So what exactly is a “ransomware” infection?  As the name infers, this type of infection holds either access to your computer or your data for ransom until you pay.  The most common infection so far has involved the computer being locked down with a window impersonating a warning from the FBI displaying a threatening message and blocks the user from doing anything else unless you pay the fine or find a way to remove the program.   The other type of infection will actually encrypt your personal data such as your documents photos, music, etc.   For these infections, there is NO way to remove the infection or recover your data without paying or restoring from a backup.

These attacks are incredibly sophisticated and are generally delivered to victims computers by a “drive-by” download.  All it takes is a visit to a compromised web page and the malware is installed onto your computer without any interaction on your part.

It is incredibly important that you have updated security software on your computer and keep all of your applications and operating systems up to date with the latest security patches as well as ensuring you regularly backup your data.   We also recommend a layered approach to securing your network through the use of additional security appliances and services to help reduce the chance of these infections slipping through.

Additional information on these attacks can be found here:

Latest ‘ransomware’ attacks are scarily sophisticated
Inside a ‘Reveton’ Ransomware Operation

Don’t fall victim to these attacks – contact us today to help secure your computer systems.

Technically, the issue isn’t the unsecured Wi-Fi networks so much as it is with websites not utilizing SSL (HTTPS) encrypted pages.  And don’t be fooled by sites that simply use SSL for logins – unless the whole website is using SSL, it’s still possible for someone using  a tool such as Firesheep to take over your account once you’ve logged in.

While this issue and the techniques utilized to do this aren’t new, what’s truly frightening is the availability and ease of use of the Firesheep tool which enables anyone with little or no technical skill to perform these types of hacks.   This is a VERY big deal – and VERY DANGEROUS.

So, how do you protect yourself against such hijacks when using public hotspots?  Ideally, utilizing a VPN is your best bet as it will encrypt your entire network connection.  If you don’t have access to a VPN, try to only use sites that use HTTPS for their entire site.  Outside of that, I would recommend not using such sites at all until you’re using a network you trust.

I suspect that we’ll start to see a number of sites such as Hotmail, Facebook, etc. start to implement full HTTPS security across their entire sites in the future, but until then it’s best to exercise appropriate caution when utilizing unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots.

If you’d like a VPN for your small business, we’d be happy to assist you – it’s not nearly as expensive or complex as you may think – contact us today.

Just as a reminder, if you’re still running Windows XP – Service Pack 2 (SP2) expired on July 13^th, 2010 and is no longer supported.  You need to install SP3 or look into moving to Windows 7 to be running a supported version of Windows.  Support for Windows XP SP3 will continue through April 2014.

National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), conducted every October since 2001, is a national public awareness campaign to encourage everyone to protect their computers and our nation’s critical cyber infrastructure.

Cyber security requires vigilance 365 days per year. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the primary drivers of NCSAM, coordinate to shed a brighter light in October on what home users, schools, businesses and governments need to do in order to protect their computers, children, and data.

Anyone – family, employers, consumers, teachers, and students – interested in online safety is encouraged to access the National Cyber Security Awareness Month Web portal. The Web site hosts an abundance of information including tip sheets, ideas for how to get involved, events, and additional awareness resources to help organizations and individuals participate in the public awareness and education campaign.

The portal offers printable materials for schools, businesses, government agencies, law enforcement and consumers. All NCSA materials are free and there is no cost for endorsements or event listings.

You can access the NCSAM portal here: http://www.staysafeonline.org/ncsam

MSE has been freely available for home and home office users since September 2009.  Since its release, Microsoft Security Essentials has won awards and certifications from a number of independent agencies and does a good job of protecting your computer.  Our experience with MSE here at ProTech Computer Solutions has been positive and in fact we have deployed MSE to many of our residential and home office customers with good results.

While MSE may lack some of the more sophisticated central management and reporting tools offered by competing products, it is well worth evaluating for any small business in need of desktop security software and looking to cut costs.