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Many of us today have software programs that include some sort of “digital shredder” that will on demand destroy personal information on our computers. What websites we have been to, what we downloaded, old emails, secure websites we have logged in to, all traces gone with a click of the mouse … or are they???  For the past two years I have thought that once a week I had been cleaning my machine of this valuable personal information, and boy was I wrong. Through a chance encounter with my online backup program, I got a look at some of the cookies that were still on my home computer and was shocked to see how my personal information had not been deleted at all by the program I was using. In fact, I could trace everywhere this computer had been in the past year … and that’s when I became completely disgusted.   So I did what all of us do. I pointed my internet browser toward searching for a flexible yet thorough solution to computer cleansing needs.

After looking at the products on the market, I found Webroot’s Window Washer offered the most options and greatest user flexibility. I can wipe down just a few temp folders, or I can thoroughly clean and “bleach” all the traces of information left in my computer’s pockets completely and confidently erasing them permanently! Window Washer also give you a system eraser that enables the user to create a bootable cd/floppy that can be inserted into computer to completely remove all contents.  Even a reformat can’t do that.

Window Washer’s user interface is extremely easy to use.  All categories are divided into sections that can be checked or unchecked at any time.  For those who consider themselves technologically impaired, like me, Webroot has made the program pretty self explanatory.  If you mouse over a section, a short description will appear explaining what type of files would be located here to help assist you in deciding if that particular area is one you think Window Washer should clean.  Also, cleanings are completely customizable for either manual, daily or scheduled tasks. It’s really simple to customize the programs and once you set your schedule, you can forget about it!  Window Washer takes care of the rest for you. 

Also included in this program is a nifty feature that allows you to right click on any file on your computer and instantly shred it. (Yes really shred the file, not like the other software programs I mentioned previously).

To anyone who may be skeptical about whether or not Window Washer can do what it says it can do, Webroot give you a 30 day free trial to test drive the program.  I think you’ll be as surprised and amazed as I was about how much extra junk and personal information your computer is toting around without you even knowing about. It’s a real shame to know that your PC, to a even a novice hacker, knows more about you than your significant other! Scary, huh?

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with the added security I now have on my machine with the use of Window Washer. The peace of mind knowing that all traces of what I read, where I went, what I was working on, and where I logged in to is well worth the cost of the program. With all the phony security programs out there that just don’t do what they claim, I really do find it comforting to know when Window Washer says clean … your PC is clean … period!

I had a couple of dead spots in my house with my wireless signal and wanted to get a little more coverage in the house. I already had a Linksys WAP54g wireless access point so I went out and grabbed another one. Here are the steps that I did to have 2 wireless access points connected to my network:

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A friend of mine called me a couple of days ago to tell me about this great hard drive backup service called “Mozy Online Backup for Home”.  Until this time, I have never heard about this service.  My friend Joe explained that this program backs up all of his files and stores them at an off site location.  He found this service a few weeks ago when his computer crashed and he lost a lot of important information and work.  Joe was so enthusiastic about this service from Mozy that I had to see it for myself. 

I don’t always practice what I preach about backing up important information from my hard drive.  Often I find it to be a pain in the butt to back up my files, so I figured I would give Mozy’s service a try.  I will admit that at first I was a bit skeptical because I run the Windows Vista 64 Bit operating system.  I expected to receive a message telling me that this service was not compatible with my operating system.  To my surprise, I was wrong.  The software was downloaded and installed quickly on my machine with no issues.  Within ten minutes I had the program up and running on my computer.

I have been very impressed with Mozy’s online backup service for my home.  Now I don’t have to worry about my computer being backed up or even storing CD’s or tape cartridges down at my local bank because the program is always running in the background storing my important documents, photos and music at a secured site.

I did find one drawback to Mozy’s program.  You are not able to backup data from external hard drives.  I have a networkable hard drive that is attached to my home network using an Ethernet cable.  I can’t back up this information while taking care of the files on my internal hard drive.  If I want this information backed up, I will have to move this information to my computer.  While an extra step in the process, it is not so difficult that I wouldn’t use this service.  In fact, I think this service overall is a home run.

If you too are a bit skeptical about using an online backup service, one of the great things about Mozy is that you can use it for free.  You are allowed to use the service to backup 2 gigs of data for one PC no charge.  Mozy won’t even ask you for a credit card number when you sign up for the free service.  If you like the service (like I do), you can go ahead and purchase the unlimited backup service for a little under $55.00 a year or even get a bigger discount if you purchase it for two years.  While not free, if you have additional computers on your home network you can add them to your service for an additional cost. 

