Let?s explore the concept of a global identity system in the context of the metaverse, as well as the different paths that might be taken. What is a Global Identity System? In simple terms, a global identity system is the infrastructure a user has in place to manage their online identities, whether that?s a single identity used everywhere or a unique identity for each service accessed through the metaverse. As you might imagine, this is a sizable challenge?and that?s even before you consider that this system needs to be simultaneously user-friendly and secure. Not an easy order to fill. Let?s touch on some of the approaches that have been proposed: A Single Identity Perhaps the simplest option, each user would have a single online identity that would follow them throughout the metaverse that was managed through a centralized system. It is important that we address the downsides of this approach up front, starting with the privacy concerns that a centralized system presents. This kind of system is also much more vulnerable to attack. Furthermore, creating a universally-accepted system would be challenging to say the absolute least. All that being said, a singular identity is far easier to keep track of than numerous ones would be, and in terms of security and privacy, centralization enables better controls to be put in place. In a centralized system, identity theft and fraud could be more effectively tracked as well. Multiple Identities Alternatively, a user could have different identities, each used for different purposes. This would do more to help preserve privacy and security, particularly as multiple identities are more challenging to take down than a single one would be on its own. However, the more identities a user would have, the more difficult it would be to keep track of them all?how many of your numerous accounts can you list, even now? There?s also no guarantee that all platforms would accept all identities, not to mention the challenges it presents to building trust (one of the foundational principles of these platforms). A Decentralized System In keeping with the overall approach that the metaverse takes, a decentralized system would be a fitting strategy. By having the different participating organizations each run a node in the system, the system would see the security benefits of decentralization. Alternatively, edge computing could be used to process data in a decentralized manner, improving overall performance and eliminating a centralized point of failure for attackers to target. This approach isn?t without its drawbacks, either. First, all the nodes need to be synchronized for the system to work and remain secure. There?s also the question of getting people to adopt this kind of system as compared to the more familiar and traditional centralized approach. The Debate Likely Won?t End Soon, But the Outcome Will Be Interesting Time will only tell how the identities of those using the resources in the metaverse will be arranged. It is completely possible that a combination of the above approaches will ultimately be deployed, or perhaps something totally different and new. In the meantime, you can count on White Mountain IT Services to assist businesses in New Hampshire with managing their IT, no matter what shape it takes. Find out what we could do for you by calling (603) 889-0800.

Why Use a QR Code? QR codes allow you to create a scannable code that any individual with a smartphone can use to gain practically immediate access to a resource. Some of the commonly linked resources for QR codes include the following: Website links Sharing media, like images or video Social media accounts File sharing Surveys and other types of feedback collection Cashless transactions Connect to emails! Perhaps most importantly of all right now is that QR codes allow you to do a lot of things in a contactless format, whether it?s distributing materials for a presentation or accepting payments on the spot. In a post-pandemic world where everyone is a bit concerned about the spread of germs, it?s no small wonder that QR codes have taken off and established themselves as important parts of the business environment. How to Make a QR Code Google Chrome has a built-in QR code generation function that lets you create codes for web pages with just a couple of clicks. All you have to do is locate the web page that you want to share, right-click, and select Create QR Code for This Page. A little pop-up box will appear with the website?s URL and an option to download the newly-created QR code. Codes created in Chrome will sport a little dinosaur in the middle of the code. If you want to share media and other types of files, if the file is located in the cloud, you can simply use the same method to share the content via QR code. What are you going to link to with your new dinosaur QR codes? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Creating a Dropdown Menu in Microsoft Excel First, you need to create the list that your dropdown will reference as its options. On an Excel sheet, create a new table that contains the various options you want included in your dropdown. Once that?s completed, select the cell where you want your drop-down menu to appear. Once the right cell is selected, navigate to the Ribbon and find the Data tab, and from there, find Data Validation. In the window that appears, go to the Settings tab and?under the Allow box?select List. In the Source box, identify the range that is populated by the table you created with your options, omitting the cell that contains the title. If it will be okay for people to leave the selection blank, make sure that the Ignore blank box is checked, and of course the In-cell dropdown box is as well. Under the Input Message tab, you can set your cell to display a message when it is selected by checking the Show input message when cell is selected box. You can then add a title and the message you want displayed. The Error Alert tab allows you to notify someone when they?ve entered something that isn?t included in your predetermined list. Check the Show error alert after invalid data is entered box and provide your desired title and message in the appropriate boxes. You also need to pick the Style of the alert. Information or Warning won?t stop someone from putting data not included in the list in, and will display a blue circle with an ?I? in it or the yellow warning triangle respectively. Stop will prevent someone from entering data not included in your list at all. Creating a Dropdown Menu in Google Sheets Google Sheets presents you with a few methods to create a dropdown menu. If you want to use specific words or numbers, you should first select the cell or range of cells you want to use for your dropdown and select Data from the toolbar, followed by Data validation. A panel will open, where you can select List from a range to define the Criteria. A menu will open, where you should select List of items. In the box next to the selection, type out all the options you want your dropdown list to present, only separated by commas. For instance: banana,orange,apple,grape A small downwards arrow will appear by default in the cells used for your dropdown, but you can disable this by unchecking Show dropdown list in cell. Click Save, and you have your dropdown list. However, if you want to base your dropdown off of data already in your spreadsheet, you should again select the range of cells you want populated by your list. Again, select Data and Data validation, and leave Criteria set to List from a range. In the box, provide the range of cells that already have your list populated. So, if your list ranges from F5 to F12, type in F5:F12. You can also click on the small grid pattern that appears in the entry box to manually select the cells to include. Click Save, and once again, you have your dropdown list. Hopefully, this tip helps you organize data that much more effectively. Reach out to White Mountain IT Services to find out […]

