At The PC Clinic, we receive lots of cases each year, and when a serious security issue presents itself, we feel obligated to inform our clients. Recently, we have received a high number of cases infected by malware, including several Trojan horses similar in design to CryptoLocker, which infected millions of computers in the first few months of 2014. These malicious programs spread primarily through email attachments. While anti-virus software can provide protection against many viruses and Trojans, these security applications are slightly behind the latest mutations of these dangerous programs; because of this, we recommend that you take additional steps to protect yourself. Keep the following tips in mind when using your computer: 1. Never double-click email attachments. Instead, download them, right click and use the Open With command to search for the appropriate program; this may prevent the virus from automatically executing itself and infecting your system. 2. Your computer might be infected with CrypoLocker-like Trojan horses if you visit an unsafe website. We recommend using OpenDNS, which blocks access to dangerous websites. You can use OpenDNS by changing your DNS settings to 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123 (or by asking your one of our techs to change the settings for you). 3. Keep your anti-virus software updated and avoid opening any email attachments from senders that you do not recognize. Do not visit links in emails unless you know the sender and the link makes sense in the context of the message. 4. If you receive a message that says that your files are being held hostage or that you need to pay a fee to regain access to your computer, do not enter payment information. Shut down your computer and dont worry about a safe shutdown process. Ransomware programs will not immediately encrypt your files, so by pulling out the power cord of your PC, you can stop the infection from progressing. Contact us as soon as you can so that we may help with remediation. Following these tips will significantly reduce your chances of infection. We thank you for making 2014 a great year for data loss prevention, and we hope you have a happy and productive new year.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 23:37:14 +0000
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