Windows 10 Information

Last Update 10/29/2020

This page will contain tips on Windows 10 that we have learned since the operating system came out in 2015.

Windows 10 is ever evolving with new “feature updates” released by Microsoft twice a year. Because of this, this page will be updated and amended as needed, so check back often.

There is no particular order that these items are in.

  • Hard Shutdowns can disable your system. A “hard shutdown” is when a user either holds the power button down until the PC shuts down or power to the PC is lost (i.e. a power outage) causing the PC to turn off without following the Start>Shut Down command (also known as a Soft Shut Down). The most common result of a hard shutdown is a blue screen indicating a BCD Error. Sometimes this error can be repaired with a Windows 10 Recovery Drive using the command prompt. Other times it cannot be repaired and the system either needs to be restored using a backup (which will restore the data) or reset using the Windows 10 Recovery Drive (in which case the data will be lost). We HIGHLY recommend that desktop PC users plug it in to a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) that provides software that lets the PC know when power has been lost and issues a soft shut down command once the battery on the UPS reaches a certain level. NEVER hold the power button down on the PC to shut it off until all other methods have been tried if the PC freezes.
BCD Error screen
  • Windows Updates – Unlike the previous Windows operating systems (Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, etc.), Windows 10 will do updates when needed. These updates can initiate on their own, thus making the PC unusable until the update process is complete. If this is a Feature Update, it can take up to several hours, during which time the PC will indicate that it’s updating and to not turn it off. Don’t turn it off, or a BCD Error (see above) can occur. You can set the time when the update should NOT take place by going to Start>Settings>Updates and Security and setting the active hours, which will tell Windows NOT to do updates during those hours. If the PC is turned off during the non-active hours, it will eventually perform the updates during the active updates, so be sure to keep the PC on if the Active Hours option is selected. We do not recommend installing Feature Updates until the PC indicates that it will have to install them. This allows others to be the “Guinea Pig” on new updates. In the past there have been Feature Update issues that have had a negative impact on the PC.

So…are you backing up your computer?

In late 2017 Microsoft released Windows 10 Update 1709.  If you’re a Windows 10 Home user, you were not given a choice to install the update, and may have been subject to some of the issues that this latest update caused.

In the that followed the update we had numerous calls of crashed PCs.  All of them had two things in common.  First, they were Windows 10.  Second, they had just been updated.

In all cases the user data was not accessible.  Although we were able to fix all of them, it was only because we had installed imaging software on them.

Which brings us to the topic of this post:

Are you backing up your computer?

One of the first questions that we ask clients when it comes to their computers is “Is there anything on this computer that you absolutely, positively cannot live without?”.  If the answer is “yes” (which is usually is), we ask how they are backing up.  Most don’t have a plan.

There are several ways to backup a computer, and we’ll discuss each one of them in detail here.

Before we do that, though, let’s break down what your PC consists of.  Whether you’re running a Windows or Linux based PC or a OSX based Mac, your computer has three basic software items:  The Operating System, Programs, and Data.

The Operating System (OS) is what makes it go.  When you push the power button on your computer, the OS starts up.  Programs can’t run without it.  Peripherals couldn’t be installed without it.  Everything depends on the OS.

The Programs are what allow you to do things, like create documents, spreadsheets, edit photos and videos, listen to music, watch music, and thousands of other things.

Data is what you create with programs.  It’s your documents, your spreadsheets, your pictures, your videos, your music, your stuff.  It’s the only item of the three that cannot be replaced, because YOU created it, not the OS creator or the program vendor.

If a computer crashed, we could recreate everything using the OS DVD (or USB) and the program disks.  If your computer didn’t come with a restore DVD, then you will have a problem if the hard drive crashes.  Either way, bringing back the data will be impossible.

So data is probably the single most important thing to back up.  If you do need to reinstall the OS and the programs, be prepared to spend some time with it.

When we setup a backup plan, we offer several different options.

Option 1 – Image Backup – An image backup is just as the term implies.  It’s an image, or picture, of the hard drive.  Using a backup program (for Windows 10 Home we recommend EaseUS Home Backup , for Windows 10 Professional, we recommend EaseUS Workstation Backup – either will work for their Windows 7 or 8.1 counterparts).  EaseUS Backup will allow you to create several different types of backup, including an image backup.

You will need a destination for the backup.  If you have more than 1 computer, we recommend a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device.  This is basically an external hard drive that is accessed via your network.  It allows multiple computers to backup to is, as well as store additional data, like music, pictures, videos, that can be accessed by anyone on the network who has the right credentials.  You can also use a USB external hard drive, but that limits the number of computers that can use it as a destination to only one.