What is Passwordless Authentication? A simple way to look at passwordless authentication is to consider what can be involved in multifactor authentication and simply omit the password element of it. The hard truth of the matter is that passwords just aren?t that secure?in fact, they were never really intended as a security measure. The original shared networks more used them to confirm which data to retrieve than they did to keep others from accessing this data. It wasn?t security, it was convenience. So, technically speaking, we?ve all been relying on what was never really meant to be a security system in the first place. The other forms of authentication, however, have always meant to be security measures, which is why we?ve seen more and more personal identification numbers (PIN) or biometric-based forms. Google is Implementing Passkeys in Chrome and Android This is a big step for Google to make in exacerbating the difficulties that an attacker will have. The idea of the passkey is that a user can create and store them in their hardware, also backing them up in the cloud, to access their different accounts and data without a password. By eliminating passwords in this way, phishing risks are greatly diminished, password reuse is eliminated, and it isn?t as though you can reuse something you don?t know at all.  Again, this is big. Reducing, if not eliminating outright, these passwords can significantly improve your cybersecurity. Time will only tell how widespread these alternatives will become in the near future? but considering that the market is currently valued in the billions and growing, we?re confident that we?ll continue seeing news. In the meantime, White Mountain IT Services is here to assist you with your cybersecurity needs. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more about what we can do to assist you.

Here?s the thing though; those common email scams we look back on and laugh about today were common for a reason?they worked sometimes. Folks fell for them. Gullible widows wired cash overseas in the hopes that the Prince of Nigeria would share some of his vast fortunes with them, and life-sentence bachelors fell for the steamy romance that started with a canned email. Modern spammers are driven by success. The goal isn?t to just flood your inbox with junk mail, but instead they see it as a numbers game. A certain percentage of users fall for different spam campaigns, and the scammers have learned over the many years that certain tactics have a better conversion rate. With these tactics, they know if they send x-number of emails out, a certain percentage of people will fall for the trap. To protect yourself from dangerous spam scams today, you need to be aware of these tactics. Email Spoofing You wouldn?t expect an email from Amazon, Paypal, your bank, Microsoft, or Google to be dangerous, right? What about an email from your family or friends, your boss, or your partner? Spammers can easily mimic email addresses that look legitimate in order to give you a sense of trust. Traditional email phishing attacks have been doing this for a long time, where the scammers pose as legitimate companies like Google, Amazon, or your bank. These types of attacks are easy to just blanket out to a million inboxes, because there?s a pretty good chance most recipients will have an Amazon account, or a Google account, or a Microsoft account, etc. They can also be targeted toward specific contacts who definitely do business with an entity. If your bank suffers a data breach where the list of email addresses of their users are leaked, spammers can easily target all of them with personalized scams. Thanks to social media, it?s also pretty easy to determine who a person interacts with in their daily life. You could easily look up a friend or colleague and usually figure out their family members, and with a little digging, figure out what their email addresses are. It only takes a little technical knowhow to spoof those email addresses and run highly personalized spam campaigns. Homograph and Punycode Attacks These tactics are a little harder to wrap your head around if you aren?t technical, but essentially this is one method scammers can use to make an email seem more legitimate. A homograph, in the English language, is where two words look the same and are spelled the same, but have different meanings. For example, the word bow (like a bow made of ribbon on a gift) and the word bow (like to take a bow after a performance), or the word tear (like what comes out of your eyes when you cry) and tear (the act of ripping something). When it comes to online scams, homograph attacks are used to trick a recipient into trusting an email or website. It?s a little complicated to explain, but essentially non-traditional keyboard characters get translated to look like traditional letters. This means someone can easily spoof, say, Paypal.com, without actually owning or controlling the domain for Paypal.com. Homograph and Punycode attacks don?t just take place in email either. Fake versions of legitimate websites can […]