• Have you backed up your data lately? Your hard drive holds all of your important information—valuable pictures, critical documents, tax information, etc. If lightning strikes, your computer is at risk for data loss.
• Check to see that you have battery backups and surge protectors installed to protect your equipment. Lightning strikes can cause damage to your computer, so be sure to have protection in place. In Florida, battery backups and surge protectors only last about three years. If yours are older, they probably need to be replaced. Make sure your router and modem are plugged into these to help protect your equipment.

If you need recommendations on what equipment to buy or need help with the installation, please give us a call. We are always here to help you!

Friday December 23rd    8:30AM – 5:00PM

December 24th – 25th    CLOSED for Christmas Holiday

Monday December 26th    Administrative office closed in observance of Christmas holiday, however phone messages will be retrieved throughout the day.

Normal business hours will resume Tuesday December 27th at 8:30AM.

Please call 941.739.3600 for more information.

Happy Holidays from your friends at Computer Doctors!

Microsoft has rolled out a new update for Internet Explorer 9 that fixes a host of different security holes.

The update is available through Windows Update, so IE users who have Windows automatic updates turned on should have already received it…

The patch takes care of five holes in IE that were disclosed in coordination with Microsoft and two others that were publicly revealed… Due to the critical nature of the security flaws, Microsoft is recommending that individual users who don’t have automatic updates turned on install the update manually as soon as possible.

A note from us – If you are using Microsoft XP as your operating system, this update will not work or be available to you! It is designed only for Vista or Windows 7 Operating Systems. Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions.

• Have you backed up your data lately? Your hard drive holds all of your important information—valuable pictures, critical documents, tax information, etc. If lightning strikes, your computer is at risk for data loss.

• Check to see that you have battery backups and surge protectors installed to protect your equipment. Lightning strikes can cause damage to your computer, so be sure to have protection in place. In Florida, battery backups and surge protectors only last about three years. If yours are older, they probably need to be replaced. Make sure your router and modem are plugged into these to help protect your equipment.

If you need recommendations on what equipment to buy or need help with the installation, please give us a call. We are always here to help you!

According to the report, Malware-laden sites double from a year ago (click the link to read the article)

“More than 1 million Web sites were believed to be infected with malware in the fourth quarter of last year, nearly double from the previous year” and “The probability that an average Internet user will hit an infected page after three months of Web browsing is 95 percent.”

That’s huge. And believe me, we talk to clients every day that are infected with Malware that causes big problems with their computers.

Here are a couple of posts that we have made about Malware and Spyware and what they do to your systems, and what you can do to recognize these threats and help protect your computer and your identity.

Remember, you should always know which legitimate antivirus software you have. If you think you may have an infection, close all browser windows and run the appropriate security software as instructed by your technician or call us to setup an appointment ASAP. Regardless of how you handle this threat DO NOT provide any random pop-up with credit card information!

If you are unsure about what to do, always feel free to call us for advice!

To happy, safe web surfing,
Jeanette

Always know which legitimate antivirus software you have. This will help you weed out the impostors. If you think you may have this infection please close all browser windows and run the appropriate security software as instructed by your technician or call us to setup an appointment ASAP. Regardless of how you handle this threat DO NOT provide any random pop-up with credit card information! If you are unsure about what to do, always feel free to call us for advice.

Below is some excerpts from www.bleepingcomputer.com about this threat, along with a screen shot of the initial pop-up:

Click enlarge

“The fake Microsoft Security Essentials Alert is a Trojan that attempts to trick you into thinking you are infected so that you will then install and purchase one of 5 rogue anti-virus programs that it is distributing. When the Trojan is run it will masquerade as an alert from the legitimate Windows Microsoft Security Essentials Program anti-virus program. This alert will be titled Microsoft Security Essentials Alert and states that a Trojan was detected on your computer. It will list this Trojan as Unknown Win32/Trojan and state that it is a severe infection. It will then prompt you to clean your computer using the program in order to remove it. When you click on the Clean Computer or Apply actions button, it will state that it was unable to remove it and then prompt you to scan online. If you click on the Scan Online button it will list 35 different anti-virus programs, 30 of which are legitimate anti-virus programs and 5 that are rogues that the Trojan is distributing. These five rogue programs are:

* Red Cross Antivirus
* Peak Protection 2010
* Pest Detector 4.1
* Major Defense Kit
* AntiSpySafeguard or AntiSpy Safeguard

During this fake online scan only the 5 fake anti-virus programs listed above will state that this supposed Trojan is an infection. It does this to scare you into clicking the Free Install button next to them that will install the rogue program onto your computer and then reboot your computer. It should be noted that Red Cross Antivirus, Peak Protection 2010, Pest Detector 4.1, Major Defense Kit, AntiSpySafeguard, and AntiSpy Safeguard that this Trojan is distributing are exactly the same. They just have different names and different graphical user interfaces.

