Showing posts with label Data. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Data. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Data Privacy & Data Security In Today's Digital Age


How to Become as "Invisible" as Possible In Today's Cyberage

I have been getting a lot more questions from customers lately with regard to online data privacy and data security.
"How can I keep my online accounts more secure?"
"I would like to surf the internet as anonymously and as privately as possible. How can I do that?
"I found some personal information online, and would like it removed! How do I do that?"

So I decided to write a post covering the basics of online privacy, how to improve your safety and security when online, and how to get personal data removed from the internet (if at all possible).

Thursday, March 17, 2022

PC, Mac and Linux Disk and Hard Drive Recovery


R-STUDIO

Mac, Linux & PC Disk Recovery,
and Hard Drive Recovery Tool!

Have you accidentally deleted some data?
Is your hard drive all of a sudden not letting you access the drive? 
Does your computer say that it needs to "format the drive" before it can be used?
Does it seem like your hard drive maybe has died?!
Well, R-Studio Recovery software from R-Rools might be your saving grace!

Empowered by the new unique data recovery technologies, R-STUDIO is the most comprehensive data recovery solution for recovery files from NTFS, NTFS5, ReFS, FAT12/16/32, exFAT, HFS/HFS+ and APFS (Macintosh), Little and Big Endian variants of UFS1/UFS2 (FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD/Solaris) and Ext2/Ext3/Ext4 FS (Linux) partitions. It also uses raw file recovery (scan for known file types) for heavily damaged or unknown file systems. It functions on local and network disks, even if such partitions are formatted, damaged, or deleted. Flexible parameter settings give you absolute control over data recovery.

www.r-studio.com

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Ransomware; What You Need To Know


With the popularity of the "WannaCry" ransomware bug that went around in early 2017, most folks are pretty familiar with the term Ransomware (aka an extortion virus). If you are not familiar with term, essentially a Ransomware virus is bug that usually gets into a system through an infected attachment via a fake Email. Once the email is opened, the virus activates and immediately starts to seek out and encrypt Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, Pictures, Music; anything it can get it's hands on. It is a VERY destructive type of attack and if not prepared, you could loose all of the precious data that is stored on your computer and connected to your computer!

So what is Data Encryption?

Data encryption is a way to lock a file, or any type of data on a hard drive, very securely. Encryption essentially locks a file with a nearly unbreakable secret password, key, etc. Once a file has been "locked" or encrypted, you need have to have the secret key or password to be able unlock and access file(s) again. The key or password is what enables you to decrypt, or "unlock" the file, and have access to all your stuff again; pictures, documents, music, etc. So what the scammers are trying to achieve with deploying Ransomware is to lock your data up and then extort money from you to get your data back. Essentially make you pay a ransom to get your data unlocked and accessible again.

What can you do to protect yourself from Ransomware attacks?


  1. BACKUP YOUR DATA: Back up your files remotely every day, but only on a hard drive that is not connected to the internet. So long as you back up files on an external hard drive, you won’t lose any information if hit by a ransomware attack.
  2. NEVER OPEN A SUSPICIOUS EMAIL ATTACHMENT: And never download an app that you haven’t verified with an actual store. Read reviews before installing programs.
  3. SCAN ALL DOWNLOADS: Some antivirus programs have the ability to scan files to see if they might contain ransomware. Make use of them before downloading any questionable attachments from email or software from the internet.
  4. EXTRA PROTECTION: If you want take things a step even further, BitDefender does have an Anti-Ransomware security tool you can install and run on your computer to supplement (and work in conjunction with) your existing security software:
    www.bitdefender.com/solutions/anti-ransomware-tool.html

What do you do if you have already gotten infected with Ransomware?

