Individual and Small Business IT Security On The Cheap

It never seems to end the onslaught of bad news in regards to individuals, governments and businesses getting hacked on a daily basis. If it's not Ransomware or some virus that is taking down a multi national firm or Joe six pack at home, it's some new-fangled security risk or threat that inevitably touches someone we know.

When you are an individual or small business you don't have the same resources of a government agency or larger business with a dedicated team of IT professionals that can help to mitigate most if not all of these cyber threats that are facing us today. So, what can the little guy do to help protect themselves on the cheap?

The first question you need to ask yourself is, what are the potential dangers I need to protect myself from? Without going into too much detail, here is a list of the top 5 cyber issues facing folks these days in no particular order:

1. Virus, Malware, Ransomware, Phishing and Trojans

2. Hacking

3. Not keeping your operating system and malware software up to date

4. Firewalls not being properly locked down

5. Bad or no Password protection

The top items listed generally fall into a similar category. You open a link in an email that you shouldn't have or you clicked on something on a website you shouldn't have, etc. The chance of getting hacked is minute in comparison to getting infected by malware. You must have data that someone wants and has the skills and abilities to actually pull off the crime. Not keeping your OS or malware software up to date is an obvious one as that is the front line entrance and defense for your hardware. Firewalls, either software in your OS or hardware related to your router as an example, if not properly secured can also be an access point for cyber criminals. Finally, password protection! Something as simple as having a strong password can help to dissuade people from stealing your identity.

So now that we have a list of what are the potential threats out there, how can we take the precautions necessary to stay secure on a limited or no budget at all? Here are the aforementioned threats:

1. How to defeat virus's, malware, ransomware, etc.? Acquire good habits! Do not click on links you are unaware of who or where they come from. If you are in doubt about said link from family, friend or colleague, send them a new email to confirm or pick up the phone. Don't go to websites that are suspect or might not have the "HTTPS" protocol. (Not that every HTTPS website is 100% guaranteed safe but safer than just HTTP) Following these good habits will invariably save your bacon 99% of the time.

2. Hacking! As mentioned earlier, if a PRO really wants your data, they will probably find a way to get it. If you lock your car for example, you can generally avoid crimes of opportunity as the bad guys are looking for the easy in and out. By using a VPN or virtual private network when at a coffee shop or any open hot spot, you can significantly reduce the chances of being hacked. There are many FREE VPNs on the market and I suggest you read as many reviews as you can to find out which one works for you.

3. Keep your OS or operating system as well as your malware or anti virus software constantly up to date. A large portion of the planet uses the Microsoft OS and it's Office products. Cyber criminals are looking at finding vulnerabilities to get around these products and infect your system with various key logging and other malware. By updating these pieces of software on a regular basis can help to offset any potential cyber nightmares! There are a ton of FREE anti virus and malware software programs out there. So do your research online and find the best product for you like finding the right VPN as mentioned earlier.

4. Firewalls or routers not being locked down? If you have an internet connection at home and work, you most certainly have a router or a modem that you purchased or your ISP supplied you with. Leaving your router WIFI open and not secure is an open invitation to the criminal element to infiltrate your home or office and wreak havoc. Most of the time your OS firewall should be already locked down, but it is always good to check from time to time especially after an OS update.

5. Finally, password protection! As simple as it sounds having a strong password with more than 8 characters using a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, will help to make things much more difficult for the bad guys.

"But I have a thousand passwords to remember, how can I possibly remember them all?"

Use a FREE password manager! This can really help you. Once again, do your research and find the one that works best for you.

This is just a starting point to help mitigate the risk and damage from cyber crime and stay safer. If you follow my advice by using sound judgement in your every day use of opening emails, going to websites and forming good cyber habits, you will decrease the likelihood of getting a virus or it's other counterparts. Here is some bonus advice that will make your life easier:

1. Use cloud storage and an external hard drive. Back up, back up, back up is my mantra. There is nothing worse than making it through unscathed from being infected or attacked only to have your hard drive die on you! Although an external hard drive does cost money you can always get FREE cloud storage to help back up your information in case of a nasty computer failure. Check out the many available online.

2. Research APPS or software before you download. Not everything FREE comes consequence free! Some apps or software have malicious coding and can infect your phones or computers.

3. Be careful with your identity, especially on social media. Make sure you lock down your settings on those sites and keep your personal information to a minimum. You don't want the bad guys to know you're on vacation and no one is home!

4. Use two-factor authentication. This is an easy one for anyone who has a cell phone and a computer. If you get hacked or someone gets their hands on your passwords, having Two-factor authentication can be a real life saver.

I hope this article helps out anyone who was curious or struggling to find a solution to what they can possibly do economically to help protect themselves from cyber troubles. In full disclosure, I am not an IT professional but someone who has seen his fair share of friends, family and colleagues who have come to me with any and all of these issues at some point. I have done lots research on these topics over the years and so far have been successful in eluding any harm coming into my systems. (Knock on wood it continues that way)

Photo by Petter Lagson on Unsplash

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Chris Holm Southern Alberta Representative at GCR Agencies Published • 2w 1 article

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HTPC / Steam / KODI / Hackintosh / Redundant Storage Build

Ever have parts of your old computer lying around after you finished putting together your fresh new PC build? The first question you ask yourself is, what should I do with these parts? Well in my case I looked at doing a couple of things I had tried done before.

