US Govt Mandates New Software Regulations

In a time when most experts are arguing against further government crackdown and regulations, the federal government has announced new mandates that will actually add increased regulations on software, at least for titles that government agencies will use. In a document with the pointlessly long name “Category Management Policy 16-1: Improving the Acquisition and Management of Common Information Technology: Software Licensing,” the government outlined the key ways that its agencies must incorporate software.

One of the chief additions is a ruling that organizations must adhere to a policy concerning pricing. Specifically, officials are barred from dealing with tech vendors whose user agreements forbid sharing information on pricing or other particulars. Part of the issue is that government entities rely more than ever on information sharing to streamline operations and to make their budgets work, and they can’t do that without keeping each other informed of tools that work.

Another aspect to these regulations will be an inventory database of software that agencies already use. This will enable agencies to share information and have a foundation for tech options that have been proven to work for other departments.

These regulations will also establish a centralized software manager within each agency who will oversee software agreements, updates, and licensing. The team of software managers will then work to form a best-practices document that provides guidelines for future software purchases. This will help agencies with a research guide they can consult, as well as give software managers a list of viable options for determining agreements down the road.

The regulations include extensive guidelines for different milestones through the end of 2016, along with stated goals that must be met at each point along the way. All of this is an effort to make the tech power of government agencies operate at its best.

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Enable 2 Factor Authentication to Secure your Google Account

Securing online accounts against unwanted intrusions is very necessary today. Though the number of malicious threats and privacy leaks has been increasing, we are in better situation to secure our accounts than ever. Thanks to the 2 Factor Verification(2FA) that has become a norm. Google also provides two-factor authentication to all its user. And since, all Google products are linked with one Google account, we have 2 factor authentication for all of Google products.

What is 2 Factor Authentication?
Two-factor authentication combines two factors for security: something you know (like your password) with something you have, in this case your smartphone. Two-factor authentication isn’t exclusive to Google accounts. For years now, 2 factor authentication has been used by both Internet companies and real businesses. In fact, you probably already use it – inserting your card at an ATM and entering your personal PIN number is an example of two-factor authentication that most people are already familiar with.

How to Set Dual Authentication for Google Accounts

Setting up an additional layer of security on your Google account will add to your online protection. To enable dual authentication, follow these steps-

#1. Head to Google’s authentication page

Click here to go to Google’s authentication page and click “Start Setup”.

#2. Set your phone number

Type in your phone number and chose to either sends a test code or a voice call to verify that you own the phone. This can’t be done without active mobile service. If you don’t have a mobile phone with active mobile service, you can’t proceed.

#3. Verify your phone number

At this stage, you enter the verification code you received in the text message or phone call.

#4. Set your computer’s trust setting

You will be asked whether or not you want the computer you’re using to be a trusted computer. If you don’t want to repeat this process and are using a home computer, check the “Trust this computer” box.

#5. Turn on two-step verification

And now, all you have to do is turn on your two-step verification! One switch and you’re done. Now you can enjoy all the benefits of two-factor authentication.

There are three ways to access your account after setting 2 factor verification.

First, you can receive codes via text message or phone call to your phone number. Second, you can set up Google Authenticator app which generates codes in your mobile itself. Third, you can carry a hardware device called Security Key which will allow you access to your account when you plug it to the device you are using.

You can also set up 2FA to secure Google Apps data.

Using Google Authenticator App for 2 Factor Authentication

Google has its own Authenticator app that you can use for two factor authentication. The app will give you authentication codes instead of SMSs or phone calls. Even if your mobile is trapped in a low network region, Authenticator app will work as it generated time based codes that are linked with your account.

Authenticator app is only available for Android, iOS platform(iPhone, iPad) and Blackberry. For Windows phone, you can use WinAuth and for Desktop PC, GAuth Authenticator Chrome extension is a good replacement.

• After you set up 2 factor verification for your account, you can switch your primary way to receive codes to Authenticator app.
• After selecting the option, you will get a pop-up asking which OS your phone runs on. Select the one from Android, iPhone or Blackberry.
  
