Security
Malicious Websites and RDN/YahLover.worm Scam
Recently one of my clients was surfing the web and was suddenly presented with the window shown below in their browser. When you see something like this on your computer, NEVER, NEVER click anywhere on that webpage OR call the phone number shown. Just don’t do it! YIKES! My client could not close the browser window or navigate away from this notice. He did exactly the right thing. He called me and asked me to solve this one. No problem. I’m in BC and he is in Nova Scotia. I used my remote access software to ‘zoom’ into his computer and had a look around. The first thing I did was take a screenshot for future...
Read MoreRegarding iOS Updates and Upgrades
Updates and upgrades are, to say the least, a mixed blessing. You need to apply updates in a timely fashion, but once in a while an update will break something important to you. Still, over all it is beneficial to keep your mobile devices up to date. Many updates fix security vulnerabilities. 1. Check daily for app updates and apply them as soon as they are available. 2. Check for and apply app updates before AND after an iOS update or upgrade. 3. Remove apps you no longer need. Not all apps play well with each other, and each app may come with its own set of security vulnerabilities. — Dennis Strain Northern Support by Enclave Managed Networks Box 365,...
Read MoreRecent Spear Phishing Attacks
Recently one of my corporate customers weathered an email spear phishing attack. An administrative assistant received an email purportedly from the CEO, but the details were a bit off. The assistant questioned a fact implicit in the email, that the CEO would have known. The assistant called me to investigate, and investigate I did! It turns out the email only appeared to be from the CEO. It actually was from a criminal masquerading as the CEO using a purposely similar email address. Here is an example to illustrate this technique. Suppose you normally email bill@microsoft.com. One day you get an email from bill@microosoft.com asking you for confidential...
Read MoreThreat to CityWest Customers – Fake Survey
I have contacted CityWest about a survey – supposedly from CityWest – that pops up from time to time on my various computers and devices when connected to CityWest Internet. It is a fake survey and will try to get you to give them your banking or credit card info. Have a look at the screenshot below. It turns out qudsurvey.com is operating out of the Grand Cayman islands. Definitely not legit. — Dennis Strain Enclave Managed Networks Box 365, Smithers, BC, Canada V0J 2N0 1-877-877-8793 toll-free phone & fax 1-250-847-2589 office dstrain@enclave365.ca
Read MoreOffline Virus & Malware Scanning
Obviously I would like you to hire me to perform this kind of task, but for those do-it-yourselfers out there this article gives a brief introduction to offline security scans. Sometimes the antivirus and anti-malware software you use on a daily basis isn’t enough. This includes ALL such protection software. Don’t listen to the salesmen or enthusiasts of one product or another; no security product is 100% effective. Offline scans can help find and remove pernicious and persistent malicious code from your computer. For the sake of this blog post I will say “security threats” rather than use the terms virus, malware or malicious code; and...
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