by E.I.T. Author | Feb 1, 2017 | Blog, Computers, Security, viruses
Are you a person who sometimes gets viruses or malware on your computer, and you swear you didn’t install it, but you did, and you can’t figure out how or when it got slipped in there? Well I’m going to show you a common one that people miss.
The problem now is, that hackers KNOW that most people select the DEFAULT, QUICK installation when they install things. So they hide them there. The solution? DON’T! Don’t select the default option when installing programs, EVER. Always choose the “ADVANCED” or “CUSTOM” installation when installing things. Always! I guarantee that 90-95% of the time, there is a toolbar, or some additional program installation needing your approval, set up in the default installation, and if you choose default, you “WILL” authorize it’s installation. I’m going to show you a picture, and as I run across other examples, I will come back and add more pictures to this post. But for now, I have two from today.
Hidden Toolbar in default program installation
Notice, that “if” I were to select the ADVANCED option, ONLY THEN can I UNCHECK the Delta Toolbar installation seeking authorization in this program installation. This is very common. Standard today, in fact. What’s unique about this one, and why I chose it, as this one allows you to “see” what they are hiding, so it’s not so deceptive. Most of the time, the text and everything is COMPLETELY hidden, and you can’t see it until you either “uncheck” the default option, or “check” the advanced or custom option. I’ll say it again: “usually” it’s COMPLETELY hidden. I chose this picture, because in this install, you can see it. And I wanted one where you could see so I could show you.
Here’s another example: This one has the same Delta toolbar hidden under advanced installation, but even if you catch that one, don’t forget to click DECLINE “BEFORE” CLICKING NEXT!! so you don’t install the MIDI program also! (decline does not stop the installation, it prevents authorization for the malware program installation!)
HiddenDeltaToolbar&aProgram
So here it is (the first example) once I unchecked the default, chose the advanced install, and UNCHECKED the additional nasty little Delta Toolbar. (all toolbars are nasty btw…never install any additional toolbars, NEVER!
The correct selections
So now hopefully you see how they hide those tricky things, and maybe next time, they won’t get you. 🙂
Remember, always choose advanced or custom program installations. You don’t have to be a technical genius to choose that option. That’s what the hackers want you to think.
by E.I.T. Author | Jan 12, 2017 | Blog
This post is to make you aware of a new Gmail email phishing attack that has fooled many experienced I.T. technicians and consultants. The only way to avoid it, is to be aware of how it works. Wordfence has done such a good post on this…so I won’t re-iterate all of their information. However, their post is quite long, and the information may just a little “too” deep for many to process through, so I will point out the highlights : To detect it, you have to FULLY read the address in the address bar, and it’s tricky. If you are reading Wordfence’s post, you need to go down about 1/3 down the page, to the picture of the address bar with the bright red arrow, and then some whitespace, and the script tag at the end of it….this is what you need to look for, and you have to select all the text to see as it will likely fall off the end and be hidden (which is intentional) There is also a paragraph titled “HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF” READ THIS! That’s the important part! If you are able, I encourage you to read the entire thing. The post/information is HERE:Â
Also, there is some other great info in the post, and that is you can check any of your email addresses to see if they have been pawned anywhere… it’s a very reputable site, and THAT SITE IS HEREÂ . If yours is RED, change your password!
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 27, 2016 | Blog
As you know, the web is getting crowded. And Google, being the primary search engine of choice, can’t possibly put everyone up in the front of the line. Google has a lot of policies to ensure that their clients find the best of the best, …first. Before all the crappy stuff. And that’s the way it should be. They have a lot (a really lot) of policies governing advertising…so if you use Adwords, you should really look. But this is not about advertising…
They have a new rule that governs sites that have forums, mailing lists, even simple contact forms…every site that takes personal information. And the rule is that those pages must be delivered via SSL (secure socket layer…encryption for you simple folk) In other words, they have to be able to be delivered with the https:// in the front, instead of https:// . And if they don’t comply, or can’t, then in Google’s search results, there will be a warning in red that the site is not secure. (damaging traffic, of course) Â If you want to read about it, The Post is Here
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 27, 2016 | Blog
I received a notice of this current excellent discount. It’s normally around $80 …but here, and now you can get it for $20 for the next 3 days…just click here: https://store.acronis.com/Â Â It’s one of the best backup software utilities that exist… I love it. I’ve needed my backups more than once, and it’s great to make a backup when you are messing around with something that may break your machine (like trying to make a triple-boot on a GPT 3TB drive on a UEFI secure boot system! LOL)
Everything I.T. is not an affiliate of any organization, and we don’t make any money for bringing you the discounts we find. I just like to share what I find with my faithful followers. So stick around, and I’ll gladly share what I find with you…FREE.
