David Friend is my friend. You might know him, too. Dave is the founder of Carbonite and now heads up a cloud storage company he started called Wasabi. It competes with Amazon Web Services, and I invested in Wasabi a few years ago.

Anyway, Dave and I are exchanging pics this past week. He shows me his home office on the Cape. I send him mine overlooking Santa Barbara. And then he sends me a YouTube link to a marketing video for Wasabi. 

I was expecting a boring, “here’s why you need enterprise cloud storage” video. Well, if you’re in IT, get ready for a few laughs! Tap or click here to be among the first to see a video that is destined to go viral. 

Jeremy, our network ops guru extraordinaire, said about the video, “It’s awesome!”

Feel like someone is watching?2>

Let’s just get this out of the way first: There are some halfway legitimate (or at least justifiable) uses for keyloggers, like monitoring your kids’ internet activity. Or, you know, a boss making sure newly remote employees are staying productive.

They're also used for really shady reasons like keeping tabs on a current or former significant other. And once a keylogger is installed, it can record everything you type, from sensitive info to account credentials.

Now security researchers at Cofense Intelligence have discovered a dangerous new keylogger called “Mass Logger.” This one is a little different, because it’s updated regularly, which makes it more difficult for antivirus programs to detect and remove it.

For a little perspective, Mass Logger was updated 13 times over the course of just three weeks. Not just that, but the guy behind it mainly deals in malware that’s cheap and simple to use, which he then sells on the Dark Web.

🛎 All it takes is one click on a malicious link to infect your devices with keylogging malware. Some antivirus programs automatically check for keyloggers, but there are other steps you need to take to protect yourself.

And while you’re at it, download these …

While you’re making sure your computer is safe, take a look at your installed programs to see what you can get rid of. With that extra room, consider some of these free Windows 10 downloads you’re going to love.

• Cold Turkey: Block distracting websites while you’re supposed to be working. Just set the length of time, enter the web address and start the clock. Keep in mind, there are no takebacks. Nothing — not even resetting your computer — will get rid of the block.
  
• Mouse Without Borders: If you use multiple computers for work, you know it can be a pain managing your files, logins and everything else. This app allows you to control all your computers from a single mouse and keyboard.
  

🛠 I’ve got a list of other apps to make your PC more useful, along with links to download the ones listed above.

Why yes, all of your smart devices are at risk

The Internet of Things (IoT) that makes up our everyday connected devices adds a level of convenience when it comes to controlling these devices and getting them all to work together. That system can also be vulnerable.

A piece of software architecture developed in the late ’90s that’s still in use and found in hundreds of millions of products contains several critical security holes. 

These flaws can be exploited by hackers to allow remote takeovers of any IoT device connected to the web. I’m talking about routers, printers and all kinds of other smart home tech. It could be business servers and other infrastructure all the way up to electrical grids.

The flaws, dubbed “Ripple20,” were discovered by security researchers at JSOF, and now even the Department of Homeland Security is issuing a warning about the severity.

💡 The best way to protect yourself is to make sure you stay on top of updates and patches for all of your connected devices. But don’t stop there: Here are five router settings to protect everything connected to your home network. What are you waiting for?

Since March, it’s been Zoom this and Zoom that. Oh yes, there were problems that needed to be addressed, from the security of the calls to overall privacy.

Now, Zoom has rolled out a few updates to make its videoconferencing software more secure but held firm that end-to-end encryption would only be provided to paying customers. Surprise, surprise, Zoom has had a change of heart and will add the feature for all users; the beta version is expected to drop sometime in July.

Before we go any further, you need to know these 11 Zoom tricks if you’re spending any time in video meetings.

This celeb has a high opinion of himself

Maybe you’ve heard of Cameo, the website where you can pay a celebrity to record a video message shoutout. Cost depends on status and what each celeb wants to charge, ranging anywhere from $50 to thousands of dollars. 

Now there’s another Cameo option: Face-to-face video chats on Zoom. Talent signups to Cameo skyrocketed by 160% in the month of March, right as the COVID-19 pandemic went into full swing.

Some celebs are charging a few hundred bucks for a 10-minute video call. But others? You might need to take out a loan. A brief Zoom chat with NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre runs $5,000. Ouch.

If you want to talk to B-list actor Jeremy Piven, it’ll set you back $15,000. Yes, at least one zero more than you would expect.

That’s a lot of money. And this is coming from someone who has slept in Jeremy Piven’s bed and swam in his pool. Nothing weird — I just happened to rent his four-bedroom house for a one-night stay in L.A. last year with Ian and his friends. And you know what? That cost me $2,000. You do the math.

If you wait until July, at least you can breathe easy knowing your $15,000 Zoom call with Jeremy Piven will be secured with end-to-end encryption.

🏠 Speaking of security, how do you protect yourself and your family? I use SimpliSafe. It’s easy to order, easy to set up and easy to use. You don’t have to sign an expensive, years-long contract, and you can cancel or pause your account at any time. Visit SimpliSafeKim.com and get free overnight shipping.* You're welcome.

How well do you know your streaming apps? No, I’m not talking about the easy ones like Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. Those services are pretty straightforward with what they offer.

But it can get confusing when every other major media company and their dogs start rolling out other streaming services without clear reasoning as to why you should pay another $10 to $15 each month. Apple TV+? Meh. NBC’s Peacock? Too soon to tell.

Then you’ve got CBS All Access, which has been around for a few years. It started out as a service where you could go back and watch just about any shows from the CBS archives, past or present. It’s slowly rolled out original programming, but you might not find it worth it unless you’re a big “Star Trek” fan. At least for now.

This week during an investors’ conference, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish detailed some big changes coming to CBS All Access. He says another 15,000 hours of TV shows and movies are being added to the already existing 15,000 hours of content.

The additional content coming to the platform includes new programming from Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, Paramount Network and the Smithsonian Network. Then, CBS All Access will relaunch in 2021 as a “super service.” We’ll see. But if you really want to know how to save money when it comes to all those streaming services, don’t miss these smart tips.

Got all that? Good, because here’s HBO coming to mess everything up.

Seriously, HBO, how many apps do you need?

In the beginning, there was HBO. Then came HBO Go, which is the streaming version of the channel with on-demand content. Five years ago, here comes HBO Now. 

Now is a standalone subscription that costs $15 a month — no need to have it on cable. Now, let’s “Go” on to HBO’s next chapter: An app that recently debuted called HBO Max. Come on.

HBO Max, too, has all the HBO stuff, along with WarnerMedia content and sitcoms like “Friends” and “The Big Bang Theory.” Like HBO Now, HBO Max also costs $15 a month unless you’re already a subscriber to one of its other services, in which case you might get it free. Or maybe not. So it’s Now, but with more. Get it?

Confused? Yeah, me too. Now HBO says they’re making a few changes. HBO Go is going away. HBO Now is being rebranded as simply HBO, and HBO Max is now the crown jewel of its apps. Check this out to see exactly what’s streaming on HBO Max.

But hang on. You might be thinking, why not just cancel my HBO (formerly Now) subscription since HBO Max has all that and other stuff to watch? You can, but while the former is an app available through most platforms like Roku and Amazon, Max isn’t. At least not yet. 

Flip a coin, or just go back to watching Netflix. 

🧠 Get more out of your Roku with these pro tips. Have a Fire TV? Here are 10 smart tricks you need to know.

Tech trivia answer: The correct answer is B., the iPod. At a close second is the internet, which took four years to reach 50 million users. To put this all in perspective, Pokémon Go reached 50 million users in 19 days.

Speaking of cloud storage, I would love to do this!

* These companies sponsor my national radio show. Show them some love!

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