Genies Zoom Invitation for Monday

We are starting our Zoom adventure this coming Monday.  If you did not come to one of the practices, you are still welcome to join us.  Sign in after 12:45 and chat with other early-comers. 

Linda B and I had a fun time at RootsTech and we will be giving you an idea of what the experience was like and what we learned.  Linda will start with a PowerPoint which will show on your at-home device.  I will follow sharing the RootsTech website.  DNA and more.

Next we will go around to all the participants.  Be thinking about what you can share, be it genealogy-related or not.  Remember no excuses are needed if you have been busy with other things. 

Looking forward to seeing you then,  Judith

___________________________________________________

Your invitation to the meeting:

Judith Culver is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Genies April Meeting

Time: Apr 20, 2020 01:00 PM Pacific Time

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81801144347?pwd=VEpWYlhYUTM0TkoyQVBneU01VHRIZz09

Meeting ID: 818 0114 4347

Password: 032001

Dial by your location

        +1 301 715 8592 US

        +1 253 215 8782 US

Quickie Tip: Colorized photos

Have some fun!  Free colorized photos at MyHeritage.  Usually first ten are free, but now unlimited until next Wednesday, April 22.   https://blog.myheritage.com/2020/03/myheritage-in-color-is-now-free-and-unlimited-for-one-month/

Zoom Security…Or Lack Thereof

The Zoom conference platform has experienced explosive growth in the last few months and a stressful expansion to meet the needs of all their new customers.  They have made many improvements to security, including upgrading their encryption. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw this NBC headline this morning.  “Passwords and email addresses for thousands of Zoom accounts are for sale on the dark web.”  “Zoom users who reuse the same passwords from other accounts can face on ugly unintended consequence.”

“Many of the email addresses listed had been part of previous data breaches, which are often sold and repacked on hacker forums.”  To me, this says that the original breach occurred a while back before they made the recent improvements.

Alex Stamos, the former chief security officer at Facebook, currently an NBC News contributor, and currently advising the Zoom CEO on security, was quoted in the article:  “This happens to every company every single day,” he said. “It’s only because Zoom is in the spotlight that anyone in the media is even paying attention.”

The entire article is here:  https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/passwords-email-addresses-thousands-zoom-accounts-are-sale-dark-web-n1183796

What does this mean for us

I will continue to use Zoom for exercise and church and even Genies meetings.  We’ll still have a Zoom practice this Friday and our monthly meeting next Monday.  I will use a waiting room and admit only people I know. 

At Zoom I used a very strong password and I changed it this morning.  You should know that to be a participant you don’t need an account.  If you have a Zoom account, just consider if you need it and assess the risk you think it brings.

Definitely consider how strong your other passwords are.   A few years ago a similar breach happened at a lesser-known genealogy site.  The only people who had problems were the ones who used the same password at Ancestry. 

The biggest warning I hear is don’t repeat your passwords at multiple sites.  We know this but we don’t do it.  There is a balance between security and convenience and we have to find it. 

Hope to see you soon.