Remember, backup, backup, and backup!
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 24, 2016 | Blog
Merry Christmas to all from Everything I.T.
We will be closed on the 25th and the 26th of December for Christmas. We will be back open for business on December 27th, here and available to help configure any new devices Santa brought you for Christmas, should you need help with that new laptop, desktop, cell phone, or whatever Santa brought you.
🙂
![Are your website(s) rated as SECURE??]()
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 21, 2016 | Blog, Computers, internet stuff, Security, Web Development
If you have a website, you may have not even considered getting it rated as secure by the many website security rating systems that are out there, that display a security symbol next to your search results in Google & Bing. It looks something like this (this is Norton’s) 
There are many of them, but the most popular ones are Norton’s Safe Web, WOT (web of trust), McAfee’s Site Advisor, Trend Micro’s “Trend Secure” …and so many others.
To get this, you would need to submit your site (and only the owner can do it)to Norton (or whichever rating service) for review, and then they give it that little green box stamp of approval next to the URL in the search results. For Norton’s Safeweb, You can submit it here: https://safeweb.norton.com/help/site_owners There are others also, if you want to deal with all of them, I don’t know, (I recommend doing as many as you can) but there is also Web of Trust (WOT), Webutation ( https://www.webutation.net/ ) McAfee Site Advisor (now called web advisor I think) (https://home.mcafee.com/root/landingpage.aspx?lpname=get-it-now&affid=0&cid=170789), AVG Threat Labs (https://www.avgthreatlabs.com/), Trend Micro’s TrendProtect, (https://test.trendsecure.com/portal2.1/en-US/free_security_tools/trendprotect.php?page=download) …and I’m sure there are others. I think Norton, Web of Trust, and Site/Web Advisor are the most commonly used ones.
Here’s a list of a few more if you’re interested: https://www.toptenreviews.com/software/articles/website-reputation-rating-tools/
Get your site that little green safe icon, because without it, you may just be losing traffic!
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 21, 2016 | Blog, Computers, internet stuff, Web Development
Do I know what they are? No, I don’t. I only that today is day 1, and today’s special is 50% off on all their hosting plans. So for a small site on their starter hosting plan, you can get it for $4 month, which works out to $48 for the first year, which is a very good price for hosting. I’ve been with them almost 10 years now…and I haven’t found a reason to leave. They have 24/7 support as well. Check it out here: GODADDY HOSTING PLANS ON SALE!
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 12, 2016 | Blog, Computers, hacking, internet stuff, Security, viruses
I was wondering when it would happen…that I would get a call from someone who had their files “ransomed”. What does that mean? Well the newest and greatest form of virus is ransomware…and it’s big business now. And they like to focus on businesses. They know that businesses can not afford to lose their client data…and they bank on that, and they quite often win.
Well, it happened today. And I felt bad for the guy.
What is ransomware? It’s a virus that installs one (or more) forms of ENCRYPTION on your computer, encrypts ALL your files so that they can not be opened without the decryption key, and it’s VERY effective. Some forms of ransomware can be decrypted, but there are some that can not. If your computer gets ransomed, you have only a couple of choices…
1. Pay the $500 or more to get the key and get your files back. If you want to do this, do it. Because once you start messing with trying to recover the files, you might lose the ability to decrypt…so think carefully about this. If you have no backup of your files, and you really need your files, and you can afford it, you should probably pay the money. It’s going to cost you maybe 1/3 to 1/2 that for an I.T. guy to remove the virus, and attempt to recover, and it may not even be possible. (though if you do, you should definitely get the machine cleaned after you get your files back!) You could possibly get a hold of the hacker, and try to negotiate a lower price I suppose, It’s worth a shot. I don’t know it’s successful or not.