After your computer is rebooted, the rogue that was selected will automatically start and perform a fake scan on your computer. When it has finished it will state that it was able to clean numerous files, but was not able to clean some files, such as iexplore.exe, until the program is purchased. While running, this program will also terminate many programs when you attempt to run them and display a message stating that they are infected. This message is:

The application taskmgr.exe was launched successfully but it was forced to shut down due to security reasons.
This happened because the application was infected by a malicious program which might pose a threat for the OS.
It is highly recommended to install the necessary heuristic module and perform a full scan of your computer to exterminate malicious programs from it.

Furthermore, these rogues will also display security alerts from your Windows taskbar that display messages such as:

Warning! Database updated failed!
Database update failed!
Outdated viruses database are not effective can’t guarantee adequate protection and security for your PC! Click here to get the full version of the product and update the database!

Warning! Running trial version!
The security of your computer has been compromised! Now running trial version of the software! Click here to purchase the full version of the software and get full protection for your PC!

All of these security alerts, like the scan results, are fake and should be ignored.

As you can see, this Trojan was created to trick you into thinking that you are infected so that you will then download and install one of its rogue anti-virus programs. If you have been tricked by this Trojan and installed Red Cross Antivirus, Peak Protection 2010, Pest Detector 4.1, Major Defense Kit, AntiSpySafeguard, or AntiSpy Safeguard then do not purchase it for any reason. If you have already purchased one of these programs, then I strongly suggest you contact your credit card company dispute the charges stating that it is a scam and a computer virus.”

Facebook is becoming really popular for phishing scams, kind of like the ones I talked about Here and Here.

Here’s also a good article about Facebook’s privacy settings and what you should know.

A good rule to follow is always remember that the information you put on your Facebook (or anywhere else on the internet) is just that – on the internet. Limit what you share and be careful giving too much information away!

And hey, since I know you are on Facebook anyway, stop by our Computer Doctors page and say hello!

See you there, Jeanette

“The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.”

This word is actually a proper blanket term for most infections currently circulating. This includes, worms, adware, spyware, or trojans. This software refers to the malicious intent of these kinds of infections. Malware is after all a short word for Malicious Software .

If “pink is the new black”, then malware is the new virus. Using this term in the proper context will show off your new Computer Infection Education!

Brad Button

“Worms use a computer network to send copies of itself to other computers on that network“

  This malware does self replicate like a virus, but it’s small and doesn’t piggy back with other programs. Instead, it clogs up a network by constantly trying to find other computers to compromise.

In my personal experience, these infections tend to by odd in nature and in most cases may not make itself known to the user. They can be used to compromise and control large amounts of computers on a network or lay dormant on a timer. These may be first noticed by a firewall or by network performance issues.

In my opinion, this is where good preventive measures really shine. If you suspect you have a worm, I recommend disconnecting from your current network (both wired and wireless.) This helps any other computers that you have on the network from becoming infected.  

Keep your antivirus and anti malware/spyware protection updated!

 Brad Button

“A rootkit is a software program or coordinated set of programs designed to gain control over a computer system or network of computing systems without being detected.”

  Rootkits are the scourge of all computer technicians and their customers.

This is the means by which your infection keeps coming back even after full scans and manual infection removal. This program can hide files so well that even windows won’t know they exist!

If the rootkit is so new that antivirus companies are unaware of them, it is possible the infection can only be removed by way of full system format. As stated above, they can be so elaborate that even after you do all the scans in the world, hidden files will not only slip through, but they will re-infect your system.

If you think you have a rootkit, I personally recommend that you call a technician as soon as possible if all other scans have failed. We have a very high success rate with these nasty infections, and the sooner you call the easier it is to avoid extreme measures.

Brad Button