4 Your Computer Repairs » blog

Hi ……………….Can I trust you?

Steven — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:30:51 +0000

EN-US”>From: EN-US”> Sgt. Gerry Gilsenan [mailto:gerry.gilsenan@aol.com]
Sent: 02 July 2011 14:35
Subject: Hi ……………….Can I trust you?

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>Hello,

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>How are you today.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>My name is Gerry Gilsenan. I am a war veteran with the United Nations troop in Afghanistan, on war against terrorism. I served in the 1st Armoured Division in Kabul. Based on the United States legislative and executive decision for withdrawing troops from Iraq. I have been redeployed to come and work in Kabul on the platform of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Our mission is to help beef up terrorist targeted states, mostly the United States and the European Union on the war against terrorism.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>On the other hand, I want to inform you that I and my partner (Trooper James Anthony Leverett) have the sum of 16.2million USD, which we got from a crude oil deal in Iraq before he was killed by an explosion while on a vehicle patrol. Due to this incident, I want you to receive these funds on my behalf as far as I can be assured that my share will be safe in your care until I complete my service here and come over to meet with you. Since we are working here on an Official capacity, I cannot keep these funds hence my contacting you.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>I guarantee and ensure you that this is a risk free deal. I want you to know that we have successfully moved these funds out to Europe with the help of a Red Cross agent and it was deposited to a bank of which the deposit receipts have been forwarded to me.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>I will personally authorize the bank to transfer the funds to you upon the declaration of your assistance. I just need your acceptance and all is done. Since the death of my partner, my life is not guaranteed here anymore, so I have decided to share these funds with a reliable and trusted person than the funds lodging in the bank for no interest.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>I want you to tell me how much you will take from this money for the assistance you will give to me. One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter with anybody, should you have reasons to reject this offer, please and please destroy this message as any leakage of this information will be too bad for us as soldiers here in Afghanistan. I do not know how long we will remain here, and I have been shot, wounded and survived so many suicide bomb attacks thankfully, this and other reasons I will mention later have prompted me to reach out for help, I honestly want this matter to be resolved immediately, please contact me as soon as possible on my e-mail address which is my only way of communication.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>Regards,

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>Sgt. Gilsenan

This is an email I got, in fact I actually got two, which is all about getting money out of you. They will give you some instructions where either you need to send money before they can send this massive amount to you or you need to pay a courier extra to take back to him in order for a cheque to be dleivered. Either way you do not get any money and they are off with yours.

If you get any email or letter like this do not contact them

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black”>

all in one support package

Steven — Tue, 31 May 2011 13:17:57 +0000

Our all in one support package

This package is designed to give you everything you need to keep your computer up and running through remote support and includes the following:

Remote support for your computer
Online backup
24 x 7 monitoring
Business class monitored Anti Virus

All this for only £20 per month

This offer is limited to a certain number of computers

Call us on 0845 805 9257

Remote access support

We install some software that will allow us to access your computer with your permission to fix any problems that we find. This also includes supporting any peripherals on your computer like printers.

Online backup

For a full explanation see our dedicated online backup page

24 x 7 Monitoring

We install a small piece of software that monitors all the essential services in your computer all day every day. This also gives your computer a daily health check which includes

Making sure your anti virus is up to date
Available hard drive space is okay
Hard drive health
Hacker detection
Application log critical events
Security log critical events
System log critical events

Managed Anti Virus

If our anti virus detects anything we get notified letting us deal with anything including false positives, leaving you to continue working. Some of the features are

Proprietary anti-malware detection engine uses next-generation technology
Real-time monitoring and protection against zero-day threats
Integrated endpoint email security
Real time live threat data integration
Powerful, scanning agent technology
Advanced anti-rootkit technology
Auto-scan removable drives
Available on servers and computers

All this for only £20 per month

This offer is limited to a certain number of computers

Call us on 0845 805 9257

[contact-form-7]

Affiliate Program

Steven — Sat, 14 May 2011 13:13:41 +0000

Do you want to earn money or get you computer fixed for FREE?

If you do then sign up to our affiliate program. It's simple and for every person you send our way that turns in to a paying customer you get some money and the person you referred gets some money off their repair its a WIN WIN situation for both of you.

What do I need to do?