• Download the Google Authenticator app from the link if you don’t have it on your phone. Download Authenticator for Android and for iPhone.
• A barcode will be generated to set up the account with authenticator app.
• Scan the bar code and enter the code generated into the space provided.

2 Factor Authentication will secure your account, but it will also make regaining access to your account significantly more difficult. If you somehow lose your smartphone, or if a friend or family member who has your phone and knows your passwords or with social engineering, you could still lose your account. So it’s difficult to consider that 2 factor authentication protects you from everything under the sun.

If you lose your phone frequently, then you can chose Authy. Though less secure than Google’s Authenticator, Authy brings online security at your convenience. With the ability to access Authy from multiple devices, Authy has got different and easy methods to authenticate your account. (Comparision between Authy and Google Authenticator). In any case, 2 Factor Authentication is a must for anyone who is using Google products (Gmail, Youtube, Maps etc) .

The post Enable 2 Factor Authentication to Secure your Google Account appeared first on Google Tricks Blog.

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What Google Saw During It’s Year In Search: Mostly Violent, and no Kim Kardashian

Google has released it’s annual Year In Search.

Well, it’s either been a good year or a bad year depending on how 2015 went for you.

For me it was pretty good all in. It was my first full year of being self employed as a fulltime freelancing digital nomad, and by and large, it’s gone good. It’s been a lot of hard work, and there’s been some fairly momentous moments, but it’s also been a lot of fun. In fairness, perhaps I could have spent more time my family instead of hammering out Tech articles and stories from dawn until dusk, but I’ve always likes being able to afford groceries and other luxuries like electricity, water and the internet, so I’ve not had much of a choice…

But for a number of years now, part of my routine, in the run up to Christmas, has been to Google Google, and see what everyone else Googled during the year.

If you’ve never searched for it, I can really recommend taking a few moments and having a look at Google’s Year In Search. And for the world in general, let’s face it it’s been quite a year.

From the Paris attacks to Charlie Hebdo to Lamar Obdon and Catelyn Jenner, to the Greek economy and Star Wars, a lot of stuff has happened. 

 

Paris, unsurprisingly loomed large with 897 million people searching for news and information on the November tragedy. The most asked question in relation was “What happened in Paris.” Well even now, after the dust has settles, I’m not really sure. Perhaps the biggest question, will always be: Why?

“How can I help Nepal,” was also a key topic chosen by Google, following the Nepal earthquake, with Google citing the fact that in the midst of everything that seemed to be going wrong with the world, there was some reassurance in the fact that people were also asking what they could do to volunteer and donate where they could.

The world also found itself turning to Google to ask key questions about the migrant crisis in Europe. “Where are the refugees coming from?” was a popular choice for many. Gun control was yet again brought under the spotlight in the US in what now seems to an unwelcome annual regular. “Why do we need gun control?” and “Why won’t gun control work,” as people tried to understand what was going on.  With more than 160,000,000 searches on the topic, interest was high.

Of course, in a 365-day year, it wasn’t all bad news.

Caitlyn Jenner was searched for 344 million times as she became the world’s most talked about new woman on the scene. Lamar Obdon was also a ridiculously high trending statistic as well. So while the Kardashian clan still became one of the world’s most popular searches, at least it wasn’t all about Kim, who didn’t break the top 10. At least there’s hope on that front.

Surprisingly, as Google itself notes, the Star Wars film, despite looking like it’s about to annihilate every box office record going, was still trumped by 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. And on that note, we won’t mention any more about Trump. Except to say that Darth Vader was the most searched for character from a galaxy far, far, away.

 

 

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Software Glitch Sends Freed Inmates Back To Prison

One concept in many judicial systems is the idea of “time off for good behavior.” While this is typically decided on an individual basis–with some crimes not allowing for even the possibility of this–other situations have mandated schedules by which an inmate can earn an earlier release. Sometimes it’s simply a decision by the parole board based on a prisoner’s behavior record, while other states have predetermined ways to secure a sooner release date, such as for completing your education while incarcerated, for meeting the requirement for lack of disciplinary infractions, for joining a drug and alcohol recovery program, and more.