EaseUS will prompt you to create a WinPE rescue USB when you first install it.  Make sure you do this, and put the USB thumbdrive in a safe place.  If your hard drive crashes, you’ll need this to restore your PC.

Option 2 – Data Backup – A data backup is a backup of all of your “stuff”, but not your OS or your programs.  EaseUS does offer an option to backup only data, which we recommend in addition to the image backup.  This lets you restore just a single file or folder if you accidentally deleted it.  An image backup restores the entire computer.  Data backup just restores files and folders.

Option 3 – Cloud Backup – The cloud has become part of every computing environment, from enterprise, or business level, to home level.  You’re already using the cloud, whether you realize it or not.  Most smartphones use the cloud to store data, with iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive being some of the more popular cloud applications and storage sites.

In a nutshell, the cloud is storage space on someone else’s network that is accessible only via the internet.  You can’t get to your stuff unless you’re online.  If something happens to your computer your data is not lost because it’s on the cloud.

Our favorite cloud backup system is iDrive.  It’s relatively inexpensive ($79 per year), fully automated, and gives you plenty of storage space (2 terrabytes, which equals 2000 gygabytes, which is more than enough for all of your photos, videos, music and documents).

Once you install the program, it backs up on a schedule that you determine (ours runs at 10:30pm daily) and, once the initial backup has been done (which could take days, depending on how much data you have, and what your upload speed is), it only backs up what has changed since the last backup.

Oh, and it’s not limited to just your computer’s data.  You can backup as many computers as you have, your tablet or iPad, and your smartphone, as long as the total of all the data is under 2 terrabytes (you can always buy more space, but it’s unlikely you’ll need it).

What method should you use?

We use all three.  We have a NAS, and we backup an image and data, and we use iDrive.  We can restore an entire computer, or just a file.

You should use whatever will prevent you from ever having to say

To sum it up…

It’s really pretty simple to get your system backed up, especially if you use the methods we listed.  However, if you need help, or if you didn’t backup and now you need to get your data off your hard drive, contact PCMDX today.  We’ll come to you and get your “stuff” back.

 

 

 

Phone Scam of the Week – A New Twist

A week doesn’t go by when we don’t get a call from a “Microsoft security specialist” telling us that they have “detected something wrong with the security of our computer”.

Depending on what we are doing, we’ll either hang up or explain to the “security specialist” that we don’t have time. First, though, we will listen to their script to see if anything has changed, and if it has, we’ll want to see what has.  Today was one of those days.

The call, this one from 203-695-4021 (a Connecticut phone number) came in at around 1:30pm.  The person, who had a thick Asian accent, identified himself as being a security specialist with Microsoft.  He said that for a few days “our firewall has not updated and he needed us to update the Windows key.

We played along, since this was a new script.  The steps were as follows:

Identify the Windows Key and push it, while pushing the R key.  This, of course, launches the Run command.  He requested that we enter “CMD” in the field.  This brings up a Command Prompt.  He had us check the IP address of the PC by using the IPCONFIG command.

Next he had us repeat the Run comma

nd and enter MSCONFIG in the field.  This brings up the basic settings on the computer.  The main reason for this is that they want to “show us some issues with the computer”.  These “issues” are normal everyday things going on with the PC.

Next he had us write down a “Windows Key”, which consisted of eight characters, five numbers and letters, then a dash, then three more letters.  He said we would need this “key” later in the process.

He next wanted us to open a browser window and go to www.help123.ml so that he could remote in to the PC.  This is where we stopped and informed him that we were terminating the conversation (we didn’t say it that politely).

Had we gone to the next step, he would have remoted into the PC, then taken over control and/or installed some malicious software (also known as malware).  This could range from keyloggers to capture user names and passwords, but also viruses or worms to spread to other computers.

As we have documented in the past, Microsoft does not monitor your computer.  They do not have people call you letting you know that there’s a problem with your PC.

Should you get a call from anyone who identifies him or herself as being from a computer company and that they have detected an error with your PC, or a virus on your PC, please hang up.

If you are reading this and you know that you’ve allowed access to your PC to someone who called you, contact your IT support person immediately so that they can scan your PC for malware.  If you con’t have an IT support person, contact us at pcmdxal@gmail.com for further assistance.

If you’ve allowed access to your PC by one of these scammers and you gave them your credit card (yes, they sometimes have the guts to ask for payment after they scam you), keep an eye on your statements for any unauthorized transactions.

The bad guys are smart.  We need to be smarter.

Scam E-Mails: How To Tell

 

Recently PCMDX received a call from a business who’s bank account had been compromised.  Someone, using legitimate information, was able to gain access to the account and make transfers from the account to another account, and also made wire transfers to a third party.

