You’re browsing the net and all of the sudden an alert pops up on the screen stating that you are infected by viruses!  Most people try to close the infected notice as they would a regular program, or they reboot the computer, both of these efforts will install the virus, or spyware.

Do the following:

DO NOT TRY TO CLOSE THE VIRUS/SPYWARE NOTICE!!!!!!

It does not matter what version of Windows you are running, by holding down “CTRL, ALT”, and pressing the “Delete” button, a menu will pop up.  Select the “Task Manager”, and then select “Applications” tab.  Under “Applications” select “Windows Internet Explorer”, and then select “End Task”. There may be more than one incident of “Windows Internet Explorer”, so make sure you “End Task” for each incident.  This should stop the virus/spyware before it gets installed on your computer.

Puget Sound Area Computer Service (360) 453-7107

We have been serving the Northwest’s computer needs for over 10 years and we are available after hours and on weekends.

We repair computers and do upgrades.

We can be your consultant on your next computer purchase by tracking down the best computer and software for your needs, at the best price.

We specialize in setting up servers for small businesses using Microsoft Small Business BackOffice Server.

Mac Users: Do you realize that the very  first virus was discovered on a Mac?

The Mac has its’ own Task Manager but it goes by another name: “Activity Monitor”.  Activity Monitor functions in a very similar way to how Task Manager does in Windows, letting you manage and end tasks, applications, and processes easily within Mac OS X.

• Logging in to your account,
• Saving and autofilling a site,
• Managing your sites in your Vault,
• Generating a new password with LastPass,
• Creating a form fill profile for online shopping,
• Syncing to new computers, and
• Upgrading to Premium for mobile access

LastPass Tutorial

In an advisory released Wednesday afternoon, Adobe warned that one of the flaws — across-site scripting vulnerability (CVE-2012-0767) reported by Google –  was being used in the wild in active, targeted attacks designed to trick users into clicking on a malicious link delivered in an email message. The company said the flaw could be used to take actions on a user’s behalf on any website or webmail provider, if the user visits a malicious website. A spokesperson for the company said this particular attack only works against Internet Explorer on Windows.

Adobe is urging users of Adobe Flash Player 11.1.102.55 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris to update to Adobe Flash Player 11.1.102.62. Users of Adobe Flash Player 11.1.112.61 and earlier versions on Android 4.x devices should update to Adobe Flash Player 11.1.115.6. Users of Adobe Flash Player11.1.111.5 and earlier versions for Android 3.x and earlier versions should update to Flash Player 11.1.111.6.

To find out what version of Flash you have installed, visit this page. Users can grab the latest version from theAdobe Flash Player Download Center, although if you’re not careful to untick the check box next to whatever “optional” goodies Adobe tries to bundle with Flash Player (the most common is McAfee Security Scan Plus) you could end up with more than you wanted. Thankfully, Adobe no longer appears to make you first install its annoying Download Manager to grab the latest Flash version, or at least it didn’t when I fetched the update today. Chrome users should already have this update, as Chrome auto-installs Flash updates – often hours or days before the fixes are publicly released for download.

Sandboxing is an established security mechanism that runs the targeted application in a confined environment that blocks specific actions by that app, such as installing or deleting files, or modifying system information. The same technology has been built into the latest versions of Adobe Reader X, and it has been enabled for some time in Google Chrome, which contains its own integrated version of Flash. But this is the first time sandboxing has been offered in a public version of Flash for Firefox.

Flash is a big target of attackers partly because it is a powerful program with a huge install base; vulnerability management firm Secunia estimates that some version of Flash is installed in 96 percent of the world’s Microsoft PCs. Windows users can further harden their systems against such attacks by swapping out their current version of Flash for this beta.

The sandboxed Flash for Firefox — Flash Player 11.2 beta 5 — works with Firefox 4 or later running on Window Vista or Windows 7. The latest build is available here:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplatformruntimes/incubator/

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Google Cloud Print makes it possible to send any document or image to a printer from any location. For example, if you wanted to print out a letter at home while at work, you could use the service to send that letter to your home printer and have it waiting for you when you get back. Normally this kind of setup requires a tedious network configuration, but with Google Cloud Print you just click a few buttons and you’re done. The service can also print web pages and other documents to PDF format and save them in your Google Docs account. This is can be especially handy if you’re keeping your account synchronized with all your computers using a third-party service called InSync (more info here). Basically, if you want to print anything from any device to practically any location, Google Cloud Print can make that happen.

If you want to get started with Google Cloud Print, here’s what you’ll need:

The Google Chrome web browser.
A regular or internet-enabled printer. (Virtually any printer is fine, but the setup process varies depending on the type of printer you have.)
An active, internet-connected computer that the printer is connected to if it is not an internet-enabled printer.
A Google account. (If you don’t have one, sign up for one here.)
Once you’ve got all of that ready to go, you can start setting it up.

How to Set Up Google Cloud Print

There are two ways to set up your printers with Google Cloud Print. A handful of newer printers have internet connectivity built in and so you can connect them to Google directly. This process varies by printer, so visit this page to learn if your printer is compatible and, if so, how to set it up. If you have a traditional printer that’s connected to your computer, however, the setup process is always the same. Just follow these steps:

First, make sure everything is in place. You’ll need Google Chrome installed on your computer. Also, ensure that your printer is connected to your computer, it’s currently on, and you can print from it normally. (Note: You’ll only be able to send print jobs to this printer when it is connected to your computer, so it’s best to set this up on a desktop machine where the printer will always remain connected and powered on.)

