Alpharetta, May 9, 2013 – SECUDE, an innovative data security provider, today announced a new strategic partnership with Synergy Advisors, a Microsoft Certified Partner and a global leader in the area of Information Rights Management (IRM) with offices in North, Central and South America as well as Europe. Synergy Advisors brings a team of experts that have extensive and worldwide experience implementing solutions based on core Microsoft technologies, including Microsoft AD RMS.

With signing the new agreement, Synergy Advisors becomes an authorized global reseller of SECUDE’s SecureDocument, a revolutionary information protection software that raises security of data downloaded from SAP. SecureDocument uses Microsoft AD RMS to automatically applyIRM protection to data leaving the safe boundaries of the SAP landscape. The companies are committed to working cooperatively in the areas of implementation, customer support, marketing, and sales to provide an outstanding customer experience.

“We are very pleased to announce this partnership, which syndicates SECUDE’s innovative solutions and technologies with Synergy Advisors’ unprecedented expertise in the field of Information Rights Management,” said Michael Kummer, President of SECUDE Americas. “SECUDE gives businesses around the world the ability to take security of their most critical corporate information to the next level. Information is a powerful business asset, and we are seeing an increased demand for data security solutions that go beyond the traditional security perimeter. Today’s businesses are struggling with the traditional perimeter and its boundaries, which don’t provide them with what they need most – mobility, cloud security and flexible collaboration. To address these needs, we have created a solution that does all of the above and more.”

SecureDocument is SECUDE’s information protection solution for SAP data-on-the-move and data-in-use that safeguards an often-overlooked white spot that may leave some of the most critical information vulnerable. Generally, information stored within SAP is considered secure; however, once downloaded, critical information, such as financial figures, HR data, and customer and sales information, is vulnerable and exposed – especially when residing on users’ computers and mobile devices, shared via e-mail, or carried around on USB sticks, without any protection at all.

Layered on top of the existing infrastructures, SecureDocument uses Microsoft Active Directory Rights Management Services(AD RMS) to automatically apply Information Rights Management (IRM) protection to data downloaded from SAP. By utilizing Microsoft AD RMS, an information security technology that safeguards sensitive data from unauthorized access, SecureDocument provides continuous protection to data coming out of SAP. Now, files of any type or extension, along with the business-critical information they contain, are securely protected no matter where they reside – inside the SAP landscape, on an employee tablet, in an email sent to a business partner, or on a USB stick. With this solution, businesses can increase security and mobility of their most confidential business information, all while enhancing collaboration among business users and third parties.

“At Synergy Advisors, our mission is to secure sensitive information for enterprise customers, and adding the ability to automatically protect data from SAP systems helps us safeguard customer information, which is the lifeblood of an organization.  We are very excited to partner with SECUDE, as they can provide our customers with a robust SAP security solution that fully integrates into their existing Information Protection strategies,” said Cristian Mora, Synergy Advisors Worldwide Services Director.

About SECUDE
SECUDE is an innovative global provider of IT data protection solutions. The company’s strategy is aimed at identifying and closing the security gaps that exist in today’s corporate IT environments. SECUDE’s user-friendly solutions protect the integrity of data and prevent data breaches, all while enforcing regulatory compliance. Since 2011, SECUDE has been part of the SAP® PartnerEdge™ Value Added Reseller program and an SAP distribution partner in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. SECUDE is trusted by a large number of Fortune 500 companies, including many DAX companies. With offices in Europe, North America and Asia, SECUDE embraces global IT security. For more information, please visit www.secude.com

About Synergy Advisors
Synergy Advisors is a team of experts in the Information Protection, Identity, and Security fields that designs and implements highly secure and highly available IT solutions for enterprise customers.  Synergy Advisors has built comprehensive IT security solutions for Fortune 500 organizations around the world and is a Microsoft Certified Partner. For more information, please visit www.synergyadvisors.biz

Media Contact
Marina Adams
Marketing Communications Manager
SECUDE
+1 (404) 862-0210
marina.adams@usa.secude.com

Lighthouse and Paradise Island

For this years’ spring vacation my wife and I decided to go to the Bahamas, which is only a two-hour flight away from Atlanta. Neither of us had ever been there, so we were pretty excited. We stayed at the Sheraton, which was OK but not as nice as the Sheraton in Saigon (both are SPG category 4). The Bahamas consists of over 700 islands and cays and since we wanted to see at least some of them, besides Nassau, we took the following tours to other islands. I can highly recommend all of them:

The Pink Sands on Harbour Island

We took a ferry from Nassau to Harbour Island and then switched to the most popular method of transportation on the island, a golf cart. We spent all day on the island cruising around, enjoying fresh seafood at Queen Conch and getting some tan at the pink sands beach.

