Final Blog in WordPress and New Journey in LinkedIn

I really enjoy helping people to solve their problems and while I was studying software engineering, I decided to dedicate my knowledge in helping people and those days hacking and security incidents were big issues and I was helping people the best I could. Then someone advised me to build reputation, share your knowledge to the public. I then start a weblog using Windows Live Space and those days it was part of Microsoft Windows Live Services. Then I wrote my very first blog in the internet which was this post. And keep writing weblogs and posts related to cybersecurity and Windows. As I go forward, I also involved in area of IT, Cloud Computing, Software Developer and so on. But I dedicate myself to raise awareness in cybersecurity. Later on, Microsoft decided to shutdown Windows Live Space and either we have to say a goodbye to our weblog or we had an option to migrate to the WordPress which is this website. I continue blogging in WordPress and share my knowledge here.

Today, I would like to announce, officially I will stop posting in the WordPress but I will keep posting weblogs in LinkedIn. I would like to let my weblog reader to have interaction and therefore, I would like invite you all to Computer Security Force which is space to discuss about Microsoft Security for Consumer and IT Professionals. You may share your knowledge to the community and comment on posts there. Note you will need a LinkedIn account to join and you have to follow the community guidance like not spam, be respectful, help each other and so on. I would be writing articles on LinkedIn and it would be my new weblog and good news is there is no more advertisement there and you could freely read through articles. To see list of my articles check this out . I will focus on IT Professional related topics. I might not approve your request for connect because I will be using certain algorithm to verify identity of those who I personally knows. But you may follow me on LinkedIn and asked your question in Computer Security Force.

With that, goodbye WordPress and hello LinkedIn.

Why Should I Setup Guest Wi-Fi?

Some Wi-Fi routers would have a feature called Guest Wireless and this feature will help you to enhance protection in your network. There are cases when you want to share network with someone who want to have a temporary access like your friend is coming over. Most people simply give their Wi-Fi password to them and this is not a recommended practice. When you give access to your Wi-Fi, then they would have access to your internal network and they could do some other things than just browsing the network. You may perform some restriction on them by viewing connected devices and find MAC address of your guest and manually add some restriction but it is not easy and you couldn’t provide several restrictions. Better step would be to setup Guest Wi-Fi with a password which is different from the password you select for your default Wi-Fi and you could set certain limitation and restrictions for all guests. It is recommended to turn off the Guest Wi-Fi and only enable it when guest is coming over and then disable it once they gone. Using Guest Wi-Fi, they won’t have access to your home’s network but they would be able to access internet. This way while you are giving them permission to connect and use Wi-Fi, you are protecting your network. Make sure you would select and purchase Wi-Fi routers where they have Guest Wi-Fi options. Hope to have a safe and secure internet access.

Why Anti-Malware Products Detects Keygens and Cracks?

You might have noticed majority of Anti-Malware products will detect and remove application used to crack and break Genuine programs. There are those who complain like it is up to us to use pirate software or buy genuine one and consider this behavior political move by Anti-Malware vendors. There are risks of legal actions by companies, so it is very valuable features for many companies and in case they detect like crack or pirate software is being used, they would be able to identify, investigate and handle the issue internally before government authorities go into their office and take action because they are using pirate software. However, I am NOT going to talk about legal and ethical aspect of using pirate software but I will discuss about them from security point of view. Several version of pirate software either comes with malware installed or they have vulnerability where leading cybercriminals be able to break into their systems easily. Actually, promoting and distributing pirate software is a secure way to spy and perform surveillant on users. When you are using application and program which is legitimate, then in case you find any spy tools or application, you could take legal action, destroy the reputation of the company and bring them to justice. However, what will you do, in case it is pirate software? You couldn’t complain or take any action to protect your right and in case you do, they will ask you why you purchase pirate software? This leads to a case where several users globally are at risk of being hacked or being monitors illegally. For this reason, some governments take restrict action to protection copyright and fighting software piracy NOT only to protect their innovation and create healthy business environment but also to protect their national security by protecting their citizens. I do agree commercial software should be affordable for everyone but it is NOT wise to purchase pirate software and hand over your privacy over bad guys and cybercriminals. Therefore, it is really helpful when Anti-Malware products detect and remove keygens and application used for cracking and in case you detect any of them in your PC, it is wise to take action and remove the installed application and look for genuine one or install alternative free one.

Block PUA by Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is able to block Potential Unwanted Apps. Let see what are PUA? We all know and learn about malwares and spywares. They are harming the system and stealing data. But sometimes they are programs which are NOT directly harming you or stealing your data like malwares or spywares, however they are having unwanted behavior like it is difficult to uninstall them, install other programs without your permission. They are making changes to your system without clearly letting you know. The complete list of criteria is listed here. Microsoft Edge used to only block malwares and spywares through SmartScreen filter. However, in new updates it is able to block Potential unwanted app and this gives you better protection. You could manually enable this feature by opening Microsoft Edge and in top right corner of screen and click on …->Settings->Privacy, search and services and under Security and Block potential unwanted apps, you may enable this setting.

I would recommend everyone who is using Microsoft Edge , go to Settings and enable this feature.

