Cybersecurity professionals warn worse impact may yet be felt

[Paphos Life]

Asian governments and businesses reported some disruptions from the WannaCry ransomware worm on Monday but cybersecurity experts warned of a wider impact as more employees turned on their computers and checked e-mails....

Read the article and chat about it below...

[Dominic]

The key point is this:

If your PC is running Windows, you need to ensure that Windows Update has installed all the latest updates.

If your PC is still running XP, now is the time to upgrade.

[Lincoln]

Even as I am typing this I am doing my Back - up to an external hard drive. I usually do this about every two weeks. I was advised to do it by Brian at computer SOS. I am on Widows 10.

[trevnhil]

What external hard drive do you have. ?? and is it Wireless or do you have to plug it in from time to time ?

Trev..

[josef k]

Time to get away from Microsoft and move to Linux. Never any problems and no need for a virus-guard.

[Varky]

It almost always comes back to Microsoft software, doesn't it, but in the main the fault lies with the PC owner for not updating each time a new patch comes out. It's frankly appalling that big organisations like the NHS do not take better care of security, especially when it seems they were alerted about this possibility a year ago.

Like everyone I know with a Mac, I don't use any form of security other than Apple's very occasional updates/patches. Never once had a problem in 8 years of using a Mac. I have a Microsoft suite on my Mac and I must get at least one MS update a month.

Using Time Machine, my Mac automatically updates every hour to an external 5Tb hard drive.

It almost goes without saying that dodgy-looking emails from people you don't know should not have any attachments opened, specially if they are zip files.

Smug or what?

[PhotoLady]

Strangely enough, I've never had a Mac nor felt the need to pay an enormous amount of money for an iPhone or anything Apple related...... and, I've never had a pc virus!

I must just have a knack for recognising dodgy-looking emails

[Lincoln]

What external hard drive do you have. ?? and is it Wireless or do you have to plug it in from time to time ?

Trev..

Hi Trev it is a small black box and I have to plug it into the computer. It shows the progress on the screen and I can minimize it and do other things on the lap top while it carries on. :All done now.

[Dominic]

This is an interesting read for Mac users who are worried about protection.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-so ... e-3454926/

[Jimgward]

Smug or what?

Charming as ever. Judging by your posts on other threads, kettle, pot, black If you don't like my posts, just block me.

Simply making the point that Macs are MUCH less vulnerable to online threats than PC's with Microsoft. Not an expert, but I believe Mac architecture is closely related to Linux (mentioned by Dominic), which is also why it doesn't need security. I know many, many people who have iPads...and none of them use security.

They say that once you've had a Mac, you'll never switch back to a PC. Very widely used in media-related industries. I particularly like it for Photos and Final Cut Pro.

Totally agree. Have sold, used and supported MACs and PCs for decades and MACs rarely ever cause problems, are many times less costly to support and whilst they appear to cost more, their spec and build is much better than most and comparable PCs cost as much. Also, have a look at second hand MACs and PCs on eBay for indications of how much they retain their value.

Lastly, I use 2002 iMACs as sound systems in other rooms, I control the sound from iPhone/iPad and stream from iTunes or Spotify.... the sounds quality is superb, with Harmon Kardon speakers and I can also AirPlay music videos.... sound following you etc. Try doing that with a 15 year old PC....



SMUG? You better believe it.....

[Varky]

Smug or what?

Charming as ever. Judging by your posts on other threads, kettle, pot, black If you don't like my posts, just block me.

Simply making the point that Macs are MUCH less vulnerable to online threats than PC's with Microsoft. Not an expert, but I believe Mac architecture is closely related to Linux (mentioned by Dominic), which is also why it doesn't need security. I know many, many people who have iPads...and none of them use security.

They say that once you've had a Mac, you'll never switch back to a PC. Very widely used in media-related industries. I particularly like it for Photos and Final Cut Pro.

Why would I block you. You are a constant source of amusement.

[Dominic]

And the c64 was better than the spectrum. Yada yada yada. These arguments have been going on for decades and will continue even longer.

The best way to not get infected is to steer clear of dodgy sites and dodgy emails.

[PhotoLady]

Currently browsing whilst reclining on the sofa in the conservatory watching the wild birds eat us out of house and home - on my Windows mobile

[Polemi Dave]

The key point is this:

If your PC is still running XP, now is the time to upgrade.

Dominic that is easy to say unless your have expensive industrial equipment that won't work on Win7 +. It would cost far too many thousands to upgrade the specialised software and then the industrial machine. I guess the UK national health have similar issues multiplied many fold. I am too near retirement for that expense.
However XP users may like to know that although micrsoft no longer supports XP they have released a "wannacry patch" XP users can download. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downloa ... x?id=55245

[Dominic]

Why not run it on a virtual machine, or is internet access required by the application?

[Polemi Dave]

Why not run it on a virtual machine, or is internet access required by the application?

I could run a separate machine for the internet and run backwards and forwards all day with flash drives containing .jpeg and.dst files. I could even partition my PC with 2 operating systems, but honestly too complicated I only recently updated the physical file transfer from floppy disks to flash sticks, even then I hit compatibility issues. I don't go to work to surf the internet or play games so my internet use is very basic, POP 3 access to our private domain mail - no cloud email. When I am on line at work I run "no script" script blocker.

So although we have Win 7 and 10 at home there is no need to clutter the workspace with 2 extra computers (Mrs PD would want one as well). I will stick with XP till I retire. To be honest I would have stuck with win 2000 which is what the software and equipment was designed for, but replacement hard disks could not be recognised by Win2000 as they had too much capacity. Apparently XP users we are called refuseniks

[Dominic]

You wouldn't need an extra machine with a virtual machine. It runs XP in a window on your newer PC.

I do my dev work on a virtual linux server which runs on my Windows 10 laptop.