I’ve built HTPCs before with KODI and/or PLEX. I have also built a quasi server / NAS type device that streams my movies to my other devices in the home. But I’ve never built anything with a STEAM OS on it as through my research I’ve heard it doesn’t work very well for what you can get out of a Windows machine. And finally, I have friends that are Apple fan boys and all they do is rave about how great their Macs are even though their hardware isn’t even close to what I am aiming to build!

So the next question I asked myself after I decided I wanted to build this multipurpose rig was the following:Would the left over parts from my old PC be suitable for this build? The answer was a resounding YES for building the HTPC with Steam, KODI and redundant storage portion but what about a Hackintosh?

After reading online the parts one would need to build the Hackintosh portion of this rig, it looked like we had a winner. The only part I was unsure about was my GPU and whether it might work. If it didn’t work, I had an older GPU that I could install just in case. According to the list of Hackintosh compatible parts this other GPU would work.
So then I laid out my game plan. I would start with the case as the case would be apart of my living room furniture and wished it to look tasteful and blend in with the other electronic components I already possessed. The case I decided to go with was the Silverstone GD08. The case would do 2 things, blend in with the aforementioned other electronic gear in my AV unit but to also have lots of room to fit the full sized ATX board, long GPU and multiple hard drives for my redundant storage portion of the machine.

Here are the parts and software I already had from my old PC:
• Asus P8Z77-V motherboard
• Intel 2600K CPU
• 8 GB of Corsair DDR3 1600 MHz RAM
• Asus GTX 780t TI GPU
• 128 GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (Installed El Capitan OS)
• Multiple HDDs (Mostly Seagate 3 and 4 TB up to 18 TB Total space)
• LG Blu-Ray Optical Drive
• Windows 7 OS (64-bit Ultimate)
• ANYDVD HDDVD software
• Microsoft MCE Remote and Receiver
• XBOX 360 wireless controllers and receiver

Here’s what I needed to pick up:
• Silverstone GD08 HTPC case
• Silverstone 750 Watt Modular Gold PSU
• 1 TB SanDisk SSD
• Low Profile Noctua CPU fan
• Cyber link Blu-Ray software
• El Capitan OS (Apple)

After picking up all the parts I needed to add to my already large list of parts I already had before I started this project, I headed home and then called a buddy of mine who is a resident Hackintosh expert to help me put it altogether.

Mounting the Noctua CPU cooler went on pretty easily, followed by the RAM sticks we seated. Installing the motherboard inside the Silverstone GD08 case was a breeze per the large interior of the cases dimensions but not before we set up the mounting screws and I/O shield. Next we mounted the LG Blu-Ray optical drive as well as the HDDs and SSDs in the removal caddy. Before we installed the mammoth GPU card, we thought it might be in our best interest to mount the Silverstone 750 Watt Modular PSU and do a little cable management including the SATA cables. Finally, we dropped in the Asus GTX 780 TI and added the power connectors to it. Holy crap, what a tight fit! Thank God we did the cable management first as we new we could not put some of the HDDs in certain spots in the caddy as the large GPU would need that area because of it’s length.

Before putting the lid back on, we decided to do what all reasonably intelligent DIY PC builders should do is to plug in the HTPC, attach a monitor to it and make sure it posts!
It posted and we were able to get into the BIOS. This is where things got interesting.
When doing a Hackintosh build specifically using Clover, there is a lot of trial and error that goes into making the build work. We knew the Windows 7 install was easy as we had both done it several times before and were very certain that barring punishment from the Gods that would be a no brainer. With a Hackintosh, you need to know if all those parts you read about will actually work and it can be tricky to get the system up and going if the parts and software aren’t playing nicely. Luckily for us, after a few hours of software tweaking, we were able to get Clover running and installed the latest Apple OS.

We then proceeded to install Windows 7, which takes about 2 seconds to do. It’s the software updates that take forever. That is one nice thing I will say about Apple, a lot less downloads.
Clover is cool as when you turn on the machine, it automatically goes to a dual boot screen and asks if you want Apple or Windows. Just choose whatever OS you want and Bob’s your Uncle!
On the Apple OS side of things, it wasn’t absolutely perfect. The Blu-Ray drive door would always eject when first booted into El Capitan and the driver for my Asus GTX 780 TI would only give me a picture but no audio. Also there were the other little annoyances of how do I access my Windows 7 NTFS hard drives if I wanted to watch a movie on El Capitan? Needless to say after much research we were able to rectify all of the issues and El Capitan works like a son of a gun! Take that Apple fan boys!
Now, on to the Windows 7 portion of our build. Now that my Apple OS was working flawlessly, knock on wood, it was time for the main event as Windows 7 is the operating system I would be spending the bulk of my time with. After the endless downloads from Windows Updater, we were able to start loading on drivers and other software like KODI and Steam. Steam, Origin, Uplay, Battle Net and any other gaming software went right to my 1 TB SanDisk SSD. The KODI portion, although installed on my SanDisk SSD, all the movies were on my many 3 and 4 TB HDDs from my last system build.