2. You can remove the virus…to make sure no further files get encrypted, and start fresh…with the understanding that there is a 50% chance you will permanently lose your data. Every ransom attack is different. There are more than 1 ransom viruses, and some can be dealt with, and some can not.
3. You have a backup, and can restore it…GREAT! LET’S DO IT! Give me a call if you need help.
Some things to do once you know you have been hacked:
- Disconnect the internet! this can prevent cloud drive files from being synced to newly encrypted files, and being changed also if you have Google drive, or One Drive, or any other cloud account, and can prevent the virus from reaching other machines on the network.
- After you get the name of the ransomware package, write down the info, and SHUT DOWN THE MACHINE. Don’t use it. Don’t go on the network. Don’t install anything. Don’t do anything until you call a tech, or do some research on the internet on your particular ransom virus (from another computer)
- if you are going to try to remove it, download some help: Malwarebytes, Shadow Explorer, Norton Security (get a trial if you need to, they give you 30 days!)
- Often ransomware encrypts by way of making a copy, encrypting it, and deleting the original. Sometimes you can get originals back with deleted file recovery programs, like Recuva…which is an excellent program. System restore and Shadow Explorer will try to recover shadow copies created with system restore. If system restore doesn’t work, you can try to use ShadowExplorer.
If you haven’t been hacked yet, PROTECT YOURSELF!
- You should have a good security SUITE installed on every computer you own. If you don’t, shame on you! I can’t help you much if you don’t care enough to even try to protect yourself. I personally recommend Norton Security, it has the LEAST effect system resources (slowing down your machine) and it’s very good protection. And yes, you need the FULL SUITE of protection, firewall, virus scanner, real time protection…all of it, NOT JUST AN ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM. Malwarebytes is a good secondary protection. It will run alongside Norton just fine…and every time a new version releases, you get another 15 days of real time monitoring with it, (then it switches to manual scan mode, unless you purchase the pro version) …but 15 days of real time, 5 or 6 times a a year is fine for free, since you have another security suite, right? (yes) There is a 3rd program you can run alongside if you want, to protect specifically against ransomware, and it’s called CRYPTOPREVENT.
- Make sure SYSTEM RESTORE is TURNED ON and THAT YOU HAVE ENOUGH STORAGE SPACE FOR RESTORE POINTS! Depending what version of Windows you have, right click on either My Computer, or This PC (windows 8-10) and click on PROPERTIES. Then click on System Protection, select the drive you want to configure and then click CONFIGURE. You should turn on system restore for you operating system drive/partition, and any data partitions/drives you have. And you should also make sure that around 10% of the total drive space is allocated for restore points. (if you have system restore turned on, but have 0% space allotted to store restore points, it’s useless, as nothing will be written to the drive in way of a backup)
- BACKUP YOUR DATA. Cloud backup services are “ok” …for backing up files, but they won’t restore an entire drive image, operating system, and installed programs…it will only give you files. And it’s risky, because if it runs all the time, there is a chance those files also become corrupt when they sync with your machine. You should do regular full system drive imge backups with a backup program such as either Acronis True Image or Aeomi Backupper, or EaseUS Todo Backup . Do a FULL drive image backup at LEAST once a month (or incremental/differential if the software has that capability) If you do inc/diff backups, only do about 3 or so…but every 90 days at least, do a new FULL backup. Note, when doing backups, if you are using EXTERNALS USB HARD DRIVES, these will fail eventually. They have moving parts. They get hot. Especially if they run all the time, they will fail.. I myself use plain hard drives…if your desktop has storage for more hard drives, put a backup drive right in your machine. You can also use hard drives with a docking station, which is both cheaper, and more reliable than external drives. If possible, use flash storage: either flash drives (if you find one large enough) SSDs, or even SD cards can be used to store files, and they are typically more reliable. If you do use external hard drive, don’t leave it running all the time, and if you do need it to run all the time, get a new one every 18 months at least, sooner if you can afford it. Or, just store backups in more than one place. If you ever need one of your backups, you will be glad you have more than 1 to choose from. You really can’t be too anal about this stuff, trust me.
Anyway, that’s the skinny on ransomware. If you have questions, comment below, or contact Everything I.T. on the contact page (or just CHAT, we do that also) and we’ll give you hand!