Pink Sands Beach

Michael at the Pink Sands beach

Colorful signs at Queen Conch

Old prison on Harbour Island

Colorful house on Harbour Island

Palm leaf on Harbour Island

Rasta on Harbour Island

Barefoot sailing tour

The full-day sailing tour with captain Randy Vargas was a lot of fun and included a few of hours of sailing, snorkeling and some great BBQ on the boat. On the way back Randy offered free and delicious rum punch.

Lighthouse near Nassau

Villas near Nassau

Huge cruise ship

Dinner at Compass Point

I always try to keep an open mind when taking pictures without having too many expectations before the shoot/trip – but this time I really wanted to get a nice picture of the sunset. So we asked in the hotel where a good spot was to take a picture of the sunset and the bell boy answered without hesitation: Compass Point. So we took a 15 minute cab ride to Compass Point, which offers not only a great view but also a really good restaurant and even some cabins where you can stay overnight. We took the picture below before sitting down for dinner.

Sunset at Compass Point

The picture above and the lighthouse (all the way on top) are by far my two favorite pictures of this trip. I was so excited about the picture that I dared to order an XXL Mojito. I thought it would be a really big glass…I was wrong. The waiter brought me a two liter bucket of Mojito that easily serves 4 people or more (depending on how thirsty you are).

Dolphin Encounters on Blue Lagoon Island

Swimming with and learning more about dolphins is something I would definitely recommend – despite not being cheap. I think the pictures below speak for themselves.

Me being pushed by two Dolphins

Dolphin at Blue Lagoon Island

Dolphin Playing

We had an awesome time on the Bahamas and since Nassau is less than 2 hours away by plane we’ll probably go there again.

Equipment

• Nikon D7000
• Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8
• GoPro Hero 2

Alpharetta, April 25, 2013 – SECUDE, an innovative data security provider, announces the upcoming release of SecureDocument, a data protection solution that is designed to bridge the gap between SAP security and the rest of the corporate IT landscape by using SECUDE’s innovative “Middleware” approach. SecureDocument uses Microsoft Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) to automatically apply Information Rights Management (IRM) protection to data downloaded from SAP. Key changes implemented to 2013 Microsoft AD RMS pushed SECUDE to create a solution that goes beyond the traditional security boundaries and uses existing authorization models to provide continuous protection for files, of any type or extension, coming out of SAP.

“We are seeing an increased demand from our customers for security solutions that go beyond the traditional perimeter,” said Dr. Heiner Kromer, SECUDE’s CEO. “The traditional perimeter and its boundaries are quickly eroding. They don’t provide companies with comprehensive protection any longer, leaving gaps in their security. Industry trends, such as the rise of mobile computing, dispersed data storage, and increased collaboration between business partners, dictate the need for continuous information protection. Today, continuous data protection of data-at-rest and data-in-use is the new boundary that companies will have to deploy to remain secure.”

Microsoft AD RMS, an information protection technology that safeguards sensitive data from unauthorized access, is undergoing key changes in 2013. It uses permissions and authorization to help prevent sensitive information from being printed, forwarded, or copied by unauthorized people. In its previous versions, the technology had certain limitations that restrained its full potential and widespread deployment in the business world. Now, information protection is supported on all main platforms, including Windows, iOS, Mac, Android, open source SDK for websites, Linux, and others. All file types are protected, from Microsoft Office and PDF files to images and text files. Most importantly, customers are able to collaborate and share securely across all boundaries within their own company as well as with their partners.