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Once you have everything in place, open up Google Chrome and click the wrench icon in the upper right corner, choose “Options” (“Preferences” on a Mac), and then click the “Under the Hood” tab. Alternatively, just click this link. Now scroll down to the Google Cloud Print section towards the bottom and click “Sign in to Google Cloud Print.”
In the resulting window, sign in with your Google Account. This will enable the Cloud Print Connector on your computer.
When a new message appears with a button labeled “Finish printer registration,” click it.
You’ll receive a confirmation if everything worked properly, and it’ll offer a link called “Manage your printers.” Click on it to verify all the printers on your computer are now listed.
To test out your new setup, try printing something from within Google Chrome (such as this web page). When the printing options appear, choose “Print with Google Cloud Print” from the Destination menu. Click the “Print” button and you’ll be asked to choose one of your cloud printers. Pick the one you want and, assuming everything is working correctly, your printer should print out a document.

Do More with Google Cloud Print

If you followed the instructions in the previous section, you already know how to print from a web page, but there’s still more than you can do. Currently there are plenty of ways you can print from your smartphone, and even from your Mac desktop (if you prefer to avoid using Chrome for the task).

Print From Your Smartphone
Google Cloud Print has an tons of support in Android, of course, with a dedicated Android app and cloud printing support in the Google Docs Android app. You can also use third-party apps such as PrinterShare™ Mobile Print and Easy Print to get even more printing support out of Android. iOS users can check out PrintCentral Pro for iPhone and iPod touch or iPad to print with Google Cloud Print as well. Any mobile device can utilize cloud printing services by simply using Google’s mobile web apps. Just visit m.google.com on your mobile device to get started.

Print from Your Mac
Strangely, there is no Windows app for Google Cloud Print but there is one for Mac OS X. It is aptly named Cloud Printer, and you can download it for free on the Mac App Store. It’s not a perfect application, as it can only handle documents that Google Docs can view. Also, it doesn’t function like an actual printer and instead requires you to choose a file you want to print from the dedicated app. You can, however, follow these instructions to use Automator to set up a virtual printer if you really want to use the standard print dialogue. Even with these disadvantages, it’s still a simple (and free) way to print from your Mac without the aid of Google Chrome.

You can snag the new version of Firefox now at the link below, or use the browser’s in-app updater to download it.

Mozilla Firefox

We always enjoy a useful infographic, and there are few things quite as important as choosing a strong password—at least in the area of online security. If you’re looking to beef up your passwords, here are plenty of great tips consolidated into one great image.
Over the years we’ve suggested plenty of strong password tips, such as using a multi-word passphrase, only using passwords you can’t remember, utilizing LastPass a password manager, and more. We thought it would be great to have all those tips in a single, easy-to-read format. If you’re looking to strengthen your existing passwords or change a recently compromised password, be sure to check it out in its entirety

Adobe and Microsoft today each issued software fixes to tackle dangerous security flaws in their products. If you use Acrobat, Adobe Reader or Windows, it’s time to patch.

Microsoft released seven security bulletins addressing at least eight vulnerabilities in Windows. The lone “critical” Microsoft patch addresses a pair of bugs in Windows Media Player. Microsoft warns that attackers could exploit these flaws to break into Windows systems without any help from users; the vulnerability could be triggered just by browsing to a site that hosts specially crafted video content.

The other Windows patches earned a less severe “important” rating from Microsoft, although not everyone agrees with that assessment. Symantec’s Joshua Talbot said another bug fixed today — a glitch in the way Windows handles Microsoft Office files — is potentially more dangerous because it appears to be easier to exploit than the Media Player flaw.

“The vulnerability is due to an oversight that allows an attacker to run malware as soon as a user opens a Word or PowerPoint file,” Talbot said. “Email attachments will probably be the most common attack method in which this vulnerability is exploited. As usual, we strongly recommend users only open email attachments from people they know.”

On Dec. 29, Microsoft issued an out-of-band update to address a flaw in ASP.Net that could allow an attacker to force a user to visit a malicious web site. The vulnerability affects all versions of the .NET Framework on Windows XP and later versions of Windows. If you use Windows see a .NET Framework patch awaiting your approval in Windows Update this month, don’t neglect it.

In a separate release, Adobe pushed out security updates for Adobe Reader and Acrobat. At the forefront of the Adobe patch batch is a fix for a zero-day flaw in Acrobat and Reader that Adobe first warned about in early December. Shortly after that warning, Adobe issued a fix for the flaw in Reader 9.x and Acrobat 9.x, but said it would wait until today (its scheduled, quarterly update) to address it in the new Reader X and Acrobat X versions of the software. Adobe recommends that users of Adobe Reader X (10.1.1) and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh update to Adobe Reader X (10.1.2). Updates are available for Windows and Mac versions of these titles; see the Adobe advisory for the patch download links.

As ever, if you experience any problems as a result of installing these updates, please drop a note in the comments below.

Mozilla has announced a date for the end of support for Firefox 3.6. April 24, 2012. Mark it in your calendar, Firefox 3.6 users!

Why is this date significant? Because after this date there will be no more new releases to fix security patches. The browser will get real old (and real dangerous to use) real fast. Using Firefox 3.6 beyond the end of life date is NOT RECOMMENDED.