Author: Janet Riley

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“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

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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)

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

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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

“Always do your very best. Even when no one else is looking, you always are. Don’t disappoint yourself.” ~Colin Powell

Welcome to March and to the beginning of a new global war.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ukrainian people.

A quick google search tells me there is 5,796 miles between Coos Bay, Oregon and Kyiv, Ukraine.   That’s a lot of miles.  We probably don’t need to worry much about stray bullets, or tanks accidently going off course and landing in our front yards.  But there is another hazard that can get us: Cyberwar. 

What Is Cyber Warfare?

Cyber warfare is usually defined as a cyber attack or series of attacks that target a country. It has the potential to wreak havoc on government and civilian infrastructure and disrupt critical systems, resulting in damage to the state and even loss of life.  https://www.imperva.com/learn/application-security/cyber-warfare/

I don’t want to be an alarmist, but I don’t want to be a “sitting duck” either.  If you don’t have a business continuity plan in place, now is a good time to start one.  The following article is used with permission from The Technology Press.

Your business faces all sorts of threats that can disrupt your operations. A comprehensive continuity plan can help address them.

Carrying on with business as usual is easy when nothing out of the ordinary is happening. But the fact is, crises can strike anytime. And when it happens, you need to be ready to pivot your operations quickly, safely, and efficiently. 

That’s where a well-thought-out business continuity plan comes into play. 

It prepares you for the worst, such as market nosedives and governments shutting down entire countries. And in these cases, your plan allows you to embrace remote work, enabling you to keep functioning and servicing your clients. It also lets you support your team at home and make them feel comfortable through various predicaments. 

These are just some of the key benefits that a business continuity plan can bring to your business. And this article will delve deeper into its significance and explain how to create one for your company. 

WHY YOU NEED A CONTINUITY PLAN

A business continuity plan details a process that your company should take to neutralize and recover from different threats. It can also help protect your business’s assets and personnel during disasters, allowing them to function uninterruptedly. 

Business continuity plans are usually developed as part of a company’s overall risk management. This means you should consider creating this plan ahead of time, not in the middle of a crisis. 

The most significant benefit of creating a business continuity plan is that it provides a clear picture of how to proceed should those threats happen. It also tells you how those circumstances can impact your operations and how to implement procedures to mitigate them. Furthermore, it helps you check if the systems work and are up to date. 

Another tremendous advantage of having a continuity plan is its ability to ensure secure and continued access to your systems. It dictates how your team and IT service provider can reach critical platforms, the available bandwidth, and whether you need to boost their network capacity. 

The overall effect can be a reduced risk of losing your business and team members. 

It can safeguard against financial loss, lost productivity, and a damaged reputation. On top of that, it helps protect your employees from injuries or death in case of threats. 

But what specific threats can you address with a continuity plan?   Here’s a quick list:

THREAT #1. PANDEMICS

Pandemics can affect your business plans in numerous ways. 

For example, they can force your employees to work from home, increasing demand for some services, and reducing demand for others. Moreover, they can prevent you from distributing your offerings due to supply chain problems. 

A business continuity plan can help you overcome these bumpy periods. 

It formulates how your team will communicate throughout the period and perform business off-site. And it can also provide several options in terms of service distribution.

THREAT #2. NATURAL DISASTERS

Natural disasters are extreme geographic phenomena, including tornados, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and earthquakes. They’re tricky because they’re hard to predict and can leave disastrous consequences within seconds.

Like global pandemics, they can disrupt the supply chain in affected areas, which is why you need a business continuity plan.

THREAT #3. UTILITY OUTAGES

Water shutoffs and loss of communication lines or power can hinder your daily operations. It’s especially true if such outages are predicted to last long.

Without a continuity plan, the risk of asset damage and productivity loss is drastically higher.

THREAT #4. CYBERSECURITY

Cyberattacks are computer-based attacks on your technical assets. The most common examples include data theft, ransomware, distributed denial of service, and SQL injections. 