SecureDocument intercepts data downloads from SAP to the end-user’s computer by leveraging AD RMS, thus protecting data even before it has left the secure boundaries of SAP. Downloaded data such as financial figures, HR data, customer and sales information is just as sensitive as the data in SAP systems, but chances are, it resides on users’ computers, shared via e-mail, or carried around on USB sticks, without any protection at all. SecureDocument acts as a “Middleware” between SAP and the rest of IT landscape by using Microsoft Active Directory Rights Management Services to automatically encrypt data downloaded from SAP.

“Layered over Microsoft AD RMS, SecureDocument presents an extraordinary solution,” said Michael Kummer, President of SECUDE Americas. “At SECUDE, we are always a step ahead of the game, creating solutions that are at the forefront of the latest trends. The new technology will allow SECUDE to deliver solutions to customers that push the traditional boundaries and provide continuous protection of information in a flexible way.”

About SECUDE
SECUDE is an innovative global provider of IT data protection solutions. The company’s state-of-the-art security solutions represent a holistic approach to security. SECUDE’s strategy is aimed at identifying and closing the security gaps that exist in today’s corporate IT environments. SECUDE’s user-friendly solutions protect the integrity of data and prevent intellectual property theft and data breaches, all while enforcing regulatory compliance. Since 2011, SECUDE has been part of the SAP® PartnerEdge™ Value Added Reseller program and an SAP distribution partner in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. As an SAP Value Added Reseller (VAR), SECUDE sells licenses, consulting and implementation services for the SAP NetWeaver® Single Sign-On solutions in addition to its own product portfolio. SECUDE is trusted by a large number of Fortune 500 companies, including many DAX companies. With offices in Europe, North America and Asia, SECUDE embraces global IT security. For more information, please visit www.secude.com

Media Contact
Marina Adams
Marketing Communications Manager SECUDE
+1 (404) 862-0210
marina.adams@usa.secude.com

In case you don’t know, you can enable screen sharing (on the computer you want to manage) through System Preferences – Sharing – Screen Sharing. On the client machine all you have to do is open Finder, select the machine you want to reach from the list on the left hand side (your machine will most likely only show there if you have file sharing also enabled on the target) and then click on the Share Screen… button inside of Finder.

Share Screen…

Screen Sharing supports so-called scaled mode, which fits the target screen size to yours. If turned off, and the target screen resolution is bigger than the resolution on your client computer, you end up scrolling up and down and left and right. So scaled mode is typically my preference. What I have noticed however was that with scaled mode turned on the screen inside the screen sharing session would not properly refresh and I had to move the mouse cursor around like crazy to “re-paint” the dialogs and windows I wanted to see. That made screen sharing pretty much unusable.

So I called AppleCare and an advisor from the Enterprise team told me that the issue is most likely caused by a combination of energy and screen saver settings. He made me turn off Display Sleep and the Screen Saver and since my Mac Mini is supposed to be always on anyway, I also turned off Computer Sleep. That fixed all issues I had with scaled mode.

Power Settings

Screen Saver

Below is my wish-list of top 7 features I would hope Apple implements in iOS 7 and OS X 10.9. Leave a comment and let me know what’s missing in your opinion!

1. Sharing documents stored in iCloud

The Documents & Data feature of iCloud is nice and works well as long as your documents are only being accessed through a single user/Apple ID. (Un)fortunately my personal and business life does not only evolve around me. I need to be able to collaborate with others. For instance I would like to be able to share a vacation checklist with my wife so she can make edits or check items off before we leave for a trip. Or I would like to have a co-worker or assistant edit a paper I’m working on.

Today, if I create a document in iCloud (through Pages, Numbers or Keynote), I have to export a copy to share it with someone. The recipient can then make edits in his or her local copy before sending it back to me. I will then have two copies of the same document – one in iCloud and one on my hard drive, email client…Merging the two documents is a manual task.

That practically renders Documents & Data in iCloud useless for me since I don’t have a lot of documents that I don’t need to share in some form with someone else.

