Conficker. Conficker, all day long with this. Apparently, it's not. This ittle bugger is still infecting machines daily, at a rate of about 50,000 or so in a 24 hour block, according to Guy Bunker, a computer security expert at Symantec. Bunker posted a heatmap which has tracked the virus spread since February. It's here. The United States, followed by Brazil and India are the most infected, according to Bunker. Mexico, Italy, and China also logged at least 89,000 infected PCs.
This little bug is a malicious piece of software that was expected to wreak havoc on April 1st of ths year. However, it did not take off quite the way as anticipated, but it has picked up its pace over the last month and a half. Initally, government, corporations, and educational system users were the once most affected.
If you think you might be infected with Conficker, or any other piece of malware, don't hesitate to contact us immediately at (209)233-9046 or send us an email at contact@westcoastitsolutions.net . One of our technicians will gladly help you get your machine running the way its supposed to be!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Home User Price List
Just wanted to let everyone know that we've updated our price list for our home & home office clients. It now has up-to-date descriptions of all the services we offer, plus a very informative price list. Stop by and check it, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Facebook Phishing Scam
Yesterday, hackers used a phishing technique to attempt to steal passwords and compromise accounts on Facebook. A phishing technique, basically, is where the hacker obtains access to 1 account, and sends emails to friends, asking them to click on malicious webpages. Since both MySpace and Facebook require that users register their account, people who are signed up tend to be less suspicious overall of the messages they recieve, because of this signup process.
Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt said they were in the process of cleaning up after the attack, and he would not specify how many accounts had been compromised, but he did say that compromised accounts were being blocked.
Phishing scams represent another tool out of the hackers' arsenal. Last year a virus was spread around, called Koobface (in reference to Facebook) which made its way onto users' PC's by way of an email that appeared as though it was sent by a friend on Facebook.
If you think your account might have been compromised, or if you think you might be infected with some kind of virus or malware, do not hesitate to contact us immediately. The experienced technicians here at West Coast IT Solutions will diagnose and repair your computer, at a price that won't break the bank. Stop by our website, at http://www.westcoastitsolutions.net , give us a call at (209) 233-9046 , or send us an email to contact@westcoastitsolutions.net . Of course, you can also find us MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt said they were in the process of cleaning up after the attack, and he would not specify how many accounts had been compromised, but he did say that compromised accounts were being blocked.
Phishing scams represent another tool out of the hackers' arsenal. Last year a virus was spread around, called Koobface (in reference to Facebook) which made its way onto users' PC's by way of an email that appeared as though it was sent by a friend on Facebook.
If you think your account might have been compromised, or if you think you might be infected with some kind of virus or malware, do not hesitate to contact us immediately. The experienced technicians here at West Coast IT Solutions will diagnose and repair your computer, at a price that won't break the bank. Stop by our website, at http://www.westcoastitsolutions.net , give us a call at (209) 233-9046 , or send us an email to contact@westcoastitsolutions.net . Of course, you can also find us MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Today, An Excerpt
As I surf the tech websites for news that's pertinent to us here at West Coast, and to you, the reader, I come across a blurb that reinforces an idea that I've had for a long time: "You cannot rely on one source of protection. The best protection is information."
Read this. I found this on Slashdot.
An anonymous reader notes that this weekend, ReadWriteWeb discovered a security hole on several McAfee sites, which lets any attacker piggyback on the company's reputation and brand in order to distribute malware, Trojans, or anything else. The submitter adds an ironic coda to McAfee's epic fail: "In the 'how to HTML Injection' section, the author provided the four steps needed to execute a simple, no-brainer injection, but unfortunately, exposed a hole in NY Times website when they republished the article. While the author changed the offending text to an image, the Times is still using the original story which redirects directly to ReadWriteWeb [via XSS]." From the RWW post: "During tests this weekend, we discovered the company who claims to 'keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud...' has several cross-site scripting vulnerabilities and provides the bad guys with a brilliant — albeit ironic — launching pad from which to unleash their attacks."
I think this says enough, but just in case, let me get to the point of this. No system is perfect. It would not be a system if it were. In that, flaws are inherent, and constantly being found, and fixed. Keep your anti-virus up-to-date. Keep your Windows patches up-to-date, and if you run OSX, make sure you keep up with the system updates. They're released for a reason, and each of these operating systems has features that will issue these updates automatically. For some businesses, this is not the best policy, and should be determined by your System Admin. For you home users, however, in most cases it is in your best interest to allow patches to be applied automatically. The quicker the patch is applied, the better.
If you're not sure that your system is up-to-date, or if you'd just like to have someone make sure, stop by our website @ www.westcoastitsolutions.net . You can also drop us a line at contact@westcoastitsolutions.net , or you can reach us through any of the social sites listed at the top-right corner of this blog. Stay safe, world.
Read this. I found this on Slashdot.
An anonymous reader notes that this weekend, ReadWriteWeb discovered a security hole on several McAfee sites, which lets any attacker piggyback on the company's reputation and brand in order to distribute malware, Trojans, or anything else. The submitter adds an ironic coda to McAfee's epic fail: "In the 'how to HTML Injection' section, the author provided the four steps needed to execute a simple, no-brainer injection, but unfortunately, exposed a hole in NY Times website when they republished the article. While the author changed the offending text to an image, the Times is still using the original story which redirects directly to ReadWriteWeb [via XSS]." From the RWW post: "During tests this weekend, we discovered the company who claims to 'keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud...' has several cross-site scripting vulnerabilities and provides the bad guys with a brilliant — albeit ironic — launching pad from which to unleash their attacks."