Protect Yourselves Against Ransomwares

We are still facing issues with ransomwares globally, the fact that people are paying them would make them stronger and more and more people become victim of ransomwares. Due to COVID-19 situation is worse because people are working from home and their PC is essentials for their jobs and infection with ransomwares means they are losing their jobs. In addition, it is NOT easy for IT departments to manage their remote workers. Therefore, I am sharing this article to advise you about protecting against ransomwares. In this case, I would share these cases:

Before Getting Infected: You have to make sure your PC is always updated and protected with Anti-Malware product. In Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, you already have Anti-Malware which is Windows Defender and Windows 10 provides greater protection against ransomwares. In addition, in case you observed any suspicious program, email, link… NEVER click or open it and instead check with your IT department or scan it with Anti-Malware product and incase you already have Windows Defender but it won’t detect it and you believe the file is suspicious, submit it to Microsoft. Also make sure you are regularly backup your data.

During Infection: In case you observed infection with ransomwares, don’t panic and disconnect from internet and turn off your PC. Then see how you come across the ransomware, if it was through your company email or website, contact your IT administrator. In case it was from personal email, try login to your email from another device (Make sure you won’t click on the link or attachment of email) and report it to your email provider. You may also report it to your internet service provider. It is important to NOT TO PAY to ransomwares because they will use this money to purchase more resources and infecting more people.

After infection: Let say your PC already infected and you already made payment. In this case, you need to inform your local authorities in your country and the bank where you made payment. Then use tools like Microsoft Safety Scanner and once you removed all traces of malware, then work on protecting your system by making sure you have updated version of Anti-Malware.

Microsoft shared some valuable tips to protect yourselves against ransomwares here.

Enable Tamper Protection to Improve Your Protection

Anti-Malwares are number one enemy to hackers and cybercriminals. Therefore, cybercriminals are trying their best to stop Anti-Malware program, so they could do their works or criminal activities easier. We observed several cases where malware will disable Anti-Virus program or damage its services and dependencies and, in this case, user will end up with cases like Anti-Malware program is not working and user is not able to turn it on or it is missing. Resolving such problem is not always easy and normally user would need modify registry or run commands which is not easy for most of them. In worse case scenario they have to reinstall Windows. You may prevent this from happening in case you are using Windows Defender in the latest build of Windows 10. This feature called Tamper Protection and it looks like picture below.

In case you have home PC and you are using Windows Defender, then you could open Windows Security and under Virus & threat protection, and under Virus & threat protection settings, you will find Tamper Protection and turn in On. When you turn on this feature, everything causing damage or change to essentials Anti-Malware and Windows Firewall and Other essentials security protection features in Windows 10 will be prevented , things like disabling them using Group Policy, Registry, Scripts won’t work and this prevent disabling Anti-Malware or Firewall using remote users or malicious scripts or other malwares. This could be a simple feature where you could enable or disable it, however it has great impact in stopping several malicious actions against your PC.

Therefore, in case you are using home computer , make sure enable this feature.

Secure Your Home’s Wi-Fi Router

Nowadays we might spend more times at home and using our home wireless network. It is important to make sure our home wireless network is secure and no one except our family would have access to it. In this post, I would like to share some tips on protecting your Wi-Fi network.

Get start with Your Wi-Fi Administrator Center: You might have setup your Wi-Fi once and you just keep connecting to it. However, it is good idea to connect to it and check it out. Normally, you have to open browser and type and address or IP to visit your Wi-Fi login menu and then you have to enter username and password. In case, you don’t know what are address and login credential, you may just search for model of your router and look for manual or login instruction.

Get Familiar with Security Features: Some routers would have additional security features like Guest Wi-Fi, Parental Control, Anti-DoS, MAC filtering…. Read your router’s manual and configure all security features. For example, in case you have Guest Wi-Fi, if someone visiting your home and want to use your Wi-Fi, you don’t need to share your actual Wi-Fi password and instead create temporary guest account and let them use it. You may enable MAC address filtering (don’t confuse with MacOS) where you add MAC addresses for your devices and only let them to connect to Wi-Fi router and block other devices.

Regularly Check who has been Connected: Sometimes, bad guys or bad neighbors might attempt to hack into your Wi-Fi and use it or even crack your password. All Wi-Fi routers have a place where showing who are connected (normally by their MAC Address) and you could compare these MAC addresses with your connected devices and if you have seen any unfamiliar MAC address, then take screenshot and change your Wi-Fi password and use screenshot to report it to local cyber-police in your country or take any legal action against intruder.

Use strong Password and Encryption Technology: To make sure hackers won’t use your Wi-Fi, use strong password with combination of character, number, symbols and it should be long and use strong encryption protocol. You may refer to your router’s manual for instruction on doing that.

Disable Admin Access from Wi-Fi: In some cases, you may access administrator center for Wi-Fi, then one you are using with IP to login using Wi-Fi too. Make sure disable the access using Wi-Fi and only enforce access using LAN connection.

Place Your Router in Right Location: You have to place your Wi-Fi Router in location where everyone in your home would have access to it but access to outside is limited. For example, you may place it in middle of your home where everyone would have access to it but it has limit access to outside home.

