Information Archives - ControlYourComms.com

Stop Using Google

February 6, 2021February 6, 2021ContributorNo Comments

Many of us have been using the Google suite of products for MANY years, first starting with their takeover of search by just having a simple search bar. Back in the old days of Altavista, Yahoo, AskJeeves to name but a few, the home page of many search engines was their portal, populated with all sorts of content. Google changed this with a clean simple search bar. They then introduced GMAIL which was an invitation only online web mail account which gave you a massive 200Mb of storage and then 1Gb of storage (unheard of at the time). Then things got pervasive with Google Docs, Google Plus and the release… Read More

WhatsApp was hacked. Are we surprised?

May 18, 2019May 18, 2019ContributorNo Comments

So there is yet another “hacking” scandal with a Facebook product. This time its WhatsApp, but really are we that surprised about this latest attack? WhatsApp messages are meant to be encrypted from end to end and not able to be read, one of the reasons that law enforcement are generally opposed to the product. The problem is that it is owned by FaceBook and we know how secure they are after leaving a few million usernames and passwords in the clear for a couple of years. (You can read about that fiasco <HERE>, <HERE> and <HERE>. The reality is quite different. The Vault7 release by Wikileaks.org states … These… Read More

Cell Phone Carriers Are Secretly Selling Your Real-Time Location Data

May 30, 2018May 30, 2018ContributorNo Comments

If you were not aware, over the last week or so there has been a bit of a “kerfuffle” over the realisation that users telephone data is being commercially exploited by organisations such as LocationSmart.com. LocationSmart sells its data to companies for all sorts of reasons. In some instances it’s used to help local businesses send marketing text messages to customers visiting rival stores. In others, location data can be used by companies to track deliveries or shipments – or allow banks to track fraud if a person is making suspicious transactions within close proximity of each other. The replacement or amendment to the Patriot Act, with HR 2058 -… Read More

13 Settings you should consider for your Android

May 14, 2018May 15, 2018ContributorNo Comments

We have become dependent on our smartphones while at the same time the devices and apps themselves have become more sophisticated. There are many hidden functions in today’s smartphones that “leak” our personnel information. Whether this is using the GPS to track our location and push ads to us, or monitoring our keyboard input (to improve the user experience). A lot of this can be managed and controlled by setting up your phone “correctly” and being aware of your activity. . This video takes you through your Android phone and highlight some of the settings you should consider changing.

NSA collects 530mn records in 2017

May 8, 2018May 8, 2018ContributorNo Comments

The US Government’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has just released their mandatory report into the bulk collection of data, and it is shocking reading. (A copy of the full report is available HERE) Over the course of 2017, the National Security Agency (NSA) collected some 534,396,285 call detail records (CDRs), representing a dramatic increase over the previous year when, the agency gathered details of 151,230,968 calls, according to the report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). This shows the unabated infringement of the rights of US citizens caught up in this, and the arrogance of the US Government to think that… Read More

The Dark Net isn’t what you think. Its actually key to our privacy

April 24, 2018May 8, 2018ContributorNo Comments

We hear a lot about the Dark Web or Dark Net and how it is a dark and evil place populated by drug dealers, pedophiles, hit men and arms dealers. Alex Winter researched and created a documentary The Deep Web. This Ted talk is about that journey But what is it really? Why is it there and are there legitimate reasons for it? This Tedx Talk by Alex Winter, Bill from Bill and Ted’s movie franchise takes a personal look at why privacy is important and the Dark Web is a tool or enabler.

13 Settings you should consider for your iOS device

April 19, 2018April 19, 2018ContributorNo Comments

We all have become more and more dependent on our smartphones while at the same time the devices and apps themselves have become more and more sophisticated. There are many hidden functions in today’s smartphones including accelerometers to say how fast you are moving, gps to say where you are, barometric pressure to tell you how high you are, and thats before we put our photos, banking and personal information in. This video takes you through the settings of the Android based phones and some of the settings you should consider changing.

Introduction to TOR

April 19, 2018May 15, 2018ContributorNo Comments

By now we have all probably heard about TOR or as some call it the “Dark Web”, but not many of us know what it actually is, what it can be used for, and how to access it. There are many legitimate reasons to use TOR and the many benefits that it brings. Remember it was designed by the US Navy, so is it really only for nefarious purposes. So what can I expect from the video. Well as an introduction it will take you through what TOR is, the principles behind it, how it works and some of the tools you need to use TOR

Secure hosted phone service released

April 1, 2018April 19, 2018ContributorNo Comments

ControlYourComms.com launches a secure hosted phone service – Business Pack targeted at small businesses looking for all of the functionality of an enterprise PABX solution without the cost. Imagine having a call come into your mobile phone from an important client and needing to pass them onto another department. Normally, since it is a mobile, the general process is to tell the client he needs to call another department and hopefully you have a number. Not anymore. With the CYC Business Pack phone service, your mobile phone is an extension of your PABX meaning you can transfer calls, park them or be part of a hunt group if required. The… Read More

Email encryption: Now more necessary

March 31, 2018April 21, 2018ContributorNo Comments

When considering controlling your communications, it would be folly not to consider arguably our most common form of communication, the humble email, and how important email encryption is. A Radicati Group Inc email study states In 2017, the total number of business and consumer emails sent and received per day will reach 269 billion, and is expected to continue to grow at an average annual rate of 4.4% over the next four years, reaching 319.6 billion by the end of 2021.(1) Our email tells a lot about us as we tend to not only use it for business communications but also for our personal communications. If you are using an… Read More