Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Facebook BUGS and Viruses - USE CAUTION!


This looks like any other web site - AOL, yahoo maybe but it is not. It is a link you may arrive at when reading stuff out of Facebook.
I love facebook! Let's face it - I think a lot of us do. I can keep in touch with my current freidns and found a ton of friends I haven't seen since 3rd grade! I enjoy being able to put my pics up and share them easily with friends - sure beats emailing all those pics and trying to remember all the people i wanted to send them to. Well, after yesterday's information about viruses a client emailed and asked about the facebook virus - so here is what I have learned and would like to pass along to you.


REMEMBER: Beaware of your surroundings in the computer world. You nver know when a sneeky bug is going to get you! You best protection is a good offense - have your data backed up *ASK* about Simply Back up! by Simply Seniors Computer Tutor http://www.sscomputertutor.com/
If your data is backed up and you run into one of these bugs - we can always fix the situation and get you running again quickly. If the data is not backed up it may not be so easy and your beloved photos and music files may become victims of the viruses - gone forever.


This information is from: Kurt Tavosh:


Avoid News44.org links at all cost whether on Facebook or Twitter! I was just informed about a dangerous virus attack on Facebook and also in tweets on Twitter using the word News44.org and asking you to check the link. For the time I do not have much information about how this Facebook Virus (trap) is working but avoid at all cost. From some very brief details I was able to get from some friends, this News44.org can be both a phishing trap as well as contain malicious codes! So even if you are extremely curious, do avoid this for now. Share this message with your friends so that they do not fall in this trap.
I’ll try to gather more information about how this site is functioning and update as soon as possible. Facebook and Twitter has already been informed about this and tweets containing this word should be eliminated soon. If you have already been infected or think to have been, then clear your cache and cookies. Restart your PC and make a full scan of your system.
Update 1: How News44.org Works
Facebook spam messages and tweets containing message asking users to visit the said site start the whole game. Eg message: “Did you see this in the news?” – And other similar unauthorized messaged supposedly from your friends.

Once you click on this link you are redirected to another site called bonuscashh.com – This site is a fake news website promoting scam and phishing make money online services along with malicious set file included in the link on the page. The link to avoid at all cost is: http://bonuscashh.com/mrx.exe as stated by Norton today.

The website even fakes the copyright data at the bottom. It automatically guess your location and put a copyright notice based on the location from where you are browsing at, to make things appear more genuine.
Stacey's personal warning to you - becareful with what you click on and accept to look is one thing to click on things and accept them is another. While doing research on this I was presented many times with "your computer needs and antivirus program' click here! I knew better but it sure was convincing to smost users.
Please use an anti maleware program like Malwarebytes (found at http://www.malwarebytes.org/) to keep your machine clean after surfing the web.
Be ware, know it is there and use common sense. Happy Computing!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Fake Antispyware is Big Online Busine$$



This information comes from Sunbelt - it's a little techie geek speak - but it's just amazing how the fake anti spyware or actual spyware programs work.

Malware researcher S!Ri catches rogue site affiliates ripping off his content Rogue researcher S!Ri just blogged about catching some rogue affiliate web sites ripping off his content to boost their search engine rankings. The game is a good glimpse into the rogue security software distribution world.Rogue creators put up web sites, just like legitimate businesses, to sell their fake security products online. They use Trojans in spam email attachments and other nefarious means to frighten victims into believing that their machines are infected, then offer to sell their products (which really do nothing) to fix the bogus problems.In the web advertising world, one can post advertising for other businesses on one’s site and be paid for visitors who “click through.” These are called “affiliate” sites. Just like legitimate businesses, there are affiliate sites that drive business to pages that sell rogue security products.These affiliates use search engine optimization to drive up their ratings to draw unsuspecting web browsers, posting content about rogue security products. They may have hundreds of web sites that draw browsers looking for information about rogue products then pass those visitors along to rogue download sites and make money for their pass throughs. To attract visitors, they need content related to rogues, so, they pull content from S!Ri’s research blog.On Friday, S!Ri invented a rogue name -- “Secure Shield” -- made a fake graphic of a user interface and posted it on his blog. Today he blogged about how quickly the affiliates scraped his content and put it on their pages: ten minutes in one case. His blog has seven screen shots of affiliate pages carrying his invention.Yea, it’s like Chinese boxes or Russian dolls: a fake on a researcher’s site that is stolen by an affiliate site that sends traffic to a site selling (fake) security software.Thanks S!Ri. Thanks Patrick

For real help with your computer needs from a trust worthy source contact Simply Seniors Computer Tutor http://www.sscomputertutor.com/ that's Simply Seniors Computer Tutor 321-431-3866In home instruction for senior citizens, new and used computer sale, setup and service.

