But Macs don't get viruses ... or do they?

Today 1 in 5 consumer PCs is a Mac so they are a tasty target for hackers, spammers and criminals.

See these two brief videos for more info: Do Macs get viruses?


and this: What does a Mac threat look like?

Free Anti virus protection for Macs

Introducing Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition

Sophos has released their latest free tool - Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition. This is their first consumer anti-malware product designed to provide Mac home users with up–to-the-hour protection that is simple to use and FREE!

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition features:
• Full protection from viruses, Trojans and worms— both Mac and Windows threats
• Anti-virus technology that stops all threats in their tracks, even if it’s something new
• Quarantine and cleanup of threats it finds
• Business-quality anti-virus, backed by SophosLabs
• Protection that is light on resources and easy to use - it installs quickly and doesn’t get in your way
• And yes, it’s 100%, totally, absolutely, completely free

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition is available for Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger), 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard), and supports all Apple Mac hardware including the new MacBook Air.

To downlad it free, go to www.sophos.com/products/free-tools/free-mac-anti-virus/

B Technologies is a Gold partner of Sophos so far any security needs, write to us at info@btechnologies.com and we will get back to you promptly.

World Cup 2010 - be aware of the scams!

Our close friends at Sophos - the IT security experts sent us this link to important information regarding scams that appear around World Cup 2010 time that you or someone you know may be exposed to.

People who usually have little or no interest in soccer may turn into soccer fiends when the world Cup starts.

And if you can change your behaviour -- quite innocently -- in "real life" because the World Cup is on, you run the risk of changing your behaviour online -- to your own risk -- at the same time.

Clicking dodgy links, running to five different little-known websites to compare odds, checking who's playing whom and when, trying to find crowd-shot video of dodgy refereeing decisions, looking up historical data to prove England really are rubbish, and more.

If you want to be prepared, read this:
http://www.sophos.com/blogs/duck/g/2010/06/10/world-cup-2010-scam-odds

5 tips to help keep your passwords secret

Treat your passwords with as much care as you treat the information that they protect.

Use strong passwords to log on to your computer and to any site where you enter your credit card number, or any financial or personal information—including social networking sites.

1. Never provide your password over e-mail or in response to an e-mail request.
2. Internet "phishing" scams use fraudulent e-mail messages to entice you to reveal your user names and passwords, steal your identity, and more.
3. Do not type passwords on computers that you do not control
• Computers such as those in Internet cafes, computer labs, kiosk systems, conferences, and airport lounges should be considered unsafe for any personal use other than anonymous Internet browsing.
• Cyber criminals can purchase keystroke logging devices which gather information typed on a computer, including passwords.
4. Don't reveal passwords to others
• Keep your passwords hidden from friends or family members (especially children) who could pass them on to other, less trustworthy individuals.
5. Protect any recorded passwords
• Don't store passwords on a file in your computer, because criminals will look there first.
• Keep your record of the passwords you use in a safe, secure place.
6. Use more than one password
• Use different passwords for different Web sites and services.

How strong is YOUR password?

Test your password with a password checker

Are you wondering if the password you created is good enough?

A password checker evaluates your password's strength automatically.

Click on the following link if you want to check your password's strength:

https://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/checker.aspx?WT.mc_id=Site_Link

How to Create Strong Passwords

Strong passwords are an important protection to help you protect your data.

Keys to password strength: length and complexity

An ideal password is long and has letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers.

• Whenever possible, use at least 8 characters or more.
• The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better.
• Use the entire keyboard, not just the letters and characters you use or see most often.

Create a strong password you can remember

There are many ways to create a long, complex password. Here is one way that may make remembering it easier:

Start with a sentence or two (about 10 words total). Think of something meaningful to you.
For example take he following sentence:
"Long and complex passwords are safest. I keep mine secret." (10 words)
Turn this sentences into a row of letters. Use the first letter of each word.
= lacpasikms (10 characters)
Add complexity. Make only the letters in the first half of the alphabet uppercase.
= lACpAsIKMs (10 characters)
Add length with numbers. Put two numbers that are meaningful to you between the two sentences.
= lACpAs56IKMs (12 characters)
Add length with punctuation. Put a punctuation mark at the beginning.
= ?lACpAs56IKMs (13 characters)
Add length with symbols. Put a symbol at the end.
= ?lACpAs56IKMs" (14 characters)

