Sneaky Ways Criminals Gain Access To Your Computer

burglar - Microsoft scammers try to gain access to your computer Sooooo… while I was working late tonight a malware/virus company made the mistake of calling me (Angela) to try to get me to allow them access to my computer. And I have to say, I had a GREAT time with these guys — obviously Steve and I don’t get out much. I happened to have my cellphone nearby and I recorded the entire affair. Is it awful that I had a fun with these dweebs? (Does that make me a bad person?)

I’ve uploaded the exchange. Want to hear? Want to know what they are trying to do? Want an example of how this works? Take a listen. (And don’t worry about reporting their URL, we already did that!)

Please, please don’t let people like THIS bamboozle you. Microsoft will NEVER call you and no technical support will EVER call you. If someone calls you or if there’s a number that pops up on your computer for you to call to eliminate malware and spyware — it’s a scam. Don’t fall for it.

Again, I had an absolute BLAST with these jerks. It was fun to play dumb about what they were trying to do. And it was a wonderful opportunity to educate our clients (and the general public). Do you blame me for doing my best to frustrate the begeezus out of them? The typing you hear is me preparing a report to Google on them. Yeah. I did that while I was on the phone. 🙂

Be sure to listen until the end… what a hoot!

Now, with all this said. If you have any questions about your computer, call us. We won’t call you, but we are always here for you to call us. (And, unlike these guys, we actually want you to be safe online.) Truth.

You need to know that when these guys call, and they gain access to your computer, they are doing so to INSTALL malware and viruses and to charge you money to remove what they caused. It’s pathetic, really. They should be hung by their toenails. Seriously. *shaking my head*

How Much Do You Want to Share?

July 29, 2015
by admin

WiFi Security Breach in Windows 10 Operating System

Today, Microsoft is sharing their new operating system — Windows 10 — for free to Windows 7 users and Windows 8 users.

And, if you take them up on that offer, you will be “sharing” stuff too — like, for instance, your wifi password — with every contact you have on Skype and Outlook — and possibly Facebook. No kidding.

This new “feature” called WiFi Sense doesn’t share your password, but offers an encrypted key to allow your contacts to use your wifi when they are within range. It also means that your information is stored on Microsoft servers. Yes, it’s encrypted, but that’s just a little too invasive for the Doc’s comfort level, so he doesn’t advise using this without seriously considering the possible security dangers inherent in sharing your information.

Yes, you can turn this off, if you don’t want to allow it — but you need to be aware of it, especially if you decide to use the easier, “express” installation, which will turn this on automatically.

You have now been warned.

Encrypted or not, if another device is accessing your network, it HAS your password and a savvy hacker can use that to gain a little more information that you might be willing to share.

For more information, consult the FAQ page over on Microsoft’s page — and then do a little independent research and see what the hacker sites and the security sites have to say about it — BEFORE you open up your private network to contacts.

If you have any additional questions about this, give us a call. We are here to help — 859-755-4344.

Radio Show: Ubiquitous Computing

March 21, 2015
by admin

Ubiquitous computing, computing everywhere, and The Internet of Things is the topic for this week’s Radio Show. We talk about:

The creepy, eavesdropping “Hello Barbie”
Automating and remote controlling your car
The dangers of connecting to public WiFi
Appliances and gadgets to automate your home
and other topics

Listen now:

LiFi the Next Generation of WiFi?

March 19, 2015
by admin

What’s LiFi?

LiFi, which uses light waves rather than the radio-waves utilized by WiFi, may be the biggest advance in data transmission since wireless options appeared on the market. Visible communications is a low-energy, highly secure method to transfer data through the air.

How LiFi Works

LiFi uses an LED light that flickers at a rate too fast to be detected by the human eye (which translates it as a solid “on” light), these flickers are projected and detected to send and receive data packets without wires and with 10,000 times the available bandwidth of traditional WiFi!