The business had been told by the bank that their network had been hacked and that they should seek some help in securing their network, which is why they contacted PCMDX.  We focus providing network support for small businesses that have less than 15 computers, and one of our specialties is cybersecurity and compliance.

Although how the actors (the term used for the “bad guys” since they are “acting” as a legitimate party) were able to get the necessary information is still under investigation, it’s likely that it was given to them by one of the company officers via e-mail.

 

We recently received a scam e-mail and we’d like to share it with you so that you can learn how to determine if it’s a legitimate e-mail or not.  Please note:  If you’re not sure if the e-mail is legitimate, call the sender and ask them if they sent it, even if it passes all of the tests.  It’s better to be safe and verify authenticity than take a chance.

Here’s a screenshot of the e-mail we received, along with some notes (Click on the image for a full size view).  We blurred out information that is not relevant.

 

Let’s begin at the top.  The subject line “Please Read! (Final Warning) | 06/05/2017” sounds pretty threatening and will get your attention right away.  But it doesn’t indicate who it’s from or what it’s about.

If you look at Blue Arrow 1, you’ll see that it’s from “ACME account team”, followed by the e-mail address of “admin@MAIL.HAMILTONTN.GOV”.  (We’re going to use ACME as the alias for the name of the company).  So here you have two major clues that this is a scam.  First, the words ACME account team.  Any legitimate company will list themselves as ACME Account Team, with all words capitalized.  This is a major clue that this e-mail did not originate in the US (most scam e-mails are from overseas, where grammar is poor).

Our next clue is the e-mail address.  Although “admin” is legitimate, MAIL.HAMILTONTN.GOV is not.  That’s an e-mail server for the city of Hamilton, Tennessee.  It has a .gov domain ending, which can only be assigned to government entities, such as cities, counties, states and the federal government.  Why would ACME have this domain?  If it were a legitimate e-mail from ACME, it would end with something like ACME.com or ACME.net, not a .gov domain.

The body of the e-mail is actually very good, at least when it comes to scam e-mails.  It’s convincing, it has information in it that the typical person would consider to be legitimate.  However, as we get to the bottom, some red flags appear.

When you hover over a link (and the Blue Arrow 2 is pointing to two links, “Visit Help and Support” and “Login to My Account”), the bottom part of your browser, known as the status bar, will display the link that it’s pointing to, which we’re using the red arrow to point to.  In other words, when you click on the link, it’s taking you to the web site that is showing in the status bar.

This particular link is pointing to baltoo.com/ACME/index.php .   This should immediately sound an alarm with the person reading the e-mail.  The company that is sending this is ACME, but the domain it’s pointing to (the first part of the web address is always the domain) is baltoo.com .  Anything after the domain name is irrelevant, since that’s just the directory and folder inside the server it’s pointing to, and you can name that anything you want.  When you hover over the link, it should point to the company you’re trying to go to.  So it should read acme.com/Acme/index.php.

Once you click on the link, one of two things will happen.  Either you will be shown a very convincing site that is asking for your user name and password, or you will end up on poisoned site that will infect your computer with malware, such as a virus, a Trojan, or ransomware.  If it’s the former, you’ll enter the user name and password, and within minutes the actors will have gained access to your site (as they wanted to in this case), or perhaps gained information such as name, address, social security number, date of birth, etc. (under the guise of “verifying your identity”).

Recent studies have shown that firewalls, anti-virus programs, and other security software and hardware, although still crucial in preventing attacks, need to be supplemented by training of staff so they know what they should look for.  (That page also has a quiz you can take to see how much you know about phishing attacks – we scored 10/10.  How’s your score?).

Our companion site, Don’t Become Another Target lists dozens of examples of how companies, some billion dollar plus companies, were compromised not by technology, but by social engineering.  In other words, a con job either via e-mail or via phone.  Adequate training would have prevented many of the attacks.

If you’re a small business that doesn’t have an IT department, but would like IT level support, contact PCMDX today.  We’ll take care of your computer network and cybersecurity needs so you can take care of your business.  And don’t wait until you’ve been compromised.  The cleanup is much costlier than the prevention.

How the Massive Yahoo Breach Could Affect You.

On December 14, 2016 Yahoo revealed that 1,000,000,000 (that’s 1 billion) user accounts had been compromised in 2013, a year before they reported another breach that affected 500 million user accounts.

That’s 1.5 billion accounts that were hacked.  A company that employs 13,600 people in their IT department was hacked and user accounts from enough people to equal the population of North America, South America, Central America, Australia, Russia, Germany, and a few smaller nations, were compromised.

Yahoo engineer in server farm.

Why would hackers be so interested in the e-mail accounts of all these people?  They’re not.  Just like they are not interested in the Chicken Stamp accounts that were breached recently at KFC.

