The Dinner Table Tech Desk
Let’s be honest, we’ve all been there - so let me paint the picture. It’s the holidays, everyone is gathered around the table, you’ve managed to dodge most of the argument inducing conversations and you’re about to take that first mouthwatering bite out of <insert your favorite festive food here>. Suddenly someone pulls out their iPhone and says one of these (or many other) nightmare inducing phrases; ”Hey can I ask you a question about iCloud real quick?” or “Hey, how many Apple IDs should I have?” These questions are par for the course when you are the designated tech person both at work and at home. I’m having a little fun here and I know that we all do our best to help out that relative to the best of our ability and get them not only back up and running ASAP but hopefully also feeling good about their tech. It’s likely the reason we keep getting asked for help, because we are good at it (and be honest, you enjoy it at least a little)! This article is a call to action for my fellow Mac Admins and techy people to continue to provide that excellent support because in 2026 the landscape has changed drastically and the assistance that we provide to our friends and family can literally be life changing.
This article is the direct result of a text my wife recently got from a friend. It read “I need help, my aunt just got scammed. I have an iPhone question for Glenn. I wanted to know if she thinks that someone is accessing her iPhone remotely if this is possible and how to fix it. Can I take her phone to Apple? She’s got a broken leg and can’t physically go there”. This type of question is far different from the “How do I create a playlist on iTunes” that we’d get back in the day, but sadly questions about hacking, scams, and phishing are becoming the reality more and more compared to the how-to questions of the past. It used to be that the biggest hurdle for some of our friends and family was learning the new technology, how to navigate the operating system, keeping track of accounts, and maybe picking up a few tips and tricks here or there.
Let's Break It Down
Now in 2026, we need to do all of the aforementioned while dealing with phone calls from people claiming to be the bank calling about accounts or getting text messages from “UPS” saying they just need to confirm personal information to deliver a package. Sadly, these practices are a full time job for many people and they can be both creative and persistent in how they go about stealing our information. Even more sadly, they are often rewarded for their “hard work”, with estimates of cybercrime including business email compromise topping out at over $22 billion dollars just in the United States alone. Combine that with the fact that data breach information and their corresponding databases are for sale on the dark web and targeted phishing campaigns can be launched by anyone with money and lack of morals and suddenly we have a lot more at stake when those questions come up around the dinner table.
One Quick Look Can Tell You a Lot
I’m going to use the example of my wife’s friend (we’ll call her Ashley) to tell the story of how I handled the situation, the advice and resources I shared, and hopefully it spawns discussion about what else we can do to better protect our friends, families, and ourselves from these kinds of attacks in the future. Full disclaimer - I am not a Chief Information Security Officer or any of those fancy titles, but honestly I think that works to our advantage here. There are steps and precautions that you (and anyone) can take with just a few clicks and some basic understanding (yes anyone, I promise you’ve got this). For those of us who are technically inclined, this article will likely have nothing new for you and you may find yourself thinking “I know this already, Glenn” and that’s great. Remember how we found out about 401k vs Roth IRAs and we tried to figure out which one was better and why and thought, “Man, why didn’t someone ever teach us anything about how all this works? Just something to help us get started” That’s what this article hopes to be; a start. So let’s get to work!
The Web Knows More About You Than You Think
Alright, let’s take this step by step. First let’s review; for Ashley’s aunt we are concerned about the following:
- Does someone have access to her iPhone, how does she check, and what can she do about it?
- She got a phone call from someone saying she needed to wire them money, so we’ll want to address that.
- Since she is getting these calls, her information (and likely ours) is out on the web for sale, so what safeguards can we employ?
Checking if someone has access to her iPhone is actually pretty quick and simple. Sadly it’s also equally as quick and simple for someone to trick you into allowing them to access your phone, especially if they are calling pretending to be someone they aren’t, like the bank. For this, I sent along a video that showed where to check for a custom profile. I explained that profiles allow for management, someone using a phone for purely personal use would not have a reason for a profile to be installed 99.9% of the time, and that she should remove any if they were listed. Someone bold enough to call someone and attempt to get them to transfer money via their bank could just as easily tell them they need to update their app, text them a link to a profile, and have them install it in less than a minute - so it is worth checking here.
