Author: Janet Riley

“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” Mary Oliver, poet

It’s February!  Happy Ground Hogs Day! Happy Valentines Day!  Happy half way to Spring!  Did you know Ground Hogs Day is the half-way point between winter equinox and spring equinox?  I don’t want to sound whiney and complainy, but I’m getting tired of packing firewood.  Which reminds me what Indians have supposedly said:  Indian build little fire, sit close, keep warm. White man build BIG fire, keep warm hauling wood!

Meanwhile, back in cyber land…

If you are stuck inside because of the cold weather, or any other ailment, here is a project you can tackle:

If you were computing in the 90’s, there is a high probability you backed up data, pictures and movies to CD’s or DVD’s.  In the 90’s they were touting the lifespan of CD’s to be up to 100 years.  Most of us assumed the disks would outlive us and that was a good thing. 

Unfortunately, the 100 year life span was only for the really expensive, gold backed CD’s that the average person couldn’t afford.    A US Library of Congress study concluded that disks stored in optimal conditions should last 30 years.  The life span of the affordable CD’s varies widely, with cheaper quality CD’s lasting a measly two years. Again, these results varied based on the brand of the disk and the storage conditions.  Optimal conditions is defined as: stored at room temperature of 50 percent humidity with no sunlight and no rough handling.

What/Where is the problem?  The data on a CD is stored on a layer of dye that a laser melts when it records the data.  The dye can break down over time and the reflective layer on the top of the disk can oxidize.  Missing Dye? Missing Data!   Got oxidation? Got problem!

So while you are stuck inside, you might consider making backups of your CD’s.  The first step is to figure out if your current computer can even read a CD!  A couple years back, PC manufacturers stopped including DVD drives in the computers.  If you are missing a DVD drive, don’t despair.  Drives are still available.  They come as external USB drives, and if your case will accommodate it, they are still available as internal drives.

Second step is to figure out a new storage device.  Depending on the amount of data you are backing up, you can use USB flash drives, or if doing larges amounts of data, I would consider an external hard drive. 

Once the replacement media has been secured, then it is just a matter of grinding through the transfer.  For data and pictures, a simple copy from one media to the other is sufficient.  If you are making copies of programs or movies, you might need to create disk images.  Complete directions and a longer discussion of this topic can be found here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/682807/the-cds-you-burned-are-going-bad-heres-what-you-need-to-do/

If you need assistance securing DVD drives or remote storage please give me a call.

Until next month, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy,

Janet

My Favorite Snow Sculpture
https://tinyurl.com/wtn32xb4

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”  Rainer Maria Rilke

Well… The New Year’s resolution to stop procrastinating has already been broken.  Seems the desire to write a newsletter has gone to battle with the desire to do anything but write a newsletter and the “anything but” is winning!

So… dragging my body back to the writing:  I want to say a great big THANK YOU to all of you who voted Comp-U-Talk as the #1 Computer Store in the Bay Area.  The poll was conducted by the World Newspaper and you can see the final tabulations here: https://tinyurl.com/4jkxh3az

December was a rough month.  Maintaining E-Mail servers is a nightmare and several years ago, I made the decision to outsource all email hosting.  It is one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I divided my email domains across three different mail servers.  I’ve been considering consolidating them under one server, because managing one server is definitely easier than managing three servers, but December changed my mind!

On my birthday, I woke up to alerts about email not sending or receiving.  No Problem… The Email server teams will take care of that, all I have to do is report it and keep the end users updated concerning the status. 

Long story short, one of the major email hosts for the entire globe has been ransomed.  This is BAD NEWS!  It took many hours on hold and many calls to tech support to get mail moving again, and we are still waiting for many of the mailboxes to recover historical emails.  Fortunately for me, only some of my domains were on this hosted server.  I don’t think I will be consolidating the email servers anytime soon!

This was a miserable experience.  If the big guys, who have 24x7x365 technicians and dedicated security troops can be ransomed, how can the little guys survive?  The awful truth is:  If the criminals decide they want to take over, they will.  There is a saying in the tech security world:  It’s not  a matter of “IF” you are hacked, it is a matter of “WHEN” you are hacked. 