So what are they after?  Lax password security by those Yahoo and KFC account users.  If you’re like many people, you’ll use your e-mail account as a user name for most, if not all, of the web sites you frequent.  And if you’re like most users, you also use the same password for most of these sites.

By the way, Yahoo and KFC aren’t the only companies that have been hacked.  Our sister site, DontBecomeAnotherTarget.com keeps track of all major breaches.

So suddenly those Chicken Stamp accounts and those e-mail accounts begin to have more value, especially if those same user names and passwords are used at financial sites.

Some security sites are recommending that if you have a Yahoo account, it’s time to close it, including if you have an account that Yahoo administers (@att.net, @bellsouth.net).  You also need to change all of your passwords that are similar to your Yahoo/.att.net/.bellsouth.net. Now.  And you need to begin to practice safe online behavior.

What’s safe online behavior?  It’s

  • not using the same password at all web sites
  • using complex passwords that include upper and lower case characters, numbers and symbols
  • changing your password a few times per year (it’s recommended every six weeks, but a few times per year is better than not at all)
  • not writing your passwords down on a Post-It and sticking it to your monitor.  Use a password manager, like LastPass, Dashlane, eWallet
  • not clicking the little box that says “stay logged in” at sensitive sites
  • not going to dangerous web sites (adult content, gaming sites)
  • not opening attachments from people you don’t know
  • making sure your computer is patched with the latest updates
  • making sure you have a good anti-virus program.  And keep it current.

If you own a business and you’re doing your own IT support and security, you’re doing a disservice to not only your clients, but also your clients security, and your own security.  Studies show that 61% of people will not go back to shop at any business that’s been breached.  Contact us today to see how affordable expert IT support can be.

If you take credit cards, you’re required to be PCI Compliant, and that doesn’t mean checking all of the Yes boxes on the Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), even if the answer is No.  It’s actually being compliant by making sure all of the items meet requirements.  Most businesses we visit to do our free PCI Compliance assessment are not even close to being compliant.  Most fail in every one of the 12 PCI DSS categories.  Contact us today if you would like to see if you’re compliant.  It costs you nothing to find out.

Regardless of whether you’re a business or a home user, this Yahoo breach should not be taken lightly.  You need to act on it today.

Contact us today if you need help.  Our engineers are the some of the most experienced in the Southeast when it comes to not only cybersecurity and SMB (Small Medium Business) IT support – it’s what we specialize in.  And PCMDX is one of the top PCI Compliance firms in the country.  If you’re a home user, we can help you as well by making sure your network is protected (yes, if you have a broadband router and multiple devices, you have a network), and all of your devices are protected.

Updated 12/15/16 10:56am CST to update link.

 

Ransomware being distributed as fake Adobe Flash Player Update

Ransomware is some of the most destructive malware in the cyber world.

cyber-security-1784985_640

For those not familiar with it, ransomware is software that will encrypt all of your documents, photos, music, and other types of files, then demands a ransom in order to get them decrypted.  Normally there’s a time limit in getting sending the ransom.

A complete description of how ransomware works can be found in this PCMDX Blog post.

The bad guys are always looking a new ways to take advantage of computer users, but this latest attack is worth taking a look at because it’s one of the more legitimate looking attacks.

In the past, we’ve warned you to look at the page for grammar and spelling errors, as well as phrases that don’t sound right, before clicking on any links.  The majority of the attacks originate in other countries where English is not the native language.  Because of that, the bad guys sometimes resort to Google Translate to write their web pages and programs.  Google Translate can sometimes have some flaws in how it translates, especially when it comes to technical terms.

The latest ransomware attack is a perfect example of this.  You may click on a link that takes you to a page like this:

fake-flash-player-update_test

Fake Adobe Flash Player update page. (click for larger image)

 

For the most part, this page looks legitimate to most users.  But there are two obvious errors, and one not so obvious, that should warn you immediately that it’s fake, and possibly a threat.

First, look at the instructions for “1.”.  You’ll see it instructs you to locate a file “named like”.  An obvious grammar error.

Second, look at the URL (the web site).  http:// fleshupdate. com …flesh is not flash.  The not-so-obvious error is the phrase that reads “Your Flash Player may be out of date”.  Adobe products will not use the term “may”.  It’s either out of date or it’s not.

Fake Adobe Flash Player update page with errors highlighted.

Fake Adobe Flash Player update page with errors highlighted. (click for larger image)

 

The Adobe Flash Player update page is https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

The “https” means that it’s coming from a secure site.

You’ll notice there’s much more information on the update page.

real_-flash-player-update_test

Authentic Adobe Flash Player update page (click for larger image)

 

For clients who have PCMDX do their IT support, you’ll never see the Adobe Flash Player update page, as we have it set to update in the background.  If you do see an update page, it’s absolutely fake, and you should not click on any links.