2. Combination of Google Drive/Microsoft SkyDrive and Dropbox
Almost every cloud storage solution available today has some major advantages and disadvantages. That leaves me with using almost all of them for specific tasks. The majority of my documents is stored in Dropbox since it adds another layer of backup and makes sharing files and folders relatively easy. An advantage of Dropbox is, that I can access all my documents offline and Dropbox is smart enough to detect conflicts, let’s say if two people are editing a certain document at the same time.

Google Drive I find quite useful for collaborating on documents that need editing by multiple people. The advantage is that all editing can be done entirely in the browser, so there is no need for an application like Word, Excel or PowerPoint running on your computer. Files stored in Google Drive are also available offline – at least those that have not been created using the browser-based editing tools. So a spreadsheet created through Google Docs/Drive in the browser cannot be edited offline and instead requires an internet connection.

Apple used to have something like Google Docs or Microsoft SkyDrive called iWorks.com, which was available as a Beta released for a couple of months. It also allowed you to edit documents in a browser or through the iWorks applications on your Mac. Unfortunately sharing documents like with Google Docs was not supported and with the introduction of iCloud, iWorks.com seized to exist.

Today iCloud does allow editing documents from both OS X and iOS applications but unfortunately collaborating with other users doesn’t work and there is no web interface either that would allow collaboration with non-Apple users.

3. Sharing calendars with non-Apple users
Not all of my friends and co-workers are Apple/iCloud users – even though I have converted quite a few people from Windows over time

I do however have the need to share my calendar with some of those non-Apple users and potentially even allow them to edit my calendar. I know that I could create a public URL that can be imported on pretty much any device and platform but that only allows people to view my calendar, not to edit it. Sharing a calendar in edit mode only works between iCloud users. The same principal applies to Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange (and most other technologies) as well but the key is that everyone can just go ahead and create a Google account to consume my calendar. iCloud accounts are only available if you have an Apple device that supports iCloud. Someone with a Windows-based laptop or an Android phone cannot get an iCloud account. I understand why that is, but it just makes collaboration so much harder in a world where not everyone uses Apple devices.

4. Mailbox like features for Mail on iOS
I have recently downloaded the new Mailbox application for the iPhone and after waiting in line for a couple of days my account was finally unlocked and I could start using it. Mailbox is a mail client that makes organizing your mails much easier through gestures. It helps me achieving my goal of a having a zero inbox. You can find more information about Mailbox here.

Email is 30-year-old technology and it’s time to re-think how we use email. Mailbox is a good example of how that can be done. I wish Mail for iOS and OS X would follow in those footsteps. I would have suggested for Apple to acquire Mailbox, but Dropbox has acquired it already. But maybe Apple is going to acquire Dropbox

5. Better integration of Mail and Reminders
Unfortunately most of my communication today is done via email, so much of my workload is driven by email. That makes it necessary to follow-up on emails or execute tasks based on emails I have received or sent. In my old Outlook days I simply flagged an email and added a reminder. Apple Mail doesn’t have that functionality but instead offers the Reminders app.

So to add a reminder to (actually for) an email, I can drag it into the reminders app and set a due date. Additionally I can flag the email in Mail. Unfortunately the reminder created based on an email can only be viewed on OS X since it links directly to the email (clicking on the reminder link opens the actual email). Trying to open the reminder (to see the contents of the email) on iOS won’t work, which prevents me from following up on such reminders while on the go. Additionally I have to switch back and forth between those two applications which adds extra steps and lowers usability.

I would like to see a better integration between those two apps allowing me to flag emails and add reminders inside of Mail. Upcoming tasks would also show inside of Mail.

6. Flagging emails in iOS
Apple recently added functionality to iOS allowing users to flag emails in Mail. Additionally they added a Flagged mailbox allowing you to see all of your flagged emails. Unfortunately only flagged emails that live in your Inbox are shown, which kind of defeats the purpose of flagging.
Whenever I flag an email I move it out of my Inbox (Zero Inbox) into an archive. If I do that the flagged mail no longer shows up in the Flagged mailbox on iOS.

7. Offline Support for Siri
Since the introduction of Siri I have been a huge fan and started using it quite heavily. Unfortunately my enthusiasm has faded since then because often I find it less time-consuming to just use my fingers to enter a command.

