It Tips – May Flowers

It’s time again for your monthly dose of IT. Grab a cup of coffee and dig in!

What’s inside:

Tech SectionThank You

·          Practice Safe Computing

·          More General Windows Tips

o   Set your Intener Explorer home page

o   Block or allow a sender in Outlook

·     Thanks for the inspiration!

Practice Safe Computing

Like microscopic bits of infectious DNA that wait to infiltrate your cells in the real world; there are little bits of code waiting to infiltrate your computer in the virtual world. I cannot tell you what motivates people to make malicious computer code, but I can help you practice safe computing.

There are a few terms I will throw around here that may be new to you. These are the terms I will be covering with brief definitions:

Malware – Malware, short for malicious software, is programming (code, scripts, active content, and other software) designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, gain unauthorized access to system resources, and other abusive behavior.  The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

Computer Viruses - A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus can spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive.

Worms - A computer worm is a self-replicating malware computer program, which uses a computer network to send copies of itself to other computers on the network and it may do so without any user intervention. This is due to security shortcomings on the target computer. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, even if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer.

Rogue security software (or Rogueware) – Rogueware is a form of computer malware that deceives or misleads users into paying for the fake or simulated removal of malware, or that installs other malware.  Rogue security software, in recent years, has become a growing and serious security threat in desktop computing.

Spyware & Adware  - Spyware is a type of malware that collects small pieces of information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's personal computer. Adware is similar to spyware in how it is acquired. However, it is more obvious and will annoy the user with pop-ups, ads and undesired website redirections.

Keith, I’m terrified and will never use the internet again!! What can we do?!

It’s a jungle out there but do not despair. If you follow the simple tips I outline you will have a much safer virtual experience.  

Avoiding viruses and worms

Viruses can cause lots of damage; sometimes enough to require a fresh install of Windows. Thankfully Bill and I have taken the time of equip every Iredale machine with virus protection. The Symantec anti-virus client on your computer should nab most of the junk out there.

·    Do not open email attachments that look suspicious. If you don’t know the person and/or the information is irrelevant to you, just delete the message. Email is frequently used to spread viruses.

A common example is an email with the subject similar to “You just received an E-Greeting” or “Greetings! Someone Has Sent You an E-Card”. The body of the message will have a link to view the card or an attachment (usually a .ZIP). Just delete them. Never open the attachment or follow the link.

Also be wary if you receive an email from someone you DO know if it doesn't quite look right. Sometimes spammers can get their hands on an email address of someone you know and ‘spoof’ their address as the sender. If you know that Jonny Doe doesn’t send spam email about magic weight loss pills then don’t open the message.

·    Update Windows! Many hackers will use exploits they find in the operating system. A large portion of those annoying Windows updates are fixes to keep you safe. Always update as soon as possible when you’re prompted. Out of date computers are usually more susceptible to worms as well.

Avoiding spyware, adware and rogueware

These buggers generally use the same medium to get you: your web browser. Therefore the prevention measures are basically the same.

·    Give us money and we’ll fix the problem we just gave you! Rogueware is the primary reason I chose malware as my main topic this month. It has recently become a common scam on the internet and can result in a very time-consuming removal process.

Rogueware is essentially a well crafted trap. It poses as a legitimate computer application and tries to bait you into clicking it. Once clicked, the trap is sprung. The malware will install on your computer and wreak havoc until you call IT support for some surgery.

In most cases the rogueware will look like an anti-virus application. You will be browsing around the web when all of a sudden an alert appears telling you that your machine is infected. Sometimes the application will generously ask for a credit card. DO NOT CLICK ANYTHING on the window.  It is really just a pop-up window and clicking its links will actually install malware.

Rogueware pop-ups will usually look something like these examples:

If you get a rogueware pop-up follow these steps:

1.   Press Ctrl + Alt + Del

2.   Choose Task Manager

3.   Under the Applications tab click on the rogueware application name and click the End Task button

That should do it! In most cases if you end the program without clicking anything on the pop-up you should be A-OK. If the application pops up again (or you’re too nervous to try the aforementioned steps) then give IT Support a call.

Like I said before, rogueware is usually picked up like adware or spyware so be sure to read the rest of this section. J

·    Look before you leap! Let’s say you google ‘puppies and kittens playing tennis in Massachusetts’ and your first result is puppiesandkittensplayingtennisinmassachusetts.com. That’s probably too good to be true. (Besides, THEY DON’T HAVE OPPOSABLE THUMBS!) Always read the URL and description of a website before clicking it. If it’s too good to be true (the URL is exactly what you searched) or the description doesn’t really make sense, keep looking and don’t bother with it.

That goes for Google images too. Always make sure you take a look at the URL and description when browsing Google images. When you click a thumbnail from Google images it brings you to the webpage containing the image. Just because the image is what you want doesn’t necessarily mean the webpage is what you want.

·    Click here for a free Xbox 360! Xbox 360s are not free. Nor are HD televisions, cars or tropical vacations. If the ad you’re looking at looks even slightly suspicious you should leave it alone. Ads are a very common source of malware so be careful. If the website you’re on has an ocean of flashing ads you may want head back to that left turn at Albuquerque. (Bugs Bunny reference!)

More General Windows Tips

Set Internet Explorer Home page

Do you find yourself frequently going to the same web page (or pages) as soon as you open IE (Internet Explorer)? Why not make that frequented location your home page? It’s easy!

From Internet Explorer:

-Click Tools -> Internet Options

-At the top of this window is a field for ‘Home Page’. Simply click the Use Current button to use the page you’re currently on or manually enter the website URL in the field.

-Click OK

That’s it!!

If you have IE 7 or newer you can set multiple home pages. That means when you open IE it will automatically open your home pages in tabs. You can add multiple web pages to the home page field by simply putting each URL on its own line (see below). Alternatively, you can open the desired tabs before going to the Internet Options screen, and then hit the ‘Use current’ button.

  

Block or Allow a sender in Outlook

The spam filter in Outlook is great. Usually it protects you from annoying spammers. However, there are times when spam slips through the filter. There are also times that it guesses wrong and traps legitimate mail. IT Tips to the rescue!

Allowing a sender

The spam filter is easy to work with. If you have a legitimate contact whose email keeps getting stuck in the junk folder follow these steps:

1.    Right click on an email from your legitimate contact.

2.    Mouse over ‘Junk E-mail…’

3.    Click on ‘Mark as Not Junk’

4.   You will now see a dialog box with a checkbox labeled ‘Always trust e-mail from “[contact email]”’. Leave the checkbox checked and click OK.

The message will then be moved from the Junk E-mail folder and placed in your inbox. The sender will also be added to the Safe Senders list so their email isn’t filtered in the future.

Blocking a sender

You can block senders in a similar fashion. Instead of clicking on ‘Mark as Not Junk’ you can select ‘Add sender to Blocked Senders List’. That will keep undesired email from reaching your inbox.

Manually managing allowed/blocked senders

You can also manually manage your blocked and allowed senders. Just follow these steps from Outlook:

1.    Click Tools -> Options

2.    Click the ‘Junk E-mail…’ button

3.    Use either the ‘Safe Senders’ or ‘Blocked Senders’ tabs to manage.

 

Thank you!

Kevin Mendelson suggested an IT Tip pertaining to general PC maintenance. His suggestion inspired the safe computing section. Thanks, Kevin!

Sharon Gregory thought a tip about email spammers would be helpful. That prompted the safe/blocked senders section. Thank you, Sharon!

Have a great Month, everyone!

-Keith

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