What to do?  If you don’t have cyber insurance, get some!  But you will need to have your ducks in a row before you apply.  Not using Multi Factor Authentication?  If it is available, implement it!  Using the same password for multiple online accounts?  Give each account a unique password.  And by unique, I don’t mean add a “1”, “2”, or “3” to each password.  Unique means each password is completely different.  Just like “Apple$” is different from “Orange$”!

In 2021, cyber liability insurance premiums jumped by a staggering 74%.  And guess what?  Carriers are sick of paying ransomware ransoms, and many have stopped. Paying ransoms to terrorist groups is now considered a crime. That means your only recovery will be from backups.  And cloud backups are safer than local backups.  Local backups can be ransomed just as easily as the local machine.  Cloud backups generally have security in place that doesn’t allow overwriting previous backups.

Need help protecting your computing environment?  Give me a call.  I’d love to help. 

Until next month, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy,

Happy New Year,
Janet

Because It Made Me Laugh!

“Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.” — Oren Arnold

Welcome to the Holiday Season!!  This month I want to share three things with you. 

First up, a warning:  The FBI warned that cybercriminals have been mailing out USB drives that are unknowingly used by their target victims that spread ransomware and launch cyber-attacks. The infected USB drives are sent via the US Postal Service and UPS, impersonating the Department of Health and Human Services in some cases, and Amazon in others. According to the FBI, some packages are designed to resemble Amazon gifts—containing a fake thank you letter, counterfeit gift card, and a USB—and in other cases, the USB drive is accompanied by letters referencing COVID-19 guidelines.  – (see the whole story at: cybersecurity-review.com: search for FBI: Cyber criminals are mailing out USB drives that install ransomware)

Second, we have our custom “built-for-business” computers on sale this month. 

Investing in a new computer isn’t something you want to do lightly.  Things to consider include:

· The amount of Random Access Memory (RAM)

· The Processor used (CPU)

· Storage Capacity

· Hard Drive Type

· Is it a Consumer PC or Business grade PC

Did you know there is a difference between consumer and business PC’s?  Most people don’t.  The cheap consumer PC’s that you pick up at the big box office stores for small amounts of money, are not designed to run eight hours a day.  Comp-U-Talk business computers are built for all day, every day use.  When you shop at Comp-U-Talk we can demystify the computer terms: RAM, CPU, Hard Drive types and speeds and operating system choices so you get the best bang for your buck.  Our systems are customizable, you get exactly what you want, without any of the shovel ware the name brands preload onto the system. 

If you are a business,  and if your business made money this year, a new computer might be a nice way to reward yourself or employees, and get the added advantage of expensing the purchase to reduce your tax burden.

Third, in the spirit of Christmas Giving, here is a fun app for smart phones. You can use it for free or pay a small fee to remove the ads forever.   It animates and lip syncs your photos to popular songs. The image below is from my visit to Bryce Canyon with my daughter.  My family has had oodles of fun animating people and pets.  You can see this full animation at:  https://comp-u-talk.com/recommends/

To get the app for yourself, search for Revive at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store. Learn more at http://reviveapp.net

Until next month, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy,

Merry Christmas,

Janet

“If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.”– Gerald Good

Well, it’s November, and you know what that means:  Holiday shopping is in full force. 

While I strongly recommend shopping local for the season, I do realize that shopping online is convenient and will help you avoid crowds and any diseases they might be spreading.

Here are the tips for safely shopping online.

· Check for Device Updates Before You Shop – the #1 reason for updating your phone or your computer is SECURITY.  The updates are designed to improve performance by fixing minor issues and fixing the possibility of penetrable threats.

· Don’t Go to Websites from Email Links – Email can be spoofed and links can easily say one thing and take you someplace else.

· Use a trusted payment services like PayPal which does not require you to disclose your credit card number to the vendor or use a wallet app where possible.  A wallet app runs on mobile devices.  They securely store credit card details and passwords.  They will allow you to pay via your phone instead of digging out the actual credit card.  Popular wallets include ApplePay, PayPal, Venmo. 

· Remove Any Saved Payment Cards After Checking Out – If the site you are shopping at automatically saves your credit card info, consider going back after the transaction is complete and deleting and the saved card.  If your card isn’t saved on the site, then it can’t be stolen if the site is hacked.

· Make Sure the Site Uses HTTPS (Emphasis on “S”) – The “S” stands for secure.  It means the data you are sending to the site has been encrypted in order to increase the security of the data (ie: names, phone numbers and credit card info) being transferred.

