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Do Your Homework First Before Shopping Online
The Friendly Neighbor
By Ray Wilson, For The Bulletin
Here we are at the end of November past Black Friday and firmly embedded into the buying season. Thinking about a computer purchase? Shop online first! Do your homework before you embark on the adventure of dropping the plastic.
Check the sales, but make sure of the specifications of the machine before you make that all important purchase. Not every computer will be as much trouble as I have with this Gateway laptop so beware of the extended warranty. With all the trouble I have my cost of repair was far less than the extended warranty. Circuit City cited a very big problem they had was with the lack of extended warranties. If this is what a company has to depend on, they deserve to be out of business.
With the Christmas season here, even in a recession, people will be buying gifts online. Shoppers go to the Web to fulfill their desires, and this will trigger the ravenous cravings of the hackers who will get their share of Christmas cheer at the shoppers’ expense. There are certain rules to be followed when dealing through the Internet to safeguard you as you make your purchases. Unfortunately, some people will just ignore them. Not everyone will receive this informative warning, so make it your responsibility to direct them to this column in The Bulletin and on online.
I can hear some of you saying, same old, same old, and this is a good sign that you have received the message. Therefore, just skip ahead and let those who need this information be well informed. Hackers have a habit of multiplying the source of their income and Christmas is always their prime time to separate the unwary from their identity and their money. With thousands of people in the business of producing operating systems and software and losing their source of income, some will apply their knowledge to less honorable ventures.
This is not a game! It is serious! And must be treated as such! At this point you should all have built an arsenal of safety and security programs, keeping them timely and run them frequently. That’s for starters! You are not an individual to the crooks but just one of thousands in their schemes. They can infiltrate your machine, take control, and use it as a base to infect others. You owe it to yourself and to others to keep your system clean.
Now, we come to your personal behavior on the Web. Only open emails when you know the sender. Be wary of those with a myriad of forwards.
Note: Be especially wary of the flow of patriotic themes and of other types currently flooding inboxes.
Need extra cash? Don’t look for it here! Pay special attention to your spam folder for phishing letters. I collected them for a while until I filled a ring binder with over 100. I dare say if I calculated the amounts of money I was offered it would be many millions. If you receive an email that looks innocent, do not open it! Put it in your search engine to check its legitimacy. Beware of letters that look like they are from our government or from banks seeking your personal information. Likewise, any phone calls checking your taxes or credit cards.
Gullibility is the stock in trade of cybercrime. They will also appeal to your consideration for wayward children, shut-ins, or the like. This is the best place for you to apply your logic and common sense. If it looks shaky, it no doubt is! Keep your Christmas merry and financially secure. Beware of the proposals to stop your identity theft or seek information to update your credit report. Remember? You can also pick up viruses and other internet transmitted diseases and maybe the blue screen of death.
An installation of Windows 7 Ultimate, on a newly formatted drive was uneventful. Next on my list was online protection from viruses and Spyware and then check the registry for any extraneous junk. I used a registry cleaner and came up with 49 unnecessary files (98,365 KB) and 90 errors in the register. I did nothing more than what you read here and this came along with the system. I have witnessed this phenomena previously but not to this extent. I suggest you do likewise, including a pre-load on a new computer.
Security! I do not intend for politics to infest or infect this column. But, when it comes to cybersecurity and our homeland security, it is difficult to set it aside. What you read here is a compilation of information from many sources.
The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) is setting up a 1 million square foot Cybersecurity data center at a National Guard Camp near Salt Lake City at an estimated cost of 1.5 billion USDs. This center will provide “critical support to National Cybersecurity priorities.” “This facility will add “important capabilities’ to the intelligence community and add assistance to the Homeland Security Department” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
During the construction, between 5,000 and 10,000 people will be employed. Upon completion, it will employ between 100 or 200 people when fully operational. It is hinted it may be used for additional purposes, but none were mentioned. I wonder if this is in addition to the facility the Department of Homeland Security is considering to employ 1,000 Cybersecurity experts (That’s a lot of desks and chairs). One problem and a big problem, there are not that many qualified Cybersecurity experts available. So, where does it go from here? Not enough qualified people and no place to put them. However, with that many experts, who makes the final decisions?
The White House is talking again. A White House Cybersecurity coordinator was to be named before Thanksgiving. It was first supposed to happen in September, then October, Cybersecurity Month! Now November! Stay tuned!
