port.  Instead they will be relying on Thunderbolt to achieve the same functions.  I could do without Firewire and optical drive, but I could not do without an Ethernet port built in. Another big change will be the screen resolution -- the 2012 model will have a 2800 x 1800 HD display.  The display is surely going to be amazing as it will be one of the highest laptop resolutions on the market!

Samsung Galaxy Beam

  One of Samsung's new phones coming out is the Galaxy Beam.  This will be the first phone with a built in projector.  Its packing a 4 inch WVGA display, dual A9 CPU, 768MB of RAM, and a 2,000mAh battery.  The projector displays 640 x 360 and 15 Lumens.  All this is packed in to 12.5mm thick case.  I'm not really sure what the average person would really use the projector for, but i'm sure it would be good for business use.



Photo from Engadget