This information is from the blog the above is refering to:

Friday, October 16, 2009

Secure Shield fake rogue
The previous post: Secure Shield rogue was a test.Some blog webmasters are regularly using the screenshots I made on their blog post. They just take the pictures, wrote a text about the rogue dangerousness and link to a "Free Scan", "Free Removal" tool (which is NOT free). Without analyzing the rogue itself.Those blogs are cleaners affiliates. If the downloaded cleaner they link to is installed and registered, they get a retribution. They don't care if the tool can remove or not the infection. They don't analyze the infection. They just make a maximum traffic and try to be ranked on google first page.Some others blogs webmasters are promoting PUP softwares. Here again, PUP softwares creators don't analyze files. They try to sell their tools with a good google rank.So I decided to MAKE a picture of a new rogue that does NOT exist: Secure Shield. I post the picture and wait for the "serious" guys.10 minutes after my blog and my digg post, Loaris posts a modified picture of mine (his digg).

Loaris Trojan Remover was classified once as rogue.Few minutes later, another webmaster blogs about Secure Shield removal: Trojan Killer (a clone of Loaris Trojan Remover).Then it is PC Tools / Spyware Doctor affiliates turn to promise full removal of the rogue. Those guys are inventing files, folders and keys name.Another PC Tools / Spyware Doctor Affiliates:Edit: One day after, it's still going on:3 days after, there is more posts about the Fake Trojan romover. Spyware Doctor PC Tools affiliates copying others Spyware Doctor PC Tools affiliates posts.

Users should not trust cleaners promoted by affiliates business plan.Click on the pictures to see the full capture of the blogs pages. The seed has germinate, you can search on google for more. Some of them manage to get removed from google (Loaris Trojan Remover delete his post about SecureShield).


We use S!ri's products and research daily and find this to be a great piece of information. From what I have posted here today I have finally learned WHY the antispyware people do what they do - I knew it had to be money driven but could never figure out how. I know it's not so much that they want you to buy the product - though some do and they take your credit card information and use it over seas - but that is another story. I now understand that they make their money through these affiliates and pay per click's that occur on their many many fake web sites.


You need to know if you are in the Brevard County area of Florida Simply Seniors Computer Tutor suggests Computer Care Clinic for all of your virus removal needs. They have been voted the Best in Brevard for 5 years and they have two locations on in Melbourne and the other north in Merritt Island. You can find them on the web at http://www.computercare911.com/


For home pick up and delivery of your sick PC contact Simply Seniors Computer Tutor. We take all of the work out of the equation for you. No tricky wires to remember or software to learn. We work specifically with senior citizens and their computer needs. Check us out on the web


Happy Computing!

RENAME A SERIES OF FILES OR FOLDERS

When you download photos from your digital camera, they often have unrecognizable names. You can rename several similar iles at once with the following procedure. This also works for renaming other types of Files.

Open the My Pictures folder. (Click Start, and then click My Pictures.) Or open another folder containing files that you want to rename.

Select the iles you want to rename. If the files you want are not adjacent in the file
list, press and hold Ctrl, and then click each item to select it.

On the File menu, click
Rename.
Type the new name and then press ENTER."

All of the iles in the series will be named in sequence using the new name you type. For example, if you type Birthday, the first will be named Birthday and subsequent files in the series will be named Birthday (1), Birthday (2) and so on.

To specify the starting number for the series, type the starting number in parentheses after the new file name. The files in the series will be numbered in sequence starting with the number you type. For example, if you type Birthday (10), the other files will be named Birthday (11), Birthday (12) and so on.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Simply Repurposed PC's - Why buy new?


Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is proud to introduce "Simply Repurposed PC's" to our clients. Please check back with our main web site as we will have a page devoted to our in stock Simply Repurposed PC's. The Pcs are desktops and laptops all running Windows XP. Each PC comes with a 90 Day parts warranty and we are always here to help when you need us!

