Beware of the Cryptowall Virus

Unfortunately there is a new incarnation of the original Cryptolocker virus doing the rounds. It even nastier than ever so we’d suggest following some of our suggestions below.

If you get the following screen (or similar), unfortunately it’s too late – all your files would have already been encrypted (see above link) and in most cases unrecoverable. You’d need to turn to your back up if you have one.

But for most of us lucky ones, it’s better to not get infected in the first place. The virus comes along in the form of an email with a ZIP attachment. So be very wary about opening any attachments you don’t trust. Make sure your virus protection is up to date. We’d suggest also suggest running the Premium version of Malwarebytes alongside your general anti-virus. Also it’s crucial you have a backup of your machine – ideally you’ll want a backup that takes a snapshot at a regular interval.

The above steps in most cases should be enough safety precautions but if you want to take your protection a step further there is a free utility that specifically prevents you from picking up the virus called CryptoPrevent. We’ve not tried this but it is well-regarded.

How to fix your hijacked web browser

The first sign that your browser has been hijacked is a change to your normal homepage. Typically you’ll also start seeing ad pop-ups on your screen, and your machine can start to slow down. You may also be unable to browse to certain web pages.

Depending on how severe the hijack is, you may be able to fix the issue yourself. Resetting your browser can remove basic browser hijacks. To do this in Internet Explorer, click on the Tools cog then Internet options and the Advanced tab:

Click Reset, ensure the Delete personal settings is enabled and confirm the reset.

When you restart Internet Explorer you’ll need to restore your homepage. Visit the page you’d like to load when you first open your browser. Then click Tools cog and Internet options as above (1, 2) and click Use current and then Ok:

If the above doesn’t work for you, you may have a nastier infection which I’ll try and cover in a future post.

Problems updating Malwarebytes Premium

Malwarebytes Premium will usually update itself without any issues but if you find you do have a problem, usually after an update, our best recommendation is to uninstall and then reinstall the program.

Don’t worry if you can’t find your license key since the program will remember it when you reinstall.

You can uninstall the program from Add Remove Programs or just type Malwarebytes from Search in Windows 8 or after clicking the Windows Orb in Windows 7.

You’ll probably be prompted to reboot the system. After the reboot visit http://www.ninite.com/malwarebytes to reinstall the software and everything will be working as it should:

Return of the Cryptolocker virus

Last year we warned of a nasty virus that encrypted all your files and then charged you to decrypt the files. We haven’t seen this for a while but unfortunately it’s back in a slightly different form and is referred to by the anti-virus community as Torrentlocker – although it still calls itself Cryptolocker.

It may just be possible for us to recover your files and clean off the virus, depending on which version of the virus you have. Please turn the computer off and bring the machine into us if you see any message like the one above.

But the best thing is not to get infected in the first place! Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date and for added security consider Malwarebytes Pro.

This customer’s laptop we had in yesterday got infected from an email link which I captured below:

The link is purporting to be from Royal Mail and alerts you to a parcel delivery you missed. All looks very genuine.

If you click on the link, you get the message below:

Do not open the email or click on the “view information” link – delete the email immediately.

For your benefit and our curiosity we did follow this link in a safe, sandboxed environment. You can see what transpires in the video I’ve quickly put together below (easier to see full screen):

All you need to know about passwords

Passwords have always been a source of frustration but it’s worse than ever now with the average user having to remember at least 10 web logins. And gone are the days where you could use the name of your first pet or your mother’s maiden name. I used to shudder when a website asked me to change my password – to something I’d not used before!

And rarely can you get away with just adding an extra digit. More likely you’ll have to capitalise a letter or add a symbol which makes the password you’ve had for years instantly forgettable!

It’s best to come up with a password yourself rather than appending various characters and digits to an existing old password. This is very hard to remember.

Choosing a strong password

My advice is to try and use a strong password for your important online accounts like email and online banking. It’s painful but these need to be different. For your other sites like clothing stores for example, just ensure the password you use is different to the one used for your important accounts.

But how do you choose a strong password and how do you remember it? Dealing with the latter first, there’s nothing wrong with writing it down but try and keep it in a secret place!

One idea for a secure password is to choose a phrase that only you know and adding a capital letter and number. You can include spaces in this.

For example: It was sunny when I got married in 2002.

You can check how well you’ve done by using Microsoft’s password checker:

https://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/password-checker.aspx

Password managers

Personally I use a password manager which is software that runs on my computers, smartphone and tablet and relies on a very secure master password. It can then generate and remember random secure passwords for all your web logins and will encrypt these with your master password. It’s very convenient too since the software bookmarks your favourite sites and will automatically direct you to the site and log you in. I’ve used a program called Roboform for almost 8 years and can recommend it – in fact I’d be in trouble without it!