Please share this information with everyone who uses your computers.  Once ransomware infects your system, there’s no reversing it unless you pay the ransom, which is rather costly, both in money and time.  Since ransomware is constantly evolving, most anti-virus products will not protect you from the damage.

The best way to prevent getting struck by ransomware is to follow these guidelines:

  • Never open attachments from unknown senders or known senders where the message is vague.  If in doubt, contact the sender to verify they sent it.
  • Always keep you system up-to-date and patched
  • Although anti-virus products may not protect against ransomware, they do protect against other malware, so always have your AV product installed and up-to-date.
  • BACK UP YOUR DATA.  We recommend a three step backup program, which includes imaging, data, and off-site.  The three combined are optimal, but have at least one.

PCMDX can assist you with all of these items.  We specialize in providing cybersecurity and computer support for Small-Medium Businesses that have under 15 PCs and don’t have the budget for a full time IT person, but want IT level support.

 

 

 

PCI Compliance – An Ongoing Process

Recently Computer World published what’s most likely the very best article dealing with PCI Compliance.  Not so much what it entails to be compliant, but what it takes to remain compliant.

The ultimate unanswerable question: Are we PCI-compliant?

PCI compliance is Zen-like. It’s hard to determine, and even when a letter declares a company PCI-compliant, that declaration can always be retroactively reversed later – such as if you’re breached. Yes, when you most need to be able to say that you are PCI-compliant is when it’s taken away.

 

The issue with PCI compliance is that the business network and the business environment is constantly changing and evolving.  There are 12 requirements in the PCI DSS.  In order to be compliant, all of these must be current all of the time.  Some remain static, meaning they don’t change.

Let’s take requirement No. 1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data. firewall-156010_640 Your PCI specialist installs and configures a firewall.  Once it has been configured properly, you’ve met the first requirement, right?  Well, sort of.  Assuming the firmware is current, and nothing changes in the network environment, the answer would be Yes, you’ve met the requirement.

Let’s go down to requirement No. 11:  Regularly test security systems and processes.  Inside this requirement is 11.1, which requires that a hardware inventory be kept up to date of all devices on the “protected” or POS network.  This is the network that handles all credit card transactions (your guest wi-fi, or any other network should NEVER be on the same sub-net as your POS traffic).  You just replaced or added a POS terminal.  Did you log it in the inventory, including the model and serial number?  If the answer is No, then you’re not compliant.

On that very same replacement terminal, you need to make sure that you have met requirements 5 and 6: Use and regularly update antivirus software; Develop and maintain secure systems and applications.  If you’ve added a location on the network for this terminal, the network diagram also needs to be updated.

Now let’s move on the the human factor in being compliant.  Each individual who handles credit cards must be trained in the methods of handling cards safely and securely, which is part of requirement 12:  Maintain a policy that addresses information security.  If you’ve hired a new employee, they must first be trained and sign-off acknowledging that they’ve been trained.  A copy of the signature page must go in their employee file.

The article in Computer World makes some outstanding points.  First,  you’re only compliant on the date that you last checked and updated (successfully) the requirements:

The reason why compliance is tied to the date the assessment was wrapped is that, in theory, any change at all to anything on the network could make that merchant noncompliant. I get that. It makes sense. But what good is PCI compliance if a retailer never knows if it is compliant? 

This is where PCMDX comes in.  We take it off your shoulders and put it on ours.  We let you worry about the prime purpose of your business, and we take care of the things that we’re good at:  Keeping you compliant.

Further more, as the article states, it’s the human factor that makes you (and keeps you) compliant:

But it (software) can’t track PCI compliance — which is a human-dictated state — any more than it can declare a system “secure.” 

PCMDX is the only company in our service area (Alabama, Mississippi, Western Tennessee, Florida Panhandle) that creates a plan for your company to become, and remain, PCI Compliant.  We will visit your site, examine your existing network, create a plan to make your network compliant, implement the plan, and then keep it maintained on a regular schedule.

Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.  You’ll be glad you did.

 

 

 

Analysis of a Scam

Scams can happen to anyone, including IT companies like PCMDX.

Let’s look at a recent scam that someone tried on us and how we were able to determine it to be a scam.

On 8/17/16 at 2:59pm we received a text from 12025564828 that read:

“+12509000912 – Are you available to repair computers and please let me have your email so I can email you all details of my request.Contact Robert Gates on (737) 210-7809 & rg757711@gmail.com.”  (quotations put in by us).

Seemed OK, and we receive e-mails requesting repair quotes often, so we replied with our e-mail address.