Common password pitfalls to avoid

Cyber criminals use sophisticated tools that can rapidly decipher passwords.
Avoid creating passwords using:
• Dictionary words in any language.
Words in all languages are vulnerable.
• Words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and abbreviations.
• Sequences or repeated characters.
Examples: 12345678, 222222, abcdefg, or adjacent letters on your keyboard (qwerty).
• Personal information.
Your name, birthday, driver's license, passport number, or similar information.
Protect your passwords from prying eyes
The easiest way to "remember" passwords is to write them down.
It is okay to write passwords down, but keep them secure.

SCAMS - Learn All About Them

Too many businesses become victims of online and offline scams. There is a handy booklet published by the government that you are able to download for free and learn more about the scams, how they work and how you can defend against them.

The link is as follows:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/TheLittleBlackBookOfScams08

This is what the website says about the booklet:
The little black book of scams highlights a variety of popular scams that regularly target Australian consumers and small business in areas such as fake lotteries, internet shopping, mobile phones, online banking, employment and investment opportunities. It also offers consumers tips on how to protect themselves from scams, what they can do to minimise damage if they do get scammed and how they can report a scam.

Protect your data in 3 simple ways

Here are three simple steps to ensure that when you walk away from your computer, people will not be able to see what you are working on.

1. Set up a password so you have to log on everytime you start the computer. This is the most basic protection you really should have in place - and most workplaces already have this.

You can password protect individual files, folders or the whole computer.
Create strong passwords that:
- Are at least 6 characters
- Include upper and lowercase letters
- Contain at least 1 special character (@$*>?) and/or numbers

To set up a password there are a number of ways but an easy one is to press these 3 buttons at the same time; 'Ctrl' 'Alt' and 'Delete' and click on 'Change password'

2. Set up a screensaver with password protection - this means that when you walk away from your computer a screensaver will automatically start after a preset number of minutes and when you are ready to start work again, you will have to enter in your password to be able to access your work.

To turn on your screensaver with password protection, go to the ‘Control Panel’ and look under ‘Display’. Go to the ‘Screensaver’ tab, where you will see the available options. Set the amount of minutes the system should wait before it start the screensaver when the computer is not being used. Tick the box for password protection.

3. Finally before you walk away from your computer at work or in a public place, press these 3 buttons at the same time; 'Ctrl' 'Alt' and 'Delete' and select 'Lock Computer'. In this setting all your files remain exactly as they are, but noone will be able to see them or access them while you walk away. When you come back you simply enter your password and you can continue working as before.

These are just 3 simple techniques you can use to protect your data!

Let us know if you have any other handy tips like this. Remember the team at B Technologies is here to help.

Keeping Microsoft Windows updated is easy, free and important

For Windows users, you should regularly install Microsoft suggested critical updates!

If you have a Windows operating system installed on your computer you should ensure that it is set to receive automatic updates as they are released. These updates are released as security and performance issues are identified on a regular basis, so receiving the updates is a very important process.

To ensure you have the latest updates RIGHT NOW, you can go to http://update.microsoft.com/. You will first be asked if you want to do an express or custome installation of any critical updates. I usually select 'custom' so I can review all of the available updates. By reading their descriptions I can decide whether I need them or not.

Once you have selected one of the buttons a scan of you system will start automatically which will identify all available updates to your system. You should install any critical updates and sort through the optional updates to see whether you really need them or not.

The same concept applies to any other programs THAT YOU TRUST. If you know that the program is safe, it is advisable to now and again check for any updates as these are usually released by the developers to fix any issues that have been identified or to add new features.

Remember this is all free.

How to tell if a website is truly secure or not

Someone sent me an email with some very useful information that I wanted to share with you all about the difference between http:// and https://

This is one of the ways that you can check whether a website that you are about to enter your credit card details into for example, is secure or not! So it’s this simple:

The main difference between http:// and https:// is it’s all about keeping you secure

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transport Protocol, which is just a fancy way of saying it's a protocol (a language, in a manner of speaking) for information to be passed back and forth between web servers and clients.