In the best-case scenario, your infrastructure will function less efficiently until you resolve the issue. But in the worst-case scenario, you could lose access to all business data.

CREATE THE BEST CONTINUITY PLAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Developing a foolproof continuity plan requires a systematic approach. Here’s what your strategy should involve:

#1. IDENTIFYING GOALS

Business continuity doesn’t just comprise your IT systems. It encompasses all essential business functions, like public relations, human resources, and operations.

Since your company is unique, you’ll need to create a plan according to your specific goals.

So, determine the most important processes and figure out how to back them up with recovery strategies.

#2. SETTING UP AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS GROUP

Choose several cross-functional managers and anyone else who can contribute to the plan, such as your IT service provider.

Determine the emergency response leader and make it clear they’re in charge of moving things forward when disaster strikes. 

#3. BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS AND RISK ASSESSMENT

Identify, research, and analyze your potential threats thoroughly. Discuss them with your team and see what would happen if you had to reduce, eliminate, or modify certain services.   Make sure to document all issues along the way.

#4. FOCUSING ON CUSTOMER SERVICE

Your clients need empathy and transparency during crises. And the only way to meet their expectations in such trying times is to ensure your customer support team understands your continuity plan.  If necessary, hire more people to answer client inquiries.

#5. ADDRESSING BUSINESS FUNCTION

Your plan should incorporate critical business functions. These include business risk, impact on customers and employees, emergency policy creating, community partners or external organizations, and financial resources during disasters. 

This is vital to ensure business operations are functioning asap.

#6. STAFF TRAINING AND PLAN UPDATES

Present your continuity plan to stakeholders and promote a proactive approach through trial runs to verify the plan works. This way, you can pinpoint any weaknesses or missing aspects. Then, based on your findings and feedback, train your staff to make the implementation smoother.

Following this tactic doesn’t leave much room for error. 

Besides helping you maintain business operations and the supply chain, it also builds customer confidence. If your response to emergencies is effective, your customers will appreciate it. This allows you to preserve your brand, prevail over your competition, and mitigate financial loss. 

DON’T LET CRISES CRIPPLE YOUR BUSINESS

Disasters can be the ultimate test of your leadership abilities. That’s why instead of leaving your company to chance, create an in-depth business continuity plan before emergencies arise. Make sure everyone is on the same page, and you’ll be able to come out stronger after any predicament. 

If you need more insights into developing a continuity plan, get in touch with us today. Let’s set up a 10-15-minute chat to determine your goals and how to achieve them. 

Stay Safe,

Stay Healthy,

Be Prepared!

~Janet

Because It Made Me Laugh

The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention. -Duguet

February is here.  January resolutions are gone.  I had an epiphany concerning my resolution to lose weight.  It’s my mother’s fault!  During my growing up years, she would hand me stuff and say “keep track of this”.  Or give me stuff and say “don’t lose this” or “hang on to this”.  I’ve been nurtured since childhood to keep this weight!  I have to “hang on to it” and “take care of it”.  So I’m blaming my mother!  That’s my story and I’m sticking with it! (Which is also my mother’s fault.)

And speaking of hanging onto things:  How are you hanging onto your data?  There are several ways:

1. Create and Pray – Unfortunately, this is more common than it should be.  This is the belief that you created it and it will be okay.  No additional action is necessary.

2. Local File Backup – This is much better.  This copies your most precious files and photos to an external backup drive that hopefully, you are detaching from the computer when the backup is complete.

3. Local File Backup with Offsite Storage– This adds an extra step to option two above.  When the local backup is complete, you take the external drive to a secondary location protecting you against fire and theft.

4. Disaster Recovery – This automates the protection of your data.  First, it backs up the entire computer, including all programs (ie: Word/Excel/Quickbooks) not just the documents and pictures.  Second, it puts is on a timer.  It can backup once a day, or several times per day (as frequently as every 15 minutes) Third, it pushes it to a secure data center in a different state.  Fourth, if your computer is lost, stolen, ransomed, or otherwise becomes unusable, the backup can be virtualized. 

