Call Us Today! 1.555.555.555|info@yourdomain.com

Why do passwords need to be so complex?

Hi, this is Paul with My PC Heroes with your 60 second Shield Protection tip!

You created a new on-line account and now comes the moment when you must create a password. They want at least 8 characters including numbers, letters and special characters. Why can’t we just use something simple?

There is a good reason; Given that hackers want to access your information no matter what website, creating a complex password is the first step to protecting yourself.

The more characters a password has exponentially increases the possible combinations a hacker would have to try in order to guess your password.

Here’s why; An 8-character password containing just letters has over 200 billion combinations. If you also include upper/lower case letters and numbers and special characters, the possible combinations increase to over 6 quadrillion. This makes your account almost impossible to hack!

Need help creating a strong password? Bookmark the LastPass password generator website.  Click here and learn the most common symptoms of computer virus infections.

If you have a question or comment, please leave it below. This is Paul with My PC Heroes with your 60 second Shield Protection tip!

 

By | 2017-08-21T11:27:23-05:00 August 21st, 2017|Password Management|0 Comments
Read More

Learn what prompted me to start My PC Heroes

A few months ago, Hurdie Burke interviewed me. I share with him my path to creating My PC Heroes was well as some of the basics of keeping safe while using your computer. This is a 30 minute audio interview so listen at your leisure.

Is your computer running slow?

Check to see if any of these programs are installed on your computer. If so, you may have a spyware on your computer.  Call us today to remove it (512) 693-8070

By | 2017-08-21T11:15:54-05:00 August 14th, 2017|History of My PC Heroes|0 Comments
Read More

How smart computer users avoid phishing emails-60 second video


 
Hi, this is Paul with My PC Heroes with your 60 second Shield Protection tip!

Email Phishing is still a very popular scam. You receive an email that appears to be legitimate that tries to get you to click on a link contained in the email.

Many popular Phishing themes are:

  • Verify your account information
  • Verify your order
  • There is an issue with your purchase
  • There is an issue with your return

Here’s an example of a Phishing email I recently received – This one pretends to verify my Chase account

There are three red flags:

  1. I don’t have a Chase Account. But if I did I may be inclined to investigate
  2. The second is the source email. Chase emails logically have chase.com in the address
  3. Third is the verification link. Notice when we hover over the link, the true web address does not contain chase.com anywhere

Taking just a few moments before clicking on a link in an email like this will keep us protected

If you have a question or comment, please leave it below.

This is Paul with My PC Heroes with your 60 second Shield Protection tip!

 

Curious if you have a possible spyware installed on your computer? Check out our List of Known Viruses and Spyware.

By | 2017-08-07T13:41:55-05:00 August 7th, 2017|Phishing Emails, Uncategorized|0 Comments
Read More

How one wrong click might infect your computer!-60 second video

 

Hi, this is Paul with My PC Heroes with your 60 second Shield Protection tip!
Poisoned websites are websites that contain viruses and malware. They are posted by unscrupulous businesses and hackers to infect your computer

Here’s how they work:

Say we are need to install a Brother printer on our computer. We go to Bing.com and type in the printer software we are looking for the search box. The search results appear and we immediately click on the first webpage listed to install the software

Here’s how we can tell:

If we take a moment we can see that many of these pages are potentially poisoned – including the first website we were about to click on. Notice how the websites I am highlighting do not not have ‘Brother.com’ listed in green. Brother.com is the official Brother website for Brother printers. Some websites like this one try to make themselves appear legitimate adding the brother printer model to the address!
Clicking on or downloading any software from these websites will infect our computer with viruses or malware!
If you have a question or comment, please leave it below…

This is Paul with My PC Heroes with your 60 second Shield Protection tip!

If your computer is infected with a virus, learn how My PC Heroes can help you, or call us directly at (512) 693-8070

By | 2017-07-26T13:40:23-05:00 July 17th, 2017|Poisoned Websites, Uncategorized|0 Comments
Read More

Here’s an Example of an 800# Scam

ALERT: Computer Virus Scam

Here’s a an example of a computer virus I removed this week. These are very common and become a nuisance because you cannot shake them from your browser. More so, they slow down your computer until it becomes unusable.

