Never Open an Attachment!

Website drive-by’s are one of the most common ways for Malware (i.e. Virus, Spyware or unwanted program) to reach the computer and another is email attachments.  If you are using a secure email connection (https) to receive email then the Anti-Malware (Anti-Virus) email scanner cannot scan it or you might not even have one.  No worries, if you follow this advice:

NEVER OPEN EMAIL ATTACHMENTS

Instead, download the attachment, right-click on it and select the installed Anti-Virus program to scan the file.   To help with the incentive to do this consider the following:

1. There are twice as many cyber-attacks then babies born each day.

2. Consider the feeling of invasion when that false Virus Alert Pops-up and keeps you from using the computer.

3. Without your knowledge your computer is now part of a spy-bot network hacking and attacking other computers.

Take back the control, put this practice into place and save yourself future frustrations and expense.

Stealing Bank Loggin Information and Creating False Bank Statements!

Malware that uses computer vulnerabilities to steal website login data and screen captures is not new but cybercrooks are introducing a new wiggle.  Once they obtain this information from poorly protected computers not only do they withdraw money, they provide falsified Financial Statements to the victim so they are unaware of the crime until they visit an ATM or BANK.  Read the full story HERE , check for BROWSER Hijacks HERE, and check your protection status HERE.

Recover from Anything! Take a picture of the Hard-Drive!

You can have a safety net in case anything ever happens to your computer.  In the next few weeks a new feature will be available at the Napa Valley Security Consulting Web-site.  This feature is software called  “Image for Windows (IFW) & Image for DOS (IFD)” that takes a “snapshot” of the hard-drive and a detailed step-by-step instructional guide that will make using this software easier.  So, ask yourself what would you do if any of the following happened to your computer?;

• A brand new Malware (Virus) slips through the security of the computer and corrupts a key operating file making the computer stop functioning.
• A Windows Update or new Software install interferes with a key piece of software and you have a deadline within 24 hours if not the same day.
• An important Software Application does an update and you do not like the change or it stops working.
• The Hard-Drive crashes.
• A Guest, your child, a co-worker or even yourself downloads a malicious file unknowingly, deletes a critical file, or other activity that ends up “destroying” or impairing the computer.
• You have your computer running “just right” and a new change makes it run like a rabbit through quicksand and you do not know what to do.
• OR, you wish you could save and return your computer to that “just right” state as needed.

One of the above may sound familiar and you can!  The solution is an ISO Image of the computer hard-drive.  To explain how it works, imagine you were living in New Orleans and you took a picture (image) of the city, in detail, right before Katrina hit.  And after the damage occurred you used this image overwriting everything and restoring the city to be as when the image was created.  This is what an ISO Image does for the computer by capturing a picture of the hard-drive at an instant in time.  It works because the computer is composed of ONES and ZEROS and as the computer changes these ONES and ZEROS are written to the hard-drive in different sequences.  Thus, if one of the above situations damages the computer’s operation, even to the point it will not boot up (start), this image can be restored to the original hard-drive or a new hard-drive completely erasing the damage!  And, if you need to extract individual or multiple files from the ISO Image, without restoring the total image to the hard-drive, no problem.

This can be for personal use and to a small business a life saver, time saver and money saver.  The process is first to create the image, store it and when the “glitch” occurs instead of tearing your hair out or paying for hours of computer services you just restore the image to the hard-drive.  You may have one question; “what happens to files that are created or modified after the ISO Image is created?”  Good question!  You have many options but here are two to start;

1. Create a differential backup ISO Image at regular intervals.  You can even set this up to work automatically and the neat thing is there is no need to remember what files have changed!  This procedure takes a previously generated FULL ISO Image and compares all changes from its time of creation and makes a “difference” or differential backup ISO Image.  Thus, any new files or modified files are recorded.  And, since each differential backup only looks at the original FULL ISO Image you’ll get versions of files.  This means you can either restore the differential ISO Image to have the computer operating as it was that day or extract a particular file to how it appeared on the date the differential backup occurred.  Overtime as more changes are made on the computer the size of each differential backup will grow.  Once, it gets too big, create a new FULL ISO Image for the reference and subsequent differential backup will be smaller in size.  [Note:  Differential backups rely on their original FULL ISO Image so be sure to keep these files together.]



