Author: Mark Snell

If you’re running a business on Instagram or Facebook do this now!
Hackers are targeting online influencers, holding accounts to ransom and deleting everything. To learn how to protect yourself watch this bonus midweek episode now.

Hey there YouTube! Someone I know had their Instagram hacked and held to ransom this week. This is an account she uses daily to build her business and communicate with her team. She never dealt with the hacker themselves, but they wiped her account of all of her posts and over 14,000 followers before she managed to regain control of her account. It’s been harrowing five days for her and a real scare for a bunch of people around her, so I wanted to share a couple of very quick and simple things you can do to protect your accounts online.

First though, a word of warning. Instagram and Facebook (and Twitter and
YouTube etc.) are all free platforms that allow you to share your info with the world on their platform. For free. You’re only paying if you choose to run ads (or sponsored posts or whatever they’re called) on that platform. Free. That’s their business model and it also means they have to keep their support costs relatively low, which means they automate everything they can and everything else goes into a queue and takes time to be dealt with. This sucks but it’s the price you pay for playing in their sandbox.

Enough said.

What can we do to best protect ourselves? Two things: Two-Factor Authentication and Backup. What is Two-Factor Authentication? The first factor in authentication that everyone is used to, is your password. This is something you KNOW. Adding a second factor adds something you HAVE. In this case your phone. The system will either send you a text or pop up in a dedicated app with an authentication code that you need to type in as part of your login. So even if someone were able to guess your password, they would still need access to your text messages to be able to log into your account.

Here let me show you.

It’s a little off topic but I have to say that this post that appeared in my Insta feed as I was recording this was timely. Gary Vee discussing what would happen if Instagram just disappeared like MySpace did? But I digress…

In your Instagram, click on the head and shoulders icon to go to the profile page, then click on the settings cog. From the menu select Privacy and Security. Scroll down to two-factor authentication and click Edit two-factor authentication settings. Assuming the phone number is correct, tick the box to turn on text messages, and turn it on, then click Next. You will get a message on your phone that looks like this.

Enter the code and click done. You’ll be given a series of backup codes, take a screenshot and store them somewhere safe. Now you’re safe. Anytime you log into Instagram it will take a few extra moments to receive that text message and enter in the code but you’ll be safe and that’s worth it.

The second part is Backup. Further down the Privacy and Security screen is the option to request a data download. Inside is a link to create a download package of your account. This can take some time, especially if you have a lot of posts, but, eventually they will email you a link to download your backup file. This file contains all of your photos, videos & profile information.

Now, there’s no clear way to upload that back to Instagram but at least you have the information, you know what you posted and you have a record of it.

I hope that helps. Please spread the word. Share this to your network, people need to know before someone else ends up like my friend.

At The Tech Doctor Network, our goal is to help negotiate the technology maze. Come back every weekend for new videos or subscribe and ring the bell to be notified.

I’m here to help. Thank you so much for watching. Have a great day!

Hey there YouTube! Did you know that today, January the 19th is National
Popcorn Day in the US? How about that! Why not pop a bag of your favourite, sit back and watch our 2019 back-to-school edition.

As it’s nearly time for school to start I thought I’d do a quick overview in this video of some of the technology used at various schools I know.

Some schools provide each student with a computer, which looks great because they’re all the same, parts are the same, everything’s the same, but it costs a lot of money.

Many schools have a closed BYOD system (Bring-Your-Own-Device) where parents are given a range of options at different price points with various accessories. This is a great middle ground and helps people at various income levels.

Other schools have an open BYOD where you can bring whatever device you like and they may or may not offer any for sale through the school or its supplier. This makes management really difficult at the school but it does mean if you already have a device you can bring it along and the school will do the best they can to make it work for you. Hopefully. Eventually.

If you don’t have a choice, then welcome to your new device, whatever it is. If you do have a choice I want to give you a few ideas that might make the decision easier for you.

The first point is durability. Kids are, well, kids. Some are more careful than others, most are not very careful. A few extra dollars spent upfront may mean a lot of money saved and a lot less time in for repairs. Cheap consumer grade computers and tablets are just that, cheap. They’re built to a price point, not a level of quality.

I’m not going to recommend specific models or anything here because
this video would be out of date before I even get a chance to upload it. Suffice to say that Lenovo makes tough computers, as do Apple (to a lesser extent, aesthetics can trump function in that case). Dell and HP tend to have good models and cheaper models, as do some of the smaller manufacturers.

Cheap junk is cheap junk. As an indication, grab the sides and give it a bit of a twist. If it flexes, be wary. This Lenovo is tough and doesn’t
budge at all, ditto this MacBook Pro. This Acer has a bit of flex but it’s still pretty solid because it’s a metal case. This HP is pretty bottom of the range, consumer stuff and this Laser tablet I feel like I could actually snap it in half with my hands.

As far as software maintenance goes, if you have access to them, Chromebooks are awesome. There are some things you can’t do on a Chromebook, but that’s often a good thing especially for keeping kids on track.

Macs are really reliable software wise, as are all the tablets. Windows computers can have a few issues, though they are also the most general purpose of machines.

Touchscreens:
I’m not really a big fan of touchscreens on the laptop, especially for kids. It’s just one more thing to go wrong and make screens even more expensive to replace. I almost never see anyone with a touchscreen laptop using the touch features on it. The reverse is not necessarily true though, keyboards for iPads and Android tablets do get a bit of use, especially if you have to input a bunch of text. Typing on the screen just isn’t that much fun.

Speaking of tablets, put them in a case. Not a slip in storage case but an
always-on plastic or rubber case ideally with a cover or decent bumper at the front to protect the screen. Screen protectors, especially the glass ones are great too. Make sure all the phones have a case – ideally a flip one that covers the front.

Laptop cases and backpacks:
Either a slim neoprene case that goes on the laptop and then in the school bag or a dedicated backpack with a laptop storage compartment.

Also on the topic of protection like this, I recommend you never put a device flat on the ground. Not to charge it, to put it aside while you get off the floor, never! Stand it up, either lean it against the wall or stand it slightly open on a edge like this.

A decent laptop should survive falling its own length but very few survive any sort of decent impact on the top of the screen.

I hope that was helpful for you. If you have any popcorn left there’s some more of my videos here for you to watch.

At The Tech Doctor Network our goal is to help you navigate the technology maze. Come back every weekend for new videos or subscribe and hit the notify bell to receive notifications when there’s new ones out.

I’m here to help. Thank you so much for watching. Have a great day!