On 8/19/16 at 12:09pm we received the same e-mail with one addition:

“+12509000912 – Are you available to repair computers and please let me have your email so I can email you all details of my request.Contact Robert Gates on (737) 210-7809 & rg757711@gmail.com.”

On 8/18/16 we received this e-mail from Robert Gates:

Hello,
 Thanks  for your  reply. I have some Hp PCs(Intel Pentium M) since we currently have a major breakdown on most of our systems and I thought it was best to have a general upgrade and maintenance. (I will be providing the software needed). Below are the things needed to be done one 
on each laptops:
1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Window 7 with Service Pack 1 (sp1)
3 Install Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software  (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat Reader
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, CD Rom, floppy, etc.
The Laptops are in California  and will be shipped over to you from there.I am contacting you because we are about to have a  branch office there in  your  city 
We will move the  Computers to you  and after  fixing, they will be shipped to out branch office there this is why i’m  searching local  Computer expert  to fix it there. 
I have a reliable shipper whose service I’ ll employ to bring down the laptops. The shipper will bring down as well as pickup the laptops when you are done with fixing them. My shipper will be coming with the necessary Software for the installations of the Computers with both the Operating System,Microsoft Office and the Anti-virus for each computers .  Also the windows CD’s are licensed and i have all the other software mentioned available.
So the question is can you really carry out this task from your place presently?Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 6 units of Hp PCs(Intel Pentium M). Please note that i have all the software with the licenses available with me for the job.I await your urgent response so that i can put the arrangement in order. Hope to read from you at your soonest convenience.
Best Regards,
The language seemed a little strange.  Let’s break it down:
Hello,
 Thanks  for your  reply. I have some Hp PCs(Intel Pentium M) since we currently have a major breakdown on most of our systems [this makes no sense] and I thought it was best to have a general upgrade and maintenance. (I will be providing the software needed). Below are the things needed to be done one 
on each laptops [again, this makes no sense]:
1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Window 7 with Service Pack 1 (sp1) [Should read “Windows”]
3 Install Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software  (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat Reader
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case. [Probably meant “outer” instead of “other”.  Punctuation errors]
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, CD Rom, floppy, etc. [This is done before 1-6, not after]
The Laptops are in California  and will be shipped over to you from there.I am contacting you because we are about to have a  branch office there in  your  city We will move the  Computers to you  and after  fixing, they will be shipped to out branch office there this is why i’m  searching local  Computer expert  to fix it there. [This is riddled with punctuation and grammar errors.  Where is the city? ]
I have a reliable shipper whose service I’ ll employ to bring down the laptops. The shipper will bring down as well as pickup the laptops when you are done with fixing them. My shipper will be coming with the necessary Software for the installations of the Computers with both the Operating System,Microsoft Office and the Anti-virus for each computers .  Also the windows CD’s are licensed and i have all the other software mentioned available.  [This is riddled with punctuation and grammar errors. Why make a point of the license?]
So the question is can you really carry out this task from your place presently?Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 6 units of Hp PCs(Intel Pentium M). Please note that i have all the software with the licenses available with me for the job.I await your urgent response so that i can put the arrangement in order. Hope to read from you at your soonest convenience.  [This is riddled with punctuation and grammar errors. Again, the point of the license.  Urgent?]
Best Regards,
Warning Number 1 when suspecting a scam is taking place:  Grammar.  Spelling.  Punctuation.
These scams are perpetrated by people who’s native language is not English.  Since English is their second or third language,  or perhaps their Google Translate version of English, there will be mistakes.
A legitimate company will NOT make this many errors.
Warning Number 2:  Vagueness
Where in California is he based?  Where is the city where his “new office” is opening?  A Gmail address with letters and number?  Too vague.
Next step to confirm a scam is to check the wording by Googling a sentence.  These people use a template, often changing just a couple of items, so it’s possible to find a report of a scam that occured in the past.
We Googled: Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 6 units of Hp PCs
which returned this page:
https://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=24038&start=30
One post in this forum showed the following e-mail had been sent to the reporting person on 6/12/12:
Hello, i want to know if you still repair computer because i have issues which i need you to resolve.

Second email:

Thanks for reply I’ve got some Pentium-D dell laptops that needs to be fix. Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.

1. Format Hard Drive
2. Install Win XP with Service Pack 3
3. Microsoft Office Package
4. AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates) 5. Adobe Acrobat 6. Diagnostics of the entire system ( i. e. check hard, cdrom, floppy, etc.)

The Laptops are ten 10 in number and will be shipped over to you from there I have a reliable shipper whose service I’ ll employ to bring down the laptops. The shipper will bring down as well as pickup the laptops when you are done with fixing them.

Also the windows CD’ s are licensed and i have all the other software’s mentioned available. So the question is can you really carry out this task from your place presently? Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 10 units. Please note that i have all the software with the licenses available with me for the job.

