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What am I talking about? glad you asked! I’m talking about PC Security, specifically, financial and identity theft. Out of curiosity, I recently ran a report on my business to identify the most common types of issues we deal with and guess what came out as the #1. Issue? Computer Viruses
Computers and the Internet have made the word smaller, provided new and exciting ways to connect with each other, helps us discover new friends in different countries (some we will never meet face-to-face) and provided more efficient means to do business, such as e-mails and Net banking.
It has also provided the bad guys with so many new ways to find and exploit victims, all without ever having to leave their homes. Everyday millions of us invite these undesirables into our homes and it’s a threat very few take seriously. Why? I suspect it’s because the threat can’t be seen so therefore it can’t be real…
A computer virus is simply a malicious software program that has been designed to compromise your security and open the door to allow the bad guys into your businesses and homes. These threats come in many different types, forms and categories such as:
And each serves a different function. Some are designed to monitor your behavior and activity on the Internet; such as the sorts of things you like to look at and what your interests are. This information is then used to display material you maybe interested in so you click on the links, for which they get paid for. This usually results in terrible popups opening at the worst times, sometimes even making it impossible to do anything.
Other types are far more damaging and can be used to steal your identity and money. Others are just plain destructive and actively try and locate and destroy your documents, spreadsheets and backups. Others hold your computer to ransom and demand some form of payment to release the computer (the payments are usually reoccurring and used to gather your information) Some are disguised as Antivirus software and trick you into paying for a useless license. And worst of all, there are viruses that will secretly join your PC to Botnets without your knowledge. Once joined, hackers will then use your PC to hack and attack other computers around the world!
Since November 2013, PC Wrangler has gone to the aid of many of its clients to resolve these types of issues, and it’s come and a scary cost! Both financially and in terms of lost data.
On a financial level, we estimate that due to compromised computers, identity theft and password compromises, our clients have had over $100,000 taken directly from their bank accounts! One client had $47,000 taken from their savings account over a period of a week.
We have had several business lose all of their business data because they were infected by a virus that encrypted their files with a random key. They had a few days to pay the ransom and get their files back. The problem was the attackers demanded payment using Bitcoins (not many people even know what they are), and even if the ransom was paid it would have done little good as the attackers had all gone to ground. All the files were lost for good and one business did not survive the event.
All of this devastation could have been avoided.. And you all know how..
It’s very simple to protect your PC’s (and hence yourself, family and business) from these threats. All of us are aware of Antivirus, Identity Protection and Firewall Software. What amazes me is the sheer number of businesses and individuals we come across weekly that are continuing to play Russian Roulette with their security, I guess because “It will never happen to me”.
If this sounds like you and I’m scaring you, GOOD! Do something about it. Last week i removed 26,300 viruses from a single PC, there is simply no excuse for that!
The many free Antivirus programs available don’t offer adequate protection against identity theft and other issues and will require you to purchase the full versions to get the full protection features offered. We always recommend to clients that they purchase a solution such as ESET SMART SECURITY from a legitimate supplier, after all , when was anything good free?
PC Wrangler can identify and remove all of your current threats and supply you up with a full featured security solution.
Why risk everything to save a few bucks? — Get your PC’s protected!