WINDOWS UPDATE

My company learned a very valuable lesson this week about forgetting old Trojans. If you have high speed internet access you are probably tremendously aware of pop-ups, viruses, and worms. Did you know that even though you may have missed a worm from years past; if not patched you could still be infected or affected by it today. It is extremely important that you keep your virus protection up to date as well as your Windows operating system. Even though you may have not heard any fall out regarding an old virus or worm which caused a great deal of damage originally does not mean that it will not rear its ugly head again in tomorrow. The name of the game when it comes to your pc and personal network is extreme caution. I know that you believe that I am over emphasizing this issue; however, I witnessed a huge corporation being brought nearly to its knees within a few hours over a worm that was more than three years old earlier this week! If you are unsure of your computers current security or level of compliance right now check to see that your virus scan (McAfee, Norton, etc…) is running and up to date, and visit Windows Update and run the “Custom Install” option against your Windows based computer to verify that all of your updates are well “up to date.” If you are still unsure locate a tech service and have them come to your house and check it out for you or talk you through it over the phone. These are common issues for any IT person. Do not agree to an outrageous hourly rate for this service as it can be done even by the end user with a little assistance from someone in IT. This service should not cost you more than $100 flat. As always if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at 1-800-657-8209 or email us at [email protected].

OFFICE UPDATES

Did you know that you can “and should” update your office products. Microsoft’s office products are vulnerable to malicious attacks just like the operating system. Most people do not realize that you can and should regularly check Microsoft’s site for office updates. To find out if your Microsoft products require updates, open one of the Microsoft office applications (i.e. MS Word). Located at the top of the window will be several options, one of the options is Help. Click on Help and from the drop down menu select Check for Updates. This will open an internet web page and automatically navigate you to the Microsoft Office Update page. Below the Download word located at the top of the page is a blue box titled Office Updates, click on the hyperlink located at the bottom of this box. The hyperlink says “Check for Updates”. Leave all of the boxes checked and click on the “Agree and Install button”. Repeat these steps until there are no more updates to install. In addition to vulnerabilities Microsoft also offers special additions and modifications to the office suite. These updates are cool providing templates and clip art for Word, Excel, Power Point, and Publisher. On July 12 Microsoft released an update for Word that would allow remote code execution on your computer. If you have not done an update on the office suite you should defiantly do one as soon as possible. This release should not cause panic as Microsoft is just required by law to report any of these types of possibilities: however, you should heed them and rapidly resolve the vulnerability. Microsoft releases updates to their Operating Systems (Windows) and office usually at the beginning of the month. This is when you should check if not done sooner. Also automatic updates will not include the Office products. You will have to manually check these.

SPYWARE

If you have high speed internet access (DSL or Cable) you are probably very aware of popups. Do you ask yourself where they come from? How did they get on my computer? How do I make them stop? The answer to these questions is very simple, spyware causes popups. What is spyware? Spyware are files installed on your PC, usually with applications you request while browsing the internet. These files are usually downloaded automatically to run advertisements from websites. They often do not require you to accept or install them on your PC in fact just by visiting a website with spyware you will automatically get it installed. Websites containing spyware are not always inappropriate websites. All websites are potentially vulnerable to spyware. The problem is not only the popups but spyware will also load Trojan horses on your PC and can even be time bombs for streaming personal data to a specific location on the web. You can identify and remove spyware with a free piece of software called Ad Aware. Ad Aware is free software that can be obtained by going to www.lavasoft.com or www.download.com and search for Ad Aware. Run the updates to Ad Aware and then run Ad Aware on your PC. You will likely find that your PC is saturated with spyware, but don’t worry, Ad Aware will also remove it for you. Once you have removed all of the spyware from your PC your PC will work faster and the internet will stream a lot quicker. I hope this will help. Remember, if you have any questions or concerns please give us a call at 1-800-657-8209 or email us at [email protected] or visit us online at www.CentraComp.com.

