Computer Security, a strong focus for Perry’s Computer Repair, includes articles for all user of today’s technologies. Topics include Microsoft Windows security, smartphone security, home and business networking security, and even hardware security.
The original Mirai Botnet was released in 2016 and had taken control over many computers and had wrought unprecedented damage to the Internet. It was designed by Paras Jha who was an undergraduate at Rutgers at the time and who launched attacks at his own university to convince them to hire him to mitigate those attacks.
There are many online and telephone scams and blackmail schemes. Learn about some of these and learn how to protect yourself with strong passwords and two-factor authentication.
CCleaner, a popular application used to clean trash and duplicate files from computers was recently hacked, but only its 32 bit version of the application was affected and its enterprise use for the 64 bit version. The application acted a vehicle for malware, which it would secretly put on a user’s computer. Most home computer users use the 64 bit version and so this hack would not affect them. If you think you have the 32 bit version check to see if you have the version number: 5.33.6162.
Cyber threats have increased dramatically during 2016. According to the FBI, there’s an average of 4,000 ransomware attacks per day. Wow! A lot of people must be losing a lot of money. 13 billion a year is spent by the private sector to protect against cyber threats and more is spent every year.
CyberCrime has different forms. Locking your computer is the most difficult to handle because it involves encryption. The FBI, Moneypak virus is an example of this in action.
Intel now has entered computer security with a big splash when it announced last Fall the sixth generation of its CPU family, the I7 V Pro also called Skylake. The behemoth corporation hopes that this CPU will make people especially small businesses more excited about their work computers. It wants to transform the business workplace and drive change to its nth degree
It never ceases to amaze me how malware can get into your computer. The other day I was downloading Google Chrome for a customer from a malicious website. I was in a hurry and did not check the website URL. Before I knew it, I had downloaded 75 malware programs and viruses in a few seconds. I then spent the next 15 minutes removing them. It seems that hackers are using malware to take over the cyber world. 8 million new variants per month are infecting computers. That’s right, malware does mutate to catch your computer and anti-virus protection off guard.
I have removed many Trojan viruses over the years, but never as dangerous and powerful as ZeuS. This Trojan malware is responsible for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars by cyber gangs over the last eight years. My blog today is meant to alert computer users to the dangers of computer viruses and to protect themselves by getting good virus protection and backing up their data. Call Perry’s Computer Repair immediately if you suspect a virus infection.
Dangerous Malware and Malware Scams, how to spot them and keep them from infecting your computer. Prevention and using a layered security approach is best.
My big repair today was the removal of a rootkit virus that damaged my customer’s computer. The rootkit apparently changed permissions on his folders and apps. This rootkit virus also stole my customer’s data.
In my second installment of viruses, I will describe different types of viruses. Identifying the type of virus is an important first step in the removal of the virus. Knowing what kind of virus infection you have may point to different removal steps. Also, if the virus is the type that steals password information, then changing your passwords may be an important step to protect your banking and financial data. Removal of viruses will be addressed in future blog posts.