I already have a server or NAS type of device in my home that houses close to 1400 movies collection as well as my music, TV shows, home movies and pictures. My thoughts were, what if something happened to that server / NAS? As per the redundant storage for my server aspect of this build.
Steam and the other gaming software installed very easily as it’s supposed to and the games stated to be downloaded. After plugging in my XBOX 360 wireless controller receiver and downloading drivers from Microsoft to get them to work, we were able to start playing games.

After installing KODI and mapping the drives from the various files I wanted to watch on there, I also installed a KODI launcher for my Microsoft MSE remote. (Technically I use my Logitech Harmony Ultimate Hub remote) After it remaps the “Green” Windows Media Center button to a KODI launch button, we were off to the races. Going into the settings we were able to get KODI to work at peak efficiency utilizing the GPU and making sure it was using the proper audio outputs etc. We then installed Cyber link. We installed this software strictly if my Sony Blu-Ray player goes down or if there happens to be a Blu-ray ISO that gets downloaded.
The other pieces of software we installed were ANYDVD HDDVD and MAKE MKV in case I wish you rip some of my Blu-Ray movies I have yet to rip too many of my Blu-Ray movie disks and then convert to a smaller but still decent quality MKV file.

The majority of my Blu-rays that I do rip are my concerts as I enjoy spending quality time with a nice dinner and bottle of wine on a weekend evening by myself or with friends watching and listening to all my concerts on the big 65” HDTV through my Sony receiver to my Bose 6.1 Acoustimass speakers.

KODI is great for convenience and does a great job listing the files in an easy and aesthetically pleasing format as you scroll through your concert and movie choices. I use PLEX on my server / NAS device as mentioned before as I like the way it does that particular more than KODI does.
Finally, we were able to do a little bit better cable management job to the HTPC once everything got up and running and we then placed the new HTPC into it’s new home inside the AV unit. The HTPC is hooked up to my Sony Receiver via a HDMI cable.Here is what the other components of my electronics are:
• Sony W950B 65” 3D HDTV
• Sony STR-DN840 Receiver
• Sony PS4 (With SSD installed)
• Sony BDP-55200 Blu-ray player
• Sony turntable
• Bose 6.1 Acoustimass speaker system
• HTPC
• Arries HD Cable Box
• Monster Power HDP-1800 (Powerline conditioner)
• Logitech Ultimate Remote and hub
• Logitech K400 Keyboard and Mouse
• Logitech MX 5000 Keyboard and Mouse for gaming
• Asus RT-AC68U
• Sony Xperia Z3

The glass doors are able to house some other components that don’t fit or have space left on the big AV unit. My Arries cable box and Sony PS4 wireless controllers sit in there for now. My PS4 and Sony turntable sit on the 2 stands that sit on either side of the AV unit. Both stands are designed to go with the AV unit with glass shelves that also house other knickknacks and pictures. The 65” TV fits absolutely perfectly between the stands with a half inch to spare on each side. I measured before I bought!
The reason I went with the Sony W950B 65” 3D HDTV was because it had one of the best lag times for gaming and was a recommended buy for those that are looking for that specific feature.
All in all, I was very happy with the result. If there were a few things I would or could still do differently, here’s what they are:
• Remote start for power on HTPC
• Better CPU cooler
• More air flow and fans as HTPC gets warm inside with all the tech (Balance with noise output)
• Better cable management (even though you can’t see it on the outside, still bothers me)
• Better gaming and keyboard for gaming
• Headset for gaming
Gaming on this Sony W950B 65” HDTV is great. In conjunction with the Asus GTX 780 TI I find that there aren’t too many games that I can’t run full out in Ultra mode. I use my PS4 for things that it can do a little better suited like NHL16 for example or local co-op playing.
KODI doesn’t allow for 3D viewing so I use my Sony Blu-ray player for that. I wish in Canada or at least with my local cable company we were able to use a cable card, but the excellent bandwidth package and HDTV channels I get with Shaw seems to be a decent trade off.
My Sony Xperia Z3 mobile phone allows me to do screen mirroring with my HDTV and the Sony receiver allows me to stream music directly from my phone if I don’t want to turn on my HTPC and listen to the 1 TB of music I have accumulated over time. The Asus RT-AC68U is great for Wi-Fi but I have all of my components plugged in with an Ethernet cable to avoid any issues that can take place with Wi-Fi from time to time. Also, using Windows 7 gave me a chance to reuse my existing OS as Windows 10 seems to have a few hick ups still with some of the software that I am currently using on this rig.
Finally, the use of cord cutting programs like Netflix and You Tube allow alternative viewing pleasures. It’s nice to watch any new videos in full HD if You Tube allows and comes through the receiver and speaker system beautifully. It will be interesting to see with the oncoming 4K content and games what the next HTPC build with entail!