PHISHING TIPS

I know what you're thinking “this man is crazy he can't spell fishing.” I am talking about a similar sport with much different results. The type of Phishing that I am referring to is the Phishing for data. This type of Phishing happens when you receive an e-mail or pop-up add from a legitimate company, usually one with whom you do business, requesting personal and/or confidential information. The “lure” as it were will come to you as an internet link once clicked on it will take you to a website that appears to be a legitimate company. It will probably be prompting you for a login information, credit card information, or social security number. You should never give this information out over the internet when requested through this method. There are no major companies that will request information of this nature from you using this method. If you receive an email prompting you for this type of information or that takes you to a website that requests this type of information you should immediately contact that company using a phone number that you know to be valid and let them know that you have received this prompting. The parties that are using this method of personal data collection are getting very good at appearing to be legitimate. They are using emails that seem to be coming from a legitimate company on that company’s letterhead. They are also using company’s logos on web broadcasts and popups that will direct you to sites requesting all types of personal data. They will also insist that this is a mandatory collection of information for their files and if you fail to comply something bad will happen to your credit or account. There are no companies out there that will use this medium for information collection from their clients. This is against the law. All companies with which you have an account are required to request this information and send you the warnings in written format on paper containing the company letterhead. Phishing does not only pertain to data collection. Phishing is also used via popup ads in an effort to get you to click on something that will allow a file to download to your PC granting access to spyware. This type of Phishing appears as adds to help you clean up your PC or speed up your internet connection. You should avoid clicking on anything within the window of the pop ups as even the “No” button can be a trigger for down load. Always click on the “ Red X” located in the top right corner of the window. This will help you avoid downloading malicious materials. As soon as you receive one of these items you should run a spyware remover and check to be sure that your virus scanner is up to date as well as your operating system. As always, if you have any questions comments or concerns please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or call us at 1-800-657-8209. You can even visit my newly updated website by going to www.CentraComp.com.

STOLEN IDENTITY

The recent outbreak of stolen identities from the major creditors proves that there are still people out there that are willing to go to great lengths to get your identity. This makes protecting yourself and your personal information even more important than ever. This new found information gives perpetrators more ammunition to trick you into granting them full access to your entire personal life. If you receive requests from people that appear to be your account holders asking for passwords or any other personal information verifications, be sure to verify their authenticity before giving up any information. It is a fact that no creditor will request information from you with out identifying their self with valid proof. This is usually done over the phone or in person. With the possibility of your information currently being in the wrong hands, make sure that none of your passwords or PIN numbers resemble any of this type of personal information (i.e. your social security number, mother’s maiden name, birthdates, etc…) This is a common mistake when securing the personal network routers. While it is very important to secure your router and the personal network that sits behind it, please make sure that you do not use any personal identifying information as passwords or PINs. It is my recommendation that your password and PIN be a random word or series of numbers that cannot be matched to your personal identification. I commonly recommend that people use the month and day of the year in numerical format when changing the password on a regular basis. Try mixing letters and numbers together when creating a unique password for example Ndn8tiv (Indian Native.) Using these formats makes the password nearly impossible to crack and is fairly easy for the creator to remember. As always if you have any questions or problems with this information, please do not hesitate to call CentraComp, Inc 1-800-657-8209.

NETWORKING TIPS

I would have never thought, five years ago, that wireless networking would be as common place as cable television is today. There is a huge security risk that most people are unaware of; the problem is wireless network security. There are groups of people commonly known as CyberBandits that drive around areas looking for open and available wireless networks that they can easily tie into and use. I have been working on PC’s in the area, including my own, and every time I configure the network settings I have the option of several open wireless network connections. You see, the problem is not always limited to bandits accessing the data that you store on your computers but that they also can use your wireless internet connection to launch malicious code against everyone on the internet without leaving a trace. Within a few minutes of finding an available wireless network connection they can upload their code (Trojan-Horse) to the internet and drive away. This is very bad because it is virtually impossible for the authorities to locate the person that causes all of the damage created by these types of people. So please ensure that your wireless network is secure. Use the tools provided with your hardware and secure your network or contact a tech company to visit you and ensure that you are secure. Do not be the victim of a CyberBandit. For more information about wireless networking or specific information about your wireless networking hardware and its security you can send an e-mail to [email protected].

PLUG & PLAY HARDWARE

I am not sure if you noticed last month Microsoft declared their worst vulnerability to date. I don’t know how much of “their worst” we should be concerned with as every time that they divulge another vulnerability it is “their worst” one yet. However, this does not mean that we should not be careful and concerned. Like I have said before, most of us don’ t have anything on our PC’s that a hacker would be interested in digging for, however, they can use your PC as a launch pad for an attack on someone else or infect your machine. And even though it is un-likely you should still be cautious and concerned about the possibility of a hacker getting into your machine. The vulnerability that was identified by Microsoft was against the “Plug-and- Play” service running on your operating system (i.e. Windows). A hacker could potentially compromise this vulnerability to access your machine. However it is more likely that they will just use it to gain access with a Trojan or Virus. Not even 72 hours after this vulnerability was advertised there was a worm released that attacked several large corporations. The news channel for ABC networks was affected to the point that they had to hand type out the news reports for the day. It took most companies several days to resolve this problem. The known affects of the worm cause your PC to blue screen and reboot with no way to stop it. If you are having this problem you should call some one immediately to have this problem removed from you system. If you are not yet experiencing this problem you should go to Windows Update and run a scan on your machine to ensure that you are completely up to date. As always, if you have any questions or comments regarding this article please call us at 1-800-657-8209 or send us an email [email protected]. You can also visit our website www.CentraComp.com for all my contact information.