What is virtualization?  Virtualization allows us to turn the last good backup into a functional computer that is accessed via the internet.  We call this working in the “cloud” .  Don’t let working in the cloud freak you out.  Your data is only accessible by you.  It is fully protected with encryption.  This is considered a Security Best Practice.

Benefits of Virtualization:

1. If your physical machine goes kaput (a word my mother taught me) you can be “back up” and running in hours, instead of days.

2. If your backup is current and complete, you don’t need to worry about paying ransoms.

3. It provides peace of mind concerning computer theft, computer failure, accidental or malicious file deletion.

4. Cyber Security Insurance Policies love to see Disaster Recovery Plans in place.

5. It’s affordable.  Pricing starts at $40/month and configuration/setup is free during the month of February.  Give me a call and we can get your computer protected ASAP.

Stay Safe,

Stay Healthy!

~Janet

Because It Made Me Laugh – And I Really Can’t Blame It On My Mother!

It’s more important to not fail than to succeed. 

– Japanese proverb

Happy 2022 to You!!  Let’s hope this year is better than the last two!

Per normal, (and don’t we all like normal?) the beginning of a new year means attempting new life style changes.  My attempts at weight loss and better fitness have failed multiple times, so how about we tackle some easier, and just as important resolutions together?

PRIVACY:  Let’s take a look at our Google Privacy settings.  If you have a gmail account, (and who doesn’t?) you might want to limit how long google remembers where you’ve been.  The following web page was posted 18 months ago, but the directions are still relevant.  I recommend taking 10-15 minutes and following the steps to enhance your privacy.  The site address is long so I’ve created a tinyurl address that will get you to the same place but with less typing. If what you find in your google account settings really freaks you out, I suggest abandoning google search and replacing it with Brave, downloadable at  https://brave.com, or DuckDuckGo,  downloadable from https://duckduckgo.com  Neither product will track you.

· Real Address:  https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/google-collects-a-frightening-amount-of-data-about-you-you-can-find-and-delete-it-now/

· Shortened Address: https://tinyurl.com/5xf9w4mz

EFFICIENCY:  We just cleaned up and reduced what google can remember about your web searches.  How about a couple of tips to improve your search results?  These are the three I use frequently:

· +(plus sign)  Putting a + in front of a word forces the search results to only show sites with the word included.  Example:  search for green bean +recipes, to see lots of results for recipes and nothing for growing/planting

· -(minus sign) Putting a minus sign in front of a word will remove all sites containing that word from the search results.  Example:  search for North Bend.  Now exclude any reference to North Bend, Washington by searching  North Bend  -WA

· “”(quote marks) Putting a phrase in Quotes will only return sites that contain that exact phrase.  Example: “apartments for rent” “Coos Bay”

Want more tips?  Check out: https://www.lifewire.com/web-search-tricks-to-know-4046148

PROTECTION:   The south coast just experienced a major wind storm that  dropped a redwood tree on my brother’s house.  My brother and sis-n-law are safe (thanks for asking) but the house is a loss.  If that happened to your home or business would your data be safe?  How upset would you be if your computer was lost, stolen, broken or destroyed and your data went “Bye-Bye” permanently?

We have affordable backup and data protection plans.  A backup makes copies of your data.  A data protection plan gives you the added benefit of operating all of your programs and accessing your data via cloud services should your existing system become unusable.  I would love to chat with you about data protection.  My preference would be to have that chat before you need the protection and not after.  Please give me a call.

Stay Safe,

Stay Healthy!

~Janet

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah!

It’s hard to believe the year is almost over.  As we race to the finish, here are some things to consider:

Your Upcoming Tax Bill:

Did your business make money this year?  Will you be paying taxes?  If so, you might be able to take advantage of the section 179 depreciation law. 

Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment and/or software purchased or financed during the tax year. That means that if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income. It’s an incentive created by the U.S. government to encourage businesses to buy equipment and invest in themselves, (and reduce their tax burden).