Take Over Your Hacked Router: Sometimes, bad guys might take over your router and even change passwords where you could not login or access your settings. In this case, because you have physical access to your router, you could find reset key on it and press it and it will reset router to default and change password to default one.

Enjoy your secure Wi-Fi connection.

Backup Your Data in Windows 10

There are times where due to unwanted incidents we might lose our data. It could be due to malware, system failure, hardware failure, accidental delete …. We might face losing data anytime. Recovering such files might not be easy or possible but we could follow backup strategy to prevent that. Hopefully, Windows 10 comes with easy feature to back up your files. All you have to do is just enable this feature and have a hard drive dedicated for backup. It is recommended to not use the hard disk which you are using for backup for other works, since in case it gets infected, you might lose backup files. You just add it and se Windows to take regular backup and place it in safe location. In case, you lose your data, you just insert it and restore your files and you are good to go.

You may ask, how often shall I take backup and the answer is, it depends on how you work with your PC. So, let say, if you are working on important project, then you will need to take backup almost every day. Sometimes, you are copying important data in your PC and you will need to take backup after that. Consider, you are copying your pictures from camera and then you will need to take a backup of your pictures too. Backup is actually lifesaving, I have seen cases where university students would have failed the subject because they lost their thesis or university project but thanks to backup, they manage to recover it. Companies would lose their contracts, in case they failed to do a proper backup plan. I have seen PCs where family photos were missing due to hardware failure or ransomwares, but they manage to recover them, because they had proper backup plan and enable backup feature in Windows 10. Therefore, in case you are in a company, ask your IT department to have a proper backup plan. In case, you are concern about your home PC, make sure enable backup in Windows 10, take a look at:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027408/windows-10-backup-and-restore

Try New Microsoft Edge Browser

Browsers play important role in protecting users against online threats, I recommend using Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge which are among most secure browser in the world. Now, we have good news and there is new version of Microsoft Edge which you could install on Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7 and even in other devices like macOS, Android and iOS. You may ask what will happen to Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge which is already inside Windows 10? The answer is Internet Explorer consider for backward compatibility meaning, if there are really old websites or toolbars which are not working in modern browsers, you could use Internet Explorer. However, it is recommended to start using new Microsoft Edge in supported version of Windows. For Windows 10, once you install new version of Microsoft Edge, it will replace the old version. In this version, you have better compatibility with websites and security is important factor.

Microsoft Edge supports SmartScreen filter which is one of the best technologies in detecting and blocking malicious and phishing websites and is available in Microsoft Edge. It also supports latest web standards, so you won’t see message like website is not working in Microsoft Edge and such messages. I should note while Microsoft Edge provides good protection in non-Microsoft operating systems like macOS, Android and iOS, but the maximum protection would be in Windows operating system especially Windows 10 where it has better built-in security features compare to other operating systems. Therefore, I would like to invite you to start download and use new Microsoft Edge and enjoy great security and experience. You may download Microsoft Edge here.

Protecting Your Privacy During Video Call

Nowadays due to COVID-19 we might relay more on video conferencing and we use communication tools like Skype or Microsoft Teams or other platforms to have video or audio chats. When we are sharing video or having video call, then area around us will be shared and that could be privacy concern and you might see it as just your room but it means a lot for cybercriminals and they could learn a lot from your videos. Skype provides feature to blur your background and even set your own custom background, if you want to know how then take a look at here. Microsoft Teams also support blur background and soon you will have option to custom background (actually there is a trick to do set custom background in current release too), take a look at here. However, sometimes you want to share your own video and want to share everything around you or you are using program which is not supporting blur background or custom image or your hardware is not supporting this feature and you need to share actual video online and in this case you should take following steps to protect your privacy.

Never Share Video with Strangers: When you share video, the other party could record it and you should NEVER share any video or make video call with strangers or those who you don’t know them personally. You only should share video and have video call with trusted party.

Objects Around You Will Talk: You might have video call or record a video in your room and front of your PC and believe it is normal. But there are people who are looking into your video to find some clue about you. If you have library, they will see what books are you reading. If you have any painting or picture, they will analyze it and get some clue from it. Even if you have nice flower there, they will analyze to see why you have that flower. They are fine for many people but if it is public, it gives clue for cybercriminals for social engineering attack. Let say you have book in library about interesting topic. Someone might create a fake account and start a conversation with you and tell you hey I like that topic (based on book) and you will surprise and say I like that too and conversation goes and they gain your trust and they abuse it. You might think it is like fiction but that actually happens.

Remove Everything Behind You: It is good idea to be in a place where there is nothing behind you and it is good idea to remove things behind you or if possible, hide them with something.

Be Careful of Your Dress: Like in presentations or interview, it is important what you wear like color of your dress and style. When you are at home you might forgot you are actually working and make sure to check your dress before joining the meeting.

Report Abusers: If you are in a call or you shared video online and someone try to abuse or harass you. Make sure report them, almost in all platforms there is procedure to report abuse and for example there is button directly in Skype and for Microsoft Teams, you may report it to your administrator.

I wish you all stay safe and secure online and make sure protect your privacy.