As part of a 2002 initiative in Washington state to streamline the process of determining this reduction in sentences, the state’s Department of Corrections implemented a new piece of software to calculate which inmates were eligible for reduced sentences. Sadly, a flaw in the software miscalculated the eligibility; this flaw was actually discovered three years ago when the family of one inmate’s victim reported that he should not have been eligible for release, but nothing was done to stop the use of this software until a new IT director was hired.

“That this problem was allowed to continue for 13 years is deeply disappointing to me, totally unacceptable and, frankly, maddening,” said Washington’s governor Jay Inslee at a press conference.

During the 13 years that the faulty software was in use, more than 3,000 inmates were released who were ineligible for the reduced sentence. And while these individuals were without a doubt convicted criminals, the real crime is about to happen: the state’s DoC has decided these former prisoners, some of whom were released over ten years ago, must return to jail to finish out their sentences. Five inmates have already been picked up by the police and returned to prison. An investigation into the flaw and the lack of response to the initial error report is underway.

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My Favorite FileHippo TechBeat Articles Of 2015

Well, look at that. It’s almost the end of 2015, and it’s getting really close to that time when my wife will force me to close the lid on the laptop until January of 2016 or she will ‘break it over’ my head, if I don’t.

Tis the season for end of year roundups though, and if Google, Kaspersky, and mainstream media can do it, I see no reason why I can’t do it either.  So I took the liberty of looking back over my statistics and work at FileHippo over the last year to see what had actually happened, and I realized I’d only actually been here since August…. that’s just five months….

But what a five months it’s been. I really couldn’t have joined the TechBeat team at a better time. Windows 10 was one of the most talked about software releases in a long time, and the world was awash with tech story after tech story that just needed to be told. Nothing’s really changed since then either.  There’s always a software related story out there somewhere.

So here are my own personal favorite stories I wrote for Filehippo.com over (the last 5 months) of 2015…

5: Ad blocking software usage in US grows 48% in just one year: Should online advertisers be worried?

I really can’t remember, but this story will always have a soft spot for me, because it was the first one I wrote for FileHippo, and it seemed to take me forever to write. 

4: How Will Google’s Company, Alphabet, Affect You?

Not very much, it seems. Despite the fact we should all really be referring to Google as Alphabet now, no-one has bothered too. It seemed like such a big story at the time, but as I said in the second paragraph, “if you don’t own a piece of virtual Google real-estate, more than likely the best thing you can do is shrug your shoulders and just carry on with your life.” And it turned out that everyone just did…

3: Suicides And Extortion Linked To Ashley Madison Data Hack.

Do you remember the AshleyMadison hack? Remember when it was big news? Remember how quickly it all faded away?  Me too…

2: John McAfee Announces Run For President

McAfee told Wired.com: “I have many thousands of emails saying please run for President…It’s not something I would just choose to do on my own.” Donald Trump on the other hand, did.

“Just when you thought the US Presidential election couldn’t get more surreal than it already is, everyone’s favorite self-labelled ‘eccentric millionaire,’ John McAfee has announced his bid for President of the United States of America.”

You know what the really crazy thing about McAfee running for president was? In the context of the current Presidential candidate, he seems quite sane….

1: Reddit Bans Users Posting Star Wars 7 Spoilers.

Why this one? Because it’s Star Wars. I got to write an article about Star Wars.  And I think that’s all I have to say about that.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year

Yep that’s it, I am gone until sometime in January.  But I just want to say thank you  to anyone and everyone who’s taken the time to read our articles here on FileHippo over the last 12 months, regardless if it’s a story I wrote, or from one of the other writers. Thanks for all the comments too, even the crazy ones, I love reading them.

Until next year, it’s been a blast.

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CodeLobster PHP Edition 5.8.1

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5KPlayer 3.3

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