The problem is three-fold – first of all Siri requires an internet connection to do its “magic”. While at home or in the office that’s not an issue but if I have to rely on my LTE or 3G connection from AT&T Siri’s responsiveness goes down the drain.

If Siri would do the speech recognition on the device itself responsiveness would be less of an issue and more business would allow its users to use Siri (many disable it since they don’t want Apple to have a transcript of everything a user tells Siri).

Secondly Siri does not seem to be as intelligent as Apple wants to make us believe. True, I can ask for the current weather in different ways and Siri knows what I want but tell Siri for example this:

Kathy F is my wife (assuming that Kathy F is a contact in your address book).

Siri will gladly remember Kathy K as your wife.

My wife recently changed her name so even though I changed my wife’s name in my contacts Siri still remembered her by her old name. I thought since I can only have one wife (where I live at least), I just told Siri who my wife is again – this time however using my wife’s new name. So I said:

Kathy K is my wife.

Siri confirmed and I thought I was good to go. The other day I wanted to send an iMessage to my wife, so I told Siri:

Tell my wife: I’m on my way, I love you.

Siri responded:

Which wife, Kathy F or Kathy K.

That made me laugh and I told Siri who I meant. To fix the issue I also told Siri:

Kathy F is not my wife

But Siri responded it couldn’t remove relationships. That doesn’t make sense to me and instead it forces you to go back and make the change the old fashioned way.

Last but not least, I’m not a native speaker and my accent sometimes throws Siri off. Combining the lack of offline support, its limited capabilities and my accent make Siri useless in many situations.

Conclusion
Despite some delays, iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 appear to be around the corner and I sincerely hope that Apple adds at least some of the lacking functionality mentioned above – especially the ones limiting my productivity.

Back in October I did a review of the new 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display (rMBP). A few months have passed since then, so I wanted to share some of the issues that I have had since then.

The first issue I noticed was that the rMBP resumed slowly from standby and sometimes it not resumed at all. So I had to close the lid again and re-open it a couple of times to get to the login screen. I also noticed that while the system was running, pulling the power plug led to a black screen that the rMBP would not recover from (or only slowly) without closing the lid. Additionally PowerNap would not reliably work and led to freezes.

All of the above issues have been fixed by the recent SMC and OS X 10.8.3 update. Additional issues that I had reported to Apple in the past and that have been fixed include:

• Annoying Reminder problems
• iCloud and Mail issues
• Dock and Window Manager freezes

The latest SMC update was also supposed to contain a fix for a fan issue that several users reported. However shortly after reading an article (MacBook Pro with Retina display: Problems in every dimension) talking about more widespread issues of the rMBP I noticed the following issues:

• Dead pixels (especially noticeable against a black background)
• Ghosting or image retention
• System getting extremely hot while fans are blowing

I went ahead and downloaded the free Screen Utility from the App Store and ran the pixel test. I found a bunch of dead pixels using the black test wallpaper. Additionally I noticed image retention (or ghosting) when resuming from standby. The other day, while having a screen sharing session using Fuze I noticed the laptop getting extremely got while the fans were blowing like crazy. I checked the Activity Monitor and noticed that the total CPU consumption was about 12% – so no reason for the CPU getting hot.

Before calling AppleCare I did some more research and found a webpage listing the following terminal command to figure out if my rMBP was equipped with an LG or Samsung display:

ioreg -lw0 | grep \”EDID\” | sed “/[^<]*

Model numbers with “LP” indicate LG, but models with Samsung displays have “LSN”.

Mine was an LG display, which according to reports from other users is more prone to having ghosting and dead pixel issues. So I called Apple Care and they sent me right to the Apple Store. The support guy said however that ghosting was “normal” was Retina displays. I think that’s just a load of crap given the price tag of the rMBP and the fact that it doesn’t occur on Samsung displays.

The Genius at the Apple Store offered to replace the screen and run some tests to see if the logic board is bad, which could cause the temperature and fan issues. I left my rMBP in the store and will pick it up tomorrow. I don’t know yet what they found and what they replaced (except the display) but I’ll know tomorrow. The first thing I’ll do (while still in the store) is to run the above command to make sure I got a Samsung display

The Genius however told me when I dropped of my rMBP that they don’t know what display they’ll put in since you can’t tell the brand from the outside.