Our repurposed PCs start as low as $75!!! The are all brand name products, HP, Dell, Compaq, Gateway, E-Machines, IBM, each computer has been thoroughly inspected for hardware defects, software installs and updates, cosmetic quality and more.

We have used keyboard, mice, LCD Flat screen monitors, Desktops, Laptops, Netbooks, printers, recycled (unused) paper and more.

These computers simple were no longer useful to their owner who may have had different computer needs, merged from a desktop to a laptop or a company sell /buy out.

Consider the savings! Perfect for the light user, someone who does email, light web searches, writes letters & prints, digital photos, videos & DVD watching etc.,

Full Systems starting at $200! Delivered and set up for you in your Brevard or Indian River County FL location!

For more information call 321-431-3866 or email info@sscomputertutor.com
If you have a used, broken or unwanted computer DO NOT THROW IT AWAY - our landfills do not want the mercury and toxins, and it's not necessary when it can be recycled. Staples and Office Depot will take your unwanted items for a fee.

Simply Seniors Computer Tutor would like to help. Remember all of your personal information is on your unwanted PC. A professional can help destroy that information so that it does not make it's way into the wrong hands. Contact Simply Seniors Computer Tutor for more information on how we can recycle your PC (for free).

Be sure to visit http://www.sscomputertutor.com/

Thanks,

Stacey Kile - Owner Simply Seniors Computer Tutor - Simply Repurposed PCs

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Processors - Celeron Vs. Pentium

When working with clients who are purchasing a new system questions from words they have heard always come up - one is about the processor and with so many choices how are you supposed to know what is right, what is old and what is new? So as I was thinking about this topic this morning I thought I might take a moment to compare two very popular processors (aka the brains of the computer or the chip). Today's information comes to us from http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bradley_James

The Celeron and Pentium Processors are two of Intel's best selling CPUs. They are found in a majority of home computer systems. When comparing the two processors it should be first understood that there are different types of Pentium processors - the original Pentium all the way to the Pentium 4 (the latest Pentium processor). The Celeron processors are more or less the same, although you will find them in a wide variety of speeds.


The Intel Celeron processor was always designed to be a low-cost alternative to the Pentium processor line. It is much like a car company that offers various priced cars from the luxury sedan to the economy compact. The Celeron is simply a downgraded Pentium, that almost anyone can afford (it is essentially the compact). To begin, Celeron chips have a smaller L2 cache 9128kb compared with 512kb in the Pentium 4 Northwood, which translates into slower processing speeds. In fact, current Celerons have a clock speed limit of about 2.0GHz, where as the Pentium for is capable of speed in excess of 3.0GHz. In addition, the Pentium runs at a lower core voltage because it is more energy effecient (1.75V vs. 1.5V).


In summary, the Pentium 4 is more powerful than the most advanced Celeron processor on the market. However, Intel has planned it to be this way. Many applications will work just great with a Celeron processor, despite a little less power than the Pentium 4. It is a way to save a little cash when buying a new pc - but don't forget the saying "you get what you pay for." Celeron processors are of good Intel quality, but they will never be as good as the Pentium.

Now that you know that the celeron is bacially th eocnomical version you can do everythig the average home user wants to do. Now I consider myself a power user. At any given time when you look at my computer I have a very busy machine. I am running Windows Vista Business, along with a sidebar full of tools. Then I am typically looking at anywhere from 3 to 10 different web sites using IE 8 and tabs. I may end up with one or two other IE's opened from popups. Then I commonly have my 2.5 GB Outlook sitting open - because you never know when you're going to need your mail and calendar. After reading the email there are always about 6 or 7 opened ones just sitting there waiting for my attention along with a couple half written responses I am also often working on web site development or a power point presentation which now has opened more windows - OK, so we are talking 15 -30 windows open at any given time. I am running a 1.4 Ghz celeron, with 2GB RAM. I never have hang ups, or slow downs and am almost afraid to trade or upgrade my computer because of the fact that it works so well. My point to this is to let you know that it is very possible to buy a less expensive machine and get everything you want and then some from that machine.

If you are ever looking to get a new computer - and your wallet does not allow for the latest and you do not have to have the latest - check with Simply Seniors Computer Tutors as they always have a great selection of used computers and equipment that will meet your needs and your budget.

Thanks for reading!

Stacey Kile - Simply Seniors Computer Tutors - 321-431-3866 www.sscomputertutor.com