Check with your tax accountant to confirm your eligibility for this deduction and purchase accordingly.  If you want it this year, do it soon.  The supply chain and shipping channel is in shambles.  Getting inventory is a daily battle.  We would love to have you spend your money locally, see our suggested offerings on the back.

Your Privacy:

I’m sick of being stalked.  I’ve turned off targeted ads.  I use DuckDuckGo as my search engine, and still I’ve got ads following me.  Co-workers were telling me they had a verbal discussion about birds the other day and suddenly their browsers were inundated with bird feeders.  (Makes me question the purpose of Alexa.)  If you want to take back your privacy, take a look at a new browser,  Brave, and stop being followed online. Brave blocks all creepy ads from every website by default. And that thing where ads follow you across the web? Brave blocks that, too.  Download brave at https://brave.com/

Your Credentials

I can’t image how I would do my job without Microsoft products.  I had a small panic attack when this email hit my inbox. 

Hovering over the “Stop Cancellation Process” Link yielded this:

That doesn’t look like a Microsoft link to me!  Be careful what you click!  We want to keep the “HAPPY” in the “HOLIDAYS”!

Because it Made Me Laugh!

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy!

~Janet

Enjoy today—don’t just endure till tomorrow!                 

Welcome to November.  The holiday season is officially upon us!  Holidays are typically steeped in good eats and family traditions.  They are also steeped in technology scams.  Here is the list of the sneakiest scams of the 2020 holiday season.  Like the tradition of serving turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, I suspect these scams will come back again this year.  This is what you should watch for as reported by https://money.com/christmas-scams-holiday-scams-2020/

1. Virtual “Holiday Markets”

Premise:  The annual craft fair is cancelled.  Someone is selling tickets for a virtual market on Facebook.  No entrance fee is required during non-pandemic times.  There is a $10 fee to attend the virtual event. 

Caution: Scammers will trick you into spending more on raffle tickets or donations.  They can also steal your credit card info and install malware.

2. “Secret Sister” Gift Exchanges

Premise: Opt to buy one present for a secret sister and receive up to 36 packages in the mail.

Caution: this is the “free money” or pyramid scheme.  Most people will be out the gift and get nothing in return.

3. Gift Card Scams

Premise: A coveted and hard-to-get item  is offered for sale on Facebook or Craigslist.  The catch: you must pay with a gift card.

Caution: Once you give the gift card, it is nearly impossible to get your money back.  And to add insult to injury, the coveted item won’t show up either.

4. Package Delivery Scams

Premise: You get an email from a delivery service (UPS/FedEx) asking for confirmation of personal info before they deliver the package.

Caution: UPS, Amazon, FedEx will never ask for your personal info.  Delete all texts and emails asking for these details.  Remember: you can watch the package travel via the tracking number provided by the company shipping it to you.

5. Bogus Charities

Premise:  People are in a giving mood during the holidays.  Scammers will imitate real charities or set up fake charities.  Needy kids and pets are favorite subject matters.

Caution:  Don’t assume the organization is legitimate.  Look them up on CharityNavigator.org and GuideStar.org.  If you don’t find them there, they might not be a real charity.

May your Thanksgiving be filled with Thanks!

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy!

~Janet

The best investments aren’t in the bank — they’re in people. 

-Mike Costigan

October is national security month.  Truthfully, every month should be national security month and I want to share some really frightening security events that are happening locally. 

The bad actors have stepped up their game.  Again!

To understand this story, you will need to know the definition of domain.  Domain is the name associated with your business for website purposes or email purposes.  For example, in the email address: someone@gmail.com, anything after the @sign is the domain name, so in this example, the domain is gmail.com.

If you are trying to locate something on the internet, you might go to www.google.com or http://google.com to start the search.  In this example, google.com is the domain name.  If you want more information about Comp-U-Talk services, you would browse to www.comp-u-talk.com.  Comp-U-Talk is the domain. 