· Double Check the Site URL – I can’t stress this one enough.  Ammazon.com is not the site you want to shop. 

· Never Shop Online or Bank when on Public Wi-Fi – Your mom taught you to share.  I’m trying to teach you to share intentionally.  Using a public Wi-Fi puts you at risk for Man-In-The-Middle attacks, where your data is intercepted by tricking the victim’s device into thinking the hacker’s computer is an access point.  This is not the way to share.

· Be On High Alert for Brand Impersonation Emails & Texts – Again, double check the spelling.  Don’t click links, search out the site via your favorite engine.

· Enable Banking Alerts & Check Your Account – dig thru the settings in your online bank and credit card accounts.  Somewhere you will be able to adjust what activities and spend thresholds you will be alerted to.  I get a notification every time my bank account is accessed or the credit card is charged for more than a set dollar amount, or if the transactions originated in a foreign country.

· Dedicate one credit card to online shopping, set up your monthly automatic payments on a second card. By using just one credit card, you can easily change the card without impacting other payment activities.

· Stay away from using debit cards for online purchases.  Debit cards take money directly from your bank account.  If fraud is committed, it is much more challenging to get the money back to your account.  Personally, I think Debit cards should be outlawed, but I’m in the minority.

Stay Safe,  Stay Healthy,  Happy Thanksgiving

~Janet

I stumbled into two sites that really impressed me last month.  The first displays the winning pictures from the Nature Conservancy photo contest.  The second displays Comedy Wildlife Photo winning pictures.  Sit down with your loved ones and your favorite beverage and enjoy the show!

Photo Contest: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/photo-contest/2022-winners/?ource=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Funny Animals: https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2022/oct/20/comedy-wildlife-photo-finalists-in-pictures

“It must be, I thought, one of the race’s most persistent and comforting hallucinations to trust that “it can’t happen here” — that one’s own time and place is beyond cataclysm.” ~ John Wyndham,  The Day of the Triffids

A big thank you to everyone who reached out to me and wished me well last month.  Your love and support, of me and my rantings, was incredibly encouraging.  THANK YOU!!

July was mostly uneventful.  My recovery continued, and I’m officially “back to normal”, whatever that means!

My Cyber insurance is getting more demanding.  For instance, they are requiring all backups be kept off-network and they are requiring the use of 2-Factor Authentication.

Let’s talk about why they are requiring this and why you should care.  I’ll start with why you should care:

It’s easy to believe you are too small for hackers to bother you.  It’s easy to believe you have nothing of value.  But the truth is:  Hackers see you as easy prey.  You might not have thousands of employees personal data, numerous bank accounts, or trade secrets, but you are low hanging fruit.  You are a quick and easy $5000.  Pretend you are the hacker.  If you can collect on 10 or 20 small ransoms, that’s a nice payday. Why work harder and longer to break into a larger organization?  You can make the same amount money, and possibly more, by doing the quick and easy jobs.

My cyber insurance  company knows small businesses are low hanging fruits.  Experience has taught them that ransomware has become more sophisticated and powerful.  In the good old days, ransomware would muck up your hard drive.  Now it has the capability to muck up your hard drive,  any attached external drive, take over the network and muck up your life!  It looks for the locally attached backup drive.  Keeping your backups unattached from the network is crucial to surviving an attack.

Keeping your backups unattached from the network is also a pain in the rear.  It means you have to remember to plug them in, wait for the backup to complete and then unplug them.  That’s a lot of man handling and during the business of life, skipping a backup or two becomes common and possibly catastrophic. 

Backup automation to the rescue!  Yes,  you have to pay for automation.  But it is WAY CHEAPER  than paying a ransom.  And it’s easy to setup.  Comp-U-Talk has partnered with three off-site backup vendors.  All three meet the requirements for cyber insurance offsite backups.  Each is tailored to specific backup needs.  Pricing can start as low as $30/month. 

It’s easy math: paying $30/month for offsite backup for 156 months (aka 13 years)  is less expensive than paying one $5000 ransom.  If you’re not using offsite backup, CALL ME.

Stay Safe,  Stay Healthy, and Stop Dropping Cookies

~Queen Janet
(I’m really liking my preferred pronoun: Queen)

July Quote: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” ~Anne Frank

A modified Ray Charles song has been playing on an infinite loop in my head this past month:  Hit the road June, and don’cha come back no more, no more, no more, no more.  Hit the road June, and don’cha come back no more.