If your computer has been attacked by ransomware, you can explore the free ransomware response kit (from ZDNet) for a suite of tools that can help with a ransomware attack.
Pacific Northwest Computers also recommends the following to moderate an attack as well:
  1. Remove the infected machines from the network, so the ransomware does not use the machine to spread throughout your network!! VERY IMPORTANT!!
  2. Decide whether or not to restore from available backups, try to decrypt the encrypted data, or pay the ransom and take it as a lesson learned.
  3. Research if similar malware has been investigated by other IT teams, and if it is possible to decrypt it on your own. About 30 percent of encrypted data can be decrypted without paying a ransom. Some of those tools are listed below:
If the none of the available decryption tools work (or a decryption tool is not available for your specific type or Ransomware) data recovery could be a last resort option. There have been cases where when the Ransomware virus attacks and the data encryption first occurs, the original file is actually copied and then deleted, and the copied file is what gets's encrypted! So we can try to recover those original files!

If you have been hit by a Ransomware virus, you need Ransomware Data Recovery, or you are interested in getting some systems in place to be prepared and protected in the case of a Ransomware attack, feel free to reach out to us!
Pacific Northwest Computers


Jon Pienkowski ~ Owner/Operator
360.624.7379

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Online Data Backup Solutions


Pacific NorthWest Computers is a reseller for several different online backup providers and recently partnered with BackSync. BackSync Backup is a secure online backup and recovery solution with unlimited retention, centralized management and industry leading features. Small to Medium Business who are looking for Enterprise class backup at a fraction of the price. We don’t waste your time by offering consumer grade products re-branded with a “Pro” label.

BackSync Backup Features:
  • Exchange 2000 thru 2010 - Database, Mailbox and Mail item level restore 
  • Synthetic Full Backup - Exchange Database and regular file backups 
  • VMware ESX/ESXi – Guest level backup of licensed servers 
  • Microsoft SQL 2000 thru 2008 
  • SharePoint - 2003 thru 2010 and WSS 
  • MySQL Server 
  • Oracle Databases 
  • Active Directory and System State 
  • Open File Backup 
  • Normal Flat File Backup- Select disks, folders and files 
  • Network Drive Backup – Agent-less backups of other computers 
  • NAS (Network Attached Storage) Backup 
  • Outlook PST files 
  • Windows Registry 
  • Native Clients for Windows, OS X and Linux 
  • Backup to Local Disk, NAS, File Share or Online 
  • Unlimited file retention 

BackSync Backup Security
  • Encryption – Up to 448 bit strong encryption. 
  • Transmission – Backups are transmitted via a secured encrypted (SSL) link to the backup server. 
  • High Availability – All data is stored on high availability RAID storage networks with the ability to replicate around the world. 
  • Data Center- Backup servers are located in secured SAS70 Type-II data centers that are staffed and monitor 24x7x365. These facilities have redundant cooling, power and Internet. 

BackSync Backup is Simple!
  • Automated – Backup jobs can be scheduled from every minute to once a year or continuous as the files change. 
  • Continuous Data Protection (CDP) – Live monitoring and backup of files and folders for continuous data protection. (Great for laptops and mobile workers). 
  • Retention - Retain data on a per backup job basis up to 10 years for both live and deleted files. 
  • Consolidation – Backup as many computers as you want under a single account for easy management. 
  • Rapid Restore – Restores are performed quickly from the client. Larger restores can be done in in the data center and delivered or shipped directly to you. 
  • Easy to Manage – All backup clients and servers can be managed from a web browser. 
  • Seeding – Large initial backups can be quickly seeded with a USB drive into the data center. 
  • Reporting – Each client maintains detailed reports on every backup with the option to send notifications. 


If you are looking for a standard/non-commercial data backup services, here are some of our top picks!

  • Backblaze.com provides unlimited and inexpensive data storage solutions; starting at $5 a month.
  • If you went with a business package, from Carbonite you would have the easiest access to your data as well; you could access data from any type of device. You could also use it like an online file storage/access portal as well! Unlike some of the other online data backup providers, Carbonite does provide backup services for iphones and ipads!
    play.google.com/store/apps/details
    www.carbonite.com/online-backup/pricing-plans
  • SOS's Online Backup plans aren't the cheapest but it's hard to compare apples to apples in this industry. For example, SOS's continuous data backup feature, which backs up a new version of a file the instant it's changed, is a killer feature that I haven't seen elsewhere!

