Microdyne Computers
Bay 3 1500 South Highway Drive SE T0J 2P0 Redcliff, AB, Canada

A few things that you can do to enjoy a safer online experience in general... Clicking Without Thinking Is Reckless... Yes don't click on anything you see! Ok ok.. We all know that right? here's a few more. You're welcome :) Use Two-Factor Authentication... Not sure what this is? Something every computer user should know. Google how to set it up and use it. Look Out for Phishing Scams... Uhmmm that looks like your email or banking... but is not!... Keep Track of Your Digital Footprint... Identity theft anyone? The saying I have nothing to hide is plain silly. We all have secrets somewhere. If you don't want it getting out, don't post it online. This goes for chat applets too. Keep Up With Updates... Always keep your operating system and software up to date. This goes without saying, even though some updates can be buggy, the pros far outweigh the cons. Keeping up to date helps keep your operating system safe... yep this goes for Mac users too! Connect Securely... Always whenever possible connect to secure websites especially when making transactions, even filling in your information Secure Your Mobile Device... That option to lock your phone? Yep probably a good idea! Ok, now that goes without saying but there are other security options within your mobile, be sure you check them out :) Beware of Social Engineering. This falls in to different categories really but.. Ok, for lack of better words. Please explain Google... "the use of deception to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes." Thank you Google. Really in part the point of that is if your not sure of something look it up. You can find all kinds of information online to help protect yourself online and through sharing of information (ahem you can use this site too), those around you.

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT WEBSITE HACKED..... Ok.... maybe but Is this in fact what happened or something else? A bit of a lengthy read but well worth it. The probabi...lity of the site being "hacked" as opposed to people's personal information stolen elsewhere and used on the government website I feel is quite low. Possible misuse of terminology by the news? No matter the case, here are a few things it's best to know if you don't already. The ability and probability to exploit people's information and log in to a site using a victim's "correct" credentials is much higher and likely the case. Much less chance a direct attack on the Canadian government servers, of course not impossible. Exploiting vulnerabilities in ourselves is a much easier attack vector with a much larger landscape for criminals to work within. Here's the thing and what likely has happened. The weakest link in the cyber security chain is the human element. ~Kevin Mitnick. People's passwords and information are stolen every day and posted freely for criminals to find and use and with the pandemic, naturally bad actors are taking advantage and raking in the dough. Many people (and I have learned this working with clients) use the same passwords for a lot if not all of the websites they visit where log in credentials are required whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and yes your CRA account too. Once these bad actors obtain information such as an email and a password it takes little digging to find out what other accounts a user may have. Naturally once this information is obtained a bad actor can simply log in to a server, in this case the Canadian government website, with the "correct" credentials and steal your information. This is technically not a physical attack on the server itself it is an attack on the victims. Information that can be stolen can be your social insurance number, DOB, health records and well you get the idea. BRB, going to get my Doritos. Ok, Thanks for waiting.... Here's what we all should be doing now and in the future. If you use the same password for all of your accounts or most of them even..... stop that shit! I think I have drawn enough of a painting for you to see why this is so dangerous......you're welcome ;) Use long secure passwords that are hard to guess. Change your passwords often and don't reuse OLD passwords! (most floating around amongst bad actors are old passwords). Google how to create secure passwords. Use, learn how to use a password manager to reduce the need to type in several passwords. This makes things much easier if you have several logins to remember and less of a chance a criminal getting them in the unfortunate event you have malware on your system, more specifically a key logger. (not freeware password managers or as we have all heard before....YOU are the product). BTW... If we later learn the website itself was in fact hacked this information still holds true as what I mentioned here is the most common attack vector along with, social engineering such as emails, phone calls etc. - Subject for another day :) A good and reliable website to use to check if your information has been compromised is Troy Hunt's "have I been pwned". https://haveibeenpwned.com/ If you made it this far...thanks for reading. :) If you find this information useful or know of anyone who might please share. Thanks! Dan

I have reached 2k Likes! Thank you to everyone who liked my paged, shared and interacted with my posts and all your referrals! Something a little different - Inspirational quotes from Steve Jobs. If you enjoy this video please share. Thanks, Dan and the Microdyne Team.

Microdyne Computers is open to the public. We are running temporary hours from 9:00AM till 3:00PM by appointment only. Most appointments can be scheduled within 15 to 30 minutes of your call. This is to limit the amount of people in our facility at one time and the crossing of paths. Our temporary reduced hours will not affect the time to complete servicing. Please call (403) 580-5652. Thanks!