Regards.

Hmm…coincidence?  We think not.
The above link shows that in fact it is an ongoing fraud.
On 8/23/16 Mr. “Gates” attempted to find out the status.  We replied with the link.  Hopefully he’s moving on.
If you suspect something fraudulent, don’t give ANY information out.  If you need a cybersecurity specialist, contact us today.

The Art of the Trojan

“Hi, I think my computer has been hacked.  Can you help me?”

This is probably the most common call we receive from PC clients on a weekly basis.  The correct term is most likely not “hacked”, but “infected” with some sort of malware, or malicious software.

Malware comes in many different varieties, including viruses, worms, and Trojans.  The main difference between these is that a Trojan needs your help in doing its job.  Without you doing something, like clicking on a link or opening an e-mail, the Trojan is completely harmless.

Here’s a great article detailing what a Trojan is, and how it works.

Now, how do you stop a Trojan?  The easiest way is to NOT DO WHAT IT WANTS YOU TO DO.  Over the past few days a Google Chrome Trojan has been making the rounds.  If you’re using Chrome, you’ll go to a web site and a second window will open displaying the Chrome logo along with “Urgent Chrome Update”, and a download button.

Chrome_scam_8-1-2016 1-43-21 PM_half

Chrome won’t update this way, however, the bad guys are hoping you don’t know that and will simply click on the blue button.  Before clicking on any link, look at the address bar, or hover over the link to see where it takes you.  If you’ll look at the red arrow, you’ll see that it’s on a site called ahtaeeredidit (dot) org.  Does that sound like Chrome or Google (owners of Chrome)?  So what do you do?  First, don’t click on it.  Second, close the window or tab.

If you do click on it, the result will be that you’ll get infected with the Trojan, which can be something that you won’t even realize is happening (your computer becomes a surrogate sender of Spam), to all of your important files becoming encrypted and, unless you pay a ransom to the sender of the Trojan, losing your files.  This is called Ransomware.  As always, we recommend a good backup of your system.

Remember, by hovering over a link you can see where it wants to take you before you click on it.  If it looks garbled, confusing, or simply suspicious, DON’T CLICK ON IT!

PCMDX specializes in both malware removal or, even better, malware prevention.  Using the right software, we can prevent most malware from even happening, including Trojans.  We say “most” because there are new attacks being developed daily, so the second thing we highly recommend is doing a good backup.

We recommend two types of backup.  First, an image backup, and second a off-site cloud backup of your files.  Ask yourself this question:  “Is there anything on your computer that you absolutely, positively cannot live without?”  If the answer is yes and you don’t have a backup plan, contact us today.  It’s cheaper than you think and far less costly than if you lose your files to computer failure or malware attack.

 

 

Ransomware: Time to Pay Attention or Pay Big Bucks

This post is a very long one, but it’s important you read every word if your data is important.

If you follow us on Facebook.com/pcmdx you know we’ve posted twice over the past month about ransomware attacks that we’ve been called to.

The attacks usually use the same method.  The user will receive an e-mail from an unknown sender and it will have the subject line of “Invoice Attached” or something similar.  The word invoice is the common denominator.

The user will look at the e-mail and see that it asks them to open the attached Word document, which is the “invoice”.  When they open the document, the ransomware attack begins, however, it is not noticeable to the user.

These particular attacks encrypted all of the users Office files (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook PST) files.  It did not encrypt any PDF files or any image files, which usually would have been encrypted as well.

The user will notice that the attack has taken place when they attempt to open one of the files and the Windows program selector launches.  This is the Windows feature that comes up when you attempt to open a file and no program is associated with it, meaning it doesn’t know what program to use to open the file and it asks you to choose one.  In this case, there’s no program to launch an encrypted file.

We were called to attempt to recover the files and to remove the malware that encrypted the files.

The ransomware senders (we’ll call them the “bad guys”), usually have the ransomware program generate a text file that it leaves in each directory that has files that were encrypted.  We found this text file in all of the directories with Office files, as well as the Desktop.

The text file is the “ransom note”.  It explains what happened to the user’s files, and details how the files can be decrypted back to a usable state.

In a nutshell, the bad guys want a payment made via Bitcoin, usually ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.

Although not always the case, once the ransom is paid, the decryption code is sent via e-mail.  Once the code is entered, the files are decrypted and are usable again.  It should be noted that this is some of the time, not all of the time.

In two of the cases, the ransom was not paid and the users accepted the fact that the files were gone.

In one of the cases the user felt that they needed the files, there was no backup, so they agreed to pay the ransom, although we recommended against doing so.  The payment process took about three hours to complete.