The important thing is the letter S which makes the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.
The S stands for "Secure".

If you visit a website or webpage, and look at the address in the web browser, it will likely begin with the following: http://

This means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular 'unsecured language. In other words, it is possible for someone to "eavesdrop" on your computer's conversation with the website. If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.

This is why you never ever enter your credit card number in an http website!

But if the web address begins with https:// that basically means your computer is talking to the website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.

If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card information, you should automatically look to see if the web address begins with https://

If it doesn't, do not enter sensitive information like a credit card number.

You can also see the Wikipedia article on the subject

Protect your emails - backing them up is simple but if you lose them they are gone forever!

Following on from our last blog post, we have been asked by several clients about how to backup their email. There is a different answer for those using Mac, Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express and Vista but I will start with the most common; Outlook 2007/2003/2002.

First you need to download a backup tool from the official Microsoft website. This is a small file and will take less than a minute to download. To install the file:

1. Turn off Outlook
2. Save the file to your computer
3. Run the program

To back up your emails you can find the instructions on the Microsoft website or follow these instructions:
1. Start Outlook
2. Under the 'file' menu you now have a 'backup' option, select it
3. In the new window select 'options'
4. here you have 3 selections to make:
1 - if you want an automatic reminder to help you backup regularly, check the box under the 'reminder heading, and select the number of days.
2 - under 'backup files' select which email folders you want to backup.
3 - Under 'file location' select the location where you want your emails backed up to. When you are done press 'OK'.

It’s that simple. Now the key is that when your computer has done a backup, you need to save the backup file onto a CD, DVD, USB, external hard drive or another computer to make sure it is safe in case something happens to your data.

BACK UP YOUR DATA REGULARLY!

P.S. To backup your files on Vista you can follow the instructions via this link.

Protect Yourself From Dangerous Viruses

Several of our clients have found that their computers were infected by a nasty 'antivirus software' virus. Read this article to learn how to spot the virus and for tips on how to prevent infection of your systems!

Based on initial analysis, this virus arrives mainly via spammed email messages that contain a link to bogus offers, and we have also received reports that the said link is circulating in instant messaging applications and private messages in social networking Web sites, too.

Once the said URL link is clicked, the Web threat infection chain begins and ultimately leads to the download of a Trojan. This Trojan is a 'rogue anti-virus' that displays very convincing messages that are meant to scare and confuse the user, ultimately tricking the user into revealing their credit card details. The message is perceived to be from a trusted Microsoft source. The messages come in a wide variety such as the following:







The trojan tells the user that since they are only using the “trial version" the users should get the full version so that they are always supposedly protected. The messages can look like this:




So ultimately if users find any of these or similar messages, they should contact B Technologies straight away as the trojan / virus has to be removed from the computer effectively.

To protect your computer against viruses users should do the following:

• Run effective anti-virus software. Look for anti-virus software from major vendors like McAfee or Symantec.

• Keep your anti-virus software updated. Remember that new viruses come out all the time and anti-virus software can only protect you if the software has been updated to know about the newest threats. You should update your virus definitions at least once per week if not more often.

• Don't open attached files via e-mail. Whatever e-mail program you use, don't open any attached files, even from people you know, unless you were explicitly expecting that particular file. Many viruses try to convince you that a file attachment containing the virus is something you really want to read. Be sceptical and careful!

• Keep your computer up-to-date with the latest patches. New security holes in operating systems are found on a regular basis. Use Windows Update to make sure your computer always has the latest fixes and patches for security holes.

• Use a firewall. Viruses and other threats can come over networks in methods other than e-mail. Many malicious programs 'probe' your computer looking for known security holes or open services. A port scan of your system can take seconds and can find innumerable vulnerabilities. A firewall blocks outsiders from probing or connecting to your computer unless you initiate the connection via a Web browser or other program. ZoneAlarm is a popular free Windows firewall application and may be a good option for many users. If you have a cable modem or DSL connection at home, consider a dedicated hardware firewall/router from manufacturers like Linksys, SMC, or Netgear.

• Never enter your credit card details into any program or website unless you are absolutely sure that it is trustworthy.

This is a topic that we at B Technologies take very seriously, if you have any concerns about the security of your computer or network, contact us so we can ensure your assets are appropriately protected.