Windows Security Center Stops Working - Windows 11

I have run into a problem repeatedly recently. On a client computer running Windows 11, if I go to open the Windows Security Center, it won't open and I will get the following message/error:

Some websites will recommend the following:

"Go to the Settings. Select App > Apps & features and type in ‘security’ in search menu box. An icon for Windows Security will pop open. From there, click on the options (three dots) and select Advanced options. Now scroll down to Reset section and click on Reset.

You’ll get a confirmation asking if you really want to reset the app, along with your whole app data. Click on Reset to go with it."

However, so far what I have found is that "Windows Security" is not in the application list at all! 

So how can I reset the app?

Well, what I have found was a simple command you can run from the Windows PowerShell (with administrative privileges) that ultimately solved the problem for me, as well as for some of my clients who have run into this same issue as well.

• Using Windows' search, just type in "PowerShell"

• Right-click on its icon, and select "Run as Administrator"

• Next, copy and paste (or type in) the following script:

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage

• Hit Enter, and you should get a screen like this:

That should do the trick!
Your Windows Security Center should now be working again!

Pacific NW Computers
www.pnwcomputers.com
360.624.7379

Protect Yourself From Cyber Attacks & Digital Fraud!

PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

Make sure you know who you're communicating with.

• Fraudsters pose as credible organizations, such as banks and the IRS, "phishing" for your information.
• Be aware of COVID-related scams.
• Criminals are taking advantage of the pandemic. Learn more about the top scams criminals are using during these difficult times.

Report suspicious texts and emails.

• Fraudsters impersonate companies to get consumers to click links and provide personal information. These deceptive emails, phone calls, and text messages appear to come from a legitimate source.
• Don't let online shopping scams trick you.
• Before providing your billing information online, make sure you are working with a credible site. 
• Don't download any software or click unknown links.

SECURITY BEST PRACTICES

Layer your protection.

• A strong password is the first line of defense against cybercriminals. We recommend using multifactor authentication for an added layer of protection for all your accounts.

Be alert.

• Monitor your accounts regularly, respond to fraud alerts, and report unauthorized transactions promptly.
• Watch out for phishing attempts.
• There are some easy ways to ensure an email is from "who you think" sent it. There are some simple methods to spot Email Spoofing, which you can find here.

Set your preference for digital documents.

• Mailbox fraud has been an ongoing strategy for criminals. 
• Safeguard your correspondence by signing up to receive digital information for your products and services instead of by Mail/USPS.
•  Use a shredder to destroy paper documents when you are done with them.

Stay alert about industry trends on cybersecurity threats!

WannaCry Ransomware Virus

The now infamous "WannaCry" ransom-ware virus has been making headlines and scaring a lot of computer users around the world. It is one of the quickest spreading Ransom-ware bugs that has been released to date, but Ransom-ware viruses are not anything new.

Ransom-ware viruses are a type of virus that infect computers, and then prevent the user from accessing the operating system, or encrypting all the data stored on the computer. Then the user is asked to pay a fixed amount of money as ransom to unlock their files, allowing them to regain access to the operating system and their data again. What sets this virus apart is how quickly and widely it has spread.

As of yesterday a Security Professional, Marcus Hutchins, has been credited with stopping the WannaCry ransomware attack from spreading across the globe, by accidentally triggering a "kill switch" found in reverse engineering the virus. So for now, further infection has been stopped. But to prevent any infections from previous distributions of the bug you can do the following:

"WannaCry" Ransomware Guidelines to Stay Safe:

• Be careful to NOT click on harmful links in your emails! 
• Even with security software installed, if you open/download an attachment from a malicious email it can and will infect a computer and network! 
• If you get an email from someone, look at the email address/email header and make sure it's from who it says it is. 
• Be aware of fraudulent e-mail messages that use names similar to popular services such as PayPal instead of PayPal or use popular service names without commas or excessive characters. 
• Be wary of visiting unsafe or unreliable sites 
• Never click on a link that you do not trust on a web page or access to Facebook or messaging applications such as WatSab and other applications. 
• If you receive a message from your friend with a link, ask him before opening the link to confirm, (infected machines send random messages with links). 
• Always make have the latest update for your Antivirus; Let me know if there are any update issues! 
• Make sure your windows have the latest updates to close the gap! 
• If windows has reported that updates are pending/available; download and install immediately!! 

Further Steps to take in-case you WERE to get infected by the "WannaCry":

• Make a recovery disk! The WannaCry ransomware asks for $300 or more if you a modified version if you do not pay the creators (in Bitcoin to its untraceable and not refundable) encrypt all of your files on the computer. 
• If your computer gets infected take it off of your network immediately! The ransomware will spread to other computers on the network! You can restore from a backup. 
• If you would like our assistance with ANY of the procedures above or would like us to secure your computer and/or network to the best of it's ability, let us know and we can schedule an onsite or remote session for you!! 

More from Microsoft on the bug and associated patches to help prevent infections from WannaCry:
https://technet.microsoft.com/…/libr…/security/ms17-010.aspx

Jon-Eric Pienkowski

_________________________

Pacific NorthWest Computers

www.pnwcomputers.com

(360) 624-7379

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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