There are other "alternative" solutions such as NAS Drives (Network Accessible Storage Drive) and other alternative services like Google Drive, DropBox, SkyDrive, Etc. But we will get into those later :)

Let us know if you have any questions or comments!

Jon Pienkowski
Pacific NorthWest Computers
www.pnwcomputers.com
360-624-7379

New Virus Alert: CryptoLocker!


A New Virus Has Surfaced ~ CryptoLocker

CryptoLocker is a new, nasty piece of malicious software that is infecting computers around the world; encrypting important files and demanding a ransom to unlock them. If you get hit with this virus you risk having your personal data encrypted and lost for good!

This sophisticated malware is delivered the old-fashioned way – an executable file hidden inside an attachment that looks like an ordinary ZIP file or PDF. One small business reports being compromised after clicking on an email attachment that was designed to look like a shipping invoice from the U.S. Postal Service.

The CryptoLocker virus can be removed from an infected system, but unfortunately at this time there is no way to retrieve the private key that can be used to decrypt your files without paying the ransom. Brute forcing the decryption key is not realistic due to the length of time required to break the key. Also any decryption tools that have been released by various companies will not work with this infection. The only method you have of restoring your files is from a backup or Shadow Volume Copies if you have System Restore enabled. Newer variants of CryptoLocker attempt to delete the Shadow Copies, but it is not always successful.

Preventive Measures:
  1. BACKUP ALL OF YOUR DATA ASAP! That’s the only way to reduce the risk of losing your files forever. Also, to avoid getting your backup's encrypted your backup device should be disconnected from your computer until the next time you need to access it or run a backup. 
  2. Download and install a free utility called 'Crypto Prevent'. Crypto Prevent is a small utility that changes a few settings in your computer to help prevent the CryptoLocker infection from happening in the first place! Its not a golden bullet however, so having current data backups is your ulitimate defense. You can downloading the Crypto Prevent utility directly from the link below!
http://www.foolishit.com/vb6-projects/cryptoprevent/

If you need any assistance we can setup a visit to help secure and backup your computer for you!

Let us know if you have any questions or issues!

Jon Pienkowski
Pacific NorthWest Computers
www.pnwcomputers.com
360-624-7379

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Data Backup - Whats Out There Other Than Online?


Question...

Other than an online backup solution, what is a basic setup that you recommend for keeping your computer data backed up?

Answer: Pacific NorthWest Computers recommends getting a small portable hard drive for each individual computer you may have at your home/office. We have seen clients use one hard drive for multiple computers but that usually ends up being more of a hassle rather than a convenience. Plus if that one drive was to fail, everyone's data could be lost! So with an individual drive for each computer, backups can be scheduled and completely automated.  Additionally, in the case of hard drive failure, you only have to worry about the data for that one user versus potentially losing all of the data for multiple users!
If you want to make sure you data is REALLY secure, A Network Accessible Storage drive (also known as a NAS drive) is another option to take a look at. A NAS is like an external hard drive that is setup over your network. Besides creating easy access to data from any computer connected to that network, it also uses multiple hard drives to protect your data in the event that one of the drives was to fail. With a NAS, all your data and information is mirrored to additional drives so in the event a hard drive fails you don't lose any data OR have any down time! For businesses, no down time is VERY important!

So there are some other options as well, but this is a good starting point :)

If you have any general data backup questions or questions about your data backup system, give us a call or shoot us an email today!! 
360-624-7379
Jon@pnwcomputers.com
www.pnwcomputers.com


Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Lexmark Printer Service/Print Spooler Bug: XP Systems

Because of a flaw in Lexmark's printer driver and software removal and uninstall utility. After removing a Lexmark printer driver and software from an XP system, may create "Printer Installation Failed: RPC Server Unavailable" and/or "Print Spooler Service Is Not Running" error messages.

