Nashville Power Surge
Posted by Brian Gallutia on May 13, 2010
PCS has been getting reports that a large power surge has caused battery backups and UPSs to overload in the Nashville and Brentwood areas. If you or your office has experienced this, please shut off all systems, servers, and equipment connected to a UPS and power-cycle the UPS before turning these systems back on.
Please call us at 615.371.9931 option 1 if problems persist. Thank you.
PCS Mail Service Interruption
Posted by Brian Gallutia on May 3, 2010
As of 20100503 10:34am, PCS mail services are experiencing a high-volume of spam. We are working to correct this problem and will update this posting when the problem has been resolved. Thank you.
UPDATE 12:49PM CST
Early Monday morning, PCS mail services were experiencing a DoS attack and to compensate, our mail servers were taken offline in order to target and work around the issue. As of this writing, services have been fully restored and it appears that the DoS attackers have been circumvented.
Thank you for your patience in allowing PCS to resolve these issues.
Fake Anti-Virus is 15%
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 27, 2010
Elinor Mills with CNET (who is quickly becoming my favorite go-to writer for all things malware) took the time to parse through a recent 13-month analysis that Google performed between January 2009 and February 2010.
The report states that..
Fake antivirus–false pop-up warnings designed to scare money out of computer users–represents 15 percent of all malware that Google detects on Web site..
As Elinor’s article points out, scammers are turning more and more to social engineering and trickery to infect users with Fake Anti-Virus malware and trojans in order to gain access to user information and sensitive data.
Earlier today, I had a conversation with a long-time customer of PCS’s regarding a small rash of infections she was having to deal with on her network. This customer has invested in the proper hardware and software solutions to insure that her network is secure, but malware continues to get through because the habits of her end-users are contributing to the infections.
When Fake Anti-Virus presents itself through a web site, it takes on the familiar role of an anti-virus program warning the end-user of an infection that needs to be cleaned. The end-user (who is used to this type of behavior from AV programs) accepts the offer to “disinfect” and in turn, becomes infected by essentially doing what the end-user thinks is the “right thing” to do.
Unfortunately, the only sure defense is to make your users aware of this type of attack. If they get a warning that their system has become infected, make sure they know the procedure to follow to avoid infection. If you’re an small business or a personal computer user and something about a warning message you’re getting just doesn’t look right, contact us – we’re ready to help.
Win7 Notebook Special
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 16, 2010
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Asus NB EN K50IJ-G1B 15.6inch T6570 Notebook
Display – 15.6 inch $849* *Sales Tax, Shipping and Delivery/Installation not included in price |
Porn Virus Hits
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 16, 2010
The BBC is reporting on the activities of a new computer virus from Japan named Kenzero…
Masquerading as a game installation screen, [Kenzero] requests the PC owner’s personal details.
It then takes screengrabs of the user’s web history and publishes it online in their name, before sending an e-mail or pop-up screen demanding a credit card payment of 1500 yen (£10) to “settle your violation of copyright law” and remove the webpage.
PCS hasn’t yet run across this new infection, but users should be wary of its existence. Please read the full article for more details.
New Blackberry Twitter App
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 9, 2010
Blackberry today released a Twitter application for their line of smart phones. I just installed this application on my Blackberry Storm and it is smooth-running, clean and ad-free!
Click here to read more about the application and download it to your Blackberry.
If you are reading this post from a Blackberry, you can click on the link below to download the application immediately from the Blackberry App World site:
DOWNLOAD: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/8160
PDF: Beware
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 7, 2010
Elinor Mills with CNET News reports on the up-and-coming dangers facing Adobe PDF documents and those who utilize the format.
According to the report, PDF files could be used to spread malware to clean PDF files stored on a target computer running Adobe Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader software.
Jeremy Conway, product manager at NitroSecurity, created a proof of concept for an attack in which malicious code is injected into a file on a computer as part of an incremental update, but which could be used to inject malicious code into any or all PDF files on a computer.
The attack requires the user of the computer to allow the code to be executed by agreeing to it via a dialog box. However, the attacker could at least partially control the content of the dialog box that appears to prompt the user to launch the executable and thus use social engineering to entice the computer user to agree to execute the malware, said Conway.
The good news is that both Adobe and Foxit have provided solutions / fixes to remedy the exploit. Please take a moment to update your PDF reader software to insure that you and your business are not exposed to this potential threat.
Adobe Reader: http://get.adobe.com/reader/
Foxit Reader: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/downloads/index.php
Office 2007 Compatability Pack
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Apr 7, 2010
If you are an MS Office 2000/XP/2003 user and you’re tired of getting Office attachments that won’t open, then the Microsoft Office 2007 Compatability Pack may be what you’re after.
Follow this link to learn more and download the pack.
Anthony “Tony” Gray
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Mar 31, 2010
Over the weekend, an employee of a long-time customer of ours passed away suddenly from a viral infection at 41 years old.
PCS would like to honor our friend Tony Gray by passing along information on a trust fund that was set up for his children, Amiah and Lindsay..
In Loving Memory of Anthony “Tony” Gray
A trust fund has been established for his two daughters, Amiah and Lindsay, to help with their continued education. If you wish to donate to the fund please send all proceeds addressed to the Anthony D. Gray Children’s Gift Trust at any Pinnacle Bank Branch within the greater Nashville area, or mail it to:
Pinnacle Financial Partners
211 Commerce Street
Suite 300
Nashville, TN 37201
With tears in my eyes
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Mar 31, 2010
Many of us know that when a Nigerian Prince emails us directly, pleading for help in moving funds, that this is a scam intended to rob you or your money and your identity – but what if you get an email from a dear friend, one who is vacationing in London and needs your help?
CNN contributor Bob Greene relays his recent experience with a new type of scam that almost landed him in plenty of hot water. It is a recommended read and should serve as a reminder to always use both common sense and “gut feelings” in sifting through all of the information we get through the Internet every day.
