Hackers in your Email, Gmail Two-Step Verification

[I've been having trouble with this post, so I had to repost it.]

I've been seeing a lot of people lately who have had their email hacked.  The latest includes a minister I know well, and two separate people in my extended family (this very morning, actually).  The email looked something like the following (minus the link):

Hello,
Check out this properties, CLICK HERE, and log in with your email

Best Regard

--[signature of the person which goes out on the bottom of every email.]

 

This has been a learning experience for all of us, I guess.  I have four major suggestions.  The second is the most important.

1. Never click on links on emails unless it's obvious that the person who wrote the email actually wrote the email.  
2. If you are asked to log-in somewhere with your email, check the address bar on the top of the browser.  Make sure it says, for example, www.google.com or mail.google.com. If not, don't log in, or a hacker will have your email and password nicely stored on his server.
3. If you do get hacked, do the following.  
1. For Gmail, change your password immediately AND DO THE FOLLOWING.
2. Log into your email from a browser.
3. Go to the bottom of the inbox, where it shows "Details" in tiny letter on the right (just below the inbox).  Click on this.



The Details link is on the right, just below the inbox, in small letters.

4. There you can see all the mailbox activity.  There's a button there: "Sign out of all other sessions".  Click on this.  That should kick the hacker out of your email if he is logged in.  Just changing your password might not kick him off if he's already logged in.
5. You should be able to see there if the hacker gained access to your email.  If for example, there are IP addresses from the UK or China or Russia, then you know they got in. If so, then you'll need to change your other passwords immediately (e.g., Amazon, Dropbox, Facebook, etc.).
6. If your email is with someone else other than gmail, then look for something similar (LOG OUT OF ALL ACCOUNTS).
4. I highly suggest that if you have a cell-phone which you carry with you, that you sign up for two-step verification on gmail.  This way, even if a hacker gets your password, he can't get in unless he has your cell-phone.  How it works is if you try to log in from an untrusted computer, gmail will send a one-use pin number to your cell phone.  This has several advantages:
   
1. If someone tries to get in, you know about it right away because you get a message on your cell phone. 
2. For them to get in, they need to have your cell phone as well.
3. You can set devices to trusted.  That way you only notice the two-step process when you sign in from someone else's computer or ipad.  Otherwise, it's exactly the same as you have it now.
   
4. Gmail provides a list of one-use pin numbers for you to use if you don't have cellular access.  Once you use all the numbers, you can regenerate the list.  I carry these numbers in my wallet.  You could even use just this option if you don't have a cell-phone (with great care), because really, how often do you log in from an untrusted computer?

Mat Honan, a well-respected tech guy who was very careful with his security, got hacked partly because he didn't have gmail two-step.  You can read about it here.
http://stevekinney.net/post/28715272834/dont-get-hacked-turn-on-two-step-verification-in

 

Here's another interesting post about how they hacked him, with more detail.  Quite ingenious, actually.
http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57602

I hope that this helps you from getting hacked, and also helps you to know what to do if you do get hacked. 

God's blessings.  It's good to know that the most important things of our life are secure with Him forever more.

Dominican Republic Pastors Conference...

I recently made a trip to the Dominican Republic with a team from Edmonton Orthodox Reformed Church (a URC) and Rev. Ken (Carlos) Herfst from Guatemala.  The point of the trip was two-fold: the Edmonton team of about 10 people was tasked with working on what, Lord-willing, will be a school some day for very poor children (who live near the dump).  The team worked very hard in the hot sun, and the work that they did was impressive.

As far as physical labour goes, I and Carlos had the much easier task.  We didn't actually help with the construction at all, for we were busy with the second purpose of the trip.  In previous years, Edmonton has invited different seminary students to come along with them and preach (in Spanish) in a number of different churches in the area that Dr. Silvia knows. (Dr. Silvia is working with the Luke Society and Word & Deed.  Pablo L., Reuben S., and I have each gone in previous years thanks to Edmonton's invitation.)  This year, however, Edmonton had the great idea of having a pastors' conference for the local pastors.  There were about 7 pastors and 7 students present, though the number did vary a little due to busy schedules.  The main speaker at the conference was Pastor Herfst.  He did an excellent job presenting and teaching a God-centered approach to the narratives in Scripture.  Rather than a moralistic approach ("Be like David and kill your giants"), he showed us how to see God as the central actor in Scripture.  We subsequently worked through two passages, one on the testing of Abraham (Gen. 22) and the other on Jairus's daughter (Luke 8), to put the tools to work.  For myself, I spoke on three different passages in Exodus (the burning bush, the lamb, and the law), with the purpose of connecting some of the dots of the OT narrative to the NT.  The conference was very well recieved by the pastors, so much so that they asked us to come back!  One pastor, a leader of a 400 pastor-strong denomination, was already planning a conference for this coming year.  I doubt if I will be able to go next year for various reasons, but Pastor Herfst is hoping to return.

