Things I wish everyone knew about home computer security
I’m a security professional by trade, with two certifications. I’m not responsible for defending your computer networks, but I want your networks to be secure. There’s a really simple reason for that....
View ArticleAdvice on dealing with ransomware
PC Mag has some advice about ransomware. The most important bit of advice is to have a secondary machine that you can use to go get help. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. When you upgrade, keep one old...
View ArticleThe men (boys) who spy on women through webcams
Ars Technica made a bit of a splash this week with this provocative headline. This is real. The article gives the usual advice, like not opening e-mail from strangers, not clicking attachments from...
View ArticleSo just how dangerous is an old, out of date operating system anyway?
Glaurung brought up a good point in a comment yesterday. If you never go online and/or you’re really careful, do you really need to update your OS to something new? In my professional opinion, it...
View ArticleHow I turned a junker PC into a trap for scammers
As my regulars will be aware, for the past few weeks I’ve been getting lots of phone calls from “Peggy” from “Computer Maintenance Department.” What I’ve found during these phone calls is that debating...
View ArticleCleaning a PC when fdisk-format-reinstall isn’t an option
There are any number of pie-in-the-sky pundits who will tell you when a computer starts to get slow, to format the hard drive, reinstall Windows, and go on your merry way. Unfortunately it’s not always...
View ArticleSimple tips to prevent ransomware
Last week at work, I noticed some odd events in an event log, and when I investigated them, I found they were part of a failed ransomware attack. This got me thinking about how to prevent ransomware at...
View ArticleHow to clean viruses off your computer for free
Whether you’ve gotten a tech support scam phone call or not, it can be helpful to know how to clean viruses off your computer for free. And yes, I do mean free. A lot of people get ripped off due to...
View ArticleWatering hole attack prevention
A watering hole attack is an indirect attack on a victim. Rather than directly attacking the victim’s network, the attacker attacks a web site that the victim’s employees are likely to visit. Then the...
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