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 11, 2016 | Blog, Business or Economics, general
Quite often, the articles and/or information that I find so very interesting that they are worth re-posting, are often not related to information technology, and for that, I apologize. But I really could not pass this up. The whole situation sounds pretty serious to me, for an entire country to demonetize part of its cash currency to fight counterfeiting and terrorism. But that’s exactly what India did. Not all of its currency, mind you, but the most common bills I suppose. It would be equivalent of USA saying “as of midnight tonight, no $20’s, $50’s, or $100’s bills will be any more be considered legal tender for stores, bill payment, or anything that requires payment that you wish to render payment for in cash”; And that would have serious economic consequences for the country. But think; If they did it in one country, what is to stop them from trying it here if it’s successful? It’s scary to think about. If you want to read the article (which is very good, and worth reading) read it here: https://www.indipulse.com/demonetization-in-india-a-perfect-case-of-solution-worse-than-the-problem/
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 9, 2016 | Blog, Computers, hacking, internet stuff, phishing, Security, viruses
You may have heard that more and more penetrations are coming by way of IoT devices. This may be new and confusing to you, and you may be wondering if this affects you, and how it could affect you.
IoT devices are devices that use, and connect to the internet, but because they are more simple in nature, haven’t been considered for security risks. One of the newest ones that has popped up is IP Cameras. An IP camera is a camera that transmits it’s data (images) in DIGITAL format instead of analog. How would you know if you had a digital IP camera? Well, analog cameras connect to recorders with coaxial cables, where digital IP cameras use a standard Ethernet (internet) cable. Here is an example of a digital IP camera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79G4InvJX78 . If you have a newer security system in your home, or especially if  you have a business with a full-fledged camera network security system, then this article on how Sony cameras are compromising networks would be a good, and highly recommended read for you. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/12/researchers-find-fresh-fodder-for-iot-attack-cannons/?platform=hootsuite My job is simply to educate you, and pass on new and important information, hoping to protect the public from the scoundrels and criminals who want to take advantage of your weaknesses.
Have a Happy Holiday season this 2016 Christmas and New Year. Blessings from Everything I.T.
by E.I.T. Author | Dec 6, 2016 | Blog
It’s here! Â has finally arrived! And boy does it have some neet stuff in it. I may even change a theme on one of my sites to the latest built-in theme, 2017 because I haven’t seen one that literally has all the bells & whistles in it.
Anyway, if you have a WordPress site, and you haven’t logged in for a while, you are going to want to go there now. In addition, even my simplest sites had like 6 plugin updates to go with the new version release, and my larger sites had more. So, major WP version, plugin updates, AND Theme updates (all my sites but one had new theme versions as well) …so you are going to want to go upate your sites now. Go! Run! 🙂
by E.I.T. Author | Nov 25, 2016 | Blog
Ok, well, I was searching for some decent I.T. related Black Friday deals to give you. I literally found pretty much nothing to write home about. 10% here and there… (I don’t get out of bed or blink an eye at a mere 10%, right?) …but I did find one. And so far, it’s the only one. But I did find you a 70% hosting discount at one of the best rated hosting companies, SiteGround. SiteGround is known for their quality WordPress hosting service. And right now, you can get a hosting account for 70% discount, and I think it’s good until Monday (Cyber Monday) night at midnight. (but if you are going to let today slip by, and you really want it, I would check with them to be sure…I had briefly read it somewhere, but when I went to post, I couldn’t confirm the end date/time)Â SiteGround WordPress Hosting 70% Off!!
by E.I.T. Author | Nov 18, 2016 | Blog
So you want to build a website. Where do you start? What do you need? How much will it cost?
Well, I wanted to do a basic information post. I’m not going to cover the “how much does it cost” part because I think that is on the services page on this website. But I’ll try to hit the basics on the other two.