The first thing you always need try if you are having any kind of basic software problems, is to try uninstalling and reinstalling the appropriate drivers and software, and/or visit the manufacturer's website and download and install the latest drivers and software for your device. If this does not fix your printing issues, the problem probably lies within Windows itself. (Unless of course, your device is physically broken or you have a broken cable). But what I have seen over the years is that customers with these specific "Printer Spooler Service" or "RPC Server Unavailable" errors happen to to use or have had used a Lexmark printer.

So really quick, here is the definition of what a Windows Service, like the Print Spooler Service, basically is: (Taken from Wikipedia.org Link)
"A Windows service is an application that starts when the Microsoft Windows operating system is booted and runs in the background as long as Windows is running."
*Quick explanation of What Is RPC and How Does it Work.

The Print Spooler Service itself basically is a Windows service that starts when your computer starts, and is constantly running in the background of your operating system to load files to memory for printing. What I would find is that there would be a service installed in the computer from Lexmark called the "LexBce Server". The LexBce Server Service is installed by the Lexmark printer's software to configure the onboard network print server.
*The print server
accepts jobs from computers and send the jobs to the appropriate printers.

When the service installs itself however, it installs itself so the Windows Print Spooler Service becomes dependent upon it. So disabling the LexBce Server Service will make it so that your Print Spooler Service can no longer run. Which in effect disables all printing on your computer. Also, without the Print Spooler running, an installation of a printer is not going to be possible and you are going to most likely get the "RPC" error that was mentioned at the begining.
*The LexBce Server Service can also come pre-installed on some Dell computers that are packaged with "Dell" printers; that's because they are made by Lexmark.
**The LexBce.dll, a file related with the LexBce Server, is also related to
the software "MarkVision for Windows" also a product of Lexmark.

So, do all Lexmark printers install this service? I can't say for sure. What I do know is that if you are using a Lexmark printer or have had a Lexmark printer, you could have the LexBce Server Service installed on your computer and may eventually experience the discussed issues. Same scenario for previous owners of Lexmark printers. The un-installation of Lexmark printer drivers/software might have left this service behind. The bottom line is that if LexBce Server Service was, or is, on your computer and happens to fail or is disabled instead of removed during software/driver removal, say hello to the Lexmark Print Spooler bug!


*I originally wrote this blog working at Battle Ground Computers, back when I was a manager at their store; it was a great find of mine so I wanted to re-post it on my new blog with some updated and edits. My original blog posting; http://tinyurl.com

Get the most out of your internet!

Getting the Most Out of Your Internet

Probably one of the number one issues that is brought up to me is "Why is my internet so slow! It use to be so much faster!". Well dial-up or high-speed, everyone can be affected by internet "chug". So here are some quick recommendations and thoughts on how to keep your internet AND your computer running quickly and smoothly!

1) Confirm that the computer itself is operating at maximum efficiency. It is very common for computers, mainly those using the Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, do become sluggish after as little as a few weeks of operation. This can make users think that their dial-up connection is extremely slow and can become an incentive to convert to a more expensive broadband connection. Sluggish computers are, of course, less noticeable with broadband.

2) Empty browser's caches and cookies, which are directories that the browser uses to retain copies of previously visited web pages. When these caches become very large, they can consume considerable space on a Hard Drive and thus slowing down your computer's operation, including its ability to displaying web pages.
**CCleaner is a free PC optimization tool. It combines a system cleaner that removes unused and temporary files from your system and also a fully featured registry cleaner! CCleaner allows Windows to run faster, more efficiently and gives you more hard disk space. The best part is that it's Small, Fast and Free!
*Here is a direct ink to it's download page: http://preview.tinyurl.com/bvtbj
*
Here is a link to instructions on how to install and use CCleaner: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ngh4pc