Why You Might Want LiFi

Although it doesn’t require line of sight, the LiFi is stopped by solid objects such as walls — so your neighbors can’t try to hack your LiFi from their house! It also offers the following advantages:

Lower Cost
Requires Fewer Components
Extremely Low Energy Use
Higher Speeds Than WiFi
Safer for Humans and Animals
Won’t Conflict or Interfere with Other Electronic Devices (There’s no electromagnetic interference.)

How It Will Be Used

From standard “in house” and “in office” data transfer to specialized applications like:

Underwater applications which absorb radio signals too much can benefit from the use of light signals
Mines and Petrochemical Plants where Electromagnetic fields might be dangerous
Medical Applications where WiFi would or could interfere with essential equipment
Toys – safe interactivity between toys with low power requirements for longer battery life
Turning signs, streetlights, even vehicle headlights into data hubs
Offload excess data requirements of cellular networks to offer relief in bottleneck areas

Although it’s a relatively new technology, you can expect to see it grow in the near future.

Cryptowall 2.0 Virus: What You Should Know

The latest variant of the Ransomware known as Cryptowall 2.0 is a particularly nasty piece of malware, and it’s been hitting individuals and businesses in Danville, Boyle County, and the surrounding areas.

How Did I Get The Cryptovirus?

Like most viruses, this one will invade your systems through the standard routes including: malicious websites, email, downloads, and ads. However this virus can also spread through files and attachments such as Adobe PDF documents.

In fact, PDF files are the primary transmission route of this particular virus.

Once you have the virus, it can travel across your network to infect some or all of the machines connected — and it can infect any “backups” you have that are connected to your computer — including “cloud based” backup systems.

What Does the Cryptowall Virus Do?

Once activated, the Cryptowall 2.0 will attempt to encrypt your personal files (pictures, emails, Word documents, PDFs etc…) with a 2048 key RSA encryption algorithm so complex, our own government has not yet been able to break it.

What Can I Do If I Get Infected with Cryptowall?

The encrypted files cannot be recovered without paying the ransom fee, which will give you access to the decryption program. Once you have the decryption key, you will have to manually run that key program on the infected computer or computers.

I Know Someone Who Had This (and Paid the Ransom) Can I Use Their Key?

The decryptor is infection specific, which menas that you will not be able to borrow the file from someone else that has already paid the ransom fee.

How Do I Pay The Ransom?

If you do decide to pay the fee to get your personal files back, you will have to buy approximately $500 worth of Bitcoins (depending on the current conversion rate, which fluctuates daily), which involves setting up a Bitcoin wallet and purchasing the Bitcoin from a reputable online dealer.

You will then have to send the payment in Bitcoin form through the TOR payment gateways that are specific to the particular virus that has infected your system. If this ransom fee is not paid within 5 days, the ransom will double to $1000 worth of Bitcoin.

How Do I Remove The Virus?

After payment is made and the transaction processes is validated through the Bitcoin network, you should (if everything goes according to plan) receive a link to download the decryptor specific to your infection.

When you receive the file, you can run it on your system to decrypt your files, but this is not a simple process.

Things to note:

If you leave your system unprotected, without a good anti-virus program, your computer could become re-infected and you will have to go through this nightmare all over again.
You should clean the infection on your machine before decrypting your files, otherwise they may become infected again as soon as you decrypt them.
This cleaning and decrypting process is best handled by a qualified technician.
Receipt of the key is never a “sure thing” and you could possibly be out the money AND your files — Afterall, you are now negotiating with criminals.

How Can I Protect Myself?

PLEASE purchase a good anti-virus software program and keep it updated. We recommend Kaspersky to all our clients and install more of this product at our shop than any other.

Buy an external hard drive (or two) and backup your files REGULARLY to a drive that does not stay plugged into your computer or your network.

If you need advice regarding removing an infection or have questions on prevention, best back-up practices, or any other technology questions, please give us a call at Danville Computer Doc, 859-755-4344.

We want to help you keep your computer and your files safe!