We all know the pain of these spam calls, but luckily there is at least some relief and assistance that iOS provides thanks to some recent software updates. I shared this video with Ashley to show to her aunt which talks about the ability to silence unknown callers. Since this happened, Apple has also added in the same section the option to automatically filter out known spam callers (although this is carrier specific). In addition, there is also now the ability to have the calls screened and request a reason for calling or to simply silence and send the call right to voicemail for review later (if warranted). In addition to this setting, there is also the national Do Not Call list, which is supposed to be followed once your number has been added. Now, obviously I know this provides mixed results, but the goal here is to stack the deck in our favor and since it only takes minutes to add your number, I feel as though it is at least worth a shot. To take it one step further, carriers such as T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T have their own built-in ability to help with spam calls (most of them have a free and paid option).
Time to Meet Apple Passwords
Lastly, let's talk about the fact that Ashley’s aunt's info (as well as Ashley’s, yours, and mine) is floating out on the web either freely accessible or for a price - and what do we do about it? Oh don’t believe me? Let’s use this oldie but a goodie website here, go ahead type in your email address, and let’s see what comes up. With over 17.5 billion compromised accounts using that search resource alone, you’re likely in there a few times. Now that I have your attention, what can we do about it? Our first stop should be Apple Passwords. Apple does an excellent job at making a password manager easy to use by allowing authentication with touch or Face ID. It also allows for the creation of shared vaults to share credentials with family members, and when adding websites will create a secure password for you that will be autofilled the next time you visit (after passing authentication). Getting your passwords changed, randomized across websites (no more single password for every app), and enabling MFA are key for protecting. Oh, did you think I forgot about MFA? Think again! It even deserves its own paragraph.
One Lock Isn't Enough
Enabling MFA, or Multi Factor Authentication, is exceedingly helpful in the battle to keep your accounts secure. Think of it as the chain on your door. If someone has the key they can open the lock, but they’re not in yet, thanks to the chain - that’s what MFA does. It is the extra layer of protection in addition to your credentials helping to secure your account. Apple has a nice article on explaining MFA as well as how to enable it on your account. This should be enabled not only on your Apple account, but every account you have that supports it. The Passwords app will also be able to assist in creating randomized codes for these applications and even pre-filling them for you when logging into websites/applications with it enabled. Some applications may not use codes for their MFA, they may instead use a push notification with an app, a Face/Touch ID scan, or an email prompt - all of which are better than no MFA.
You Don't Have to Do It All Today
“But Glenn, this is going to take forever!” You’re not wrong, the process can be long and I would say it is certainly a less than exciting way to spend an afternoon (or longer). However, taking these steps can help you stay safer and more secure in a digital world that is consistently spending more time, resources, and money to find new and clever ways to trick you out of yours. You don’t need to do everything at once, or even in a day - start with the big applications first. If you’re using Apple, secure your Apple account, then spend some time knocking out the high impact applications like banking, insurance, 401k, etc. Apple Passwords supports password import, so if you have them saved in a browser you can export them, then import them into Passwords, and you’ll have a list to work through. The app will even highlight credentials that should be changed (although bonus points if you go through and update them all, especially anything with shared passwords).
Small Steps, Big Protection
So, my (hopefully) captivated reader, that is the gist of it. There are for sure many annoyances in the “tech is everywhere” world that we live in, and more are added each and every day. However, hopefully these suggestions give you a starting point to work from and demonstrate that you can make changes yourself to improve your security without requiring any special training or certifications to make or understand them - you just need to spend the time and maybe get a little help from a friend or family member (I’m looking at you, fellow tech people!).
Good luck, you can do this, and get to work!