I’m writing this article on a 13″ rMBP that I’m setting up for a colleague and it seems to be an early 2013 model with newer components than my 15″. What I noticed is that the above ioreg command does not spit out anything – in fact the raw output does not contain the string “EDID” at all. Since I haven’t had the time to look at the complete ioreg output I don’t know what display this machine has – I just hope it’s not an LG.

Whatever you have, make sure you have AppleCare because it could be quite expensive having to replace the display while being out of support. Replacing the display on my 15″ is a bit over $700 according to the receipt I got. Fortunately my repair is covered by AppleCare.

Update (4/1/2013): I just picked up my rMBP from the Apple Store and the first thing I checked (while still in the store) was the manufacturer of the replacement display:

sh-3.2# ioreg -lw0 | grep \”EDID\” | sed “/[^<]*</s///” | xxd -p -r | strings -6
Color LCD
LSN154YL01001
DLM303602K8F49HBV

Hooray, it’s a Samsung!

The picture below I took before heading to the airport.

I had a layover in Seoul where I took the following photo.

Before I boarded my flight to Ho Chi Minh City I snapped the following picture of a Korean Air plane at sunset.

One night we went out for dinner to a restaurant that served food from central Vietnam and I got to try the famous jellyfish soup among other interesting looking and tasting dishes

Then it was time to head home and after my last breakfast at the Sheraton hotel I took this picture of the escalator.

I’m back home now but still fighting the jet lag, which is probably the reason I’m typing this post on my iPad – the first one actually that I posted using the WordPress app for the iPad

When the issue occurs the complete GUI (except the cursor) freezes and becomes unresponsive and all you can do is to forcefully shutdown the computer.

I called Apple and a senior advisor, after pulling all my log files and consulting with R&D suggested to bring the computer(s) to the Apple Store to have the Logic Board replaced. I haven’t had time to do that yet and quite frankly I find it strange that both of my computers experience the very same problem. To be that indicates more of a software than hardware issue. Additionally I would probably have to remove the SSD I put into my iMac (to create a Fusion Drive) since Apple probably won’t like my messing with their hardware.

When my iMac locked up just a few days ago I noticed that it is still responsive on the network and I could actually mount its hard drive over the network and SSH into it.

While on the shell I noticed that both the WindowManager and Dock processes were reported as being stuck – which makes sense since, except the GUI, everything else appeared to be working fine.

So I issued a “halt” signal on the command line and waited until I got kicked out of the SSH session. Then I waited a little longer before pressing the power button. I’m not sure if the system actually shutdown gracefully and if the file system got unmounted since the GUI was still frozen and didn’t change.

Before I go to the Apple Store to get anything replaced I’ll wait for 10.8.3 to be released because according to the seed notices Apple fixed issues in the following focus areas:

• AirPlay
• AirPort
• Game Center
• Graphics Drivers
• Safari

Chances are the problem will be fixed in 10.8.3 and hopefully also the issue I’m having with Safari.

My Comcast Digital Voice and Business Class Internet service have experienced significant outages over the past 24 hours. No, that’s not a typo, I have been offline for over a day and despite multiple calls into Comcast there is no ETA for a fix.

I’m typing this post on my iPad which is connected via LTE, so I could at least get some work done today. I was actually positively surprised how much work I could get done on my iPad. I sure love the mobility and I actually always wanted to post using the WordPress iPad app.

So far Comcast outages have been rare and I have been quite happy with their service but this outage, which has been affecting 500+ users in the north metro Atlanta area makes me think about backup solutions.

I hope service will be restored later tonight so we can at least watch Netflix or use the Apple TV. Since we don’t have cable those are our only options

Peace out!

Security vs Usability

Think about all the measures your corporate IT put in place to keep you, your data, your companies data and network secure. In the most basic case you probably have to login to your network (via Active Directory or Novell eDirectory), you have a Virus (Malware) Scanner and most of your applications require you to authenticate (either with the network password or with a completely separate one) before you can actually use them.