The bad actors are utilizing what I refer to as look alike domains.  How many times have you misspelled google?  I know my fingers occasionally get confused and type gogle or goggle.  Research says that approximately 88 percent of all breaches are caused by human error.  (https://www.influencive.com/human-error-is-still-the-number-one-cause-of-most-data-breaches-in-2021/)  No one would intentionally bring in bad actors, but all it takes is one bad day: the dog died, you’re not feeling well, the water heater exploded and flooded the house…. Just one bad day…

Meanwhile, the bad actors are buying up look alike domains.  They pretend to be the real domain owners and request payment via electronic transfer.  And people are falling for it, because IT LOOKS LEGIT!!

Moral of the story:  Look closely.  In the true story above, the bad actors bought up a domain name that had the letters “ti” in the name.  They substituted the letters ’tl’.  Did you catch the difference?  The real domain included T I , the look alike domain spelled it T L.  In lower case type it is nearly indistinguishable. They injected email requesting payment for services via ACH.  They received a payout.  How they were able to inject mail into an ongoing thread has yet to be determined.  I suspect there was undetected malware or a keylogger somewhere.

I always told my kids to learn from the mistakes of others.  It is way less painful to learn from the mistakes of others than to learn from your own mistakes!

I have partnered with a company that specializes in training end users to be watchful and vigilant.  We are still working out the kinks of the service, but it should be ready to deploy in the coming week.  Depending on how many bells and whistles you choose, it will run between $3-$6 per user, per month.  If you are interested in learning more, please call me. 

In the meantime,

Stay Safe,

Stay Healthy

Go Easy on the Candy!

~Janet

“Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile.”  ~Connor Franta

I woke up this morning and it was September!  How did that happen?  In case you are curious, there are fewer than 115 shopping days until Christmas!

I spent the last several days attending a security class.  It was an  introduction to a bunch of tools that will assist in protecting networks, analyzing what is already on the network and tracking down hackers.  I’m proud to say I’ve completed the class and even better, I understand the concepts.  Next step:  practice. 

One of the comments from the instructor was:  all end users should be running an ad blocker.  I’ve mentioned ad blockers several times over the years.  It’s time to remind you:  Install an adblocker!!  uBlock Origin is a trusted vendor and its FREE!  Download it from:  

https://ublockorigin.com. 

Do it Now!

If you use multiple browsers, you will want to download it for each browser.  (Edge/Chrome/Firefox)

In other news:  Microsoft will start rolling out Windows 11 to eligible PCs on October 5.  The Operating System has a new hardware requirement: TPM (Trusted Platform Module). A TPM is a security chip that provides a hardware-based tamper-resistant environment to generate, store and protect encryption keys.  In English: it is a security alarm to prevent hackers or malware from accessing your data.  I’ll be playing with the preview this month with hopes of giving you a first hand account next month. 

If you are thinking ahead, you know when Microsoft introduces a new product, it means they are going to stop supporting the old product.  The Windows 10 funeral is currently scheduled for October 14, 2025, roughly four years from now.  If you just bought a computer, you can breath easy for the next 4 years, and possibly longer, if your new computer supports TPM.  If you are shopping for a new computer, ask about the TPM feature. 

Also on the chopping block is Internet Explorer (IE), the beloved browser for the last 26 years.  Microsoft 365 ended support for IE in August and the funeral is scheduled for June 15, 2022.  If you are still using IE, now is the time to get acquainted with Edge (or Chrome or Firefox).

And one last tidbit:  Intel’s chief executive, Pat Gelsinger, says the worst of the global chip crisis is yet to come. 

Mr Gelsinger predicts the shortage will get worse in the “second half of this year” and it will be “a year or two” before supplies return to normal.

The disruption, caused by huge demand for devices, the pandemic, and poor relations between the US and China, has created “a very large gulf” he says. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57996908

What that means to you:  Computers aren’t going to get cheaper any time soon.  Set your budget and buy the best computer you can afford sooner rather than later.

To Health & Hippieness!(that was supposed to say happiness, but I liked the autocorrect version so I left it!)

~Janet