On Computers

We bow to the mounting evidence and can no longer recommend the free anti-virus program: “Avast.” Too many complaints. And yet, cyber attacks as they’re called, are becoming increasingly common and sophisticated. Choosing an alternative is tricky. For years, PC World, PC Magazine and other reviewers gave their highest marks to the Russian-owned Kaspersky anti-virus. Then came the accusation that Russian hackers may be using it to conduct espionage against the U.S.; some readers dropped it like a hot potato. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security ordered federal agencies to remove it from their systems. Avast is based in the Czech Republic, and there’s been some strange behavior recently.  One of our readers said the people who answer the […]

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Filed under: anti-virus, gadgets, Google, Internuts, security, virus | Comments Off on ANTI-VIRUS REVISITED

Ever wonder if your email account has been broken into? We wondered about that too. A new app called “Edison Email,” checks these things. When we clicked on “security,” we were warned that our passwords had been leaked. The message read: “This email address and password match public database breach records.” They suggested a change of password.”Public breach records” means people’s accounts, mainly business records, have been broken into, collected, and lo and behold, your password was among the records stolen. This in itself is not a disaster, unless … you used that same business password for other accounts, which Joy did. One of those stolen passwords was the same as one for our credit card. Now, following the rule […]

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Filed under: anti-virus, business, email, Internuts, security, virus | Comments Off on WE’VE BEEN BREACHED

We downloaded Microsoft’s “Creator’s Update,” for the latest and greatest in Windows 10. It’s Microsoft’s way of giving you a look at the wonderful things that are coming up for Windows. Why do we do these things? It’s our duty. So the latest update of Creator Updates took an hour to install and trashed our Windows 10 computer. Programs like PowerPoint and Word wouldn’t start. Nor could they be reinstalled. Dead icons appeared everywhere. It wasn’t a virus, it was a look at future Windows updates. Thanks. In the Windows “Recovery” center, there’s a helpful hint saying we should revert to a previous version of Windows 10. We clicked that and reverted. It was like reverse digital evolution. We got […]

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Filed under: anti-virus, health, video, Windows | 1 Comment »

This comes up pretty regularly. A reader writes to ask if it’s worth paying $70 a year for anti-virus protection, or should he use Windows’ own built-in support? A large surge in so-called “Ransom Ware” infections has exacerbated the problem. RansomeWare locks up your files, and the sender, naturally, demands a ransom to unlock them. Typical demand is $300. This can be blocked. Microsoft says their own free program, Windows Defender, offers enough protection for Windows 8 and Windows 10 users. Perhaps so. Research on the web found that Microsoft Defender caught 94.5 percent of threats. But the sample size was 1517 threats, which meant that 83 went through. It’s that extra 5.5 percent that gets ya. The answer, says […]

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Filed under: anti-virus, Google, Mac, security, TV, virus | Comments Off on THE WEB AND ITS DISCONTENTS

This week’s topics: Easy backup in Windows 10, preventing hackers, new Epson printer. “Internuts” include a bedtime story site, photo collage site, gaming site and anti-politics site.

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Filed under: anti-virus, graphics, Internuts, kids, photos, printer, security, virus, Windows | 2 Comments »

A reader wrote to tell us his young daughter got separated from him and his wife during Mardi Gras. Instead of it being a desperate situation, she called and told him where she was. “I found her in short order,” He says. His daughter uses an old LG flip phone with $10 a month service from Kajeet.com. This made us think of other ways out of tough situations. Since she had an old-fashioned flip phone, it lacked apps, including the Uber app for calling a cab. With services like Uber and Lyft, no cash is required because a credit card is linked to your account and charged automatically. So if you have no money — say you’ve been robbed or […]

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Filed under: anti-virus, apps, cheap calls, phones | Comments Off on CHEAP PHONES STILL WORK

A reader was recently scammed by someone pretending to be an AT&T technician. Here’s how he got there:

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Filed under: anti-virus, security, virus | Comments Off on AT&T PRETENDERS

How’s this for a kick in the gluteus maximus? You pay for anti-virus software but it doesn’t get rid of the virus, so they offer to remove it but want to charge you several hundred dollars. According  to hundreds of complaints on a website launched by Consumer Affairs, the worst offenders are  Norton, McAfee and CleanMyPC. A Norton user, to take just one example, found he couldn’t install the Norton program; his computer froze. Norton tech support told him if he paid $155, they could get it installed. Another Norton customer was told it would cost her $300 to remove a virus. Another guy said his computer ran slowly for two years until he discovered that Norton was a resource […]

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Filed under: anti-virus, spyware, virus | Comments Off on CONSUMERS BEWARE

According to a 2015 Mobile Payment Security Study of 900 security professionals, half say mobile payments such as Apple Pay are not safe. Nevertheless, nearly all expect paying by phone to become a lot more common in the next 12 months.

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Filed under: anti-virus, Apple, security, spyware, virus, wearables | Comments Off on THE RISKS OF APPLE PAY

A reader writes that he’s been using Norton Security on his desktop computer for years, and it works fine. Now it’s up for renewal. Should he pay the $38 or get the free Avast?

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Filed under: anti-virus, security, virus | Comments Off on SWITCHING ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAMS