I took the plunge and upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Ok. It looks slicker, a bit of window dressing as far as aesthetics are concerned, and I won’t go into Window’s 11’s features and functions. But the thing that immediately strikes you is …
I took the plunge and upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Ok. It looks slicker, a bit of window dressing as far as aesthetics are concerned, and I won’t go into Window’s 11’s features and functions. But the thing that immediately strikes you is …
With ever increasing actions by “Big Tech” in general to collect more and more data about us, and the rise in Governments monitoring what we are doing as well as our ISP’s, I’ve been meaning to write something like this for some time now.
But it was the recent actions by FaceBook to take down News Pages and Links…
Well it’s not long now before Windows 7 reaches End Of Life (EOL). So what does this mean for you, and what do you need to do?
I recently had dealings with Microsoft on behalf of a customer that I can only describe as disgraceful and disappointing. The customer in question was an elderly lady with Parkinson’s disease. She had been the victim of a crypto-virus attack, and I had no alternative other than ….
For the first time ever, I had a computer come in for repair that had a faulty SSD Hard Drive. They consist a fast Memory, and a controller. So this makes SSD Hard Drives super fast, and importantly to this conversation, super reliable.
There are currently 3 types of USB Port. USB 2.0 & USB 3.0, both known as USB Type A, and then there is the newer USB C Type connector which is smaller.
By now, most people would have heard about the Worldwide Ransomware attack that employed the virus called Wanna Cry.
Some 200,000 computers across many counties worldwide have been affected including the NHS in Britain, the National Railway in Germany, FedEx in the USA and Spain’s National Railway system.
It has caused mayhem among some very large Institutions like those I have mentioned.
Well it would seem to me that this is largely self inflicted. Microsoft released a Patch back in March that addressed the vulnerability that allowed this virus to be effective. So all supported Operating Systems, Windows Vista and on, had they been patched, were protected. But there were many PC’s still running Windows XP that were targets. Now you tell me, when Microsoft ended support for Windows XP, there were plenty of warnings and messages that support was ending. So why in the world would you continue to use obsolete, unsupported software for Critical Systems?
Like I said, self inflicted. And I suspect that those in charge of IT at some of these places will have a lot to answer for and may well lose their jobs.
Let’s look at the Home User now.
Much the same applies. You must always download, and install the Patches released by Microsoft. They release these Patches for a reason. In addition, do not continue to use PC’s with outdated Operating Systems like Windows XP. Let’s face it, we had a pretty good run with Windows XP. It first appeared in August 2001, and it was supported right up until April 2014. So people certainly got their money’s worth. Now it’s time to move on.
But if you MUST have Windows XP because of some software you run will only work on XP, then at the very least, do not have it connected to the Internet. But if you absolutely and positively need it connected to the Internet, then please make sure you have good Security Software installed and you don’t go downloading dodgy things or visit dodgy websites, and certainly be very careful about opening or even using email on that PC.
Spotty Dog Computer Services offers Ransomware Removal services.
I recently read a quote that was meant to apply to Businesses, but equally applies to anyone online. And it went like this:
When you are attempting to secure your business, you have to be right 100 percent of the time. The hacker only has to be right once.
This quote highlights the ever increasing issues we all have, but in particular businesses. A business that is the focus of a successful Cyber Attack can quickly accrue costs that can, at worst, send the business bankrupt. If you lose access to your data through a Ransomware Attack and you don’t have a recent backup, or even a backup at all, you will quickly find it difficult to run your business, and you will lose customers. Not to mention the costs involved removing the threat, and securing your systems.
Cyber Attacks are in epidemic proportions. Just in the last two weeks there were two high profile incidents. One was on the Queensland State Government, and more recently, the National Census Website. Although the latter is probably more about the websites inability to cope with the traffic, nonetheless, it was subject to what is known as a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) Attack, designed to bring down a website and potentially expose security holes.
The average total cost of a data breaches world wide is around $3.79 million. The costs from cyber attacks include, remediation costs, lost productivity, legal fees, lost data and lower stock prices.
When Pokémon Go was released, Hackers created bogus versions of the App that was infected with malware which enabled the Hackers to access mobile phones and accounts. Just imagine how many businesses were put at risk from the millions of compromised smart phones. In 2014, a WordPress Plug-in allowed an estimated 50,000 websites to be hacked that allowed Hackers to upload PHP files to the Server and control the website. And it allowed the infection of all the other websites Hosted on the same Server.
The total cost to the world economy for computer and network cyber crime is $445 billion!!!
Spotty Dog Computer Services can check your computer for viruses to minimise your risk to Cyber Attacks.
Ransomware has been on the rise over the last six months.
I have noticed a huge increase in the number of inquiries from people who have been infected with viruses that have encrypted the data on their Hard Drives.
This article gives you some options for decrypting your data without paying the ransom.
These viruses, collectively know as “Ransomware”, encrypt your files (Documents, Photos and other files) and then attempt to extort you by requesting payment to unlock those files.
Up until recent times, my advice has been that there is little choice other than to wipe the Hard Drive and reinstall Windows and software, and if available, restore a backup of your files.
Recently however, a couple of other options have come to my attention.
The first comes from AVG. They have released six Decryption Tools that (if you’re lucky) may help with decrypting your data.
The six methods of encrytion that these tools target are:
You can access these decryption tools here.
The second option is in the form of other decryption tools from a website setup by Europol.
These tools attempt to decrypt the following:
CoinVault
The National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) of the Netherlands’ police, the Netherlands’ National Prosecutors Office and Kaspersky Lab, have been working together to fight the CoinVault and Bitcryptor ransomware campaigns.
RannohDecryptor
The RannohDecryptor tool is intended to be used to decrypt files encrypted by:
RakhniDecryptor
The RakhniDecryptor tool is intended to be used to decrypt files encrypted by:
ShadeDecryptor
ShadeDecryptor can decrypt files with the following extensions: .xtbl, .ytbl, .breaking_bad, .heisenberg.
You can access these decryption tools here.
Of course it goes without saying that prevention is better than cure.
The reason you will get one of these viruses normally stems from opening an attachment in a Phishing email.
A Phishing email is one that is constructed to look like it comes from a reputable source.
Examples are:
Also, the prevailing advice is never pay the ransom.
By paying cybercriminals, you only confirm that ransomware works, but more importantly, there is no guarantee that you will receive the encryption key you need to unlock your data.
Spotty Dog Computer Services can remove Ransomware from your Computer.
I took the plunge and upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Ok. It looks slicker, a bit of window dressing as far as aesthetics are concerned, and I won’t go into Window’s 11’s features and functions. But the thing that immediately strikes you is …
I took the plunge and upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Ok. It looks slicker, a bit of window dressing as far as aesthetics are concerned, and I won’t go into Window’s 11’s features and functions. But the thing that immediately strikes you is …
With ever increasing actions by “Big Tech” in general to collect more and more data about us, and the rise in Governments monitoring what we are doing as well as our ISP’s, I’ve been meaning to write something like this for some time now.
But it was the recent actions by FaceBook to take down News Pages and Links…
Well it’s not long now before Windows 7 reaches End Of Life (EOL). So what does this mean for you, and what do you need to do?
I recently had dealings with Microsoft on behalf of a customer that I can only describe as disgraceful and disappointing. The customer in question was an elderly lady with Parkinson’s disease. She had been the victim of a crypto-virus attack, and I had no alternative other than ….
