570.235.1946

help@nepageeks.com
152 N. Pennsylvania Ave.

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
In-Shop Hours Mon - Fri 9 AM - 5 PM

Weekends Emergency Support Only

Author: Jason

07 Nov

Posted at 09:00h in Blog Post
0 Likes

Every employee shares one inescapable flaw that is putting your business at risk. They’re human. 59% of data breaches can be traced back to something an employee did (or didn’t do), which invited a cyber-attack. The Scam Goes Like This To lock hackers out, build security awareness and respect into your company culture, so that maintaining digital security becomes as routine as making coffee. Use Complex Passwords Every employee, including management, needs to use an alphanumeric password that they haven’t used before. Password managers can assist with making sure they’re never forgotten. Verify Unknown Identities Not familiar with ‘Jenny from Accounting’ who has called to ask for sensitive information? Double check caller identity and access permissions before releasing any information. Hackers love to play on our desire to be helpful. Encrypt by Default People regularly transfer data to a laptop or smartphone so they can work more efficiently. Unfortunately, this equipment can be easily stolen. Set operating systems to encrypt data by default, so that it becomes useless in the wrong hands. Protect Portable Devices Laptops and mobile phones should always require a password and be set to auto-lock after a short period of time. Never leave them unattended in cars, buses, restrooms etc, and take them as carry-on luggage. Set Personal Usage Rules While you may have blocked productivity-vacuums such as Facebook, what are the rules regarding games, video streaming or shopping? Can they install their own software? When business computers are used for personal usage, security vigilance tends to slide, resulting in unintentional malware installation. Educate Often Digital security threats change regularly, and people become comfortable with a certain level of danger, thinking ‘it will never happen to me’. A 5-minute discussion once a month may be the barrier that keeps hackers out. Starter Topics Links in emails – Hackers often send emails that look like they are from your bank or similar. Be sure to check the link by hovering over it with your mouse. This is known as ‘phishing’. Tech scam popups – Be on the lookout for popups advising that your computer is infected and you need to call a phone number or download software. Email attachments – Never open an unknown attachment, and even from people you know and trust, always scan for malware before opening. If you need help implementing better security practices in your business, give us a call at 570-235-1946 or visit our Contact Page...

31 Oct

Posted at 09:00h in Blog Post
0 Likes

Quickly Become A Google Fu Master Kids are quickly becoming Google fu masters. They’ve become experts at quickly locating information online using search engines. That’s Google Fu, the ability to use search engines to whip up answers and research faster than a contestant on a radio quiz. No matter what age, you too can become a Google Fu Master. Level 1 Mastery: Tell It What You Need Google is smart and can understand “conversational searches”. Let’s say you came across a great recipe online, but the measurements were imperial. Google has you covered. Simply tell it what you want to convert, and what into. [number] [unit] into [unit] Enter “6 ounces into cups”…and hit enter. Google presents the answer, already calculated – AND it includes a handy drop down to change those measurements for your next ingredient. Release dates: [movie/game] release date Fast facts: [name of person] deathDurable – No moving parts to wear out Stats: [city] population Level 2 Mastery: Limiting Result Type With one additional click, you can tell Google that you only want images. Or videos. Or News, maps, shopping, books or apps. Your initial results are presented as a combination of all types – you can see the ALL tab highlighted up the top. Just click the tab to indicate which result type you’re looking for. Level 3 Mastery: Using Drop Downs. One of the most popular Google Fu moves is to limit results to sites from a particular country. This is great for locating bargains or local businesses. Click SEARCH TOOLS to drop down a second menu. You’ll see the option to limit Country and even Time. 2 extra clicks and my search is now limited to my home country and items from the past 7 days only. Level 3 Mastery: Using Operators. Your final level of mastery, often used as a last resort when you’re just beginning to doubt whether the internet has the answer you’re seeking. Finally, enclosing your search terms in “quotation marks” binds the term together so Google can’t break it up. E.G. “Project Management” Your Google Fu will soon be very strong. More Google search tips and tricks Want more business advice? Call us at 570-235-1946 or check out our Consulting page to fill out a form for a free consultation!...

25 Oct

Posted at 20:33h in Blog Post
0 Likes

If Your Computer Had A Virus, You’d Want to Know About It ASAP, Right? Tech scammers know we’d be lost without our computers, and that we don’t always know what’s going on behind the screen. In effect, they’ve been able to swindle millions from people across the world every day. Tech Scams Go Like This You receive a random phone call from someone with a heavy accent (usually Indian) saying they’re from Microsoft. Pop-ups appear on the screen indicating system is infected with a virus. Then, to fix the problem, they instruct you to download support software. From here, the technician gives you a special link to use. Thereafter, a technician uses that software to gain access to your system, and makes it appear as if your system is riddled with viruses. For example, flashing screens, mysterious diagnostics whizzing by, fabricated errors…they’ll do or say anything to invoke panic. Scammers go as far as claiming your system has been infected with illegal content, and can lead to criminal charges. Finally, scammers will make demands for credit card information. Once paid, scammers stop fiddling with your system to create the illusion that the problem is fixed. To continue the scam, they’ll soon access your system to recreate the problem, this time offering a subscription for ongoing protection. What To Do If Targeted By Tech Scams? 1. Don’t taunt them. Just hang up. Right now you’re only a phone number in their system and they’ll move onto the next. However, if you give them cause to target you personally, you may find yourself in a dangerous situation. The real Microsoft will never randomly call people like this. Ever. 2. If a pop-up appears, immediately run an anti-virus scan. Don’t click the pop-up or call the number. Already A Victim of Scams? Call your financial institution and have the charges reversed and your card reissued. It’s easier than you might think and helps the authorities locate the scammers. Give us a call at 570-235-1946 or visit our Contact Page and we’ll make sure scammers no longer have access to your computer...