Step 1: Sign up for the program (Below)

Step 2: Receive your unique code and website address if needed along with my contact details

Step 3 Give anyone and everyone my details along with your code or website address

Step 4: When they use my service I will take note of who sent them to me

Step 5: Receive a cheque or money off your own repair or even use it to get one of our support contracts

Please contact me bellow to start earning money without doing any work

[contact-form-7]

How much will I earn?

That depends on how many people you get to take one of my services. We offer a simple plan

£5 off for your friend or the person you referred to me

10% of the cost of my services (this does not include the price of hardware or software needed)

5% for any console repairs sent in and returned by post.

We send out your money every 3 months, this allows you to build up a sum and makes it easier for us as well.

[contact-form-7]

Backup your critical data or stay off the internet!

Steven — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:16:42 +0000

Backup your critical data or stay off the internet!

Why such a harsh statement? In recent times there has been a lot of viruses and malware which tries to con you out of some money including one like the image below.

While these have been annoying to everyone they can be removed with no ill side effect, except maybe a charge from your local computer technician for it's removal BUT there is a new problem and it goes by the name of GpCode.

GpCode, The Details

This malware or as some call it ransomware is just that holding you to ransom for your data. Unlike the fake anti virus or fake hard drive tools this one actually does something to your data. It encrypts your files and it targets only the most common and widly used extentions

- .jpg
- .jpeg
- .psd
- .cdr
- .dwg
- .max
- .mov
- .m2v
- .3gp
- .doc
- .docx
- .xls
- .xlsx
- .ppt
- .pptx
- .rar
- .zip
- .mdb
- .mp3
- .cer
- .p12
- .pfx
- .kwm
- .pwm
- .txt
- .pdf
- .avi
- .flv
- .lnk
- .bmp
- .1cd
- .md
- .mdf
- .dbf
- .mdb
- .odt
- .vob
- .ifo
- .mpeg
- .mpg
- .doc
- .docx
- .xls
- .xlsx

At this point some of the big names in anti virus and even some enthusiasts have not managed to decrypt any data once this has infected a computer.

How do I know that I have been infected?

Just like some of the other anti virus programs it changed your desktops backgroud to look like this:

What should I do if I get infected?

The best way is to turn your computer off by the fastest means possible as soon as you see this or suspect you are infected. This also includes pulling the plug straight out without properly shutting down windows, this is about the only time I will tell anyone to do this but it is possible to fix windows but it it not possible to get your files back if GpCode has managed to encrypt them. Again this is a drastic action but one that needs to be taken in order to try and save your files but I should warn you if this virus is in the middle of encrypting a file or windows is in the middle of writing to file then you could loose that file so it is not completely without risk or again windows itself could become corrupt and you might need someone to get windows up and running again. However I do fell that these are better than not being able to get any of your files after this program has run it course.

How to make sure my data is safe?

The simple answer is back it up using a proper backup program. So far and at the point of writing this they do not encrypt any backup files so windows back or other programs like Norton or Acronis are safe, however some of the free or even some paid for backup programs use the common ZIP folder or RAR folder to put everything in so you can recover you data on any computer without installing their software. The problem is that zip and rar files are being encrypted with this virus, leaving you without a backup.

So make sure your backup software does not use any of the extentions used above. Another way is to use an offisite or cloud based backup. As long as they use their own program to backup your data and not just add a folder like dropbox then you should be okay.

If your would like to sign up to our online backup then please go to our sign up page

A couple of other blogs on this

blog 1

blog 2

Sharing data and music around your home or office.

Steven — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:51:03 +0000

What is a NAS and do I need one?

In this day and age it is becoming more popular to have more than one computer in the house and as businesses expand they may need to share information between employees.

While this can be done by email or creating a shared folder on a computer, sometimes it is not practical after all you need that computer switched on if you want to access the information and emailed files can become out of date and you end up with data missing. Also with all this data you really should back it up to you don’t loose anything but buying a USB external hard drive for every computer or even trying to share it around is not practical.

The solution is a NAS which sits on your network and will allow sharing files easy and with less power needed than a computer but can offer almost as much flexibility. Below are two videos showing you was a NAS is as well as the options it has for your home or office.

Basic description of a NAS

There are a lot of different models and without wanting to seem like I am promoting netgear here is one of their models that is suited both for office use and home use.

If want to see other devices here a re a couple more videos

Now do you think you need one?

Viruses distributed by Google and Microsoft

Steven — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:02:52 +0000

I often get asked about where people pick up viruses and they always assume someone has been naughty and has been visiting adult websites but that is not the most common places.

