Michael Swayze's Community Resources

Author: Michael Swayze

  • Tech Tips: Five Ways To Sidestep Cybercriminals

    Password management is an area where just about everyone has room for improvement. Here’s a list of five straightforward ways to make sure your passwords and online accounts stay out of the hands of cybercriminals.

    1. Find out if you’ve already been hacked
    There’s always a chance that your account information is already in the hands of cybercriminals. Fortunately, there are some tools available that can help you identify and change the passwords on any accounts that have been compromised. For example, the website “Have I Been Pwned” lets you enter your email address and find out if any of your account credentials have shown up in hacker circles. You can search a list of companies that have suffered data breaches at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. You can also consult the “List of Data Breaches” on Wikipedia, which is searchable using your web browser’s “Find” or “Search” function. Above all, be a bit suspicious and trust your instincts. If you have reason to believe a password might have been exposed, change it.

    2. Use strong passwords
    It’s important to use complex passwords that will be difficult for hackers to guess. Just remember that adjacent sets of adjacent letters and numbers on your keyboard – like “qwerty” or “123456” – are not complex passwords. The best passwords typically include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. If using complex passwords seems like too much of a pain, consider a password management tool like DashLane or LastPass. These tools help users create, store and manage complex passwords.

    3. Don’t let the bad guys get your passwords
    This might seem obvious, but you might be amazed at how many people keep their passwords posted in places where others can read them. You should never share your passwords and always store them in a secure location away from prying eyes. Also, don’t keep your passwords – or any sensitive information for that matter – listed in a computer file that is easily accessed without a password. Any password lists on your computer should be password protected and encrypted.

    4. Use secure communications
    Never send a password over email. If you want to create an account on website, make sure that the URL of that website begins with ‘https’ because the ‘s’ at the end indicates advanced security measures. Websites that begin with “http” are not as secure. Additionally, do not use public computers or public Wi-Fi to log into online banking and other sensitive accounts.

    5. Choose difficult security questions
    When registering an account online, you’ll often be asked to choose security questions and answers. These are used to verify your identity if you lose your password or if a security breach of some kind is suspected. The key here is to choose questions that are hard to figure out. Remember, just about anyone can find your mother’s maiden name if they really want to. Avoid using information that someone can easily look up online. For example, you wouldn’t want to rely on information that can be seen easily on a social media profile to inform your password choice – such as name of spouse, hometown, employer.

    Hopefully you have found this article helpful and you’ll take a few steps to make your own password use more secure starting today.

    Source: The above article is written by Carbonite , a company providing automatic cloud backup for your computer files. If you’re a Carbonite Partner or a small business, I hope you’ll share these tips your co-workers, employees and clients. And if you’re a consumer using a Carbonite Personal Plan, be sure to share these tips with friends and loved ones.

  • Newark, New Jersey Seeking Chief Sustainability Officer

    The following post appears on a City of Newark, New Jersey government website.

    Job Posting: Seeking Chief Sustainability Officer

    The City of Newark is recruiting a Chief Sustainability Officer who will work closely with an interdepartmental Sustainability Team drawn from key city departments, the Newark Environmental Commission, community partners, and businesses. The team is charged with achieving a healthier, greener Newark in all five wards. The Sustainability Team will build on the framework of the Newark Sustainability Action Plan, guided by principles of environmental and social justice, to ensure all members of the community benefit from the city’s progress.

    See job description here.

    Applications submitted before July 25, 2016 will be given priority. Position will start in mid-September.

  • Disparities in New Jersey Prison System

    A report by the Sentencing Project provides a mixed picture of the social justice system in the state of New Jersey.

    The report states,”Truly meaningful reforms to the criminal justice system cannot be accomplished without acknowledgement of racial and ethnic disparities in the prison system, and focused attention on reduction of disparities. Since the majority of people in prison are sentenced at the state level rather than the federal level, it is critical to understand the variation in racial and ethnic composition across states, and the policies and the day-to-day practices that contribute to this variance. Incarceration creates a host of collateral consequences that include restricted employment prospects, housing instability, family disruption, stigma, and disenfranchisement.”

    Key findings include:

    • African Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at a rate that is 5.1 times the imprisonment of whites. In five states (Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont, and Wisconsin), the disparity is more than 10 to 1.
    • In twelve states, more than half of the prison population is black: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Maryland, whose prison population is 72% African American, tops the nation.
    • States exhibit substantial variation in the range of racial disparity, from a black/white ratio of 12.2:1 in New Jersey to 2.4:1 in Hawaii.

    On a positive note, New Jersey has witnessed and been a leader in reducing its prison population. Since 2000 the state has reduced the number of individuals in prison by 28%. It also has Re-entry Task Forces in a majority of counties. For more information on these community, county based groups contact the NJ State Parole Board by writing to: NJSPB_Public_Info_Office@spb.state.nj.us.

    You can take action to help reduce racial disparities in our criminal justice system. Ask your State Senator to support bill S677. The text of S677 is available online.

    Special thanks to NJ Advance Media reporter, S.P. Sullivan for his recent article, “Racial disparity in NJ prison rates highest in U.S., report finds”.

    The Sentencing Project is a national non-profit organization engaged in research and advocacy on criminal justice issues.