I first encountered “Ransomware” a couple of years ago in a SaddleBrooke computer. It’s not new, but it is becoming much more widespread. I’ve been reading about it, and just today, as I was sitting down to write this month’s article, I got word of another occurrence right here in SaddleBrooke.
Category Archives: Security & Privacy
Internet Explorer Zero Day Flaw – CRITICAL
A serious vulnerability in Internet Explorer has security experts saying you should stop ussing IE immediately until Microsoft issues a patch. Now’s the time to go to Google Chrome or Firefox browser.
Read the details on the Internet Explorer Flaw.
Securing Your Passwords
Copyright © 2012 Richard Beaty
Last month, Yahoo became the latest big time victim to be hacked, resulting in 450,000 email addresses WITH PASSWORDS being pilfered and PUBLISHED. Do you have a Yahoo email address? If so, yours may be one of the ones that has been compromised? If you’ve been around the Internet very long, chances are you’ve known someone whose email address has been stolen, possibly even your own.
Email addresses are bad enough, but there are worse things that you can have hacked: like your online banking or credit card account, for instance; or maybe your Amazon or Ebay account, where you have payment preferences saved; or any number of other Websites containing sensitive, personal information.
So, how do the bad guys get access to your online accounts and what can you do to stop it?
Windows Gadgets Are a Security Risk
Microsoft is advising users of its Vista and Windows 7 operating systems to disable any gadgets you may have activated on your computer.
Gadgets are little visual tools and — well — “gadgets” that display clock faces, calendars, news feeds, weather and other information on your desktop. I have one on every one of my computers that monitors CPU usage. At least, I did until I followed Microsoft’s advice and took it off.
The problem with these little screen ditties is that they have vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to take control of your computer. The upcoming Windows 8 will not support gadgets, plus the feature was never widely used in the first place. So rather than fix the problem, Microsoft is just recommending that you not use them. Windows 8 will be able to offer similar on-screen information on Live Tiles on the Windows 8 metro Start screen.
Facebook Privacy … YIKES!
I’m not one of these social network crazies that posts everything I do and everywhere I go on Facebook. But I do have an account to keep track of friends and family, and I do contribute some stuff now and then.
I’ve learned a couple of lessons (obvious lessons, I suppose) about what to post and what not. First, I no longer post personal comments or links to political or controversial news. It’s hard NOT to blow off some steam now and then about the state of the world. But I do have friends of all persuasions. I respect my friends’ rights to their opinions, even if I don’t agree with those opinions. I decided awhile back that potentially offending these online friends by posting my sentiments is just not worth it. I mean, whose mind am I going to change with an ardent Facebook post anyhow?
That’s the background; Here’s the lesson.
Malware Alert … DNS Changer Could Kill Your Internet Access
“DNS Changer” has infected millions of computers worldwide. It’s possible this malware is residing you your computer right now.
The Bad News
DNS Changer is a Trojan that was designed to hijack your Internet access and redirect your requests for websites to other sites. These sites would present you with advertising, rather than the Web page you were looking for.
Even more of a threat, it would also disable antivirus software and prevent your computer from being updated.
The Good News
This treat was detected by the FBI last year. The culprits behind DNS Changer were arrested, and the malicious servers were seized. Surrogate servers were set up to replace the malicious ones.
The Bad Guys Have Been Shut Down, But …
The problem is, if your computer has already been infected, your domain requests are still going through these surrogate servers. Come July of this year, the FBI will shut down these servers, effectively killing Internet access for all infected computers. So, it’s important to determine if you are infected and clean the Trojan from your computer before the deadline.
It’s easy to determine if you are infected. Just go to www.dns-ok.us. This Website will immediately give you feedback on whether you have the problem, or not. If you are infected, you will get instructions on what to do next.
Deadline: July 9, 2012
That’s the day the FBI will shut down these temporary servers. If you are infected and you don’t correct the problem before then, your ability to access the Internet will cease, and it will be a lot harder to fix the problem. *** FAIR WARNING ***