The actual quote from Craig Johnson, the author of the Walt Longmire books, is “Stay calm, have courage, and wait for signs.” 

I love Johnson’s Longmire books. They are filled with wonderful writing, terrific characters, humor, alongside a smattering of Native American mysticism; well, some books more than others. They’re rollicking reads, I devour each one.

When faced with a particularly nettlesome tech challenge, I’d like to think I tackle it the way the tall and lanky sheriff of Absaroka County might. Head on. Relentless until the problem is solved.

So what’s the tie between handling tangled tech issues and Walt Longmire? 

The signs.

When faced with a personal tech problem, you need to read the signs, then act.

Here are two examples from this weekend to illustrate.

Ransomware Email #2

That’s the start of the email which landed in my Junk folder Saturday morning. The sender went on to say they had installed Pegasus on my computer, claimed to be a God who sees everything, and if I only deposit a large sum of money into their cryptocurrency wallet, my troubles would be over.

The email ended by exhorting me to be less careless with my online security.

Really?

Let’s fact check that exhortation.

Do I have a Microsoft account? 

Yes, I do. I switched to Outlook from Gmail years ago.

Was the email sent from my Microsoft account?

No, it was not. 

How do I know?

First, I started a VPN session. Then I opened the Brave browser, opened a private browser page, signed into my email, and and found no message in my sent folder.

Then I dug deeper. Using this explainer from CrowdStrike, a noted cybersecurity provider, I checked the RECEIVED and RECEIVED-SPF lines in the email header.

The email was definitely spoofed, which means a person had “[…forge[d] the sender’s email address to make it appear as if it’s from a trusted source.](https://dontspoof.com/basics/email-spoofing-explained/)”

Spoofing is a very common tactic. It’s so common that, in 2021, Valimail said, 3 billion email messages per day were spoofing a sender’s identity. In 2023 alone, according to the FBI’s annual internet crime report, more than a quarter of a million American adults reported encountering a phishing attack.

Your Takeaway?

• Protect your email account with two-factor authentication (2FA)
• Learn how to detect a spoofed email
• Never respond to spam or suspicious emails. It may only confirm your address is active.
• If you need help with either of these, let me know.

Email Account Not Syncing

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There, in the Mail inbox on Dad’s iPad yesterday, I saw an error message indicating an email account hadn’t been able to sync since August 2024.

No! Couldn’t be.

I opened Bitwarden. Checked my Secure Note for Mom & Dad Tech Support, and updated the comcast.net email account password on the iPad, but no luck.

Then we tried to sign in to the Xfinity email website. It prompted us to set up a new password. No problem; we had set up 2FA so Dad could get a text message on his phone with the access code.

We discovered more than 2,600 unread emails dating back to last August i n the Xfinity inbox. I updated the inbox password on the iPad, and expected to see them flood in there.

No dice. The account refused to sync.

I dove into the Xfinity settings. On a security page, I found an open checkbox alongside the headline, “Third Party Access Security.” Once I checked the box and saved the setting, the emails started to flow.

I don’t know why I didn’t notice the error message sooner. Maybe sometimes it just takes a while to see the signs, like when it took Walt a painfully long time to realize he and Vic should get together.

I’m as eager for Craig Johnson to continue adding to the Longmire series as I am to see if the hour I spent unsubscribing my folks from unneeded newsletters and reporting spam will help me keep a closer eye on their digital assets.

You see, I don’t think I’m done yet with Xfinity. According to some forum messages, of which this is a prime example, users claim Third Party Access Security unchecks itself. 

Really?

Pass me another Rainier.

One more thing I learned

Wish I had known this sooner, but author Craig Johnson has his own email newsletter on his website. Titled “Post-Its,” the latest installment is a new Christmas story posted last December.

I know what I’m reading this evening.