It included opening a Bitcoin wallet, which is a software based wallet.  Once the wallet was created, Bitcoin needed to be purchased.  We found a seller in Tennessee who would sell the amount of Bitcoin needed (B 0.74, which was about $350, the amount of the ransom).  Since there’s a trust issue between seller and buyer, the only way to pay the seller was to go to a Western Union type facility and wire the money.  In this particular case, the Walmart 2 Walmart method was chosen.  For those of you who don’t know what that is (and we didn’t know until this episode), you go to Walmart, fill out a form with the recipient’s name, address and phone number, give Walmart the cash amount, they then wire it to the Walmart closest to the recipient, who then picks it up.

Once the seller has been paid, he places the Bitcoin in an electronic escrow account, which the Bitcoin buyer then accesses and sends to his electronic wallet.  Once this has been completed, he sends the ransom Bitcoin amount to the wallet of the bad guys, which is given to him in the ransom note.  Once the bad guys confirm receipt, they provide a program to decrypt the files.  If this sounds complicated, it is.  Very complicated.

With this client, we received the decrypt program, ran it and it responded that the ransom had not been paid, therefore it shut down, without decrypting any files.

As odd as this may sound, the bad guys did have a “support” form on their web site where one could ask for help if the files didn’t decrypt.  We used this form and they responded by asking that we submit five of the encrypted files to them and they would send a new decrypt program.  Based on the timestamp of the response, we determined that they were in western Europe.

They provided a web site address to send the files to, but it required their e-mail address in order to send, which they refused to give, so we were unable to send the files.  After a back and forth requesting their e-mail address, they blocked any further conversation, so the episode was closed.

The client lost his files.  The client lost his ransom money.  The moral of the story is DON’T PAY THE RANSOM AND MAKE SURE YOUR FILES ARE BACKED UP! (PCMDX had recommended that they do not pay the ransom, however the client insisted).

The latest type of ransomware goes a step further.  It doesn’t encrypt the files.  It encrypts the entire hard drive, so nothing is usable.  Unless you have an backup image of your hard drive, you won’t even be able to log into Windows.

So what can you do to prevent ransomware from ruining your day, or your year?

First, ask yourself one simple question:  “Is there anything on my computer that I cannot absolutely, positively live without?”  If the answer is “Yes”, then you need to take steps to protect yourself against malware (including viruses, ransomware, Trojans, worms, rootkits, etc), hardware failures,  data theft, and other data losing issues.

The very first thing you need to do is to make sure you have a backup of your system.  PCMDX uses and installs two backup strategies, an image based backup and a file based backup.

An image based backup consists of an image, or “picture”, of you hard drive.  The backup software makes an exact replica of your hard drive.  In the event of failure or loss, the backup software recreates the hard drive onto another hard drive.  Think of it like cloning your hard drive.

PCMDX believes this to be a better system for one main reason:  time savings.

A conventional backup copies only the data from a hard drive.  Let’s say there’s a failure of the hard drive.  Here’s the recovery steps:  reinstall the hard drive, reinstall the operating system, reinstall the updates and patches,  reinstall the programs,  copy the data from the backup.  This could take hours, perhaps days until completed.

If there’s a hardware failure on a computer with an imaged backup, here’s the recovery steps:  reinstall the hard drive, insert rescue disk, point to image location, begin restoration.  45-60 minutes later it’s like nothing happened to the computer in the first place.  Everything is as it was when the image was created.

Depending on the software used, individual files can also be recovered from an image.  This is great if a user accidentally deletes a file.

The cost of setting up a backup system is less than what would be paid if there’s a ransomware attack.

We cannot emphasize the two following points enough:

  1.  Have a backup plan in place.  If you don’t know how to implement one, call PCMDX today.  We’re not talking about backing up one or two files on a thumbdrive (although that’s better than nothing).  We’re talking about backing up your system, and other systems in your network in case of disaster.  Again, if you answer the question “Is there anything on this computer that I cannot live without” with a “yes” answer, and you don’t have a backup plan in place, you need to create one today.
  2. NEVER open any attachments from senders you don’t know, from senders you’re not expecting anything from, from e-mails that are vague in nature or have spelling and/or grammar errors in the body of the e-mail.  If in doubt, call the sender and ask them if they sent you an attachment.
  3. If you’re hit, DON’T PAY THE RANSOM.  Our latest experience proves that even after you pay it, you’re dealing with people who have no ethics, no morals, no sense of right and wrong, and very poor command of the English language.  Your files are lost and paying the ransom simply adds to the cost of fixing the problem without recovering your data.

One other bit of information:  If your PC is on a business network, and you have networked drives (places on a server where you can access your files), including Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive, those files can be encrypted as well.  Make sure they are also part of the backup plan.

Feel free to share this with your friends.