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Another week and another ransomware attack

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Chris

It has been a busy week here at ComTech HQ. We have had another client whose network got hit with ransomware and this time it was Cryptolocker. All the machines had McAfee installed, however Cryptolocker somehow uninstalled McAfee off three of the PC’s on the network and then ran riot. Luckily the client noticed pretty quick something was up and when they rang me I told them to switch off their network until I came across basically limiting further contamination.

This client was very lucky as they had Dropbox which allows for account rollback (just incase things like this happen) so all their files could be retrieved. It does take time to get the account rolled back so in the meantime there has been some inconvenience to the client but it could have been a lot worse.

This is the 6th such attack I have seen in the last 3 months alone (Locky and Cryptolocker being the biggest culprits) and whilst most clients have been able to recover their files unfortunately a large minority haven’t.

Your best defence is always not to get infected in the first place but that is better said than done. Failing that backups are your next line of defence against this type of threat but more specifically offsite backups. Your offsite backups can be as simple as an external hard drive that is kept away from the office but better still are cloud based backups like Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive etc. These allow you to fully automate your backups which gives you the piece of mind your files are safe online if anything happens.

So next time you think I don’t have time to take backups ask yourself one question “How long would my business survive if all my files got encrypted?”

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Cisco, Windows, OS X and Linux based IT Support to small businesses throughout Scotland.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Viruses and hacking – horrible things

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Chris

Computer viruses are nasty things at the best of times but I have felt a bit under siege recently. In the last two weeks alone I have had to deal with:

1. The Locky ransomware which encrypted a Windows 10 PC, network shares on a Linux server along with the Dropbox backups. It also started to encrypt another Dropbox account which had a shared folder with the master account.

2. A trojan which allowed an attacker to get on to a system and change email settings and give themselves remote control of the system without any client intervention whatsoever. They even intercepted the clients telephone call to hotmail (number searched for on Google) when the client realised something was wrong.

3. Another potential Locky ransomware attack which luckily was spotted by the antivirus.

4. A trojan which attacked Google Chrome and locked the system. All the client could see was an error message saying their ip address was now blocked due to suspicious activity and they should ring the number below to get it sorted.

As you can see it has been a bit busy!!

The best defence against these types of attack is of course not to get hit in the first place. Don’t open suspicious emails (and attachments) or even emails from people you don’t know. Make sure your antivirus is working and fully updated and as always be aware of which websites you are viewing.

One last thing – backups. In the case of the first Locky Ransomware attack the client had backups on Dropbox which allowed them to roll back the account and recover their files. Without this they would have lost everything. Backups are essential in the fight against viruses and hackers so make sure you have some!!!

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Cisco, Windows, OS X and Linux based IT Support to small businesses throughout Scotland.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Is Android really that insecure?

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Chris

I was speaking to a friend last week who is coming to the end of their mobile phone contract. They currently use a Blackberry but wanted to upgrade to either an iPhone or Android but were unsure which way to go. My personal choice is Android as I like the interface and “freedom” of the operating system but when I suggested this I was met with “but what about security and viruses?”.

Android has a nasty reputation for being insecure. Yes there is malware that can run on it but ask yourself this, do you actually know of anyone who has ever got malware on either an Android tablet or phone? The answer is probably no and there is a good reason for this. Google (and Apple) both do a good job of keeping malware out of their respective app stores. Unless you decide to root your phone or download an app from a website rather than the official store chances are very slim that you will ever encounter malware in any form.

As for the device itself you can use a pin to lock the screen and certain apps (eg Dropbox) allow you to lock the app itself. You can install antivirus if you so wish (I do as I tend to deal with documents that might be opened on a Windows PC). I run BitDefender Mobile Security on all my devices as you get the ability to track your device using GPS if you lose it and wipe if remotely if needs be.

Permissions is another issue altogether. Google is attempting to address this in its Android M update which should hopefully curb the permissions that developers require for their apps. If you get sleepless nights because “Big Brother” is watching you then you might be better off with an iPhone.

As with security in general the device is usually only as secure as the person who uses it. Use a common sense approach and you should be fine with Android.

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Cisco, Windows, OS X and Linux based IT Support to small businesses throughout Scotland.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

Is Android becoming the new Windows?

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Chris

At the moment in the smartphone market Android is king. It is currently the most used operating system by some margin and most analysts expect this to continue. In some ways this resembles the rise of Microsoft Windows in the early nineties and like Windows Android’s popularity is coming with a big price tag – viruses. If you don’t believe me then check out the shear number of antivirus providers who are offering apps for Android.

Viruses on a smartphone? Yes you can get viruses on a smartphone just as easily as you can get viruses on Windows and usually it is down to the user. Let me explain. A lot of Windows users will go online looking for a specific package and just download it without really caring about where they get it from. It just so happens that when they download their package “added goodies” will be attached and downloaded too.

It is the same with Android. As Android has gained in popularity so these same users are using the same tactic to download their apps. If you use Google’s Play Store then you can generally be satisfied that the app you are downloading is free from viruses as Google does check all the apps in the store. Apple also does this with the App Store but they are generally more rigorous than Google hence the low level of viruses on iOS. But what about apps outside the Play Store? Here you are own your own. Some of the websites will be legitimate and you will have no problems while others will not be. It is a minefield waiting for you to trip up.

So what should you do? You could swap to another operating system (iOS, Windows Phone or Blackberry etc). You should only get your apps through the Play Store which minimises the threat but most importantly get yourself some decent antivirus for your phone. As said earlier there are plenty of antivirus companies providing Android apps.

So do you have an Android phone? Are you worried about viruses? Let me know!!

About the Author

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

ComTech: IT Support Stirling

Tag Archives: viruses

Another week and another ransomware attack

Viruses and hacking – horrible things

Is Android really that insecure?

Is Android becoming the new Windows?

Follow ComTech: IT Support Stirling