Leo called in and said his work computer got a virus. Everytime people log onto his website now, they get that FBI symbol. Leo says that hacking websites is the number one way hackers can get onto home computers. It's possible that his work website has been hacked because it isn't up to date and has security vulnerabilities.
Bob has been seeing that the Microsoft scam is targeting seniors. Seniors are getting calls from "tech support" at Microsoft saying they're infected. Bob says that he tells all his clients that it's a scam, but they find it's very authoritative. Leo says that's why seniors are much better off with tablets instead of computers. Leo says that he believes the same technicians that actually handle tech support overseas are moonlighting making these calls.
Dennis has an older Windows XP machine with two drives - one for programs, one for data. Lately, Malware Bytes has been finding "suspicious files." Could they be malware? He quarantined the files and now he can't access his data. When he unquarantined them, they were deleted. Leo says it could be a false positive.
Peter was looking for video codecs and he got bit by some malware called "Search Donkey." Leo says that even legitimate sites can get bit by malware. And places like CNet will install adware in their installer without really drawing attention to it. Leo says that the only difference between Malware and Adware is that Adware lets the user uninstall and technically gives an opt out on installation (if the user can find it).
The police department in a New Hampshire town has been infected with Cryptolocker and the city has refused to pay the tribute to get their data back. This is the opposite reaction from a Massachusetts police department that decided to pay up to get their data. Leo says that if the PD was backing up their data, they wouldn't have to pay up. Clearly, they haven't been. And that's not good.
Peter is getting a popup on YouTube that is saying it has an expired certificate. Leo says that usually indicates an inaccurate date and time set in the computer. He should also update his browser. That will update the certificate authorities.
Chris' computer is really slow. Leo says that could likely be malware that's causing the computer to devote its time to things he doesn't know about. He advises scanning the computer with the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool and his AntiVirus software. It could also indicate that the hard drive is starting to fail.
Leo suggests reinstalling Windows and starting over. He should backup his data, reinstall Windows and then update it. He'll have a computer that runs a lot faster.
Lou has adware and after scanning for it, it hasn't disappeared. Leo says that adware is annoying, but most antivirus software doesn't view it as malware because the user chooses to install the software that had the adware in it. He can probably remove it through "add/remove programs". Leo advises getting rid of TechGenie and whatever's left of McAfee, and install only Microsoft's Security Essentials. Lou should also run the Malicious Software Removal Tool. Start -> Run -> type "MRT" return.
Michele accidentally clicked on an ad and now she keeps getting pop ups to download "Windows updater." Leo says that's malware and to avoid it. Leo also thinks that Michele hasn't gotten a virus just yet. But since she clicked on the ad, there may be a cookie there that keeps bringing it up. Leo advises running MalwareBytes, but she should only download it from http://www.malwarebytes.org/. There are bad versions out there that are designed to confuse people. Always download software from the original designer.
Bob is having trouble with Internet Explorer and switched over to Google Chrome. He also dumped Adobe Flash Player and Reader. Leo says that those are two apps that are a target for hackers. The nice thing about Chrome is that Flash is built into the browser and is always up to date. It's also sandboxed so it can't get to the rest of his data.
