A Geek to Go! » A Geek to Go!

Wrapped Up in Security with Sevya

mwest — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:50:22 +0000

Joan Rasch, owner of Sevya in Charleston, SC has grown exponentially since its inception eight years ago. Fair Trade suppliers of 100% silk scarves from India, Sevya called on A Geek To Go! to troubleshoot infections on one of their main computers, in this case, a Windows PC running Vista. A Geek To Go! was able to flush out the infection within a couple of hours. When asked by Rasch “What is the best security solution alternate to Norton?” we explained the importance and value of the Managed Services Program (M.S.P.) that A Geek To Go! has offered for the past four years. Instead of a standalone security package like Norton or McAfee, the Managed Services Program (M.S.P.) offers the user with a Network Edition of the award-winning Antivirus/Antispyware software AVG combined with unlimited email/phone/remote/on-site support for the life of the contract. AVG runs autonomously updating, blocking or quarantining infections and scanning on a regular basis. Additionally, A Geek To Go! logs in remotely at least once a week to check that Windows is updating properly, AVG is functioning as it should and also to run other infection removers in singular weekly scans.

Perfect for those who leave the complexity of I.T. security to the pros and allows the business owner to run their own show.

“We look forward to supporting Sevya’s Macs and Windows PCs in a secure environment” says Miles West, founder and principle of A Geek To Go!

Obviously, the M.S.P. IS the way to go!

Interested? Please check out MSP for more information.

Nuevo Business in Costa?

mwest — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:53:48 +0000

Had the good fortune to meet Christian & Magdalene of CR-IT, the first internet / repair shop in Uvita, Costa Rica & the team has the monopoly on the area. They are very interested in partnering with A Geek To Go! for our Managed Services Program to bring online security remote management for this area. Our MSP program allows remotely managed security and support to any users anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection. Christian is from Austria with 5 years in Costa Rica and Magadalene is from San Isidro, Costa Rica. We look forward to forging a partnership soon!

Banking Trojan Poses as Microsoft Anti-Malware Tool

mwest — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:35:03 +0000

A new and nasty banking Trojan is wreaking havoc on Windows systems by removing built-in security software and clearing a path for crooks to silently steal victims’ banking credentials.

The Trojan affects “ntldr,” the default boot loader on Windows machines, explained Kaspersky Lab expert Fabio Assolini. Identified as Trojan-Downloader.Win32.VB.aoff, the Trojan originated in Brazil, and spreads as a link attached to emails.

Once users click on the malicious link, the Trojan downloads two malicious files from Amazon’s Web Services cloud. These files, called “xp-msantivirus” and “xp-msclean,” worm their way onto the PC’s bootloader, a component that gets executed prior to the startup of the computer’s operating system. From there, the files embark on a catastrophic, and covert, campaign.

The malicious files’ intentions are in their names: advertised as msantivirus and msclean, they are made to looks like legitimate Microsoft anti-virus and computer cleanup tools, but in effect, they are exactly the opposite.

When these files attack the Microsoft ntldr bootloader, they replace it with a new, malicious one, a version of GRUB, an open-source bootloader, which they tailor to execute their commands. Without drawing attention to itself, the new bootloader boots the computer into Linux or Unix software that removes a common Brazilian bank-security plugin, while also getting rid of the system’s built-in Microsoft security software, opening it up to a slew of potential viruses and attacks.

This devious switch happens before the computer has even started up; and worse, it automatically erases itself and resets the original bootloader, so victims have no idea their security has been compromised. All they’re aware of during this whole bait-and-switch is that the startup is taking a little longer than usual, but the attack accounts for that with a phony message claiming to be from Microsoft that says it is actually “removing malicious files.”

The safest way to avoid falling victim to a dangerous attack like this is to run up-to-date and comprehensive anti-virus and anti-malware software on your computer, and to be skeptical about downloading any files attached to emails.

New December Internet Scams Use Phony Adobe Updates and Amazon Gift Cards to Lure Victims

mwest — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:34:28 +0000

If you received an email that appeared to be from Amazon and contained a holiday gift card someone had sent you, what would you do? There’s a very real possibility you’d take the bait and open the “gift,” which is the driving force behind a phishing campaign spotted by researchers at the security firm AppRiver.

In an email titled, “Your gift card order,” the message, full of spotty grammar, reads, “You have received a gift card in the amount of $250. An offer of the gift card is valid until December 7. Take a chance and use our gift card, and as a bonus we will deliver your order free of charge.” The reward is attached as a file labeled, simply enough, “Gift‑Card.zip.”

“Of course with all the online shopping, gift giving/receiving this time of year, there is an added aura of authenticity to these messages,” AppRiver’s Troy Gill wrote. “In fact, I ordered an Amazon gift card just yesterday.”

The gift card, which most likely comes as a total surprise, is of course the lure, and clicking the link to redeem it actually infects computers with a Trojan downloader capable of silently installing malware.

