BEWARE OF RANSOM WARE – AFFECTING COMPUTERS HERE IN FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND

The Internet is an amazing thing. Its ability to give you access to almost anything at anytime has changed the world, and can be a real blessing for people living in remote locations, of which we have plenty here in far north Queensland. But there are risks online – at its worst, the Internet is a shady back alley inhabited by spivs and swindlers ready to relieve you of your money, your data, your identity.

In most cases, they can only succeed if you let them in. There’s a new method being used by computer con-artists – it’s called ransom ware. This is a kind of malware, software that’s placed on your computer for malicious purposes. As the name suggests, ransom ware creates a situation you can’t resolve and you’re then asked for a payment to fix it – a ransom. Some are fake, put out there in the hope you’ll pay up before you check if any damage has been done. But others are the real deal, programs that encrypt your data, turning it into useless gibberish. These programs have found their way onto business computers and networks here in FNQ. And you don’t have to be doing anything dodgy or dangerous online to acquire ransom ware. It’s often picked up from seemingly legitimate, innocuous internet activity.

So – how can you avoid ransom ware, and what should you do if your computer or network becomes infected. ABC Far North IT expert Rob Rutten has this advice. LISTEN here

LOOKS LIKE A FAKE – IT IS. BUT HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH IT

 

WHO’S BEEN READING MY G-MAIL?

IF YOU USE G-MAIL OR ANY OF THE OTHER FREE EMAIL SERVICES, YOU’VE PROBABLY ASKED YOURSELF HOW CAN THESE SERVICES AFFORD TO BE FREE? WELL, THE RECENT PRIVACY POLICY CHANGES AT GOOGLE, WHO OPERATE G-MAIL, SHOW THESE SERVICES ARE VERY LUCRATIVE. AND YOU ARE PAYING FOR THEM.

Here’s how it works. For a couple of months now, G-mail has been sending you ads, or attaching them to your inbox display. You can opt out of some of the ads, but not all of them. The ads you see depend on what your emails are about. I got an email from my flying school, along with an ad for Etihad Airlines. Somewhere in the heart of the Google system, something is reading your email and sending you ads based on what you write.

You may not remember agreeing to this arrangement when you signed up for Gmail, but it was in there somewhere when you clicked “yes” to the user agreement. But do you want to receive ads in your private email?

Are you comfortable with the service provider scanning your messages for key words that appeal to its advertiser clients? You are “paying” for your “free” email with your private data. This is how a lot of the social media, photo sharing and message services work. They offer you a free service, paid for by offering advertisers the benefit of your attention and information about you.

It’s called data mining. Should you be concerned? What can you do about it? Are there alternatives to Gmail? Click on the audio player to hear Cairns I-T expert Rob Rutten answer these questions.

Read about Rob Rutten at http://www.ruttentech.com/ and you can follow him on Twitter @roborutt