Why?  Because I spent two feverish weeks at home with the dreaded virus and a third week working with diminished energy and attitude. 

Want to know what runs through my feverish head?  First:  daytime television is nothing but drivel.  My computer training taught me all about  “Garbage In-Garbage Out”  and I firmly believe that applies not just to what you put into a computer program but also what you put into your head.  Not wanting to participate in the daytime drivel, I filled some time between naps by watching the first season of Mork and Mindy on DVD.   

Which brings us to the second thing I learned:  Mork and Mindy originally aired in 1978.  In 1978 we dressed really well.  Our clothes fit and if our jeans had holes in them it was probably because we were homeless, or victims of war.  And people were respectful.  Mindy cared about what people would think if she was living with a alien, and when grandma lost a loved one, Mork stepped up to encourage and  befriend her while she grieved. 

They did things that were in the best interest of those they loved.  I miss those days.

Meanwhile, in drivel land, rules were created concerning transgender sports participation.  If the child completes their transition by the age of 12, then they can compete as their preferred sex.  Who, in their right mind, would let their 10, 11, or 12 year old child change their sex?  If humans don’t have enough education/life experience to vote or serve in the military until they are 18, why are we letting them make life altering decisions when they are 10 or 12?  Drivel!

And what’s up with the preferred pronouns?  A number of celebrity children are transitioning and rather then being referred to as he/she, him/her, they want to be referred to as they/them?   I guess that might make sense.  If there are two people inside that body, both a boy and a girl, then referring to them as they/them might be appropriate.   

And while we are on the topic of personal  pronouns, I have chosen mine.  In order of preference, they are: Queen, Your Royal Highness,  Supreme Female, Wonder Woman, Gorgeous, Lovely, Beautiful.  

You might not like what I have to say, but based on my preferred pronoun, I expect you to accept it.  And hopefully, next month I’ll be back without the feverish mind.

Until next month, 

Stay Safe,  Stay Healthy,

~Queen Janet

Because it Made Me Laugh

It’s almost summer and flowers are popping up everywhere.  Maybe even on your computer.  Has your search bar grown pretty flowers?

Are you wondering where they came from and why?

It’s called Search Highlights.  Microsoft “gifted” it to you.  If it hasn’t appeared on your computer yet,   it will.  When you click, a list of recently used apps will appear as well as currently trending web searches.   And this made me laugh:

This is a direct quote from https://www.ghacks.net/2022/03/17/how-to-disable-search-highlights-on-windows-10/

“The major part of the interface displays web content, such as trending searches or information about the current day. All of these are linked to Microsoft services such as Bing.

The taskbar search box and search home will periodically update with content, including fun illustrations, which help you discover more, be connected, and stay productive.”

I have a question:  When did clicking random links help me “stay productive”? 

If you want to weed your computer of unwanted “flowers”:

· Right-click the Taskbar

· Click on Search

· Click on “Show Search Highlights”

If you turned them off and want them turned back on, repeat the above process.

Until next month, 

 Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Come Ring My Door Bell!

(so… ringing this door bell might not keep you safe, but it will make me laugh)

~Janet

May 2022

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.“ ~ Albert Schweitzer

The average life span of a laptop computer is 2-3 years.  If you are really gentle and never take it anywhere, it might live to the old age of 5.  The average life span of a desktop computer is 4-5 years, and it is not unusual for them to live much longer.  A gentleman told me just yesterday, that his computer was 20 years old!

A major contributing factor to the demise of a computer is heat.  This is kind of a gross example, but have you found the really old pair of underwear or the forgotten swim suit/trunks in the back of your dresser?  And when you pick it up, the elastic is brittle and just touching it, rips holes in the spandex?  (I know, I know, I need to be more consistent with cleaning out my dresser!)  Those forgotten clothing items are victims of heat (from the dryer) and time. 

Computers can also become victim to heat and time.  Because of their compact size, laptops don’t have room for extra cooling fans whereas the desktop computers do have space for cooling fans. More cooling fans means less brittle and a longer life. 