I would strongly recommend Mozy’s Online Backup for Home for anyone interested in an easy way to protect their important computer files.

Today I came across an interesting program called Ultimate Cleaner.  I had a customer who was complaining that they get getting popup notices that their computer was infected with trojan.looksky and they needed to download a protection program to remove the infection.  When I got to the house I immediately noticed that it looked like one of those cheesy fake alerts.  Their background was changed to red (to indicate an emergency situation) and had a notice that the computer was having problems.

McAffee was installed on the computer but the subscription had expired which was probably the reason that they got infected with Ultimate Cleaner.  We loaded Spy Sweeper with Antivirus protection on the computer and started the scan process.  Spy Sweeper indicated that the computer had Trojan-Ace-X which has the ability to download program to the computer, Troj/Pmwdl-Gen (Virus) and of course Ultimate Cleaner (this appear to be a rogue spyware removal program).  It took a couple of scans on the computer to clean the infection off until the infection went away.

Something to keep in mind is if you have a computer setup for your children, it is a good idea to make sure the computer is running correctly.  I got a laugh when one of the children stated that “they remember seeing a notice about their McAffee being expired”.  Just like a typical teenager, he failed to tell his parents to renew the subscription.  Keeping your computer running properly by having Anti-Virus, Spyware and Firewall protection will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Yes I do sell Spy Sweeper, but I do because it simply works!

WinAntiSpyware 2007 seems to be another malware program making it way.  This program appears to be a rogue spyware removal program.  Some folks who has installed it are not complaining of constant popups on their computer.  This is just another example of why you want to be sure you know the programs that you are installing on your computer.  For Spyware and Virus protection, we recommend that you install Webroot Spy Sweeper.  Spy Sweeper is a trusted spyware removal program that is even more powerful now with it’s anti-virus protection.

Get the protection you need from tools such as WinAntiSpyware 2007 and others just like it.   

We have been seeing a lot of computers infected with Trojan Looksky.  This malware seems to have the ability to download files to your computer and installs a rootkit.  We have been doing a little research and have noticed a lot of complaints about Trojan Looksky and it seems that people are complaining that they are getting a lot of pop-ups advertising an anti-virus program that is known to distribute malware.  People are also complaining that an Icon is being placed on their background telling them that their desktop needs to be restored, the add/remove programs seems to be also disabled by Trojan Looksky and clicking on web links doesn’t always bring them to where they expected. 

To project against trojan infection like the Trojan Looksky, we recommend that you always have an active malware protection program.  We typically recommend to our users that they install Webroot Spy Sweeper with anti-virus protection on their computer.  The software does a great job of shielding your computer from these malware threats.

If you would like to protect against malware like Trojan Looksky, then we recommend you get this program. 

This email spam made me chuckle this morning:

Dear Friend, I am Mr. Francis White.I have a lucrative 13 Million USD Business proposal foryou, indicate your interest by sending me the following: 1. YOUR NAME2. YOUR RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS3. YOUR OCCUPATION4. YOUR PHONE NUMBER5. DATE OF BIRTH6. COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE Your response with the requested information should be sent to reach me at my personal email address below: franciswhite2@yahoo.gr I shall then provide you with more details on thistransaction when I hear from you. Sincerely,Mr.Francis White.

*******

Very simple email but man before offering me such a great deal, you think this person would already have some of this information?

You might be looking at this and thinking to yourself; “How stupid are people”; and I’ll tell you that that I really belive that they are playing on people’s greed or even a situation they are in.  Let’s say your desperate and you are on the verge of bankcruptcy and have just received this email.  It looks very tempting because you see a solution to your problems.  Sending them all of the requested information will allow them to play on you.  They are even hoping that you slip and give out more information to allow them to scam you.

Wordpress is a very nice open source project that allows you to run a blog on your website.  The project has been around for a number of years now and it is a very active project.  Updates are consistantly being made to the program and security issues are addressed in a very timely manner. 

Setting up wordpress on your site is really a farily easy task for the person who is willing to give it a try.  I also understand that some people simply don’t have the time nor the desire to take on the task of installing wordpress.  I came across a website that offers to do wordpress installations for you for really a very reasonable cost.  I cannot tell you if the service is any good because I have not used them, but it can’t hurt to give them a try.  I would recommend that you create a special ftp account for them to use and once the installation is over and you are happy you can go ahead a delete the account.  It will also not hurt to take a look at the files that exist on your server so you can compare what was installed just to be sure that nothing bad was additionally installed on your server.

If anyone has used this service, please be sure to leave feedback of your experience.