24 Oct

Posted at 16:50h in Blog Post
0 Likes

More and more businesses and organizations are getting stung by ransomware attacks. Hospitals, schools, social networks…some days it seems like an epidemic that leaps around arbitrarily, and hackers are raking in millions. Losses in the Billions Ransomware attacks are devious in their simplicity. A user in the target business is tricked into opening a file, usually through a phishing email or download. The file contains malware which instantly encrypts your data and demands money in exchange for the password. Cost of Not Backing Up All of the target businesses should have backups, which they could simply revert to without paying any money. However, the FBI reports more than $209 million was sent to hackers in the first quarter of this year alone. Keep in mind, this was just payments within the US, and only counts those who came forward. Last year it was only $25million. Do Backups Help? Sometimes the backup solution fails and the data can’t be retrieved. This is particularly true in cases where the solution has been in use for years and something failed along the way. In other instances, the target business has a backup that can be restored, but it doesn’t include everything they need for full recovery. Finally, and the most common reason so many businesses are forced to pay the ransom: the ransomware attack affects the entire system. If the backup is also caught in the ransomware encryption, it becomes useless as a recovery method and the only options are to pay or lose the data forever. Each day spent trying to recover the data drains valuable business resources and in many cases, results in massive revenue loss. The only defense is to block the malware before it can infect the first workstation. Then, continue the protection with a comprehensive backup strategy for all workstations and servers. Want protection from ransomware attacks? Call us at 570-235-1946 or visit our Contact Page...

08 Jul

Posted at 22:41h in Blog Post
0 Likes

Originally posted by CNET: This graphic shows how the DNSChanger malware worked. (Credit: FBI) The DNSChanger malware has been around for years, but its deleterious effects are coming to a head this Monday. Here's what you have to know about it, and how to fix it. What is DNSChanger? DNSChanger is a Trojan horse malware with many variants. It changes an infected computer's DNS settings to point to rogue, bad guy-controlled servers. These then show you ads that look real, but aren't. Basically, it redirects your legitimate Web surfing to malicious Web sites that then attempt to steal personal information and generate illegitimate ad revenue. How much money did DNSChanger make? From the time it was discovered around 2007 until six Estonian scammers were caught in November 2011, DNSChanger scored them upwards of $14 million, reportedly. What does DNSChanger do? DNSChanger changes your Domain Name System settings without your permission. This is bad because DNS is basically the Internet's phone book crossed with a map. DNS links a URL, such as CNET.com, to an IP address. (An IPv4 address would be something like 192.1.56.10, while an IPv6 address would look like 1050:0:0:0:5:600:300c:326b.) DNSChanger changes that and redirects search results and URLs to malicious sites that are designed to either serve you ads to malicious sites, or intend to illegitimately collect your login information. Related stories FBI tackles DNSChanger malware scam Operation Ghost Click DNS servers to remain online until July Web could vanish for hordes of people in July, FBI warns Google will alert users to DNSChanger malware infection New DNSChanger Trojan variant targets routers If the bad guys have been caught already, why does DNSChanger still affect people? Simply put, the malware was exceedingly effective and infected hundreds of thousands of computers. Prior to the bad guys being arrested, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and German Federal Office for Information Security created a redirect of the redirect, so that many people infected by DNSChanger would still go to the legitimate Web sites that they intended to visit. After the arrests, the two governments agreed to keep the rogue DNS servers running until March. Then they learned that there were still around 450,000 active DNSChanger infections, and so the servers got a reprieve until Monday, July 9. If your computer's been infected and you haven't fixed it by July 8, your Monday morning will be even worse than normal. So the Facebook alerts and Google warnings about DNSChanger were legit? Yep. And around 330,000 people were still infected with DNSChanger as of the end of May, with about 77,000 of those in the U.S. Google's warning that appeared at the top of search results. (Credit: CNET) How can I tell if I'm infected? If you're in the United States, go to dns-ok.us or its parent site, the DNSChanger Working Group for computers based outside of the U.S. Click on the URL appropriate to your country, and you'll see an image with a green background if you're clean. A red background means you're infected. Help! My computer's infected with DNSChanger. How can I fix it? The DCWG has a list of free tools to download and instructions on how to clean a computer infected with DNSChanger. How can I avoid malware like DNSChanger in the future? Security suites aren't perfect, but they will protect you from the vast majority of threats out there including DNSChanger. Whether you're on Windows or Mac, Android or iOS, you really ought to have some kind of security program installed. And always double-check the URL before entering personal information into any kind of online text field or form, no matter what operating system or device you're using....

21 Feb

Posted at 21:07h in Blog Post
0 Likes

Be on the look out for our first print advertisement coming soon in The Target Shopper. The ad was designed by Kristen Blake of Kristen Blake Creative. We highly recommend her for any creative work you may need, she produced an ad that kept our branding image in mind and was very responsive to any changes we requested. ...