Computer security is a tricky business, and we get at least 10 calls a week, asking is something is legitimate or that a PC has been ‘infected’.

Thanks to many media stories about hacking this and data that, people are, quite rightly, worried about the potential of their PCs lack of security.

Sadly, there are people praying on that very sense of paranoia, and promoting ‘fixes’ for ‘detected threats’ – when in actuality there is no real threat but the awful fake software warning you.

This warning rapidly escalates in to many pop-ups about ‘Security risks’, ‘Detected virus activity’ or ‘Illegal content detected’ ~ then, miraculously, you can pay £££s to have all these issues fixed.

That’s exactly what the scammers are after. Your hard earned pounds.

In this case approx. £45 MILLION  of your hard earned pounds!

Many, many people have fallen for this scam ~ and I have to admit (having seen several versions of this very scam), it does seem incredibly legitimate ~ paying sometimes over £80 to get the fake fixes.

Finally the FBI have got involved and conducted raids in 12 nations, worldwide. These raids, dubbed “Operation Trident Tribunal”, and led to computers being seized and gaining control of 5 bank accounts used to hold the cash collected.

The solution is simple ~ and incredibly impractical ~ don’t use the Internet or put anything on your PC. That’s the best preventative measure you can have (one security expert said that the only way to completely protect a PC from threats, is to leave it in the box!). There is however, some more practical, preventative steps to take.

Firstly, you need a good anti-virus package ~ we use the Eset software, and have for many years. This software will warn you of potential problems before you get some nastiness in there. It will also clean  the badness out if you do get infected too.

Secondly, don’t click on any advertisements, some carry secret code to infect and infiltrate your PC.

Finally, avoid websites that are heavy in those self same adverts, this usually means ‘free’ gaming sites, gambling sites, or anything of an adult nature.

If you do have problems though – call us! 08456 340 599
We’ll get you clean

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On of my clients was hacked the other day – well, when I say ‘Hacked’ I mean that they had someone go onto their PC without authorisation.

In fact they were not hacked as such, but their old IT guys had left a HUGE security hole in their system for ‘convenience’ – NEVER a good idea! What a stupid thing to do!!
This was then exploited (as you might expect), and some stuff was ordered via their online accounts (Amazon etc…).

Once the person was into the network they garnered more information from the connected PCs and tried to order stuff with the accounts that were on other PCs.

Fortunately the clients mum called her to ask about an email that popped up (at 04:00 in the morning!) and the client caught the person dialled in to the PC and dumped the connection – she then managed to check the history of the intruder and contact the people that things were ordered from.

It’s looking like she was spectacularly lucky!! The people who were contacted have stopped the orders and things are looking like going back to normal – with the exception of come cancelled cards that is!
This could so easily have been much much worse.

In this case it’s looking lots like some clown connected to the machine and simply used the existing details on the PC to order stuff – its a good thing too – a more savvy intruder would have left all sorts of Trojans and back-doors so he/she could simply walk back in later and do the same again, with the new cards and accounts etc…

Suffice to say the fraud squad are doing their thing…

I’ve done a complete scan and clean up and am as sure as I can be that there is nothing left in the wake – I think the interruption stopped any long term damage happening.

I guess the moral is that you never know just how secure you are – you can only do the best you can, and hope it never happens…

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Time for another “Donkey Award”…

This made me laugh:
San Francisco’s unluckiest thief

It seems that some idiot riding a bicycle, decided to grab an iPhone that was being held by a woman on San Francisco street. This he did and sped off down the road…

Unfortunately the thief didn’t know that the iPhone was being used as a test for some real-time tracking software – what are the chances eh?

The woman, rushed in to the office (the incident happened just outside), reported the theft, and the IT guys calmly directed the police directly exactly to where the thief was located.

Ha!

“You’re nicked sonny Jim…”
“Clap him in irons – you’re goin’ dahn son”

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So there i was on the way back from a client, feeling a little peckish and undernourished (Those of you that know me will no doubt be chuckling that a short fat bald bloke such as i can be undernourished).

I decided to stop off at a well known pastie shop to slake my appetite, thus parked up,  in the car park and trotted over to a delightful lady who graciously furnished me with a chicken and cranberry sandwich for the princely sum of £1.

There is something to be said for the anticipation of enjoying a delightful sandwich in peace, whilst being soothed by Classic FM. So there i sat in the car taking the first bite of my much anticipated food when… CRASH !

A car had reversed out of the parking space behind me turning as if to exit the car park, when two cars ploughed into the front of it pushing it up against the barrier behind it. Eight people decamped from the the two cars and furiously set about smashing the windows of the third car, dragging the occupants out of the now smashed windows, onto the floor. (No where nearly as elegantly as the Dukes of Hazard).

(I had stopped chewing by this point) Three other people ran across the front of my car (not literally) and it was then i noticed the small ‘police’ badge draped around the neck of the people pinning the 3 unfortunate chaps to the floor. Needless to say my appetite had suddenly retreated and i sat with a gormless look on my face, cranberry on my tie and sandwich in hand watching the ‘Boys in Blue’ at there best.

I have no idea what the 3 people had been arrested for and i don’t really think i want to know frankly. However I slept well in my bed last night knowing that 3 more evidently ‘undesirable’ chaps were off the streets. Congrats Mr Plod, it was an astonishing show, reminding me that even though we live in a world where we are constantly worried about who or what is round the next corner, you guys are on the front line trying (against the odds) to keep us safe from harm.

Today Mr Police Man I salute you.

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