Computer Geeks in commercials? Yes my friends it is true. Meet Joe, our technical manager here at Computer Geeks. Joe is the friendly face you will normally see if you pop into our Beacon Hill office in Boston, MA. And more than likely he will be the one saving your bacon when you computer goes down. ?We often sit here on our blog and give you the latest and greatest in technology day after day, but every now and then, it is good to pimp the actual service that we offer.
Computer Geeks provides on site computer repair service, within 24 hours of your phone call. Computer Geeks has been around since 1996 doing computer repair. ?We service anything from virus removal on you Nana’s home computer to installing 20 computers and 2 servers at your new law office. Computer Geeks can handle it all. We are open 7 days a week and even on holidays. If you are in the Boston area, you can feel free to stop by our office on Beacon Hill and drop off your computer, or just stop by and ask us a question.
Also, we are not just a PC crowd here at Computer Geeks! Our technicians are versed in both MAC and PC. So bring us your Apple computer and we can fix it too! We can even help you transfer from Mac to PC or the other way around. Whatever help you need with your computer, Geek ?Choice is there for you, when you need it.
Some of the other Computer Repair services we offer include
Back on September 8, Home Depot confirmed over 56 million credit/debit cards may have been compromised between April and September 2014. Home Depot franchises throughout the US and Canada are affected.? According to a Home Depot spokesperson, hackers used homemade software to cover their tracks. Home Depot has been cyber attacked before, and the culprits didn’t want to use the same malware again to evade accountability. But the thing that got me was Home Depot had warnings. After last year’s hacks, the company’s security agents warned the company to strengthen it’s cyber defense. All they had to do was use a certain security software feature that would have added protection to cashier aisles when customers’ cards were swiped. And this is in their own documents.? During the Sept. 8 confirmation, they revealed after the mass hacking, consumers’ information was put on the cyber black market for sale. While the malware that caused this was found and taken out, Home Depot is looking at a $62 million dollar bill to recover this mess.
Now, they’re talking about a security project that will enhance major encryption in US and Canadian stores. Too bad for Canadian stores that they won’t have this encryption until early 2015. I’m glad something is being done now, but for 56 million accounts, it’s too little too late. What makes this more frustrating is that Home Depot had a chance to make their cyber security systems stronger, but didn’t. Would it have totally prevented this crime? That’s debatable. But some security experts say it would have eliminated 95% of the threat. But the point is, I’d rather have them implement extra security measures and have nothing happen than fail to heed the warnings and have this happen. Shouldn’t the powers that be at Home Depot be ashamed of themselves?
But this one might be a more welcome one. It’s called Monster Mind. Monster Mind is supposed to be a cyber defense system that fights and neutralizes foreign cyber attacks against the US. It can also launch an attack against perpetrators. This program can find malicious international tracking and find, then blocks threats from around the globe. One computer science professor says if the NSA knows how malicious calculations can lead to a cyber attack, and I do believe they have the knowledge, then they can be stopped before they get started. Remember the 20th century Cold War era? They had programs that could allegedly shoot down and stop potential nuclear missiles. Monster Mind would be similar to that in the Internet world. Let’s say international hackers built malware to wipe out US banks of billions of dollars, or build codes to rob the FBI or other US agencies of security secrets, or a worm was built to disrupt the air traffic controller system or train system or highway grid system. The NSA’s Monster Mind system can counter that before any damage can be done.
Not only that, Snowden believes Monster Mind can launch a counter attack with no human intervention. Not surprising, the NSA refuses to comment about Monster Mind, or if it’s even real. On paper, this sounds like a great concept. Let’s not be naive: there are hackers out there who would love to do us harm. So if we can stop the madness before it stops, we should..or should we? Snowden brings up ethics to Monster Mind. In order to spot the malicious traffic, all traffic would have to be analyzed and watched, which could violate the US Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. So is the NSA’s Monster Mind program a good deal?
You may have heard of the crypto locker virus. This virus came about late last year and has affected thousands of people and businesses. One of the business types that has been infected is the law. Police offices, lawyers and the bunch have been hit hard by this infection.
Back in December, Computer Geeks was featured in a news report from WBZ news to talk about the experience that people have with this virus. Computer Geeks is focused on not only removing the virus, but saving your data. Typically people infected with this virus have a one percent success rate of recovering their data and even paying the ransom may not guarantee you get your files back. Because of this, Computer Geeks recommends a data backup solution. This solution can be as easy as an external hard drive that you back up to on a scheduled basis or going up into the cloud and using a source like Carbonite to back your data up securely.
Computer Geeks IT support for law firms has been helping many lawyers not only to protect their data but also prevent infections such as the crypto locker virus. Computer Geeks also recommends a brand new product that we offer through Carbonite. This new appliance is set up to give you onsite data backup and cloud storage for redundancy of your files.
Please note that most people don’t think about how valuable their information is until it’s lost. This isn’t just for consumers, but businesses as well. Putting the focus on IT support for law firms, think about how tragic it would be if you lost your case files, client data and other vital information. Now that you’ve taken a minute to think about it, isn’t it worth contacting Computer Geeks to find out how you can protect that data with just a simple phone call?
Has this ever happened to you? You’re getting ready to watch TV or have a get together. Your phone rings. The person of the other end says they’re from Microsoft, a certified partner or professional. From there, they’ll tell you you’re computer is seriously infected or thousands of errors. They will then request to take over your machine remotely and clean your computer out. If you haven’t received this call, please note that this is a scam. If you receive this call, there are many different ways this could go. The best way is to get off the phone with them and call us because they may have put spyware on your computer to get your information. If you have decided to go further, and let them into your computer, you may have even more issues because not only do they have your information, but now can hold your computer hostage for a high sum of money.
Computer Geeks is a well known computer repair company located in downtown Boston. We never solicit outbound calls to people telling them their machine is infected. We rely on customers to call us when they have a problem. The next question you may have is how do I know if I have a problem? In this blog, we’re going to tell you a few things to look out for that could tip the hand that your computer is infected with viruses, spyware, and/or malware.
The key to knowing if your computer is infected is just like any other illness and infections, knowing the symptoms. If your computer is running slow and is under three years old, you could be looking at an issue where your computer is infected. There is always a slight chance you’re overusing your resources by having multiple applications begin at the start of Windows without you even knowing. Another symptom that you may be infected is that you are not going to the websites you have requested to go to. If your computer is redirecting your web browser to another site your computer is infected. If you’re getting multiple pop-up ads, your computer is infected.
It’s the fastest rising crime in the US: data breach and ID theft. Why isn’t more being said or done about it?
This time, I’m not focusing on the hackers, stores, or security agencies. This is a focus on the consumer. According to a Consumer Reports survey, one in seven Americans were told told their online data was compromised. Sixty-two percent of those did nothing about it, not report it, not take steps to improve privacy, not anything. In 2013 alone, over 11 million Americans fell prey to email phising schemes that led to malware infection.
Keep in mind this comes during some dangerous times: Target breech, Heartbleed virus, sextortion, and NSA revelations, among others. Consumers were warned about Windows XP closing. Weeks after that, 25% of users were still using Windows XP. There’s a tendency in human nature to think something can’t happen to you and you’re not going to even get a hangnail, let alone your whole computer wiped out. But believe me, it can. Several simple steps can be done: constant password changes, hiding your IP address, going anonymous on blogging sites and social media, removing digital footprints, use anti-viral software. If you do get hit, get a professional. Virus, spyware and malware removal is the first thing we’re taught, so it’s textbook for us. Or is there just a culture of apathy when it comes to online security and safety?