2. Copy newly created files or modified files on a regular basis to a memory device such as a USB drive.  If you are not sure how to do this detailed instructions are provided in Section 4 of the Book.  As an example; let’s say you use a program called “Toy Management” everyday.  You can save its data via a Left-Click on File and a Left-Click on Backup allowing you to choose a location to create the backup file.  So, you save this backup file to a USB drive which you safely store.  At a future time if there is a computer glitch use the FULL ISO Image to recover the computer.  Next, you would start the “Toy Management” software, Left-Click File, Left-Click its restore to use the backup file of the data.  The computer is running again and the software you need has the latest data to use.

As you can see this ability will bring tremendous piece of mind.  If you find this helpful please pass this on to anyone else who could benefit from it.

Old Java is Not Good for Computer Security

All Software needs to be up-to-date to maintain security.  This rule applies with exclamation points to Java Software, created by Sun Microsystems, that is a popular language used by web-site designers and software developers.  As versions are released the earlier versions are not always automatically removed.  This is to be avoided to eliminate a potential security hole that hackers might exploit.

Revo Uninstaller,  CNET link, is the free program of choice recommended for removing programs because it creates a restore point on the computer in case there are problems.  Download and install to the computer.  If some of these terms and procedures are new for you please check out the information available through the main web-site located via the About Page.  For a Windows XP computer with a Limited User account you can use the “Run as …” command as explained in the Book and also in this Ezine Article.

These are the steps to follow;

1. Download the Java Software, Sun’s Java, to the desktop or any location you select but do not install.
2. Start the Revo Uninstaller program and wait for the listing of programs installed on the computer to finish.
3. Look for entries starting with Java or J2SE.
4. Right-click on one of these, select the uninstall option, confirm it if asked, and select the advanced mode to start the 4 part operation.a & b. The restore point will be created and a analysis will be completed.

   c. Once the default utility starts, navigate the series of questions via the “next” buttons, select the “Remove” option when asked and the “finish” button at the end.

   d.  The “next” button will be gray until each scan completes so click it when it activates.  Once the registry scan is performed, at the following screen, choose “Select All”, “Delete” and “Yes”.

5. Repeat this process for each Java listing.

Once all earlier versions are removed make sure all software and especially any Internet Browsers are closed before proceeding.   Install the latest version downloaded in step 1 above and restart the computer when done.  That’s it!  If this was helpful to you please pass this on.

In case you prefer, another way to follow us is on Twitter.

Windows XP support to End?

If you are one of the estimated current 60% of Windows Computer Users with Windows XP do not be alarmed by the announcement of Windows ending mainstream support.   Laurence Painell, Windows marketing manager at Microsoft UK  states, “We will provide critical security fixes via Windows Update for all editions of XP until 2014.”  This means that the automatic Critical Updates feature of Windows XP will continue for many more years.

What this does mean is Software Developers will become focused on the Windows 7 edition that is soon to be the newest Windows Operating System.  So, as time progresses, new features that you might need or require will be on Software that is designed to work on the Windows 7 edition.

From a Security Standpoint upgrading to either Vista or Windows 7 is a good bet if you are not using a Limited User Account as a rule in Windows XP.  Especially, in a business situation.  No Anti-Malware Software is 100% in detection and protection so having a Operating System configuration that naturally protects against changes to the Registry or Key System files is essential to blocking Root-Kits from buring themselves on to the computer.

[Please pass this news along! From http://blog.napavalleysecurityconsulting.com]

XP Security, NATURALLY!

As a Windows XP User you can have natural security.  It is called the Limited User Account.  Using the default User Account of an XP computer places you in a higher risk category no matter what additional security software you use.  This is because the Administrator account has full privileges to modify critical computer resources.  Any Malware (Virus) that is able to use an unknown vulnerability can now gain access to these same resources because it will use the same privileges of the logged in user.  By using a Limited User Account that has limited privileges naturally provides for the security of the computers crucial resources.

This is not a small point but an essential point.  The existing and growing numbers of infected computers using the Internet boils down to lacking a solid firewall, poor Anti-Malware Software, bad habits and not using the natural defenses that a limited User Account provides.  Don’t wait until you have a super big headache, instead make the transition today.

Several resources are available; such as the Computer Appliance Learning Maintenance Manual which will take you step-by-step AND stay tuned to read the 3 Part – BLOCK the HACKER series.  This series will give more details on how to make the transition along with the instructions on how to do it!