Category Archives: Security

2FA – Secure your accounts now!

2FA, Security, , , , , , , ,

2FA generic image

Following on from some recent work undertaken, it’s worth posting a little reminder that a simple account password is no longer sufficient to secure your most important accounts.

It’s always a good idea to check and secure your passwords from time to time. Some simple steps to assist with this are listed below:

1. Do not use simple passwords, shorter than 8 characters. Try and use special characters where possible, and lower and upper case characters too.

2. Do not use family names, pets names, dates of birth, or anything that could be pinpointed to your place of residence.

3. Use a 2 factor authentication (2FA) solution where you have the option to. A good introduction to this can be viewed here: https://go.frantik.it/2intro

For further assistance with account security or online safety, please take a look at the Frantik web site and get in touch!

You can also sign up for our Newsletter where we’ll occasionally share important updates such as this. You can sign up here.

To help remember longer and harder to remember passwords, we would also recommend  using a password vault. We wrote a post on that recently: Time to get a Password Manager – 1Password tested!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Beware of fake Antivirus Software!

IT, Malware, Security, , , , , , ,

Total AV

One of our recent jobs involved clearing some fake Antivirus software from a Windows computer. Unbeknown to the user, they had done some research for “good” software on Google. TotalAV appeared at the top of the results list, and several review sites also cited it as being genuine and reliable. Running a search online right now, and page 1 and 2 of Google show nothing but good reviews. Majority of these are paid…

The  software was installed, but after a while the computer started to slow down considerably. The computer was virtually brand new (just a year old) and specification of this computer was also high.

We ran some 3rd party anti-malware tools, and various services and software files were flagged, at which point we did our own research on this antivirus software. As it turned out, it’s a scam. The developers of the software are in fact planting malicious content and files and from what we have read are in fact doing more harm than clearing any genuine viruses from your computer.

We advised the user to try and claim back on the money spent and we then advised to stick with Windows own built in security protection which, with Windows 10, is more than adequate for home/home office use.

Some links to back up this post:

Bot Crawl: http://botcrawl.com/totalav/

Malware Tips: https://malwaretips.com/threads/total-av-is-it-a-scam.80362/

In addition we would like to point you in the direction of this article over at Blokt, to help users to stay safer online: https://blokt.com/guides/what-is-spyware

Why you shouldn’t pay for PC security

Macintosh, Security, Software, , , , ,

We are firm believers that you shouldn’t have to pay for antivirus security for your PC or Mac.

If the manufacturers of the operating system have left it vulnerable in any way then they should be the ones that pay or there should be free alternatives. So, without further a do, here is some great free software you can use to keep your computer secure.

With Mac, viruses aren’t so much the issue as is malware, this is generally due to the way the OS is developed (and based on Unix).

PC:

For a little while now Microsoft have provided free software in the form of Microsoft Security Essentials, and now Windows Defender, which is built in and updates when Windows updates. So cancel your annual Anti-virus subs and download this instead!

Link: http://go.frantik.it/mse

Note; this is for Windows 7. If you have 8 or newer it’s built in and you don’t need to worry.

Mac: We have provided links to a couple of great AV packages for Mac previously! See the following: Free Antivirus For Mac

On checking these are probably still on top. Don’t hang around and test either today!

Alternatives:

We always recommend using Malwarebytes Free too to use in addition to the above and this can be used once a week or month just to make sure your computer is protected.

Link:  http://go.frantik.it/mbam

 

Remain vigilant about Malware!

IT, Malware, Security, , , , ,

malware

Many people get so used to being warned about suspicious files they may receive via email that they become bored with it. I know that we almost get too curious about certain things sent to us, or links that crop up on social media.

It is important to remember though, that if you don’t recognise the sender, or web site you are about to visit, it’s probably best not to click on such links. This is in the same way you’d do with junk mail sent through your letterbox in that you’d probably bin it straight away… you have to do the same thing with digital media. Take a step back before clicking or opening anything and think twice beforehand.

Unfortunately, Windows systems are still more frequently targeted compared with Mac or Linux but that doesn’t mean we should be any less vigilant!

Get yourself protected by downloading antivirus protection; see the following page for more info!

And if in doubt trash it, don’t open the attachment, or click on the link. If it’s really important the sender will contact you again.

Virgin Media Customers Get F-Secure Antivirus

F-Secure

 

We’ve recently changed our ISP to Virgin Media and were kindly surprised when we found that we could get the industry renound antivirus softare “F-Secure SAFE” for free to install on up to 5 computers (PC and Mac versions available) for one year.  After this it is available at a reduced price of £25pa.

Virgin’s explanation and more details on this are available at the following link: http://store.virginmedia.com/discover/broadband/security/f-secure-safe.html

It is also good to see that Virgin discuss the fact Macs aren’t susceptible to attack, and have further useful information on how to keep your computer safe when connected to the Internet on this page. Well worth a read!

We are not affiliated with Virgin Media in any way or form and this post is for informational purposes only.