I think this says enough, but just in case, let me get to the point of this. No system is perfect. It would not be a system if it were. In that, flaws are inherent, and constantly being found, and fixed. Keep your anti-virus up-to-date. Keep your Windows patches up-to-date, and if you run OSX, make sure you keep up with the system updates. They're released for a reason, and each of these operating systems has features that will issue these updates automatically. For some businesses, this is not the best policy, and should be determined by your System Admin. For you home users, however, in most cases it is in your best interest to allow patches to be applied automatically. The quicker the patch is applied, the better.
If you're not sure that your system is up-to-date, or if you'd just like to have someone make sure, stop by our website @ www.westcoastitsolutions.net . You can also drop us a line at contact@westcoastitsolutions.net , or you can reach us through any of the social sites listed at the top-right corner of this blog. Stay safe, world.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Infected?
Off the top, there's a very strong possibility that you are, in fact, infected by some kind of virus/spyware/malware. This is especially true if you're running a Windows machine. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Windows, I use it. It's just true. In most cases the infections come out faster than the cures, not unlike most things in our world, hmm? While I don't have the slightest clue what to do about the swine flu, I do have a few great ideas on how to help you figure out if your PC is infected, and if so, what can you do to clean it up.
First off, do you get popups? Of any kind? Since most browsers have built-in pop-up blockers, if you're getting popups... you're probably infected. Secondly, if the machine is sluggish. What I mean is that if you haven't installed anything new, you haven't changed the way you use your PC, and yet it is still running slower, and sometimes making you click a program 2 or 3 times before it will actually run. If this is happening, you're probably infected.
Other more obvious signs that you're infected :
1. Some programs just stop working, specifically security-related software.
2. Your antivirus stops updating itself.
3. Windows Security Center gets turned off.
------
Before I continue, I want everyone to understand that if you are seriously infected, or if you do not feel comfortable being responsible for whether your computer continues to run or not, stop right this minute, and go to our website, www.westcoastitsolutions.net . We'll get you in touch with a certified professional, who will help you remove these infections.
------
Okay, if you're still reading this, you've decided to take matters (wisely or not) into your own hands. I admire your spunk.
So, first off, you need to figure out how badly you're infected. I recommend downloading a program called SuperAntiSpyware, and installing it, and scanning with it. Clean out any infections this program finds. It most likely will want to restart at the end of the scan as well, this is acceptable, as some files need to be deleted before Windows takes control.
Now secondly, never just scan once. Scan it again, and see if any scragglers are left. Also, watch the 'severity' rating of the infection. If you see a lot of 'high' severity infections, you may have to go into Safe Mode and perform a scan. I'm not going to tell you how to get into Safe Mode; if you're reading this particular part of this post, you should already know. If after you scan it comes up clean, then make sure your antivirus software is up to date, and scan with it as well.
Please understand that there is not one software that is a fix-all, cure-all. I recommend starting with SuperAntiSpyware based only on my own experience and preferences. Use what is best for your situation, and PLEASE, when in doubt, contact a professional. Your data is important, no? I thought so, and wouldn't you feel terrible if you had to blame yourself for it being gone? I thought so. Drop by our website, www.westcoastitsolutions.net, and visit the contact us page. Get ahold of us, we'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
First off, do you get popups? Of any kind? Since most browsers have built-in pop-up blockers, if you're getting popups... you're probably infected. Secondly, if the machine is sluggish. What I mean is that if you haven't installed anything new, you haven't changed the way you use your PC, and yet it is still running slower, and sometimes making you click a program 2 or 3 times before it will actually run. If this is happening, you're probably infected.
Other more obvious signs that you're infected :
1. Some programs just stop working, specifically security-related software.
2. Your antivirus stops updating itself.
3. Windows Security Center gets turned off.
------
Before I continue, I want everyone to understand that if you are seriously infected, or if you do not feel comfortable being responsible for whether your computer continues to run or not, stop right this minute, and go to our website, www.westcoastitsolutions.net . We'll get you in touch with a certified professional, who will help you remove these infections.
------
Okay, if you're still reading this, you've decided to take matters (wisely or not) into your own hands. I admire your spunk.
So, first off, you need to figure out how badly you're infected. I recommend downloading a program called SuperAntiSpyware, and installing it, and scanning with it. Clean out any infections this program finds. It most likely will want to restart at the end of the scan as well, this is acceptable, as some files need to be deleted before Windows takes control.
Now secondly, never just scan once. Scan it again, and see if any scragglers are left. Also, watch the 'severity' rating of the infection. If you see a lot of 'high' severity infections, you may have to go into Safe Mode and perform a scan. I'm not going to tell you how to get into Safe Mode; if you're reading this particular part of this post, you should already know. If after you scan it comes up clean, then make sure your antivirus software is up to date, and scan with it as well.
Please understand that there is not one software that is a fix-all, cure-all. I recommend starting with SuperAntiSpyware based only on my own experience and preferences. Use what is best for your situation, and PLEASE, when in doubt, contact a professional. Your data is important, no? I thought so, and wouldn't you feel terrible if you had to blame yourself for it being gone? I thought so. Drop by our website, www.westcoastitsolutions.net, and visit the contact us page. Get ahold of us, we'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
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