Ask Me - THRComputer Solutions

Do you remember when people had to communicate by phone, letters, or faxes?  Many of us were alive before email was popular, but it is hard to believe we survived for so long without it!  It is the major mode of communication today whether at work or at home.  It is also one of the most common ways for hackers to defraud people and send viruses.  It is necessary to protect yourself if you use email at all.

Because emails often contain attachments, it makes them particularly susceptible to viruses contained within the attachments.  Even someone you know may inadvertently send you a file that contains a virus.  Some viruses look in your email address book and send the infected email to everyone on the list to spread themselves even further.

The best protection against viruses is to know beforehand that someone is sending you an attachment and also to purchase virus protection software.  A good virus protection software program will scan all email attachments as they are received.  It will also scan files you send to others.  It will help keep your system clean of viruses. (more…)

Computers have become so commonplace, we often take them for granted.  We use them to communicate at work, to friends and family, and even for entertainment purposes.  But, we forget that they may contain important documents and files that need to be backed up.  If you have ever lost an important document or precious photo because of a computer crash, you know how important backing up your computer can be.

Some people think that backups are only for computer geeks and nerds, but backups are important to everyone that owns a computer.  Even if you have never had a problem with your computer, you still need to perform routine backups.  A virus can attack your computer at any time and you can lose valuable information.  You can even accidentally delete a file or it can become corrupted and if you do not have a backup, it is lost forever.

If one day, your hard drive is destroyed beyond repair, one of two things can happen.  You can purchase a new hard drive for your computer, but it will be blank, except for maybe the system software.  You will either suffer a great loss of everything – files, software, photos, music, etc. – you had on your computer.  Or, if you were diligent in making backups, you will only have to reinstall everything from CDs or DVDs.  While restoring everything is a slight annoyance, losing everything can be devastating. (more…)

Everyone gets the spam emails – someone trying to give you a cheap mortgage rate, sell you some wonder diet drug, or entice you to join their new poker site.  Most of these are known as spam scams and all these places really wish to do is rip you off.

One of the best-known spam scams is the Nigerian Bank scam.  The person who originates the email introduces himself or herself as the wife or relative of a former dictator or some other government official.  They go on to a sad story about how there were millions of dollars deposited in a bank account, which they cannot get.  But, if you help them, they will be more than glad to give you a percentage of the funds.  The catch is they need you to transfer some money from your bank account for “expenses.”  Although this sounds like a scam, many people fall for it each year.  One elderly man from the Czech Republic lost his entire savings to such a scam.

There are other spam scams on the Internet that offer you investment opportunities.  They will say they are risk-free, but just remember – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  All you will see is your hard earned money leave your bank account – never to return.  These scam artists are rarely caught because as soon as the money is transferred, they are gone. (more…)

Because it has been in the news, most computer users are aware of the fact that they need some type of antivirus software on their computer.  However, you may use software and hardware that resides outside your personal computer.  Things like email programs, file transfer protocol (FTP) services, web pages and other services are tied to other computers, known as servers.  What can be done to protect those servers from virus attacks?

Computer viruses can attack all computers on a network(including your home network if you have one), from your personal computer to a server that assists the entire organization.  A server is basically the same as a personal computer, but because it serves more people, it has more memory, disk space, and processors to carry the workload.  There are normally email servers dedicated solely to sending and receiving email.  Most web pages are served on exclusive servers that only deal with web traffic of those pages.  Some places, if they share quite a few files with others, may even have a server dedicated only to file transfers.

These servers basically work just like your personal computer, so that means they are subject to attacks of viruses and other malware generated by hackers.  It is just as important – if no more so – that they be protected against attacks.  If a server receives a virus, it may affect anyone who connects to it, not just one individual. 

Most servers have antivirus software installed to protect against an attack.  Most also have a firewall, which protects the server from entry points that are vulnerable to hackers.  But what else can be done? (more…)

There are some easy things you can do to keep your computer virus-free.  If you simply use software from reliable vendors, that is half the battle.  The other thing you can do to keep viruses off your computer is to avoid opening email attachments from people you do not know.

It sounds easy, but you would be surprised how many people download software or open an email attachment from someone they do not know.  You would not open your car door for a stranger, so avoid these two practices to keep from opening the “door” of your computer to strangers.  Some of the most infamous viruses were spread from one computer to another through emails.  Even if the email is from a reliable source – such as Microsoft – you should still be suspicious.  Email addresses can be forged to look like they are from someone else.

In 1999, the “Melissa” viruses was posted to an Internet newsgroup through a Microsoft Word attachment.  The virus perpetuated itself by accessing the address book of the person that downloaded it and sending itself to the first 50 users in that address book.  In only a few hours, this virus has slowed the networks on the Internet. (more…)

You know the dangers of viruses and malware for your computer.  You take the precautions to protect yourself against harm and you may think that your computer is the only device you own that is susceptible to viruses and malware, but think again!  There are other routes hackers can use to infect you and that is through your cell phone, PDAs and other mobile devices.

Think about it – what is your PDA and phone other than just small computers?  And they are on one of the largest networks in the world, open to people all around the globe.  Just because it does not use Windows does not mean it does not have an operating system and applications just like your computer. Most cell phones and PDAs are traditional harder to break into because most have operating systems and applications burned into a chip.  However, there are many new services, such as downloading music and image files that are opening up your devices to potential hazards.

Viruses can live in any type of file.  Therefore, if you download an .jpg file to your cell phone, then later decide to upload that same .jpg file to your computer, you could be infecting your computer with that file you downloaded on your cell phone.  This is how PCs were originally infected with viruses – through users sharing files via a floppy disk.  If your phone is not secured, you could be putting yourself at risk. (more…)

If your computer becomes infected with spyware, you may have more to worry about other than just the fact that it is annoying to you.  Spyware can damage your system, causing it to become unstable.  It may interfere with you using other programs.  It can even cause hackers to be able to access private information on your computer including files and places you have visited on the Internet.

You do not normally know when you get spyware.  One day your computer can be fine then when the spyware is downloaded on your computer, you begin noticing problems.  It may even be difficult to remove once you realize you have it.

How can you protect yourself from spyware?  Use caution when downloading any new programs from the Internet, especially free and shareware programs.  While some are honorable, a large amount contains spyware.  Some programs even tell you in the fine print of the user agreement that they have spyware embedded in them, so always read that closely.  Even if a program says it is spyware free, be leery.  The music download program Kazaa has been saying it is spyware free for years, yet many people have downloaded it only to become infected with spyware.

What are some of the signs that you have spyware on your system?  You may notice a large number of pop-ups on your computer whether you are browsing the Internet or not.  Your browser homepage may be hijacked – that is changed from the original homepage you set.  Even when you reset it, it will return to the hijacked page.  You may notice new toolbars on your browser window. You may notice your computer performing sluggishly or rebooting automatically. (more…)

Web Browsers are your key to the Internet.  With a browser such as Internet Explorer, you can find almost anything you need by surfing the Internet.  However, there are dangerous locations online – those that are looking to hijack your computer and use it for their own good.  The problem is, you may not even know when you visit a website that it could be potentially dangerous to your computer.

Many users are not even aware how vulnerable their systems can be simply by viewing a web page.  Visiting a malicious web page with an insecure browser opens up your entire computer to potential problems and viruses.  Some sites only have harmless cookies, but other like to download executable programs that will allow the hacker complete control over your system.  Scary, isn’t it? (more…)