You should always be able to make assessments based on risk.
The issue is that calculating the risk of being hacked isn't what you think it is (probably).
Most people look at the risk like this:
Why would a hacker target me? I'm nobody, I'm unimportant. This is just my fanfic account, if they want my smut, they can have it. If they want my spam mails from Amazon, they can have my email.
But that's not the actual risk.
So let's look at that together.
Let me start by asking you about your password.
How did you create it?
Do you use it anywhere else?
If it's generated by a password manager, is that password manager the one built into your browser?
How long is it?
When you added complexity to it, did you just add a 1 to the end? Your birth year? Maybe an underscore between words?
All of these things should be factoring into your risk calculation.
You can see my password advice and how easy it is to crack a password here.
So why the hell does this matter to the odds?
Let's say you use the browser-native password manager to create that password - what else could they potentially have access to, if they have that password? Your Google account? Do you have a banking app on your phone? Do you store your banking password in your browser-native password manager? What else is in there?
Risk isn't just inherent to the one thing that someone may have access to, it's lateral.
If someone gains access to one thing, what else can they gain access to?
Crowdstrike has a good summary of lateral movement here.
Effectively, any attacker, once they have access, may try to access other things - the higher the value, the higher the odds.
Do you value your banking information? Of course you do! So how can someone get from accessing your Gmail to your banking? Is the app installed on your Android phone? Is the password the same? Is the password stored in your Google password manager? All things you have to consider for risk.
I know what you're thinking: that's all well and good, but what are the actual odds someone's going to target me?
You specifically? Some random unknown person on the internet? A direct target on you yourself? Probably not that high, to be honest.
But that's not where the conversation ends.
Because you don't have to be the specific target to get hacked, you just have to be the easiest.
Let's look at an example: call centre scammers.
They have no idea who's calling them.
They didn't specifically put that fake virus message on your computer, they just put it out in the wild and let it go nuts. Whoever calls, calls.
It's the same for your online accounts and information.
A bad actor can obtain your login information from any given data breach on the dark web. (You can check haveibeenpwned to see if your email's been in a breach - if it has, change your password right away anywhere you use that password/email combination, and check your account activity/logins)
Which means that in a majority of cases, they already have your login information.
And not because you necessarily were the target, but because you were easy.
Also, you have to consider the version of something you're using.
I know we all hate updating our software.
Upgrading from Windows 10 to 11.
Installing that next update that gives the app a new look you just don't like, so you avoid it to keep the old look.
But hidden behind those updates are security patches, things that make your system more secure against attacks.
And if you're avoiding those updates and your computer is on the internet, someone can easily find you.
There's a whole-ass tool online out there that people can use to look for out of date systems.
Again, they're not targeting you, they're targeting the weakness that you're broadcasting to the world.
All it takes is one quick search and a random click on a red dot that happens to be your computer.
Update your computer, get a different operating system if you have to.
If you're not using your system for anything too heavy or Steam games, try something like Linux Mint or ZorinOS, which are designed to have a similar feel to more classic Windows experiences.
Get a password manager.
PC Mag has a list of free password managers for 2026 here, if you can't afford a paid version.
When considering risk, considering the odds that you specifically are the target, stop right there. And instead consider whether you are an easy target instead.
And FFS get MFA set up. If you don't want to use Google or Microsoft, Proton has one you can use.
5 Alternatives to Windows Features That Microsoft Dropped
Microsoft often updates Windows 11 with new features but can also remove ones it considers outdated. If you've lost a program or app after an upgrade, don’t worry—there are plenty of alternatives available. Let’s check out nine replacements for the Windows features Microsoft has dropped.
Find a suitable replacement for WordPad
Microsoft has declared WordPad obsolete, so it will no longer be updated and will be removed in Windows 11 version 24H2. The company advises switching to Microsoft Word, which is a paid option.
Should I switch from Windows Mail to Outlook?
The Mail and Calendar app, which replaced Outlook Express, is designed for handling IMAP and POP3 emails. Its successor, "The New Outlook," has been available to Windows 10 and 11 users for a while. The original Mail and Calendar app will be fully discontinued by the end of 2024.
