SJW Tech Services

Check out this article on MSNBC. Some users of Windows Live (i.e. Hotmail) recieved a message on sign-in that said they didn’t have an e-mail inbox. Yikes! Microsoft has tried to reassure everyone that the e-mails are fine, the glitch just happened during routine maintenance.

“I am both celebrating and feeling wiser,” said one affected user. ”My project today is to get all that ‘valuable’ info mined out of those saved e-mails and onto paper!” Now paper might be a little bit too extreme, but there are better solutions than trusting your entire e-mail and contact history to Hotmail, G-mail, Yahoo! mail, etc. Exchange is one option, using Outlook to check your e-mail then backing up and archiving PST files is yet another option. The bottom line is this: don’t trust the safety of YOUR data to anyone else but you.

In case you missed it, April 1 marked a change in behavior of a nasty virus known as “Conflicker.” (Click here to read about it) This thing is vicious – it polls 500 websites from a randomly generated list of 50,000 seeking a specific code that tells the virus what to do next… such as stealing personal information like passwords and credit card numbers, or adding your computer to a botnet – a vast array of computers the use of which is sold on the black market to the highest bidder. (This stuff is straight out of a movie – I can’t even make this up anymore!)  Conflicker also disables the Automatic Update feature in Windows XP,  and prevents the user from accessing popular anti-virus websites such as Trend Micro, Symantec, and McAfee. If that’s not bad enough, the media got wind of this scary little bug and BAM! The world’s coming to an end because of this critter!

… but is it, really? The security flaw in Windows that Conflicker takes advantage of was patched in October of 2008. Every anti-virus software that’s out there has said that if you have the latest virus definition updates, you’re easily protected from the virus. So, what have we learned from all this?

First, you NEED an anti-virus. Second, you NEED to keep Windows up-to-date. How do you do that? Easy. In Windows XP, anytime there is an update available, there’s a little gold shield in the bottom right-hand corner. In Vista, the icon looks a little different, but if you hover your mouse over it, it will say “Windows updates are available to install.” Or, you can go into the Control Panel, and open up “Automatic Updates.” OR, you can go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com and that will scan your comptuer and see what updates you need (this method works for all Windows versions EXCEPT Vista – you have to use the Control Panel in Vista). 

If you think you might be infected with any kind of virus, it can be very difficult to remove without the proper software and equipment. Your personal data might also be at risk if you’re unfamiliar with properly cleaning an infected machine. Fortunately, I’ve cleaned many computers of hundreds of different types of viruses and spyware. Think you’re infected now? Don’t wait – call me, Stefan, at 865-803-5092. Need some preventative maintenance? I can do that too. Don’t wait until it’s too late – make sure you’re protected now.