Scams

I had a customer that fell for a scam yesterday. Someone called him claiming they were from Microsoft and stated his computer was infected with a virus. They wanted to help him remove the virus and convinced him to install a program that gave the caller complete control of his computer. Bottom line: SCAM!!! If someone calls with such a claim HANG UP THE PHONE. Let me just say that Microsoft is not going to call you if your computer has a virus. They don't have a way to correlate your phone number to your computer (at least right now).

Click here to read what Microsoft suggests you do if you've fallen for something like this. If you are unsure you should call a computer expert.

Protect your Money

If your username and password for your online banking are compromised, the bank is not responsible for lost funds (read the article by clicking here). You need to protect yourself by protecting your account credentials. A few tips:

• Use a strong password
• Have a good anti-malware program installed (I like Vipre Premium)
• In a business environment, you should consider dedicating a PC to banking tasks.

In an article published January 2010, USA Today reported that the American Banking Association recommends that if involved in financial transactions on the Internet, small business should dedicate a PC to the task. In other words, use one PC for your financial transactions, and use that PC for nothing else, and isolate that PC on a separate network.

Windows Updates

About once a month Microsoft pushes updates that help make your computer run better and improve security. It's important that you install these updates. There are actually two different products. Windows Update is the older of the products and just handles software updates for the Windows program. Microsoft Update is the newer, and includes all Microsoft products. It's good to update your MS Office programs as well. For a great explanation of the Microsoft Update process click here. In its entirety it's a long read, but very worthwhile.

You should make sure that your computer is configured to automatically download and install Windows updates. If you are using Windows XP, follow these steps:

• Click "Start"
• Right Click on "My Computer" and select "Properties"
• Select the Automatic Updates tab and configure appropriately for your situation.

Threats on the Internet

The stories at the links below are just two examples of the dozens of articles I get every month.

Trove of 68,000 stolen logons in hands of 'amateur' hackers

Chuck Norris botnet karate-chops routers hard

The second article is particularly troublesome for small business and home computer users. Few reset the DSL or cable modems default administrative password, something that everyone should check.

The Internet is a dangerous place. Be sure you and your company are protected. And if you are on a business computer, or access financial or business data from your home computer, then protection should be redundant and up-to-date. You can't be too cautious! If you don't know for sure, contact a computer professional and ask for help.