Recently Google and Microsoft was tricked into displays adverts which lead to website that performed a "drive by download" to infect peoples computers. Google and Microsoft are not the only ones this has happened to Facebook also had links to these types of websites in their adverts.

See here for more details

If this happens to you then switch your computer off and do not click on anything including the red X button to cancel it as they could have programmed that to be an okay button

"Drive by Download" – is a website that automatically downloads a file or files to your computer without your authorisation and is manly used by criminal groups to infect your computer with a virus.

Three easy steps to remote access help

Steven — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:45:50 +0000

Get Instant Help When YOU Need It

Do you have a problem that needs help quickly or are in an inaccessible location?

If you follow these 3 steps then you can get this help quickly and without disturbing you.

Step 1

Download our instant help program to your desktop

Step 2

Double click on the Instant support file, if you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7 then you will need to allow the program to run when the UAC prompt appears.

If you have a 3rd party firewall like Norton or AVG then you may also need to grant permission for the program to access to the internet.

Step 3

Phone and tell us your access code

Some other things you should have to hand when calling

Administrator password
User Password, if different account from the administrator
For network setup Router make and model and who your internet provider is.

When the remote access support is over

close down the area showing you the access code or if I have had to install it as a service you will see an extra icon on your desktop for uninstalling it.

Passwords

Steven — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:50:52 +0000

Most Companies require them and a lot of home users do not but for those who do, just how good is your password?

I often advise people on passwords and how to make them more secure and if you like spaceballs you will know about one of the simplest easy to crack passwords going around

but here a re few more that are common and should not be used

password
1234
12345
123456
1234567
12345678
qwerty
abc123
letmein
monkey
myspace1
password1
blink182
(your first name)
god
sex
money
love
696969
admin
password

But sometimes it is not even necessary to hack the password, I have seen people give out their password to work colleges and friends.

In one case someone had managed to get a co-workers password they then went on to use this account for looking up adult material while in work. The only reason that he got caught was he used this account while his co-worker was on a different shift, so after security and the IT department looked into it and then tracked the usage they were able to catch the person in the act. That person was instantly sacked, but things could have been different if they had only used that account when that person was working.

It used to be the case that good 6 character password would be sufficient and that someone could try 100 passwords per second (see table below, thanks to baekdal

But now there is a new threat.

Graphics cards

As the graphics processing unit (GPU) have become so powerful and fast in order to handle the the rendering for today’s games this has also lead to them being used for other things.

According to the Georgia Institute of Technology passwords with fewer than 12 characters can be decoded using brute force and to put the power of these graphics cards in to perspective:

The top graphics processors, today, offer about two teraflops of parallel processing power. Put this into comparison comparison, the world’s fastest supercomputer, in the year 2000, a cluster of linked machines costing $110 million, operated at slightly more than 7 teraflops

A teraflop is “a trillion calculations per second” and like every other computer technology, they are just going to get faster meaning they will crack your passwords faster. A brute force attack means they will try every combination of number, letters & symbol combinations until they find the right one.

Christian Brindley, Regional Technical Manager EMEA at VeriSign Authentication, said,

Lots of people think that they have a solid password – over 12 characters long, including a combination of letters, numbers and cases to increase their strength.

However, in today’s world passwords are simply not enough to protect sensitive information on their own. In fact, VeriSign research of UK online adults showed that 39% of us disagree that ‘user name plus password’ is a strong enough security measure.

If that was not bad enough Elcomsoft have software that is meant to audit your wireless security by hacking it and if you have not already guessed it, it uses your graphics card’s GPU to do it. No doubt some criminals will find a way of adapting this to try and hack their way into someone else’s network.

My Advise

For home users I would suggest a 8 character password and for businesses at least 12. They should include uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters like £, $ or &.

It is better a strong password that take a bit longer to log in than have it hacked and have sensitive details lost.

If you would like any more information then please contact us and we will happily give you some advise.

Xbox 360 controller mod

Steven — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:51:55 +0000

If you are fed up with the same controller as everyone else and want it to be different or want to stop your kids arguing about who’s controller is who’s then try our modifications. Below is a simple ring of light modification, while the LEDs I installed were blue you can get them in the following colours Blue, Red, Orange, Pink, Yellow and white.

Microsoft office shortcuts

Steven — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:45:45 +0000

Do you use Microsoft office a lot and are fed up taking your hands off the keyboard to perform a task, if so then take a look at these shortcuts as they may save you time.