Deal of Month: Screen Repair and Virus Removal Combo!
Tired of looking at that crack on your screen? Bring it in to Computer Repair in Tyler and we will give you a complementary $30 off on our removal of virus and malware services.
These damage to your screen are susceptible to even further complications for your computer as time passes. Don’t wait any longer. Drop your computer off at Computer Repair in Tyler/ETV Software today and save BIG on our virus and malware removal services.
Today, there are more and more worries to be had with viruses and malware infecting your computer without you ever knowing it’s there. Malware can spy on your files and access secret passwords that could compromise your identity. We can remove these pesky complications with our premier virus and malware removal system. Call us today for a free quote on your laptop screen and ask about our Deal of the Month at Computer Repair in Tyler.
When Your Tech Devices Get The Sniffles
Computers require treatment for illnesses, just like humans!
This is not a coincidence. Online traffic between Black Friday and Christmas increases during this time each year. And so do viruses both in the real-world and on the internet. Scammers know that many people will fall for their fake advertisements. These scams can generate more complications than one unassuming online shopper may expect. From identity theft to crashing your personal computer, these viruses are serious business.
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Don't click on links within your emails.
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Don't click on advertisements. (Outside of Facebook/Instagram)
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Call your local computer repair company for more information if you are unsure.
Large Number of HP Laptops Shipped With A Keylogger
You wouldn't know it from HP's support page, but a large number of their recent laptops with a rudimentary keylogger embedded within the drivers for their touchpads. Fortunately, this isn't a situation where some virus wormed its way into HP's laptop assembly line. Instead, it looks like a security researcher stumbled upon a long disabled chunk of code that Synaptics, a company that makes laptop touchpads for several vendors, originally used to make sure their new touchpad design was working correctly.
Testing code like this is extremely common on new hardware being tested in the lab. The problem here is that neither HP nor Synaptics thought to remove that testing code from the products they shipped to their end customers. Even though the test code shipped in a dormant state, all it would have taken is one small change to re-enable it. Having code that could be used to spy on users baked into the trusted files that ship with HP laptops could have been a major weak point for hackers to exploit.
HP says that there were no known instances of this code being exploited, but there's really no way for them to be entirely sure. The company has since posted replacement drivers on their support site. Individuals and businesses should go about updating to these newer, fixed drivers as soon as possible.
December Deal of the Month
Computer viruses are a hassle. Plain and simple. Seemingly harmless to some, they can pop-up at a moment's notice and wreak havoc on your computer and your computer's stored information. Oftentimes, these pesky viruses degrade the security of your computer's software performance and can even lock your computer from accessing certain files. Yesterday was National Computer Security Day. A day dedicated to spreading awareness of the up-to-date trickery scammers are using and how to prevent such a problem from happening in the first place.
For our December deal of the month and in light of National Computer Security Day, we’re offering a reduced cost of $89.99 security checkups for all desktop and laptop computers. We’ll give your computer a thorough scan and root out any adware, spyware, viruses, or ransomware that has found its way onto your system. We will also install AVG Malware Bytes (free version) to prevent any further issues with your computer's security.
Just because your computer seems to be acting fine doesn’t mean you are completely secure. Get your Mac or PC checked out today from Computer Repair In Tyler. For more information, call us at 903.858.4383 or email us at info@computerrepairintyler.com
Be Careful With Untrused Microsoft Word Files
Most of us who use Microsoft Word on a regular basis begrudgingly work around its default security settings. We've long grown accustom to doing things like switching a Word window out of its "Protected View" to its normal mode so we can edit documents, for instance. Sometimes, though, Word's normal protections aren't good enough. Last week, security firm Trend Micro reported that one hacking group had found a way to spread viruses through Microsoft Word documents without relying on older tricks like embedding "macro" mini programs in the documents.
This new method exploits Microsoft Word's ability embed other files within a Word document. This ability can be useful for doing things like keeping a live, up-to-date, Excel chart within a Word document, but it apparently can also be used to help infect systems. When someone opens one of these altered Word files, Microsoft Word will connect to an outside server to download and then run a virus application!
This new method of infection is another reminder to not open random Word documents that come to your email inbox. Fortunately, this attack does have some signs that it is about to occur and can be stopped by an alert user. If you ever open a Word document and it pops up a dialog box asking to link to outside files you should click "No" then alert someone with the experience to look into what the file is trying to do.