Keep your security information up to date

As a final note it’s also important to setup your password recovery options, especially with your email accounts. If you get locked out, this offers a way of getting back into your account. For a Hotmail account, visit https://account.live.com and click Edit Security Info. You can also turn on 2-way authentication for Hotmail and Gmail which reduces the chance of your account getting hijacked. I use this now with the free Google Authenticator smartphone app. This links your phone to your account and gives you an additional pin number or token that changes regularly but can be read straight off your phone.

How to setup parental controls in Windows 8

Parental controls keep your children safer online and can also limit their computer use.

Most recent versions of Windows come with these controls or you can download them for free.

In the video below I show how to setup Microsoft Family Safety in Windows 8. I also show how you can use an alternative free program called K9 Web Protection if you prefer or if you’re using a different version of Windows (XP, Vista, 7) or a Mac.

Of you’d like to watch the video at a larger size click the YouTube link towards the bottom right of the player:

How to setup parental controls in Windows 8 using Microsoft Family Safety

At a minimum we’d recommend adding an additional user account for the children as in the video above (or looks at the steps below). This standard account has limited privileges and even on its own provides some protection.

Type user from Start menu and select Add, delete and manage other user accounts:

Select add an account:

And create the child’s account:

You can tick the checkbox below if you’d like to continue to configure Family Safety as in the video above:

The Gadget Show @ Christmas 2013

A little early for Christmas perhaps (barely November) and I’m not sure about the @ sign, but I eagerly joined thousands of other tech lovers at a change of venue this year: London’s Earls Court.

The journey up from Devon was fairly smooth apart from a 90 minute delay at a kink in the line! Lots of fake snow (it’s Christmas) and huge SONOS adverts lined the entry corridor and I set off on my usual Drunkard’s walk around the venue. Earls Court was fairly easy to navigate and I quickly spotted a few areas of interest.

First off: the SONOS stand of course. There was lots of excitement over their latest addition to the family: the PLAY:1. A fantastic little speaker that has a sound that belies its size and at only £169 by far the least expensive entry into the world of Wireless HiFi that is SONOS.

On to the Microsoft stand where the latest laptops, hybrids (half tablet, half PC) and tablets were showing off Microsoft’s latest 8.1 release of Windows.The Start button is finally (sort of) back and performance has been improved. Their own Microsoft Surface Pro 2 was everywhere. This is a fully fledged Windows 8.1 computer with a fast Quad-Core i5 processor and SSD but in tablet form. There is an optional add on keyboard that clips on magnetically. It also comes with a pressure sensitive stylus which makes it very attractive to illustrators and budding artists.

If you’re undecided between a tablet and a new powerful and lightweight laptop – this could be for you! It’s a little on the heavy side and slightly more bulky than I’d like, but they’ve improved the battery life and the kickstand. The all-day battery life, making use of the latest Intel Haswell processor, is more than acceptable. And the new kickstand means that with the optional keyboard it can be used comfortably on your lap.

Vernon from Extreme Fliers with their new Micro Drone 2.0

I had to visit Vernon on the Extreme Fliers stand. He was skilfully showing off the new Micro Drone 2.0 Quadrocopter which has the option of an on-board camera. See my full review of the Quadrocopter here.

I’m always looking for new gadgets for the shop and the Jackpen caught my eye. Basically a minute ballpoint pen that fits in the headphone socket of your phone! I think this is a genuinely useful idea and we should be getting some in for Christmas …

More toys that caught my eye were the inflatable remote control Star Wars characters – I know my children would love them!

Remote control inflatables

I didn’t quite know what to make of Narrative, a clip-on camera that takes a photo every 30 seconds. They call it lifelogging technology and the small device has a 5 megapixel camera (of iPhone 4 quality) and integrated GPS. Much of the innovation is in the supporting software which attempts to identify useful shots from thousands of mainly uninteresting ones! It uses location, changes in contrast and time to do this but I imagine you’ll still have to sort through a lot of rubbish. You can also tap the device to force a picture to be taken.

I was surprised at the price at over £200 and an additional charge for the hosting of your pictures. Not really a casual purchase at that price but I’m sure they’ll have takers!

Half of the show was dedicated to gaming, with the new (to be released this month) PlayStation 4 and Xbox One taking centre stage and the centre of the hall staging a massive Minecraft competition.