Computer Service by Curt

01/31/2018

If you've ever been contacted by phone or had a pop-up like "your computer is infected, call this number to fix it", this may give you some (little) consolation. Unfortunately, you just don't here enough about these kind of scams being stopped. If you've ever lost money to this type of scam, call your bank or credit card company first to attempt to 'charge back' the amount you lost. If they cannot help recover your loss, your local police or Sheriff would like to hear from you.

Operators of a nationwide computer repair scam have been banned from the tech support business as part of settlements with the FTC and Ohio.

09/07/2017

The news is getting out about this security breach that may impact nearly half the Country. I just enrolled and upon registering, I was immediately told I was likely impacted by this. I am awaiting the confirmation email now. I urge you all to read the article and/or enroll for free to see if you are one of the unlucky ones. This is serious Social Security number stuff and I would consider this urgent. To enroll, visit https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/

September 7, 2017 — Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) today announced a cybersecurity incident potentially impacting approximately 143 million U.S. consumers. Criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files. Based on the company’s investigation, the unauthorized a...

07/09/2017

Hate those phone scammers? If you answered yes, or just want to see/hear some scum suffer, check this out. Make sure to watch the video. Beware, some colorful language.

SPOILER ALERT: They try to scam a programmer who writes a script to call them back over and over again, then he recorded it and the misery begins.

Phone scams may be getting more and more clever by the day, but one office full of phony IRS agents made a decidedly dumb move when they called a computer programmer who happens to specialize in scam prevention.

05/13/2017

If you run Windows on a PC and feel you need more security from these kinds of issues, read on. While most of you will never be affected by this, there are things you can do to help prevent these brute force Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) attacks if they becomes more widespread. Use Google to discover these 4 techniques, if you wish, or ask me to tweak a few things when you next bring your PC in.
1. Disable Remote Desktop Protocol if you have no need to use it.
2. Create a new administrator account, then delete the default 'Admin' account Windows created for you.
3. Implement a strong, secure password for your Windows Administrator account. Use at least 8 digits of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols. Even more is better, as it takes longer to crack a good, long password..
4. Set the Windows Group policy 'Account Lockout Threshold' which will lock out (for some time) anyone attempting more than x number of attempts to log into your admin account.

The author of the newly discovered RSAUtil ransomware family is hacking into remote desktop services to upload the ransomware alongside a bunch of other tools.

04/25/2017

If you use Webroot antivirus on your PC, you may have had some issues today. If you were affected, keep your PC on and connected to the Internet to receive needed updates. If you have issues beyond your control, call me or any qualified PC service person for help.

Webroot said a bad rule that was live for 13 minutes identified critical Windows files as 'false positives,' blocking Windows' access to them.

04/17/2017

Just a reminder to those of you using a PC with Windows Vista, Microsoft ended support for the Vista operating system on April 11. What this means is, they will no longer provide security updates to that operating system which may leave you more vulnerable when accessing the Internet. You should consider upgrading the operating system or, better yet, replace the PC with a new one. If you continue to use this operating system, make sure you have a modern, updated antivirus program running at all times. If you have questions about upgrading (is it worth it?) or about the Vista operating system, any qualified technician can answer those questions, including myself. ;-)

10/18/2016

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If you have fallen victim to ransomware, there is now a coalition of agencies from several countries to help you in your effort to decrypt your files without paying a ransom. They have created the NoMoreRansom project located here: https://www.nomoreransom.org/
So far they have created a database of solutions to decrypt several variants of this scourge including WildFire, Chimera, TeslaCrypt, Shade, CoinVault, Rannoh and Rakhni.
If you need help in this process, most local computer repair persons, including myself, should be able to assist you.

Law enforcement agencies from 13 additional countries have signed up to the NoMoreRansom project since it started in July 2016.

08/01/2016

If you need computer service, please call me at 763-689-4984. I am not on Facebook very often and I hate to miss you. If you message me it can be awhile to get a response. If this is not too important and you just want to touch base with me, that is fine as long as you don't expect a response any time soon.

05/20/2016

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TeslaCrypt ransomeware creators have shut down permanently, releasing the master key. If you have been affected by these jerks, there is a free decryption tool here: http://support.eset.com/kb6051/
This tool will help you recover your files. If you are not sure of what to do, any computer savvy person, including myself, will be able to help.

TeslaCrypt ransomware operations appear to have shut down, with its authors already releasing a master decryption key.

05/09/2016

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7 Password Tips From 7 Experts.

I have broken this article down for your quick review, and inserted a few tips of my own. Get the full story by clicking the image below.

If you are doing only 3 of these 7 things, you are better off than most people, IMHO. -Curt

1. Think Length, Not Complexity
“A longer password is usually better than a more random password, as long as the password is at least 12-15 characters long.”

2. Keep It Weird
"1111111" is bad. Longer is better, but avoid common sports or pop culture terms, like movie quotes.

3. Don’t Bunch Up Your Special Characters
“Most people put capital letters at the beginning and digits and symbols at the end. Put your digits, symbols, and capital letters spread throughout the middle of your password...".

4. Never Double Dip
Don't use the same password for every login. This makes password keeping difficult, however.
Curt's advice: if you MUST use the same password, choose a different user ID for each login.

5. Don’t Change Them So Dang Often
You are better off using longer passwords, and keeping them longer, rather than changing passwords every few months.

6. Take the Panic Down a Notch
"You’re right...to make your password as safe as possible. But...most people don’t need a digital Fort Knox."
Curt's advice: You should be using at least 8 digits in your password and up to 12 is even better. More digits = more security, but more than 16 digits is not needed today. Use upper and lower case, numbers and use special characters if you can (!@ #$%&, etc.)

7. Layer Up
“Don’t rely on passwords alone! Passwords should not be considered sufficient for anything other than the lowest-risk applications. Adding a layer of more robust authentication, like cryptographic credentials, or a biometric identifier (think fingerprint scanner)"...which can improve your security.

You've got the password basics down. It's time for some advanced techniques.

05/05/2016

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I just had another customer call about a pop-up on their PC, claiming there is an infection, with a tech support phone number for immediate assistance. Sometimes they just call you on the phone and say you are infected and they need to log into your PC to 'fix' it.

Do not ever call or pursue these types of contact as they are certainly a scam. Tell them you are going to report them and hang up. If you have fallen prey to this scam, contact someone that can help you resolve it properly.

Unfortunately, this concerned customer of mine allowed these fraudsters to log into two of the family computers to "install antivirus protection" and charged the family $300 by credit card. These creeps continue to make contact by phone now, requesting access to uninstall their antivirus software, which is for a Mac computer, while they have a PC which is not compatible. They claim if access is not allowed that the PC will shut down in a week. This is all lies, you cannot accidentally install Mac software on a PC, and vice-versa. Whether the PC shuts down or not is another question.

I advised her to call the credit card company and request a reversal of the charges due to fraud, and to consider canceling that card or certainly monitor it for some time. I also advised her not to use the PC until it can be restored properly, removing any possible malware they may have installed. I have had a customer that gave up the last 4 digits of their social security number during these types of scams. I advised this person to also monitor their credit and credit history.

If for any reason you lose money over this type of scam (and you are unable to recover it), make sure to call your local police and report it. There is not much they will be able to do, unfortunately, but it may help your efforts to recover your money.