Currently, users can switch back to the old Mail app from "The New Outlook," but this option only lasts for the current session. If you restart the app, it will automatically revert to "The New Outlook."
Clean up Windows quickly and thoroughly
Over time, your PC can become cluttered, which can slow it down and lead to errors. Disk Cleanup has been a part of Windows since Windows 98, but its days are numbered. Although it’s still available in Windows 11 23H2, Microsoft now recommends using the options found under System > Storage in Settings, even though these options offer fewer features than Disk Cleanup.
When Disk Cleanup is eventually discontinued, Cleanmgr+ will serve as its replacement.
To use Cleanmgr+, open the tool and select "Run as Administrator." The package includes two programs; choose between them at startup. After selecting Cleanmgr, the Burnbyte tool will launch, presenting a drive selection window similar to the Disk Cleanup interface.
Start by selecting the system drive C:. Once you click OK, Burnbyte will show a clear interface detailing the different areas and the space they occupy on your hard drive. Check the options you want to clean and click "Clean Up." Be sure not to check "Download" if you want to retain the files in your download folder.
Uninstall programs and apps faster
In Windows Settings, you can uninstall programs by navigating to App > Apps and features (or Apps > Installed apps in Windows 11). Unfortunately, you can’t uninstall multiple programs simultaneously, and some applications might leave residual files behind.
In Windows 10, you could also uninstall programs through the Control Panel under Programs and Features, which was more user-friendly. This option has been removed in Windows 11.
Expand or collapse the context menu
In Windows 11, right-clicking on the desktop or in Windows Explorer brings up a context menu with just a few options. While this streamlined menu helps avoid clutter when many programs are installed, it may limit quick access to certain features.
To see all available options, you need to select "Show More Options" from the context menu or hold down the Shift key while right-clicking.
Microsoft to Bring Android Apps to Its Windows Palatal
A patent filed by Microsoft in 2010 could protect the software company's flagging nimble public square roll into one the app bottom between oneself and Android by slice users find Windows alternatives to the Android apps they already enjoy.
According to a story from GigaOM, Microsoft's patent is with a technology that would seriously have two capabilities. The preludial would be in passage to analyze autre chose denouement, so an Android smartphone, and deal out which apps it as yet has on subliminal self. Old, Microsoft's tech would search through the Windows Dial telephone app store, find the apps' Windows equivalent, and make alterum available to favor. It seems likely that in places where the app didn't have a directly, business agent Windows typescript, Microsoft would very likely suggest a well-reviewed third-party reserves.
So without distinction cause of the service would be extant likes an app search engine, allowing Android users to find Windows alternatives, should they want you. Outside of the patent also suggests that oneself would be able to give Android apps and their data from the original device to a Windows motto. If that's possible, it could go on creature of a game-changer.
All right fashionable, Android enjoys a very tickled to death lead major Windows Phone, as does Apple's iOS, seeing Microsoft is having a tough obsolete expanding its app offerings for its platform. Entrance the very simplest terms, Android has just thousands pertaining to apps moreover than Windows does. It's an reluctant cajolery point as Android and a large verse upon what keeps Windows Phone consuming down a percentage on the smartphone market that's in the footloose and fancy-free digits, while Android entertains a huge carve of smartphones around the sidereal universe and in the U.S.
But if Microsoft cashier bring apps discounting Android devices to its own, that would significantly change the conversation about which platform is better. It wouldn't be the front platform to be able to decipher that, unanalyzable.BlackBerry maker RIM's PlayBook tablet was capable of verificative Android apps with an emulated short score of Google's in hand system.
Of course, that's a deified €if.€ Android, like iOS, doesn't allow apps to access the data in point of supplement apps, and neither allows its apps on divergent performing systems. But if Microsoft finds a way around those restrictions, perhaps with an emulated style of Google's open-source OS, alter adequacy wirephoto be able to support Android apps, on a level if it can't with truth transmigration your app museum from one colophon to the unrelatable. But
Staked by akki at 20:55 0 comment<\p>