SLOW RUNNING PC

Have you noticed that it takes longer for web pages to load? Or that maybe files open and save a little slower than normal? These problems can be caused by a fragmented hard drive. A fragmented hard drive happens when you have clusters of data scattered all over your drive. When you save a file on your computer the computer stores that file on the first available spot on your hard drive, after a while the drive starts to look like a child’s play room. There are files scattered everywhere and when the computer tries to retrieve a file it will take longer to locate that file because of the drastically larger area that it has to look. To resolve this problem Microsoft included a utility that you can use called a Disk Defragmenter. This utility can be located by clicking on the Start button and navigating through All Programs, Accessories, and System Tools (this path may differ depending on the version of Windows that you are running.) Select Disk Defragmenter, the Disk Defragmenter will pop up, now click on he Analyze button. When the Disk Defragmenter has completed the analysis of your hard drive it will tell you if it is necessary for you to do a defrag, if it tells you to do a defrag click on the Defragment button and you can go work on another project as the defragmentation Will take a while (possibly up to several hours.) When the fragmentation is complete, reboot your PC. Aside from defragmenting your computer you can delete Internet cached cookies and temp files. To delete Internet cookies, open Internet explorer (web browser) and click on Tools and select Internet Options from the drop down menu. This will open the Internet Options menu window, click on the Delete Cookies… button and then click on Ok in the warning box that pops up. Click on the Delete Files button and then put the check mark in the “Delete all offline content” option and click the Ok button. This will remove the stored up residual that your computer collects while surfing the internet. After all of this has been completed you should reboot your computer and as always check Microsoft for any required Windows updates. I hope this helps your computer’s need for Speed!!

NEW INFORMATION - WARNING

All Windows users are potentially affected by a new “April Fools virus” also known as the “Conficker Worm.” This worm was identified by Microsoft last year. They have identified several iterations of this worm and feel that it has grown in danger with each new release. It is unknown what this worm is going to actually do to client machines. It is speculated that this worm will gather information and send it to a centrally linked machine or could cause a denial of access locking you out of the computer. It is also possible that this worm will unlock other security configurations on the computer making it vulnerable to other attacks. The greatest concern is that most computers which are going to suffer from this attack already are infected. The infection is permitted onto computers that do not have an up to date anti-virus and are missing Windows updates. It is critical that your computer have a solid and current anti-virus from a trusted distributor. Microsoft created a hot fix last year that was designed to resolve a Server service “…vulnerability which could allow an anonymous attacker to take full control of a vulnerable system through a network-based attack” Microsoft, 2009). This hot fix should be installed on all Windows 2000 to current machines. More Information To read more about this threat from Microsoft visit Microsoft Information. This site will also provide a link to download and install the MS08-067 Server service hot fix. Utility to remove worm If you find that you are infected, Microsoft has created a tool that is supposed to clean the worm off your system. Microsoft recommends that you download this file on a clean machine and then install and run the file on the affected machine. The utility can be downloaded from MSRT. Anti-Virus If you do not have an anti-virus program installed on your computer, you can download a free version of AVG from cnet download.com. This is a very good anti-virus program that will run updates every day and will keep your computer safe from attacks.

VIRUS AWARE

My company learned a very valuable lesson this week about forgetting old Trojans. If you have high speed internet access you are probably tremendously aware of pop-ups, viruses, and worms. Did you know that even though you may have missed a worm from years past; if not patched you could still be infected or affected by it today. It is extremely important that you keep your virus protection up to date as well as your Windows operating system. Even though you may have not heard any fall out regarding an old virus or worm which caused a great deal of damage originally does not mean that it will not rear its ugly head again in tomorrow. The name of the game when it comes to your pc and personal network is extreme caution. I know that you believe that I am over emphasizing this issue; however, I witnessed a huge corporation being brought nearly to its knees within a few hours over a worm that was more than three years old earlier this week! If you are unsure of your computers current security or level of compliance right now check to see that your virus scan (McAfee, Norton, etc…) is running and up to date, and visit Windows Update and run the “Custom Install” option against your Windows based computer to verify that all of your updates are well “up to date.” If you are still unsure locate a tech service and have them come to your house and check it out for you or talk you through it over the phone. These are common issues for any IT person. Do not agree to an outrageous hourly rate for this service as it can be done even by the end user with a little assistance from someone in IT. This service should not cost you more than $100 flat. As always if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at 1-800-657-8209 or email us at [email protected].