It was a very enjoyable trip.  I learned a lot both from Pastor Herfst and his passion for wholistic mission (body and soul), and from the Dominican pastors.  Because of the need there, many of these churches are doing perhaps more in terms of relief than we are in North America.  I especially loved the singing with the pastors - Dominicans sure can sing!  A blessing and encouragement to be there!

Our Stuff Has Arrived!

Our stuff has arrived!  Now that might not sound like much - it's only a four-word sentence, after all - but let me assure you that that was quite the momentous occasion.  We handed over most of our earthly belongings to a moving company in Toronto early last August (2012).  At that time our biggest worry was that it would arrive in Mexico before we would, as we were in Canada for some time.  Little did we know that it wouldn't be until six months later - February 13, 2013 - that our stuff would actually arrive.  It has been quite the experience and patience-building exercise.  At one point, we were quite sure that we had lost it all, and so we were consoling ourselves by the fact that the most important things we have can never be taken away.  Then that same afternoon, another door opened and it seemed like we might well get our things!  One never is quite sure what to think here in Mexico. 

The much-condensed summary of the matter is the following: we were assured by our moving company in January, 2012, that there was a certain freight service to Manzanillo, Mexico - not that far away on the Pacific side.  After we gave them our things, we found out that that service was discontinued.  We decided to ship it to Veracruz on the Atlantic side and then truck it across.  That delayed it till December.  However, the Mexican company we employed to clear the customs for us neglected to tell us until the stuff actually arrived of certain required customs documents.  To get those documents was a delay of two more weeks (and lots of port fees).  Then the port was shut down for a week by a cyclone (more port fees).  At this point, Richard Bout took over the negotiations, as it started to get a bit more complicated, due to more problems with customs (more port fees).  Near to the end of the matter, we found ourselves in a clasic "catch-22" situation: we didn't want to send more money until the stuff arrived, because we didn't know if we would ever get our stuff - and they didn't want to send the stuff until they got the money because they didn't know if we were going to pay the rest.  We twice discussed and discarded the idea of driving straight to Veracruz (16 hour trip one-way) to pick up the stuff ourselves.  The long and the short of the matter was that especially thanks to Richard's expert negotiation skills (he used to work at a call-center), our stuff arrived.

How does one react to this all?  There are a lot of "should-of's" that could be said.  Suffice it to say that if anyone is moving to Mexico, make sure to talk in person to the foreign (i.e., Mexican) embassy in your home country well ahead of the move.  Another suggestion would be not to let your stuff out of your sight (i.e., no moving companies).  Do it yourself, having researched the paper-work ahead of time with people who have experience, and then you won't get into the unhappy situation of sending money to who-knows-where wondering if you'll ever see your things again.  The Lord has taught us a lot through this all.  First of all, the blessings of a more-or-less corruption free country are not to be taken for granted.  Second, at some point, you need to hand over your frustrations to the Lord and trust that He is a much better judge than we are, and that one day He will make things right.  Indeed, that's part of the reason we are here - we have work to do.  Third, stuff is just stuff.  The more you get rid of, the less of a head-ache it is.  :-)  Fourth, the Lord has taught us a lot about prayer and trust.  Knowing that God is indeed Lord and that Christ is King (even where wickedness seems to be rampant) is extremely refreshing.  And fifth, we've learned the blessing of having and relying on good friends!  Thank-you, Richard and Angela!

We thank the Lord our God for bringing our stuff here.  50 boxes, but some things in there we didn't want to lose.  All my seminary notes and most of my books.  Our wedding gifts for the kitchen, and some special things of Anne-Marie's.  And it's all here!  Thank-you for your prayers, and praise the Lord!