This from the IDG News Service: “Current laws addressing cybercrime aren’t adequate to address growing attacks on the government and businesses. This from our current administrations James Baker, associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Dept. of Justice, “He wasn’t sure of what additional laws are needed.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked a panel of four government officials working on cybersecurity, “Are you satisfied with the existing legal structure under which you operate? Answer: “Senator that is a complicated question. I think the answer is no.”
In case it has been overlooked, this is a world wide problem. Shoring up Cybersecurity on a national basis is like trying to stop a leak in Hoover Dam with a cork.
Commentary: A lesson is to be learned here, in fact, a couple of lessons. “The computer is an electronic device to process data as input by its user.” That is a general definition that means it does not think. You must do the thinking and never lose sight of the ’basics.’ This is what happened in the case of the man who negotiated with Microsoft techs, engineers, et. al., for the better part of four months to determine the source of his inability to download Microsoft updates. Four months and not one of them mentioned the condition of the computer. The crux of the matter was the “Windows Update” item in the services was set to disable, an apparent error when the services were adjusted. The brains of Microsoft after four months did not even suspect or mention his system, but continued to try to correct the update.
Here are two lessons to be learned. In all similar situations, invoke the basics! What did you do prior to the problem? Hardware problems are computer glitches, problems in your software are yours. Second lesson: Manually set a System Restore Point (SRP). Most of the Registry Cleaners backup the Registry before any changes are made. Check before use! Bear in mind, if you run into a problem, you can get back to your SRP and only lose the input that followed. The longer the period of time, the more you may lose. An SRP, prior to working with the services, could have averted this whole situation if it were set and used, but not a few months later. I mentioned to my associate that it might be in the services. “No,” he said. “I am sure if he worked on them that would be the first place to look.”
Who will end up besting who? Google and Microsoft are at it hammer and tong in their battle to have the best search engine. Bing announces new features and Google bounces right back with advances of their own. It is not unlike a ping pong match that never gets out of deuce. What does this mean to us? Improvements in searching the Web — maybe. On the other hand, is the feature for feature war getting out of hand, and what is really the ultimate result?
There are a lot of new and exciting things going for Windows 7 and first hand information is better than once chewed. For this, I refer you to Windows 7 information available directly from Microsoft. Go there and be informed. Until next week, lots more stuff, stay well and promote good thoughts!
Ray Wilson was raised in Upper Darby and has lived in Chester County since 1973. He has more than 40 years of experience in computing and he has been testing virus and Spyware programs for eight years. He can be reached at IMHelpful4u@aol.com.
Check the sales, but make sure of the specifications of the machine before you make that all important purchase. Not every computer will be as much trouble as I have with this Gateway laptop so beware of the extended warranty. With all the trouble I have my cost of repair was far less than the extended warranty. Circuit City cited a very big problem they had was with the lack of extended warranties. If this is what a company has to depend on, they deserve to be out of business.
With the Christmas season here, even in a recession, people will be buying gifts online. Shoppers go to the Web to fulfill their desires, and this will trigger the ravenous cravings of the hackers who will get their share of Christmas cheer at the shoppers’ expense. There are certain rules to be followed when dealing through the Internet to safeguard you as you make your purchases. Unfortunately, some people will just ignore them. Not everyone will receive this informative warning, so make it your responsibility to direct them to this column in The Bulletin and on online.
I can hear some of you saying, same old, same old, and this is a good sign that you have received the message. Therefore, just skip ahead and let those who need this information be well informed. Hackers have a habit of multiplying the source of their income and Christmas is always their prime time to separate the unwary from their identity and their money. With thousands of people in the business of producing operating systems and software and losing their source of income, some will apply their knowledge to less honorable ventures.
This is not a game! It is serious! And must be treated as such! At this point you should all have built an arsenal of safety and security programs, keeping them timely and run them frequently. That’s for starters! You are not an individual to the crooks but just one of thousands in their schemes. They can infiltrate your machine, take control, and use it as a base to infect others. You owe it to yourself and to others to keep your system clean.
Now, we come to your personal behavior on the Web. Only open emails when you know the sender. Be wary of those with a myriad of forwards.
Note: Be especially wary of the flow of patriotic themes and of other types currently flooding inboxes.
Need extra cash? Don’t look for it here! Pay special attention to your spam folder for phishing letters. I collected them for a while until I filled a ring binder with over 100. I dare say if I calculated the amounts of money I was offered it would be many millions. If you receive an email that looks innocent, do not open it! Put it in your search engine to check its legitimacy. Beware of letters that look like they are from our government or from banks seeking your personal information. Likewise, any phone calls checking your taxes or credit cards.
