Telecom Equipment & Consulting
Thoughts and ideas from over thirty years in telecommunications...
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Password Security with LastPass
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Reboot
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Back To Basics
I was searching for a photo in Drive and was startled at how long the machine churned just to display the file list. Duh! In OneDrive, I routinely move recent photos out of the "root" Photos folder down into directories and subdirectories based on customer, year, and month. It's just easier to sort through recent photos that way. I haven't been doing that in Drive because I don't access those files on a regular basis. I never realized how bloated the Pictures folder was becoming.
So... cell phones have made it easy to amass thousands of digital images and sophisticated search functions have helped us forget about basic good housekeeping habits that date all the way back to DOS and beyond. The maxim remains that a rational root/branch directory structure pays off, and the same principle holds true with email... rational root/branch labeling can sometimes find an email where multiple searches have failed.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Telecom Equipment & Consulting:
Personal Productivity Applications:
A new page on the TEC website with some applications that can make you more productive, online and in the real world.
'via Blog this'
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Bits from Bill: Dangerous Downloads on Legitimate Websites & Search Engines
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
(FAQ) Mitel SX200 Why isn't my call accounting receiving call records?
for anyone troubleshooting this problem.
(FAQ) Mitel SX200 Why isn't my call accounting receiving call records?: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Friday, March 19, 2010
Scareware and Ransomware
Oh for the old days when we only had to guard our computers from viruses! Then came adware, spyware, malware, and botware. Now we have scareware and even ransomware. I've had to do some pretty extensive work recently for several clients, just to remove this stuff.
Scareware is a fake anti-virus program often picked up through spam or even by a seemingly harmless download. These programs copy a few files onto your disk which are then targeted by a fake anti-virus popup warning that "Your system has been infected with a virus. Click here to remove the infection". The popup window isn't easy to close or minimize, and will reappear when you restart your computer. It's made to look like one of the recognized antivirus programs, or even a Microsoft product, so this ploy often works. Once you've clicked the link, the "anti-virus program" removes the fake virus and loads new ones for next time. Eventually, you're convinced you have a serious problem and agree to upgrade to the paid version. Now you've handed over your credit info card and enough other stuff to make you vulnerable to identity theft. The process often continues until your computer becomes practically useless.
Unlike scareware, which Ransomware begins in much the same way but cuts to the chase, making a demand for money so you can regain use of your computer. They use proxy servers and botnets to hide their identity so your options are to pay up or scrap your machine.
So, what's the answer? Same as always, be careful what you do, where you go, and what you click. Have a good backup routine and some emergency software that can help you regain control of your machine. More on that later...
Good luck,
Harry