Another email scam, spotted by researchers at the security company Sophos, isn’t as enticing as a free gift card, but could have similarly devastating effects on an unsuspecting victim’ computer.

The malware campaign attempts to trick people into downloading what they think is an upgrade for Adobe Acrobat and Adobe X. The email subject is “Adobe Software Upgrade Notification,” and comes from the email address no-reply@adobe.com.

The attached .zip file hides a version of the Zeus Trojan, built to harvest a victim’s banking credentials.

This security lesson applies to any unsolicited messages you may receive, especially in the run-up to the holidays, when online crooks are pushing out batches of phishing emails in the hopes of snaring a fraction of the millions of people doing their shopping online. If you get an email offering something that sounds too good to be true, don’t open it. The same advice goes for any “critical” security update you didn’t ask for.

I.T. Phone Home! New exploits Using Old hardware…

mwest — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:35:09 +0000

By Ed Bott | November 4, 2011, 4:47am PDT ZD.net

Summary: Online con artists are targeting PC users worldwide in a brazen scam. It starts with a phone call from a “tech support specialist” who warns that your computer is infected with a virus. To fix things, all you have to do is give the caller remote access to your PC. Here’s what happens next.

Updated 7-November with additional details.

An old social-engineering scam appears to have taken on new life lately, targeting PC users worldwide.

Ironically, the scam doesn’t use a computer at all—at least, not initially. Instead, it starts with a phone call from someone who claims to be affiliated with Microsoft or another legitimate company or government agency.

The caller then asks for the primary computer user in the house, who is told: “Your computer has downloaded a virus.” And, of course, the caller is ready and willing to fix the problem. All you have to do is navigate to a web site, click a link to install some remote-control software, and allow the “technician” to get to work.

The perps are using legitimate remote-assistance software, like the Ammyy Admin program from Ammyy Software Development, which posted a warning that included some reports the company has received from scam victims:

“I got call from an India based consultant who said to me that he is calling from a govt. organisation in Melbourne, Australia. He made me to log into my computer to track some files and without advising me he wanted me to download a software application from ammyy.com and get remotely connected to a technician to delete some files…”

“I was recently called by what I thought was my internet service provider technician who used Ammyy to gain remote access to my computer – after I stupidly granted him that permission. It turns out that he was nothing to do with my internet service provider. When I became suspicious and began questioning him he said he would show me who he was and opened a website of a company – the web site triggered my virus software and I then demanded that the remote access be terminated…”

The scam has been around for a few years. Charles Arthur at the Guardian UK wrote about a similar scam last year, noting that it had been “going on quietly since 2008 but has abruptly grown in scale this year.” He wrote about it again in March 2011.

In June of this year, Microsoft published a warning about the scams, including results from a survey it conducted in the U.K., Ireland, U.S. and Canada. The survey showed that across all four countries, 15 percent of those surveyed reported having received one of these phony support calls.

Of those who received a call, 22 percent, or 3 percent of the total survey sample, were deceived into following the scammers’ instructions, which ranged from permitting remote access to their computer and downloading software code provided by the criminals to providing credit card information and making a purchase.

The vast majority (79 percent) of people deceived in this way suffered some sort of financial loss. Seventeen percent said they had money taken from their accounts, 19 percent reported compromised passwords and 17 percent were victims of identity fraud. More than half (53 percent) said they suffered subsequent computer problems.

The latest outbreak appears to be another wave, judging from the sudden increase in complaints I’ve seen recently.

I’ve heard from Windows users and legitimate support specialists who’ve seen this scam in action in Australia, Canada, and the UK. Recent reports from Microsoft indicate that the scammers have widened their net and are now working in languages other than English, targeting Windows users in Poland and the Czech Republic.

I also got one reliable report from an extremely trustworthy source: my mother.

A caller with a thick accent tried to run this scam on my mom, who peppered the caller with questions. What’s your name? What’s your company’s name again? What’s your phone number? (She raised six kids. She’s used to social engineering attempts.)

My mom’s Caller ID said the call originated from 999-910-0132; the caller claimed to be from a company that sounded something like Alert Center, and she gave a callback number of 609-531-0750.

If you plug those numbers into a search engine, you’ll find that they lead to a group of companies using identical website templates under different names, including TechResolve, Itek Assist, and—bingo—AlertSoft. A company with the unimaginative name Custom Design Firm, at the same address in Kolkata, India, also offers custom web-design and search-optimization services at exorbitant prices.

My mom eventually hung up on the scammers, but others haven’t been so lucky. If a victim falls for the scam, the next step involves a credit card, naturally, as this victim reported:

Posed as troubleshooter, got into my system, used a “safe code” to get into my computer. Claimed my machine has been hacked into and infected with a virus. Tom and John, heavy Asian accents. Wanted to install “lifelong protection” for $130. I balked. They have my name and number and have been calling incessantly. I’m concerned that they might have planted something in my computer that allows them access.