There are 2 things you need, basically. You need a domain name, and a server. The domain name is fairly simple. That is the “name” of your website. It is the first part/beginning of the URL (uniform resource locator) or the “.com” part of the address…it’s the name you pick for your site. Can you just pick any name? Well, sort of. There are companies called “registrars” that are “registration places” for your site’s name. You have to go to one of them, and search out the name you want to use for your site. Every domain, (website “name”) must be unique. It can be currently in use, or licensed to be used by anyone else. It is possible for a domain name to be “taken” and no site to be on it. sometimes people just buy and trade them. A good domain name can essentially be worth a lot of money. (think if you purchased Facebook before that site was set up, and someone wanted it, they would have to purchase it from you) If someone purchases a domain, and doesn’t use it right away, then that domain is considered to be “PARKED”. A parked domain is a domain someone purchased, but didn’t build a site on. Here is a list of all the domain registrars around the globe. https://www.icann.org/registrar-reports/accredited-list.html . You may just recognize some of them, you may not. Let’s pick one we might know…GoDaddy… if you go down the list to the G’s, you will see Godaddy.com. If you go there, you can search out domain names and find one that is available. If you find one you like that’s available, you can buy it (actually lease it) There are different TOP LEVEL DOMAINS. The TOP LEVEL DOMAIN is the part after the dot… .com, .net, .info, .us, .gov, .org. Those are all top level domains. If the name you want for your site is not available under one top level domain, it may be available in another if the owner didn’t snatch them all up. If you can’t find mysite.com for example, you may find mysite.net to be available, or you can use mysite.org if it is a nonprofit business. Different top level domains are different prices. Most of the main ones are the same, .com, .net, .org, and .info. . .us costs more…about $20USD per year. There are also “special” top level domains now that are new…like .website, .photgraphy, and many, many more. These special top level domains are very new, and very expensive. They can cost from $50 to hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year. They even have “brand name” top level domains for some well known companies now. You can see some of them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains#Brand_top-level_domains . There are also Country Top-level domains…one for every country. The United States of America, for example, is .us . .cn is china, and .ca is canada. You can see those here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_code_top-level_domain .  Some of the other special Top Level Domains are sponsored TLDs. You can see some of them here, though I believe the list is much longer now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponsored_top-level_domain . Anyway, Google what you are looking for, and you’ll find it. There’s lots of information out there.
So, you picked a domain name. Now what? Well, you need a server to put all the files for your website on. A server is just another computer with a server operating system, like Apache, Linux, or Windows Web Server. You could build your own, and maintain it to keep it up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 165.25 days a year…or, you can “rent” space on a server someone else own. When you do this, it’s called “HOSTING”. It means someone else is “hosting” your website files for you, and you pay them to maintain the hardware. It’s the easiest way. There are many types of hosting services. There are Shared Hosting, Cloud Hosting VPS (Virtual private server) hosting, Dedicated server hosting services…they all have their pros and cons. Others have done the work of writing about it, with pictures, so I’ll just give you a link. Here is an article that explains the hosting services pretty good:Â https://websitesetup.org/what-is-web-hosting/Â .
Anyway, I have to go. One of my client’s websites is running slow on his cloud hosting server/service, and he wants me to fix it. So off I go. If you need help even just getting started, you can call Everything I.T. to help you. Even if you just want to build your own site, but you need help setting it up, I can help you with that. Just get in touch. Don’t wait. Ask questions. It never hurts to call and ask questions, right?
And here is what all the stuff I said looks like pictorially:Â
![Are your website(s) rated as SECURE??]()
by E.I.T. Author | Nov 10, 2016 | Blog
So I was reading my promo codes email today, and Fry’s says they are starting their Black Friday sales early. They have lots of good deals…
If you don’t have security on your computer, you can get Norton, which has been my favorite for at leas 5 years or more now (I test them all) and if you sign up and get the promo code in your email, you can get it (The deluxe version for 3 machines) for about 10 bucks…
So get busy, and start watching those ads. I love Fry’s. I build some great machines…and I don’t get everything there, but I have to say, if I’m not getting it online, I’m getting it at Fry’s…their prices and deals can’t be beat…
Everything I.T. wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving holiday. And I just want to remind you I’m here…for all your computer or website issues.
by E.I.T. Author | Oct 22, 2016 | Blog
Not offline really, just not monitoring as much as I usually do. I’m building a new desktop / work machine,  and borrowing some parts from the old one, so if you don’t get a reply by email as fast as you would like, just call the number at the bottom of the page please.
I do have a laptop, so I will read eventually, but just maybe not as quickly. Sorry.
Thank you for your patience.
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