November Deal of the Month
A lot of computer viruses are loud, destructive things. They often throw up pop up advertisements or drastically affect your system's stability and performance, or lock you out of accessing all your files. But there is another set of computer viruses call keyloggers that try to stay sneaky and quiet so they can watch where you go and what you type on the Internet. They try and take special note of whenever you type something that looks like a username and password so they can send off your login details to hackers.
As part of our Novemember deal of the month, we're offering a reduced cost $89 security checkups for all desktop and laptop computers. We'll give your computer a thorough scan and root out any adware, spyware, viruses, or ransomware that has found its way onto your system.
Just because you computer seems to be acting fine doesn't mean you are completely safe. Get your Mac or PC checked out today, before the holiday season truly begins. For more information, call us at 903.858.4383 or email us at info@computerrepairintyler.com
October Deal Of The Month
Does that broken screen or slow hard drive have you running scared? Is surfing the web like a horror flick? Come on in today, we can save you from the hard drive horrors of the past and keep cash in your pocket.
Mention this ad to receive $10 off a screen repair or 10% off a hard drive replacement and data transfer.
Be Careful With Recent Versions of CCleaner
The popular Windows cleanup utility CCleaner recently got hacked and for a time was actually spreading a virus to anyone who downloaded it from its official site. Hackers managed to slip in a virus into version 5.3 of CCleaner. This version was the one being offered by parent company Piriform from August 15 through September 12th. Given that millions of people use CCleaner, its possible that this hack affected thousands, if not millions of users.
We have seen this kind of thing happening a lot more in recent years. Hackers manage to slip their code into legitimate applications before they are released or they gain access to a popular application's download servers and swap out the normal download for one that is actually a virus that sorta looks like the application a user was expecting to install. These kinds of hacks are especially dangerous since more and more applications these days are able to auto update themselves to the latest version in order to provide new features and, ironically, security fixes. We even saw this with a version of the Apple Mac version of the popular video encoding utility Handbrake a few months back.
If you installed CCLeaner within the past few weeks, your best bet is to either run an up-to-date virus scanner on your system or, if you can, restore from a backup that you made before you installed version 5.3 of CCleaner. If you are still having problems or are not sure you successfully removed the virus you can always bring your desktop or laptop by our offices at 1331 South Beckham in Tyler just south of the hospitals. We can help you with this specific virus or give your computer a general checkup to help you find out why it is acting strangely.
You can also contact us by email at info@computerrepairintyler.com or call us at 903-858-4383.
Chrome To Start Blocking Auto Play Videos... Next Year.
Google has announced that Chrome will start refusing to auto play annoying videos and ads come January 1st, 2018. With any luck, this will mean it might be just a little safer to keep the sound turned up on your computer and you'll have less pages blaring music or advertisements at you with out your permission. Along with Google's plan to eliminate unskippable ads sometime next year and it kinda feels like maybe Google is coming around on make its video products more friendly for consumers.
Only time will tell, of course, whether these blocks and good moves stay in place long term, but for now, the future look like it will be a little less annoying.
Time To Patch Your Bluetooth Devices
A security research firm called Armis has release information about a new set of flaws they found and exploited in the Bluetooth wireless protocol. Bluetooth is, of course, the short range wireless system that lets our phones talk to our cars and headphones and fitness trackers. By sending the right signals to devices using standard Linux, Android, and Windows implementations of Bluetooth, researchers at Armis have been able to do everything from listening in on network traffic to installing and running potentially damaging viruses and other applications.
This new vulnerability is especially dangerous because Bluetooth has a range of over 30 feet, meaning anyone with the right equipment might be able to hack your phone or computer as long as they are nearby. Fortunately, these security researchers did the right thing and approached companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google who make many of the world's Bluetooth using devices and told them about the flaw they found long before they released info about the flaw to the public.
What should you do to prevent this problem affecting your equipment? If you are using Window, or and Android or Apple phone you should make sure you have the latest OS. For iPhones, this is easy since this problem does not affect the current iOS 10. Windows users will likewise almost certainly get a patch. For Android it might be a little harder to find a patch depending on the age of your phone.
If you need help patching your computer or phone or just want to make sure your devices are safe you can stop on by our location at 1331 South Beckahm. You can also give us a call at 903-858-4383 or email us at info@computerrepairintyler.com