Computers become victim to obsolete technology.  Every month, Microsoft releases patches for it’s operating system.  The patches are primarily focused on improving security.  You want to install the patches.  They keep you safe.  But those patches also make the core operating system larger, and requires more hard drive to store them. Because the core operating system is larger, it takes a little bit more RAM and processor resources to function.

The manufacturers of computer components and software spend bunches of money improving the speed and features of their products.  It is generally accepted that computer speeds will double every 18-24 months.  https://webtribunal.net/blog/how-fast-is-technology-growing/  This means the software you purchased (Windows 10, Microsoft Office, Adobe Suite…) will be patched and upgraded and features will be enhanced to take advantage of the latest and greatest hardware.  Eventually, your old computer just won’t be able to keep up with the “New & Improved”. 

This “Planned Obsolescence” can be problematic to individuals on fixed incomes or businesses struggling from the fallout of a pandemic ravaged economy.  So here are some tips to help keep your computer running faster and longer. 

Click the Start Button to find the Settings Cog. 

File-sharing for Updates will allow you to get updates from private computers and in turn, other computers can get updates from you.  This feature is turned on by default, but you can turn it off by going to Settings > Update & security > Advanced options > Delivery optimization and toggling off Allow downloads from other PCs. 

Background Apps:  By default, many apps run in the background, even when you aren’t using them. They receive information, send notifications, download and install updates and suck up your bandwidth and your battery.  To turn this off, go to Settings > Privacy > Background apps and either toggle off Let apps run in the background or toggle off each app individually.

Additional hints and tips can be found at:  https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/irritating-windows-10-defaults-you-dont-have-to-live-with/

Hopefully, these tips will keep you running smoothly for a little while longer.  And when you are ready for a new computer, please come see us.  Our computers are affordable, dependable and not preloaded with gunk you didn’t ask for and will never need.

Until next month, 

Stay Safe,

Stay Healthy,

Happy Mother’s Day!

~Janet

Because It Made Me Laugh!

“Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.”

– Simone de Beauvoir – Writer, Philosopher (1908 – 1986)

Welcome to April.  Writer’s Block has a strangle hold on me.  Here are some random news items that crossed my desk recently.

Kaspersky:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-kaspersky-idUSKBN1E62V4

In December 2017, President Donald Trump signed into law legislation that bans the use of Kaspersky Lab within the U.S. government, capping a months-long effort to purge the Moscow-based antivirus firm from federal agencies amid concerns it was vulnerable to Kremlin influence

This has created a controversy concerning whether or not you should uninstall Kaspersky. 

A user on reddit says: The FSB (former KGB) can requisition any Russian company to obey and collaborate with them. And Kaspersky is a Russian company. (https://www.reddit.com/r/antivirus/comments/t18hp7/should_i_uninstall_kaspersky/)

A second user rebutted: Kaspersky moved its databases too Switzerland to prevent this government/KGB info/malicious tactic.

https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2020_kaspersky-completes-its-data-processing-relocation-to-switzerland-and-opens-new-transparency-center-in-north-america

If you want to play it on the safe side and replace your Kaspersky subscription, Comp-U-Talk can give you a 10% discount on Anti-Virus.  Just say you saw it in the newsletter and we send you a download link to Avast.  (Regularly $30/year, after discount: $27/year)

Ransomware as a Service (RaaS):

I highly recommend you take 5 minutes to read the complete story at: https://www.crowdstrike.com/cybersecurity-101/ransomware/ransomware-as-a-service-raas/

The Condensed Version:

RaaS is a business model on the dark web.  Ransomware creators sell “kits” to affiliates lacking the skill or time to create their own ransomware.  RaaS kits can include 24/7 support, bundled offers and user reviews.  Kits can be purchased for as little as $40/month.  That’s a large return on investment considering the average ransom request is $200,000.

https://www.varonis.com/blog/ransomware-statistics-2021

Crowdstrike says ransomeware revenues in 2020 were about $20 Billion which is almost double the $11.5 Billion reported in in 2019.  Don’t become a victim.

Prevent the Attack:

Use reliable Endpoint Protection (Anti-Virus/Firewall/Anti-Malware). Perform Daily Backups. Test Backups.  Keep systems patched, Teach users to be suspicious.  Don’t open random emails or click random links.

If you would like to automate the security of your environment, give me a call.  I would love to help.   Until next month.

Stay Safe,

Stay Healthy,

Happy Easter!

~Janet

Because It Made Me Laugh