Indeed, that’s a legitimate concern. Once a victim has granted an intruder remote access, it’s impossible to tell exactly what sort of damage they’ve done. If you know someone who has fallen for this scam, you should assume their computer has been compromised and respond appropriately.

Most readers of this blog are sophisticated computer users who would laugh out loud at an attempt like this. But you probably have friends, family members, or clients who could use a heads-up on this one. If you get a call from someone claiming to have detected a virus on your PC, just hang up.

Trail-blazin’ Managed Services With The Trail Center

mwest — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:15:18 +0000

The Trail Center, the oldest and friendliest RV dealer in Charleston, South Carolina is the latest company to see the value in commercially managed services from A Geek To Go!

Owner Gloria Morgan politely admitted “I was skeptical at first because we used to have a guy who would check in on us from time to time, but now we can’t find him.”

Many factors derive a response like this such as growth (or lack thereof) or relocation and also the economic slump. Morgan said that she was attracted by the comprehensive package of managed services including a bundle of anti-malware programs such as AVG Antivirus SBE and Spybot SBE. Companies like The Trail Center prefer to pay on a quarterly basis for the ‘peace of mind’ in giving full control and liability to the M.S.P. veterans at A Geek To Go!

Many thanks to Mrs. Morgan and her staff, and we’ll save the ‘happy trails’ cliches for the recycle bin!

How The West Is Being Won, National I.T. Support – Office by Office

mwest — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:23:14 +0000

The nation’s largest labor and immigration law firm, Ogletree Deakins, announced late on Friday, July 22 2011 that A Geek To Go! would be awarded its second West Coast contract with the addition of the Los Angeles office. A Geek To Go! has proven that the company is an industry leader in national I.T. support services with a steady four-week project in the San Francisco office, and additional contracts in Phoenix, St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Charleston. A Geek To Go! also provides remotely managed services for hundreds of both commercial and residential customers.

Are Cookies Bad for Me? Ask Charleston Cookie Company!

mwest — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 22:03:54 +0000

Sure, it depends on who you ask.

An advertising cookie can deliver, well, an advertisement for you to read and consider its value. A tracking cookie might tell AOL (or whomever) which ads attracted you and whether or not you took any action. No personal information about you is recorded.

A tracking cookie could tell whomever what ads you read, what pages on the site interested you most and what other web sites attracted your attention. Usually, no personal information about you is recorded.

Online banking requires the use of cookies. Let’s say you log into your online banking account where you have a checking account, a savings account and a credit card. You look at your checking account to confirm you have enough money to pay your credit card bill. Then you go to your credit card account and pay the bill. The cookie used by the bank allowed it to track you from account to account.

Charleston Cookie Company has been making and creating recipes for over 7 years. The cookies are the star of the show that has been successfully running with a team of talent including CEO Judith Moore and Chef Judy Papadimitriou. This entrepreneurial class act has grown and changed over the last 7 years.

Charleston Cookie Company reached out to A Geek To Go! to remotely manage their computer security (and a few cookies) as part of their Managed Services Program. “We need your services, and you definitely offer a higher level of service at a lower rate than our last provider”, replied Judith Moore, Founder and C.E.O.

Thanks for the bag of cookies, Judith and Judy!

A Geek To Go! Goes Nationwide

mwest — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:24:01 +0000

Falling on the heels of recent national contracts won by the Charleston, SC-based company, A Geek To Go! will now offer on-site support and Managed Services for the following cities coast-to-coast:

Detroit, MI – Phoenix, AZ – Pittsburgh, PA – San Francisco, CA and St. Louis, MO

Please contact us at 1-90-GEEK-TO-GO (1-904-335-8646) for immediate support and/or our Managed Services Program.

Our Managed Services Program (MSP) allows you to forget about the security and maintenance of your computer so that you can focus on what’s more important to you.

We’ve licensed with the Business/Professional versions of AVG Antivirus, Counterspy Antispyware and Spybot Antispyware to bring you a triple-whammy of security for your computer(s). Combined with an automated application that allows for automatic updating for these products, plus the advantage of testing Microsoft Windows Updates before they are downloaded and installed, this application also allows us to remotely and securely manage the health AND security of your computer, with real-time reporting to our Network Operations Center. Rare circumstances that require a visit from one of our technicians is included in the annual cost and the number of on-site visits is UNLIMITED

Lights Out.. but still online!

mwest — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:19:57 +0000

It’s that juxtaposition feeling when sitting at a desk during a thunderstorm and the lights and the fan go off, but yet your monitor is still glowing and your research is still showing and the music is still flowing and POW! That was the static coming through my speakers from the last strike. We never really researched what universal power supply to use but knew we wanted a battery backup for times like this. Thumbs up for APC after 5 years, it still keeps us going!