3) Use a fast web browser. There are large differences in the speeds at which browsers render web pages; a browser is rendering when it's interpreting the web site's "geek" code and converting to a form which we see as a beautiful web page. The fastest is said to be closely between FireFox 3.5 and Google's Chrome web browser. Also, the newer the version of these browsers, generally the faster you'll go. Reason for this include improvements in coding and in how previously visited pages are stored in the browser cache. Internet Explorer should be avoided because it is the slowest of the major browsers, because it has inferior security and because it lacks other advanced features. FireFox and Chrome can be downloaded from the Internet at no cost and are available for use with most major operating systems.
*
Here is a link to download FireFox: http://preview.tinyurl.com/y3prgo
*
Here is a link to instructions on how to install FireFox: http://preview.tinyurl.com/5keeym

4) Use tabbed browsing. Tabbed browsing is an innovation built into advanced browsers such as FireFox and Chrome that allows multiple pages to be opened at a time in which appear as different pages in a single web browser window. Each of these pages is easily accessible by clicking the appropriate tab along the top of the window. This can be much more convenient than having to open each page in a separate browser window when it is desired to have a number of pages open simultaneously. Furthermost, it can also speed up the web surfing by making it more convenient to be downloading other web pages while another page is being read.

5) Avoid unnecessary browser plug-ins, which are downloadable software that is designed to "add functionality" to your web browser. Plug-ins can substantially decrease web page rendering time because they allow additional data to be downloaded for many pages or is trying to consistently update "sibling" applications. Perhaps the most notorious example is Adobe Flash, which is used for moving images.

6) Turn off pop-up windows. These unrequested windows, which are usually used for advertisements, consumes bandwidth and can slow down the rendering of web pages. They are also a nuisance because the user has to click them to close them. The ability to turn off pop-up windows is a major feature of advanced browsers such as FireFox, Chrome and Safari; it was not available on Internet Explorer as of early 2006.

7) Turn off web page images. This is probably not desirable for most people, but for those who are interested solely in text, it can speed up the loading of web pages considerably, particularly those which contain numerous advertisements or other images. With the FireFox browser, for example, this is accomplished by clicking on the Edit menu to open the Preferences panel, clicking on the Web Features icon and then removing the check mark from the Load Images check box. Finally, click the OK button at the bottom of the panel.

8) The last and best solution is to optimize the performance of the computer itself. Several causes of sluggish performance are most notably caused by:
- A full, or nearly full, hard disk drive (HDD) & a lack of defragmentation.
- An older computer with a slow microprocessor with limited memory
- The presence of viruses or other malware in the system.
**Typically, the first of these is the easiest to correct; this can be accomplished by removing little-used files and programs. However,
malware can be "in-the-wild" per-say for up two weeks or more before being identifiable by your Anti-virus software. So there is small possibility that there might be something in there that just can't be seen for found yet; worse case scenario of course.


Additional Software Recomendations:
Applocations were picked for the effeciency, effectivness and low impact on the user's system performance.

Avira’s AntiVir Personal Anti-Virus:

Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus is a reliable free antivirus solution
, that constantly and rapidly scans your computer for malicious programs (such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers etc.), monitoring every action executed by the user or by the operating system and being able to react promptly when a malicious program is detected. Avira AntiVir Personal is a comprehensive, easy to use antivirus program, designed to offer reliable free of charge virus protection.

Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware:
Detects and removes Trojans, Worms, Spyware, and other malicious programs.

  • Repairs damage left by malware

  • Internet surfing tracks erased with TrackSweep

  • Incremental updates for faster downloads

  • Efficient computer resource footprint

  • Free software updates throughout license duration

  • Free support from worldwide security volunteer network


Safer Networking’s Spybot Search & Destroy:

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behavior to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is also absolutely free.

JKDefrag:
Why use this defragger instead of the standard Windows defragger?

  • Much faster.

  • Extremely easy to use.

  • Optimized for daily use.

  • Several strategies of disk optimization.

  • Directories are moved to the beginning of the disk.

  • Reclaims MFT reserved space after disk is full.

  • Maintains free spaces for temporary files.

  • Can defragment very full hard drives.

  • Can defragment very large files.

  • Can defragment individual directories and files.

  • Can be run automatically with the Windows Scheduler.

  • Can be used from the commandline (DOS).

  • Can be used as a screen saver.