Gullibility is the stock in trade of cybercrime. They will also appeal to your consideration for wayward children, shut-ins, or the like. This is the best place for you to apply your logic and common sense. If it looks shaky, it no doubt is! Keep your Christmas merry and financially secure. Beware of the proposals to stop your identity theft or seek information to update your credit report. Remember? You can also pick up viruses and other internet transmitted diseases and maybe the blue screen of death.
An installation of Windows 7 Ultimate, on a newly formatted drive was uneventful. Next on my list was online protection from viruses and Spyware and then check the registry for any extraneous junk. I used a registry cleaner and came up with 49 unnecessary files (98,365 KB) and 90 errors in the register. I did nothing more than what you read here and this came along with the system. I have witnessed this phenomena previously but not to this extent. I suggest you do likewise, including a pre-load on a new computer.
Security! I do not intend for politics to infest or infect this column. But, when it comes to cybersecurity and our homeland security, it is difficult to set it aside. What you read here is a compilation of information from many sources.
The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) is setting up a 1 million square foot Cybersecurity data center at a National Guard Camp near Salt Lake City at an estimated cost of 1.5 billion USDs. This center will provide “critical support to National Cybersecurity priorities.” “This facility will add “important capabilities’ to the intelligence community and add assistance to the Homeland Security Department” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
During the construction, between 5,000 and 10,000 people will be employed. Upon completion, it will employ between 100 or 200 people when fully operational. It is hinted it may be used for additional purposes, but none were mentioned. I wonder if this is in addition to the facility the Department of Homeland Security is considering to employ 1,000 Cybersecurity experts (That’s a lot of desks and chairs). One problem and a big problem, there are not that many qualified Cybersecurity experts available. So, where does it go from here? Not enough qualified people and no place to put them. However, with that many experts, who makes the final decisions?
The White House is talking again. A White House Cybersecurity coordinator was to be named before Thanksgiving. It was first supposed to happen in September, then October, Cybersecurity Month! Now November! Stay tuned!
This from the IDG News Service: “Current laws addressing cybercrime aren’t adequate to address growing attacks on the government and businesses. This from our current administrations James Baker, associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Dept. of Justice, “He wasn’t sure of what additional laws are needed.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked a panel of four government officials working on cybersecurity, “Are you satisfied with the existing legal structure under which you operate? Answer: “Senator that is a complicated question. I think the answer is no.”
In case it has been overlooked, this is a world wide problem. Shoring up Cybersecurity on a national basis is like trying to stop a leak in Hoover Dam with a cork.
Commentary: A lesson is to be learned here, in fact, a couple of lessons. “The computer is an electronic device to process data as input by its user.” That is a general definition that means it does not think. You must do the thinking and never lose sight of the ’basics.’ This is what happened in the case of the man who negotiated with Microsoft techs, engineers, et. al., for the better part of four months to determine the source of his inability to download Microsoft updates. Four months and not one of them mentioned the condition of the computer. The crux of the matter was the “Windows Update” item in the services was set to disable, an apparent error when the services were adjusted. The brains of Microsoft after four months did not even suspect or mention his system, but continued to try to correct the update.
Here are two lessons to be learned. In all similar situations, invoke the basics! What did you do prior to the problem? Hardware problems are computer glitches, problems in your software are yours. Second lesson: Manually set a System Restore Point (SRP). Most of the Registry Cleaners backup the Registry before any changes are made. Check before use! Bear in mind, if you run into a problem, you can get back to your SRP and only lose the input that followed. The longer the period of time, the more you may lose. An SRP, prior to working with the services, could have averted this whole situation if it were set and used, but not a few months later. I mentioned to my associate that it might be in the services. “No,” he said. “I am sure if he worked on them that would be the first place to look.”
Who will end up besting who? Google and Microsoft are at it hammer and tong in their battle to have the best search engine. Bing announces new features and Google bounces right back with advances of their own. It is not unlike a ping pong match that never gets out of deuce. What does this mean to us? Improvements in searching the Web — maybe. On the other hand, is the feature for feature war getting out of hand, and what is really the ultimate result?
There are a lot of new and exciting things going for Windows 7 and first hand information is better than once chewed. For this, I refer you to Windows 7 information available directly from Microsoft. Go there and be informed. Until next week, lots more stuff, stay well and promote good thoughts!
Ray Wilson was raised in Upper Darby and has lived in Chester County since 1973. He has more than 40 years of experience in computing and he has been testing virus and Spyware programs for eight years. He can be reached at IMHelpful4u@aol.com.
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