2015-04-30 WBKV Talking Points (April 30th 2015)

All Win 7 & 8 users can upgrade to Win10 for free – for one year (only?).

Then licensing will kick in? Home user be careful! I assume MS goes to a subscription model, that is yearly licensing. Win7 is paid for and good until Jan, 2020, Win8 until Jan 2023.
2016 is free but you would have to pay again for 2017, 18,19 (20, 21, 22).

Have an LG cell phone? Running LG's Monitor software? If Yes to both your PC is at risk! LG Monitor disables UAC (User Account Control)..

Dell System Detect: All versions older than 6.0.14 are easily hacked! DSD does not get automatically updated, even if Dell's updater is running!

Motorola's DOCSIS 3.0 SBG 6580 cable broadband modem very easy to hack! Could open your computer to the Internet. Arris, a spin-off brand, has same problem.

Verizon's Risk Assessment Team: 2 out of 3 times computer gets hacked reason was weak password. Runner-ups are clicking on links in emails and opening attachments.

If someone calls you and claims to be in any way affiliated with Microsoft IT IS A SCAM!

Download portals (cnet.com, download.com et al) are huge malware slingers.

Have your DNS settings been tampered with? Test here (but know what is correct…)

Adobe's cash-less bug bounty program: Can it ever work?

Symantec splitting security (Norton) from storage business. The beginning of the end (like HP)? It will take time; giants die slowly

Hackers move away from Java and to Adobe Flash. Check version and update if necessary! Per 4-29-15 version 18.0.0.95 is current. Beware: Many false downloads!

As usual I welcome suggestions and comments right here in the blog.

Click here for a categorized Table Of Contents.
 

Bye bye Viruses, Hello Carelessness

It's almost like in the Everly Brothers song "Bye Bye Love" from 1957. They sang

Bye bye happiness, hello loneliness...

I am enticed to, no, don't be afraid, not sing but say

Bye bye viruses, hello carelessness...

In August 2014 I wrote in this blog the 2014 Update On Malicious Programs. Everything in this article is still valid today – which in the fast changing world of computers is astonishing all by itself. Self replicating viruses that "find and infect" our computers by their own accord have gone almost extinct.

What has massively changed though are the tricks and methods used by miscreants to foist their malicious junk software on our computers. It is so bad that I feel compelled to say

Do NOT click on any link in any email,
do NOT open any email attachment
and NEVER click in any advertisement.

Does that sound extreme to you? Good, because it is extreme. We are in an extreme situation and it's getting worse so extreme measures seem appropriate.

In the meantime you have learned to immediately delete emails with an unfamiliar sender address. But what about the email from that buddy of yours who always sends all the jokes? My advice is to IGNORE it! Just hit the Delete button. If that email really was from him and if he were a nice guy he would have told you in the email why and what he sends there. If he does not have the decency to do that you better err on the side of caution and delete that email; you may “miss” a joke but what is that compared to $100 or $200 cost for a good clean-up job?

Another way how modern malware (called PuPs) is distributed are dirty tricks pulled on us when we apply required updates. Even big, well known companies participate in these schemes; names that come to mind as examples are Oracle, Norton, McAfee and Adobe. Some visual examples are here.

And don't get me going on advertisements. Listen up:

If you see advertisements on your computer screen then you computer most likely already is compromised. Get it cleaned up!

And then the sneaky methods that well known download web sites like Download.com, Cnet.com and other use. You want to download that nice free little program and what they give you is a specially crafted downloader program that in turn is supposed to download the program you actually want. But what you get are one or several PuPs and then the program you really wanted.

The only method to help here is to watch for the tricks, traps and deceptions. 

In July 2013 I published my 10 Commandments Of Safe Computing. To heed the first of these has become more important than ever before; it reads:

Thou shalt read and think(!) before you click.

Be vigilant, pay attention to details and always remember: If it sounds too good to be true it usually is not true; especially in this day and age on the Internet.

As usual I welcome suggestions and comments right here in the blog.

Click here for a categorized Table Of Contents.

2015-04-09 WBKV Talking Points (April 9th 2015)

Free Panda Ant Virus bricks computers! My advice: stay with MS Security Essentials or Defender.

Danger from USB drives: A newly demonstrated device has the potential to fry the USB port and possibly other components on motherboards, even the CPU!

A test for the Superfish bug is here, removal instructions are here.

Firefox vers. 36.0.1 has protection against SF, vers. 37 (current as of last week!) further improves certificate checking!

All Win 7 & 8 users can upgrade to Win10 for free – for one year (only?).

Then licensing will kick in? Home user be careful! I assume MS goes to a subscription model, that is yearly licensing. Win7 is paid for and good until Jan, 2020, Win8 until Jan 2023.
2016 is free but you would have to pay again for 2017, 18,19 (20, 21, 22).

Seagate reluctant to fix serious bug in some of their NAS drives.

More bugs in Adobe Flash Player! Per April 4 6:00AM officially released version is 17.0.0.134!

Many fake Flash Player updates! Users are tricked to download and install a fake plugin that then installs a key logger to collect log in info & passwords. User beware!

If anyone calls you and claims to be in any way affiliated with Microsoft IT IS A SCAM!

Download portals (cnet.com, download.com. softonic.com et al) are huge malware slingers.

Have your DNS settings been tampered with? Test here (but know what is correct…)

Adobe's cash-less bug bounty program: Can it ever work?

Symantec splitting security (Norton) from storage business. The beginning of the end (like HP)?

As usual I welcome suggestions and comments right here in the blog.

Click here for a categorized Table Of Contents.

2015-04-06 WTKM Talking Points (April 6th 2015)

Free Panda Ant Virus bricks computers! My advice: stay with MS Security Essentials or Defender.

Danger from USB drives: A newly demonstrated device has the potential to fry the USB port and possibly other components on motherboards, even the CPU!

A test for the Superfish bug is here, removal instructions are here.

Firefox vers. 36.0.1 has protection against SF, vers. 37 (current as of last week!) further improves certificate checking!

All Win 7 & 8 users can upgrade to Win10 for free – for one year (only?).

Then licensing will kick in? Home user be careful! I assume MS goes to a subscription model, that is yearly licensing. Win7 is paid for and good until Jan, 2020, Win8 until Jan 2023.
2016 is free but you would have to pay again for 2017, 18,19 (20, 21, 22).

Seagate reluctant to fix serious bug in some of their NAS drives.

More bugs in Adobe Flash Player! Per April 6 officially released version is 17.0.0.134!

Many fake Flash Player updates! Users are tricked to download and install a fake plugin that then installs a key logger to collect log in info & passwords. User beware! 

If anyone calls you and claims to be in any way affiliated with Microsoft IT IS A SCAM!

Download portals (cnet.com, download.com. softonic.com et al) are huge malware slingers.

Have your DNS settings been tampered with? Test here (but know what is correct…)

Adobe's cash-less bug bounty program: Can it ever work?

Symantec splitting security (Norton) from storage business. The beginning of the end (like HP)?

As usual I welcome suggestions and comments right here in the blog.

Click here for a categorized Table Of Contents.

Now THAT is interesting!

Okay, maybe more for me than for you but anyway, I will offer to you what I just found.

It turns out that Microsoft has a really good article on their sprawling web site. It is titled

Ten Immutable Laws Of Security

Make some time, the article is long! Grab a coffee or tea or what ever lubrication you fancy for a good, lengthy read.

Oh yes, before I forget it, the bold text above is the link to said article.

As usual I welcome suggestions and comments right here in the blog.

Click here for a categorized Table Of Contents.