A small but increasing number of Nest security camera owners across the country are reporting their cameras have been hacked, often to blast out audio messages. In one instance, a California family received a fake warning of a North Korean missile attack.

The problem isn’t with Nest. Google confirms that the service has not been breached. What’s happening is that some people are reusing passwords across multiple sites, so if one site is hacked, attackers take that email address and password and try it against other sites.

But safeguarding your Nest account is easy with two-step authentication. This requires you to verify your identify using a trusted device, such as your smartphone. You provide your password in the first step, and Nest then sends a PIN to your trusted device. You must then provide both pieces of information to access your Nest account. 

It works because hackers can’t get into your account with a password alone: They would need to steal your Nest password, your trusted device (your smartphone), and they would need to know the PIN needed to unlock that device.

Here’s how to set it up on your Nest account.

Martyn Williams/IDG

Open the Nest app, click the gear icon in the top right corner. Next, click “Account” and then “Manage Account.”

On the second line you’ll see the setting for “Account Security.” It will say “Password Only,” unless someone in your family group has already set up two-step authentication. If they have, you’re good to go.

If not, click on “Account Security” and you’ll land on a page where you can change your Nest password and switch on two-step authentication.

If you haven’t changed your Nest password in a while, this is a good time to do it (you never want to use the same password for a long period of time, and you should never use the same password for multiple devices or services). Make your new password unique. For the best (and easiest) security, install a password manager and have it generate a random password.

Finally, switch on two-step verification.

Martyn Williams/IDG

Many services use a PIN generated by an app in your phone, but Nest sends this via SMS text message. That’s not as secure as an app, but it’s still a whole lot more secure than a plain password.

Nest will ask you for a phone number and it will then send a code to your phone. Type that code into the app to prove you received it and you’re done.

Your Nest account is now protected by two-step verification, making it much more difficult for anyone to hack into the account, access your cameras, or send creepy audio messages into your home.

Remember, this is designed to be hack proof, so you’ll need your password and phone when logging into Nest from a new device. It’s specifically designed so that it’s the only way to log in: Don’t cancel your phone service without changing the linked number in the two-step settings.

And never give out your two-step codes over the phone or by email to anyone asking for them, no matter how legitimate the request seems.

Now that you’re feeling good about protecting your Nest account, enable it for all your other important accounts. Many web services, banks, email providers and shopping sites support it these days. You’ll be glad you did.

If Seinfeld was the first show about nothing, the Meizu Zero is the first phone about nothing. Ahead of Mobile World Congress, the phone maker has teased the world’s first “totally seamless” handset that does more than dump the headphone jack: It gets rid of every single port, button, and slot.

That means there’s no way to charge it without a pad, no way to connect a set of wired headphones, and no way to swap out the SIM card. Heck, you can’t even raise the volume without feeling your way around the pressure-sensitive sides. It’s basically the dystopian version of the iPhone 7. And you thought Apple was courageous.

What it does have is a 6-inch HD+ OLED display, a Snapdragon 845 processor, and a dual 12MP + 20MP camera, all impressive specs. It comes with up to 128GB of storage, which is good because there isn’t an SD card slot. Meizu also kindly includes a wireless charger in the box because, well, there’s no other way to charge it.

Meizu

But the selling point of the Zero isn’t what’s on the side, it’s the “one-piece” design. There’s no denying the ceramic body’s streamlined beauty. From the front it looks something like the Samsung Galaxy S9, with an Infinity-style display and slim (but still very visible) top and bottom bezels. Flip it over, and you’ll find a smooth, glass-like back with a centered camera, and a recessed flash where the fingerprint sensor should be.

Basically, the Meizu Zero looks just like every other premium out there until you get to the edges. In place of protruding power and volume buttons are haptic-enabled panels that rest flush against the sides. On the bottom, you won’t find any of the familiar Android ports, leaving a smooth edge and lots of questions.

A losing battle

The Meizu Zero might look as clean and minimal as can be, but at first glance there’s nothing about it that’s any more striking than the Essential Phone, iPhone XS, or really any other premium phone. It’s not even the first phone to dump the fingerprint sensor.

Christopher Hebert/IDG

So what are we gaining by losing the ports? If you care about a unibody design, I suppose that’s something, but it’s not like the seams are upsetting the looks of the OnePlus 6T or Galaxy Note 9. Elsewhere, the Zero obviously has wireless charging and Bluetooth, so that covers the USB-C port. In place of the fingerprint reader, the Zero has an optical in-display fingerprint sensor. As for sound, Meizu is promoting its mSound 2.0 technology that plays audio through the screen instead of a speaker.

But even if the Zero’s unique sound system is as good as a regular speaker, the in-display fingerprint sensor is as fast and reliable as a hardware one, and Super mCharge delivers on its promise of 18W wireless charging—all big ifs—what’s the point of removing every port? Smartphone design may be heading in that direction someday, but we’re hardly ready for it now. Is anyone really complaining that the bottom of their phone has too much convenience? The “innovations” in the Zero are little more than replacements for established and arguably better technology, and I don’t see anything in the way of improvements.

You can argue the merits, but when Apple ditched the headphone jack it was for the sake of thinness and haptic engineering. At 7.8mm, the Zero is actually thicker then the 7.1mm iPhone 7, so it’s hard to argue that it couldn’t fit a USB-C port or speaker. The  IP68 water resistance is nice, but no better than that of its hole-filled peers such as the Galaxy S9 and Pixel 3.

The Zero isn’t even truly “holeless,” as Meizu claims. On the top edge you’ll find a pair of holes: one for a microphone, and another for a reset button that you’ll need a paperclip or SIM eject tool to press. Ask any Android user, and they’ll tell you they need to hard-reset their phone at least once a month. So you’ll need to remember a pointy object whenever you leave the house with your Zero. That’s needlessly removing convenience. 

Nothing to see here

To most buyers, the things Meizu has removed to craft the Zero’s “unibody” design won’t be worth it. I can think of several reasons why someone shouldn’t buy one, chiefly the difficulty of charging it when you’re on the road. But there are also the questions of a case, what with the touch-sensitive sides; the ease of switching carriers using eSIM; and the convenience of the in-display fingerprint sensor when it comes to anything other than unlocking. Don’t get me started on the USB-C port.

Meizu

To go full wireless and cordless, we’re going to need technology that isn’t available yet. Our phones will need to charge without wired pads. Secure facial scanning will need to be standard. And Bluetooth earbuds will need to do more than stream music.

Meizu might be able to claim the title of world’s first “holeless” phone, but I’m not buying into the hype. The new handset might make for good marketing copy and pretty renders, but when you break it down, we don’t need to know how much it’s going to cost to figure out its worth. It’s right there in the name.

In its purest form, money management is all about adding and subtracting. As long as you’re left with a positive number at the end of the month, you’re in good shape. Many of us, however, don’t know how to create a working budget, fail to track spending, and forget to make important payments which can ultimately lead to debt.

That’s why many of us could benefit from using CoinKeeper, the intuitive app that takes care of all these things so you have a better chance of staying in the black. You can get a lifetime subscription today for only $39.99.

CoinKeeper is a financial management app that’s compatible with Windows PCs, as well as Android and iOS phones and tablets. It features a coin-themed drag-and-drop interface that makes tracking income and expenses quick and easy. It’ll also help you to create a budget that works, track expenses so you’ll see where your money is going, and offers reminders for important payments.

When you consider the damaging cost of debt repayment, the value of using a financial management tool is huge. You can take better control over your finances with a lifetime subscription to CoinKeeper for only $39.99, saving 85% off the usual price.

 

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