I had a PM from Carl this morning and it prompted me to post again.
I think many are getting a bit paranoid about their own setups here ... and I might not have helped too much with my post at the top of this page. I will post some tips for users to follow if they so wish but please give more consideration to the next couple of paragraphs about FB and other large "suppliers". Please also understand I do not claim to be a "whizz kid" and have no definite answers here - these are just my opinions based on the experiences and knowledge I have gained in the past 15 years working in the IT industry.
Facebook is hacked REGULARLY and it remains one of the biggest targets for hackers. Some of you may remember reading news articles that personal pics of Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) appeared in plain view due to a coding error within the Facebook structure just a couple of months back.
Despite your best practices regarding your passwords, if there are security "holes" on Facebook servers, getting passwords is the easy bit. In the recent past the CIA, Google, Facebook and Microsoft have all been subject to a number of attacks that have made the news so I wouldn"t get too hung up on your own PC problems. If Blue Chips companies with their $Billions / year IT infrastructures can get breached, imagine how easy it is for the same person / team of hackers to infiltrate your itty bitty PC and how much less profitable it is for them to target YOU alone. On that thought, it is likely Foggy, Clare, Carl are only three of THOUSANDS who are having similar problems and that it is not security issues on their own PCs that are to blame here. Sure, if they use the same USERNAMES and PASSWORDS for all accounts (PokerStars and Facebook for example), then it will certainly have made them easier targets.
Advice section;
Yes it is best to use real-time Anti-Virus and Firewall softwares - ESET Smart Security 5 and F-Secure Internet Security 2012 the ones I recommend - but even they are not completely infallible. Users will disable firewalls to file-share, users will click on bogus emails from "PayPal", "UPS", "FedEx" or "Barclays Bank" and "Allow" the program to run infecting their systems. I just urge you all to use a bit of EXTRA common sense and yes, a little bit of paranoia when facing such. And encourage your kids who DO just bish-bash around the internet without much care and attention (WTF not, they don"t have to pay for the IT engineer!) to do so too. The parental controls within F-Secure Internet Security are effective, easy to configure and prevent a lot of the bad things I see. Please be aware that 8 year old boys WILL type "big boobs" into Google at some point so you taking control as a parent IS worthwhile!
[UPDATED] Good passwords should be 8 characters long and contain uPPeR and LoWer case characters, at least one number and one symbol. Using a % * or ^ adds that little bit more to a password and should stop folk ever being able to "guess" it. Some people have found it useful for me to supply one for them to customise so here you go;
WekD-u.9
Another good practice on your own computing is to keep Windows up to date. The Windows Updates on your PCs / laptops are "pushed" to you for a reason. Many are security updates and although they are generally perceived to slow your system down (and yes, many have caused systems to crash, other softwares to stop working etc.), they are worth "taking the risk" on.
To check your own systems; click Start > right click on Computer (My Computer for XP users) > left click Properties
Windows XP users should be up to date to "Service Pack 3"
Windows Vista users should be up to date to "Service Pack 2"
Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit) users should be up to date to "Service Pack 1"
If you are missing any of these, the Service Packs themselves can be downloaded using "Windows Updates" (Start > Control Panel) or from
www.softwarepatch.com - THIS IS A FREE SITE and as such, it contains adverts wanting you to click on other downloads. PLEASE BE CAREFUL to read the pages properly and to scroll down if you have to - don"t just click on the first "download now" link you see.
XP and Vista users may be required to download more than one service pack and each may take around 1 hour to download and another hour to install each.
FINALLY, installing and running too many anti-virus / anti-malware / anti-spyware scanning tools can do you more harm than good. Your PC will slow down as a result of 4 / 5 softwares all taking time to scan the same thing and connection issues can appear as many will attempt to "block" network connections. I urge you all to remove all but your Internet Security software (assuming you are using a proper paid-for one), including the MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware if you have scanned your system and are happy that you are clean. Although decent, the primary function of many of them to scan your system with after-the-event (when you suspect you have a virus) but are more of a hindrance if left on a system. SpyBot,
-Aware, Spyware Doctor, HitMan Pro etc. are other ones many of you will have found and installed as a result of this thread.
I am not planning on doing any more "work" until 4th January but if anyone has SERIOUS and URGENT issues on their PCs (business PCs etc.) and would like support, I can arrange "Remote Control" sessions tonight and tomorrow. Initial inspections will be free of charge and any additional work will be quoted for.
If anyone would like information on me /
ITW4 (my company), a list of our services can be found at
www.itw4.co.ukNeil Dawson
