Certified I.T. Solutions, LLC

Microsoft just released a security patch that replaced the one that was pulled a couple of weeks ago. The patch will be installed tonight and computers will be restarted. This is an out-of-band update – sorry for the late notice.

I wanted to do a little education on fake alerts. These have been around for over a year but I’m still asked about them. What happens is a legitimate website uses banner ads. The ads rotate around and point to other websites for the content. Those websites then get hijacked and a bad person inserts code that displays a fake image (it can even be animated to look like its really scanning). When you click on the image (like the the “clean computer” button) it redirects you to the hijacked site and tells you to run a program to disinfect the computer. The program is really a virus or some form of malware.

We do our best to keep programs like Java and Flash up to date so these are minimized but we have very little control outside of that. Installing filtering hardware or software is an option so please let us know if you are interested in this option (has many other benefits as well which I’ll talk about in another post).

So, what do you do if you see one of these? First of all, you know its fake because the alerts are within the browser and almost of all CITS clients do not see real virus alerts (the admin is notified). Simply log off and log back on. If you really don’t want to logout then stay away from the mouse (because any of the buttons might be fake) and press [Windows+R] to get a run prompt, type in cmd , press [ENTER], type in

taskkill /f /im iexplore.exe  if you have Internet Explorer open
taskkill /f /im chrome.exe  if you have Google Chrome open
taskkill /f /im firefox.exe  if you have Firefox open

Yes, it will close all of your tabs and browser windows but I’ve found there can be more than one and I’ve seen Internet Explorer still in the background after all windows were closed.

Java Update 21 for version 7 is being pushed out today. No restart should be necessary.

Microsoft re-released bulletin MS13-036 in which they are recommending a removal of patch 2823324. I have set the nightly script to remove the patch; a restart should not be necessary. I’m not aware of any issues clients have had with this update.

Logmein was updated yesterday along with Firefox and Dropbox. Microsoft should be releasing updates this coming Tuesday. Computers will be restarted Tuesday and/or Wednesday night.

Java 7 update 15 will be pushed out tomorrow. Strong possibility that iTunes updates will also go out along with Firefox 19.

Today is Patch Tuesday and there are 12 security bulletins. In addition there is yet another Flash update (last one was a week ago). I’ve incorporated Flash updates into the daily script since they are coming so often. I have improved the restart script that will reopen some programs – hope that helps a little. Adobe Air and Shockwave updates will go out as needed but will not require a restart.

A new Logmein version (4.01.2651) is being pushed out now. Most clients will update tonight. Also, we are implementing Ninite updater on select machines that have been more problematic. This will cause an update of Adobe Reader to the newest version XI.

I’m starting on ongoing list of what clients should know.

1. If you have some strange issue try restarting first. No need to restart three times – just once will do. If the issue is not resolved then send a help request.
2. Use the help request system. We put it in place to make sure we get the message. Users have literally emailed to report they couldn’t send email. If you can’t use the help request system then please call – don’t email.
3. We often respond to requests within a couple of minutes but that doesn’t mean we always can. Please don’t send another request within the hour asking if we got the first request. Consult yor SLA for response times.
4. Most users would happily insert 4 quarters every work day to use their computer. At that rate a user could replace their computer every four years with a $1,000 system which is pretty decent. Please keep this in mind when your admin tells you its time to replace your seven-year-old computer.
5. When you report the internet is slow please be sure you and others in the office aren’t listening to the streaming radio, watching videos or have Pandora open. It affects everyone in the office. Eight people with Pandora One will completely consume a T1 line. One person can consume an entire T1 using Netflix (SD).
6. No, wireless is not faster than a copper line. A great wireless connection will be 54 Mbps and that’s if there is one computer on that access point. A typical line will either be 100 Mbps or 1024 Mbps.
7. When the tape or backup disk isn’t rotated its not our data at risk. We offer complete online backups. If you have data-only online backups you still need an alternative backup.
8. Don’t use Outlook’s quickfill/autofill for contacts. Its much better on Outlook 2010 but it’s still not the best place to keep contact email addresses – that’s what the contacts folder is for.
9. We don’t recommend refilled toner/ink.