COMPUTER ALERT

[overbore]

A sad tale of woe to share as last week some##^^@@@!'s with industrial strength malware got past Zone Alarm and Super Anti-Spyware to attack my MS system resulting in a wipe out of not only my Word files, including all the Roid tips and data, but also the hard drive back up was wiped out back to 2009!  In hindsight a Barracuda firewall would have stopped them but I do have a hard partial manual typed up and in a binder. Protect your selves now as the evil is loose
Laus Deo
overbore

[LowGear]

I didn't have this kind of rape but I have had a couple of HD failures.  I now backup everything on thumb drives and I do not leave them in the machine.  I also have a usb external HD for the same purpose and it is disconnected when not in backup service as well.

Isn't it a shame these pukes can't find something positive to put their lives towards.

Casey

[mike90045]

If it was a "ransomware attack" (pay us $12,000 in 3 days or we destroy your decrypt key) just wait, in about a week, a universal key gets developed, and you can then for free, get it recovered.

[overbore]

No ransom attempt as I had no passwords on Microsoft.  This appears as a deliberate mal-intended destruction hack. thx for suggestions
overbore

[carlb23]

I backup mine similar to lowgear.  Full system backups to an external drive  are only done monthly to a normally disconnected 1tb external usb drive since the data on my computer doesn't change much.  I do have my computers internal hard drive partitioned with 3 partitions. I store my systems files on one partition,  my data and program files on another and the third partition is only used for a daily full backup of my system.   If the internal hard drive gets corrupted including my internal backup I can still recover everything but the last 30 days from my normally disconnected usb drive.

[BobNZ]

Sad news indeed.

I got fed up with virus, Trojan and malware programs and updates.
Finally after some lost files i moved over to Linux.

Now no updates nor malware activity to interfere with my daily tasks, on the net or off.

A bit of a departure from what I was used to but it did not take long to get used to the new operating system.   I started with Puppy Linux.

If you have and older computer to play with then Puppy can be run from a CD and loads into memory.   The system cannot be corrupted as the CD  is read only.   Great for security with banking etc.  Puppy Linux 5.2.8 runs well.  There are later versions also.

My virus woes left well behind.

[dieselgman]

+1 for Bob's Linux suggestion. We had a lot of problems with employees corrupting the shop computer until we chose a similar option. Now it remains stable and operational with minimal support efforts. Open Source (free) applications are also readily available to do most everything you are used to paying Microsoft for. This is a good option if you like to be in control of your stuff.

dieselgman

[PaperPatched]

Hello,

Hackers write for the largest target: Microsoft Windows Users.  Apple get less, but growing attention, Linux far less

I run Windows 7 one one computer, and Ubuntu Linux on another. The more I adhere to using the Linux machine  for online work the longer I can go without disruptions.  Ubuntu is one distribution of Linux that is very close to Windows. It lacks the easy customization of nearly every aspect that some Linux distributions have, but should be a relatively easy transition for most people, and is very easy to keep updated (not the case with some distributions). Being open source, as are most Linux distributions, you can download it free of charge.  There is a large amount of open source  software available.  I use Firefox as my web browser, Thunderbird as my email client (Has a"Calender" meeting/event reminder), GIMP to edit pictures, Inkscape for drawings, and Libre Office for the things I used to use Microsoft Office for.

You can set up a live CD as was mentioned above, or set up dual boot of Linux or Windows on the same computer.

If you have a spare older computer you may be surprised at how well it runs on Linux.  Linux is less resource hungry than Windows and may breathe new life into an older machine.  And if you use Xmarks  you can have all you bookmarks synchronized on all your machines (including Windows if you use Firefox as your Windows web browser).

I hope this makes getting started with Linux a little less daunting.

P.S.  Set up a different password for the Linux "Administrator" and User.  Don't forget them as Linux is much stronger on password security and you will have a more interesting time if you forget.

Alan

[Thob]

I just installed Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop on a "new" (retrieved from the trash pile) computer.  It works like a champ.  I'm also using Firefox, Libre Office, etc.  I backed up my Firefox bookmarks onto a thumb drive and transferred them to the new computer so I'd have all the stuff I was used to (yes, you can use there "sync" method, where you send them all your bookmarks... not for me!).

It was easier to install than Windows, runs fast, and so on, just like everyone else has said.  My wife even uses it!  And I didn't have to send a dime to Microsoft, the company I love to hate.

Once everyone switches to Linux, it will be the new main target of hackers...

[overbore]

Thank you all for excellent inputs and positive, cost effective solutions. Will do. Greately appreciated.
overbore

[AdeV]

As per several people above - I too have moved entirely to Linux at home. Can't do it at work, as we use various Microsoft development tools which just won't work, even under Wine. Virus writers will struggle with Linux forever, as it has a much better security system built into it, and has done since the year dot.

Regarding storage on flash drives - be aware that these do suffer degradation over time, if not used. I don't know for how long, but they shouldn't be considered as a long-term storage solution. Unfortunately, writeable CDs, DVDs also suffer from longevity failure, 3.5" floppies have proven to be completely useless. 5.25" floppies are better, but even more obsolete than 3.5" of course. Tapes are probably the best bet, but they're very expensive if you want a sensible amount of storage.

Long term, I'm coming to the conclusion that paper is about the best bet....

[dieselgman]

Now I think you have burst my security bubble with the flash drives...  you did not mention portable hard drives though. I suppose all media has some kind of failure point... what about optical discs?
Maybe a routine renewal on any digital media is a good idea.

Paper is heavy and subject to rot and fire damage... nothing can be completely safe now can it?

dieselgman

[dkeav04]

There is some good information on the subject in this forum thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/290795-32-permanence-data-powered

[AdeV]

Now I think you have burst my security bubble with the flash drives...  you did not mention portable hard drives though. I suppose all media has some kind of failure point... what about optical discs?
Maybe a routine renewal on any digital media is a good idea.

Any modern solid-state drive will be Flash memory. Hard-drives are pretty good, I've got some pretty old ones which still work OK (some have noisy bearings). Modern ultra-high density drives.... hmm, your guess is as good as mine as to how long they're likely to survive, powered off. All those itty bitty magnetic bits...?

Optical disks - the proper manufacturer pressed types are pretty good - some early CDs have been known to delaminate, but after the mid 1990s they got them about right. DVD & BluRay I've no idea. Writable optical disks are also subject to time-related failure; especially the re-writable ones. Basically the organic layer "goes off", you get read errors, it goes in the bin. Plus they scratch if you just look at them hard.

Regularly renewing your archives is definitely the way to do it. First, you get to know for sure that your data is sound. And you're constantly moving it onto newer technology which, whilst it may or may not be "better", is definitely less obsolete (how many of you still have 3.5" floppy disks, and use them? Ditto 5.25" disks? And since there's no reason to chuck out the old archive... you've got a bit more safety in numbers.

Paper is heavy and subject to rot and fire damage... nothing can be completely safe now can it?

True - it does require reasonable looking after - but keep the worst of the damp away, and/or fire obviously, then it's a lot more robust than anything digital... if you really must have the ultimate in security, then I can recommend a good stone carving company If you don't want to go quite that far, acetate sheets - whilst not fireproof - are waterproof...