While those measures may or may not increase the overall security of the corporate environment, they also reduce your usability. If you forget your network password, you have to call the help desk and have it reset. That takes away at least 15 minutes of your time (if you add the failed login attempts, call to the help desk…). Not only does it cost time, but it also costs your company money since they have to employ help desk staff and you are not working while waiting for the password being reset!

Virus and malware scanners are constantly running in the background of your computer while scanning every action you do and every file you open. That requires system resources and ultimately slows down your computer and thus you.

So the bottom line is that every step you or your corporate IT take(s) to increase security is also a step towards decreased usability – and the challenge is to find the right balance to increase security where necessary without much reducing productivity.

Increasing security can actually lower security
Trying to increase security by requiring users to choose complex passwords can actually result in an environment that’s less secure than it was before.
Imagine instead of having to remember an 8 character password containing upper- and lower case characters, plus a number you now have to remember a 14 character password that requires upper- and lowercase characters, a special character and a number.

With such a hard to remember password, most users will attempt to make their lives easier by writing down the password on a sticky note and putting it under the keyboard.

I’m sure you realize that even the most complex (and supposedly secure) password is ineffective if written down next to the system it is for.

The better solution would have been to offer users a password management software, which provides single sign-on and a secure way to store and retrieve passwords. For more information on this particular issue see my earlier article about secure passwords.

Personally I have made it a point to only use effective security measures that have only a limited (negative) impact on my usability.

Here is a list of what I consider effective security solutions:

• Good passwords (see my previous article for more information about this topic). A good password for me is one that I can easily remember, if I have to use the password often) or one that is randomly generated and very hard to guess if I have easy access to it via a password management tool. Also make sure to use a different and random password for all of your web accounts, especially for social media accounts. That ensures, that if one gets hacked, none of your other accounts are at risk.
• Full Disk Encryption (FDE): I consider FDE an effective measure to increase the security of my data stored on my MacBook Pro when I travel. When picking a FDE solution make sure it has minimal impact on your system performance and provides single sign-on to the Operating System (OS) – so you don’t end up logging in twice, once to the FDE’s pre-boot system and once to the OS.
• Use a decent OS: There are an incredible amount of viruses and malware available for Windows and by using that OS/platform your risk level is higher than if you used OS X, Linux or Unix. Not only are other OS’s built more securely from the ground up, they’re also less widespread and thus less attractive for attackers.
• Disable Adobe Flash and Java: OS X does by default not ship with Adobe Flash or Oracle’s Java. Even though inconvenient to some users, it certainly increases your overall security. I don’t have either on my MacBook Pro.
• Use your brain: The most important and effective aspect of data security is your own behavior. Don’t be stupid and click on every link in every email you get. If in doubt open your browser and type in the URL manually. For example if you get an email that claims to be from your bank, open a browser and type in https://yourbank.com, then login to your account and see what’s going on. Don’t click on the link in the email which may actually lead to http://yourbank.com.xx (a potential phishing site). The same applies to browser behavior – don’t click on links in search results that look suspicious and if you have to visit certain webpages (Warez, XXX…) be aware that you’re increasing your risk of getting injected by malware.

Measures that I consider ineffective include:

• Virus/Malware scanners: I hate nothing more than software that consumes a lot of system resources while not adding a lot in terms of security. I’m running OS X with no Java and Flash installed and I don’t click on links I can’t identify as being secure.
• Complex passwords without a good password management tool. See above for more information.
• All other security solutions that are not transparent and/or force me to significantly change my user behavior. For example I would not use an encryption solution to create an encrypted container on my computer that I would have to mount every time I login using a separate password.
• Aggressive account timeouts. When I’m on the road I have my MacBook Pro configured to ask for my account password immediately when the screen saver comes on (after 5 minutes). That ensures that if someone steals my computer while I’m away from it my user session is not exposed (I also have a Full Disk Encryption solution installed to protect my data-at-rest). However when I’m in my home office I have the timeout set to 1h, because it would be inconvenient to have to login every time I grab a cup of coffee. The iMac in my home office has no timeout set at all – I only activate it when I leave the house for a longer period.

Stay safe!