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Archive for March 2016

Apple iOS 9.3 Causing some Devices to Freeze or Crash

by KW · Comments (0)
Mar 28 2016

Apple released their 9.3 update to their operating system (iOS) last week. Since then, many people are reporting that their iPhones and iPads are freezing up or crashing.

Read more on at CNN and 9TO5Mac.

As usual, whether you are using a Windows, Apple or Android device, it is always best to make sure that your files and apps are backed up before proceeding with an operating system update.

Better yet, unless you really love being on the “bleeding edge” of technology, I would always advise to wait several weeks before upgrading to a new OS release. Let others work out the bugs first!

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Categories : Apple, News
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New Ransomware Will Overwrite Your Computer’s Boot Record

by KW · Comments (0)
Mar 28 2016

Petya ransomware corrupts master boot recordsRansomware keeps getting uglier by the day. Now comes a report from Germany of a new version of Ransomware that will overwrite the boot record of your computer. This version is called the Petya ransomware,

Up until now, most ransomware viruses were writing a highly secured password to files on the computer disk, blocking you from opening those files unless you pay the ransom.

But the Petya ransomware attacks the boot record. With a corrupt boot record, you will not be able to boot your computer at all!

According to anti-virus vendors, the Petya ransomware is being distributed through spam email that masquerades as job applications.

And if this is not enough to put you on your toes, consider that this Friday is April 1st!

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

Thanks to PCWord for their in depth article on the Petya ransomware!

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Categories : Malware, News
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Cannot RDP into Windows 10 Computer

by KW · Comments (0)
Mar 17 2016

Working with a customer that has SBS 2008 and upgraded a local computer to Windows 10. We discovered that we could not RDP into that workstation either locally using “mstsc” nor remotely using Remote Web Workplace (RWW).

Turns out the fix is very easy.

By default, Windows 10 has Remote Desktop turned off in the firewall settings for the local workstation.

Here’s how to fix it:

  • Open up Control Panel and go to System & Security –> Windows Firewall
  • Click on “Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall” option located in the left frame
  • Click on the Change settings button
  • If you do not have administrator access to this workstation, you will be prompted to enter an administrator username and password
  • Scroll down and locate Remote Desktop. Click on the box to select it, and then click on the appropriate boxes under the Domain and Private columns.
    image
  • Click OK.
  • I suggest you then run gpupdate /force from a command prompt, first on the server, and then from the workstation. For the workstation, you may be prompted to logout to apply the update.
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Categories : Group Policy, Network, SBS, Servers, Windows 10
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Analysis of a Ransomware

by KW · Comments (0)
Mar 04 2016

Ransonware (often referred to as Cryptolocker) is a malicious virus threat in today’s environment.

If the virus gets onto your computer, it will begin locking down files on your computer by writing a hidden secured password to those files. It will then display a message that you have XX number of hours or days to pay the ransom to get the password to unlock your files.

Unless you have solid backup, your two options are: pay the ransom or lose all your files. The ransom could be in the hundreds of dollars. For a California hospital, that ransom was to the tune of $17,000 dollars!

MalwareBytes has a blog post on their site dated March 1, 2016 which gives an in-depth analysis of how such a ransomware virus works.

I found it an interesting read, and thought I would pass it along.

You can go directly to the blog post and read it, or I saved it as a PDF file that you might find easier to read.

Kudos to MalwareBytes!

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Categories : Malware, News, Security
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