How This Computer Virus Scam Works

If you find one of these computer viruses on your system, DO NOT CALL THE 800#!  The phone number connects you to someone off-shore.  They then request to access your computer remotely (REALLY BAD IDEA).  Once on your computer, they will ‘demonstrate’ how infected your computer really is and offer to remove all the infections for anywhere from $200 – $1000 (I had a client tell me that was what they were quoted 2 weeks ago). Instead, give us a call. We remove viruses and spyware like this regularly, and can help you with yours, as well.

Here’s how our Virus Removal Service works

If you have questions or need further Virus Removal assistance, you can Contact Us on our page, or call us directly at (512) 693-8070

By | 2017-07-17T03:50:00-05:00 December 12th, 2016|Computer Scam, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Here’s an Example of an 800# Scam
Read More

Report: The Biggest DDOS Attack in US History. Why Aren’t We Talking About It?

What do we Know About The Biggest DDOS Attack In US History?

DDOS Attack, Computer Virus Removal austin, Round Rock Virus removalIn case you didn’t notice, the Internet in the US was under attack (from an incident on October 21, 2016). This means millions of people were having problems accessing a variety of websites including Amazon.com, Netflix, Twitter.com and more. It was a severe attack and frankly, I am surprised as to how little attention it got in the national news. The attack spanned a good portion of the east coast and spread through the south.

Here are some news sources on it:
The Guardian
Wired Magazine
CNN Money

How the DDOS Attack Happened

Here’s what happened: About 10am Friday, October 21, the first attack began on Dyn, one of the 13  DNS servers for the Internet (DNS servers translate a URL like: www.yahoo.com to a number: 209.191.88.254 then directs you to the correct website). The attack overloaded Dyn’s computer system with false requests overloading their computer systems from various computers. The attack was rebuffed for a few hours when a 2nd attack took place, followed by a third. By the end of the day, the attack had been mitigated according to Dyn’s reporting site, DynStatus.com.
The severity and scope of this attack on our infrastructure is similar to a military invasion. Their objective was to disrupt communications and commerce-which they did.
If you want to read a little more about it including a list of websites that were affected, go to Gizmodo’s report on the DDOS attack.

Are DDOS attacks the same as a Virus?

They are not. Computer viruses are implanted in one of several ways onto your computer, then proliferate throughout the intended parts. Malware and spyware are the same. A DDoS attack is from outside a website intended to deny access to the site.

Have more questions about Computer Viruses and Malware/Spyware? Check out our List of Known Viruses and Spyware, or take a look at our Computer Virus FAQ Page.

Or you can always Contact Us!

By | 2017-08-07T04:20:59-05:00 October 23rd, 2016|DDoS Attack, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Report: The Biggest DDOS Attack in US History. Why Aren’t We Talking About It?
Read More

Did you find a flash drive? The worst thing you can do…

Popular USA Network Show “Mr. Robot” Raises Important Security Point

image of flashdrive lying on groundWatching Mr. Robot the other day made me think of an old-school hack that I am sure flies underneath many people’s radar. The scene was where fsociety (their hacker group) needed to access a penitentiary facility (I know, but this is fictionalized TV). All their WiFi networks were secured with passwords using WPA2 (currently the highest available encryption) so that wasn’t an option.

Instead, what they did is drop a bunch of flash drives in the parking lot. Curious, one of the security guards picked one up.  When he got inside, he plugged it into his office computer. He then double clicked to open the content of the flash drive then double clicked on a file that looked like a free music offer. With that, the other hackers in the group were in.

How a Flash Drive Could Cause YOU To Need  Virus Removal

(If you saw the episode, the guard immediately unplugged the flash drive as soon as he suspected the program was nefarious. In real life, merely unplugging would not have stopped the compromise. Worse yet, the mere act of plugging in the flash drive into the computer may be enough to install a virus or some other software that can compromise your computer or even your network).

My point is that finding a lost flash drive may seem innocuous and even enticing. Our natural curiosity may make us want to see what information may be saved on it. Ultimately, we may be the victim as a consequence of our curiosity.  The best move is to just trash it!

By | 2016-08-28T19:58:09-05:00 August 28th, 2016|Security Tips, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Did you find a flash drive? The worst thing you can do…
Read More