[--gKrish--]

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/w.../1/953338.html

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/a.../1/954284.html

Vulnerable ATMs shutdown. India is also among affected countries. Even the tumbledown panchayath offices' PCs in Kerala were affected. I request fellow bhpians to share your experience if any and how you/your company is dealing with it.

[GTO]

Surprised that people still don't follow best practices on their PCs . The dos & dont's have been the same for years.

1. Don't click on links / download files from suspicious emails.

2. Keep your Windows OS updated (Microsoft had a patch for WannaCry way back in March!!!).

3. Have a good anti-virus system.

Those who followed points 1 & 2 aren't affected by WannaCry.

By the way, last night, Hathway Internet + MTNL internet + Tata Sky were all down in my area, and the cellular network was weak too (no data). This was the first time I've ever seen all of them go down together. Was this some sort of maintenance / downtime due to WannaCry?

[Vishal.R]

Originally Posted by GTO

Surprised that people still don't follow best practices on their PCs . The dos & dont's have been the same for years.

1. Don't click on links / download files from suspicious emails.

2. Keep your Windows OS updated (Microsoft had a patch for WannaCry way back in March!!!).

3. Have a good anti-virus system.

Those who followed points 1 & 2 aren't affected by WannaCry.

Adding one more very basic practice,

Either use genuine Microsoft licensed Windows or use Ubuntu or any other desktop Linux version available, but DO NOT use pirated windows.

[Samurai]

For years, my father-in-law used to have problems with laptop with Windows XP. He would click yes on any request dialog. Any visiting relative would use his computer and there was no control over what they did. Virus and malware were having a field day/month/year.

One day I just took the laptop to work and put Ubuntu LTS on it. And I kept the root password, enabled auto login on his account. So the machine is available to anybody to use, but nobody can do any hanky panky. And on my home Windows PC, only I have admin privilege, wife and son don't.

It doesn't take much effort to keep the PC safe if the administrator of the PC follows the safety tip mentioned by GTO. But most don't bother or are aware.

[Kestrel5915]

Originally Posted by Samurai

.One day I just took the laptop to work and put Ubuntu LTS on it. And I kept the root password, enabled auto login on his account. So the machine is available to anybody to use, but nobody can do any hanky panky. And on my home Windows PC, only I have admin privilege, wife and son don't.

I did the same with my parents PC, installed Linux Mint and kept the root password with me.
With good GUI they find it easy to use and similar to Windows.

[PetrolRider]

+1 to GTO and others.

One more thing to add, keep regular back up of your most critical data, which is hardly goes up to couple of GB and can be managed into a humble pen drive.

If you have unused external drive with enough space, it is advised to keep a image of your entire system.

Any ransomware would built on logic to block your access to your system/data. If you have your data backed up elsewhere, the worst you might have to do is clean format your system.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Samurai

For years, my father-in-law used to have problems with laptop with Windows XP. He would click yes on any request dialog. Any visiting relative would use his computer and there was no control over what they did. Virus and malware were having a field day/month/year.

Sounds like my sister's computer. I once ran an anti-virus scan on it and the number of viruses were in the hundreds!

My Mom loves her iPad and finds it incredibly simple to use. I think it's the best device for senior citizens.

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

One more thing to add, keep regular back up of your most critical data, which is hardly goes up to couple of GB and can be managed into a humble pen drive.

Totally agreed. Storage is so cheap today (cloud + hard-drives) that there's no reason to not have a backup of your data. For the average user, 25 GB of free space on Google Drive should be more than enough.

[girimajiananth]

One more practise I follow. Disable auto run on USB drives and CD drives. As soon you insert a pendrive, windows will prompt you to select options like open the folder, play media etc, this might allow any malware / virus files to execute itself and affect your PC. I generally discourage anyone to plug in their pendrives on my laptop. Small file attachments can be mailed.

[justwheels]

Originally Posted by Vishal.R

Adding one more very basic practice,



Either use genuine Microsoft licensed Windows or use Ubuntu or any other desktop Linux version available, but DO NOT use pirated windows.

A basic practice that many educated people also don't follow, just to save a few bucks. I am appalled to see the number of people wanting to use pirated copies of windows. Situation is slightly better since we started getting bundled windows on laptops, but at the first opportunity, people will love to get something for free.

Just hope that such attacks make data security and original software a practice and not a compulsion.

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

One more practise I follow. Disable auto run on USB drives and CD drives. As soon you insert a pendrive, windows will prompt you to select options like open the folder, play media etc, this might allow any malware / virus files to execute itself and affect your PC. I generally discourage anyone to plug in their pendrives on my laptop. Small file attachments can be mailed.

All standard antivirus do check the usb / external drive mount point on loading. So if your antivirus is updated, you should not be that worried.
Only thing you will get appalling number of alerts and might asked to delete few files on the pen drive that your friends may not like .

Originally Posted by justwheels

A basic practice that many educated people also don't follow, just to save a few bucks. I am appalled to see the number of people wanting to use pirated copies of windows. Situation is slightly better since we started getting bundled windows on laptops, but at the first opportunity, people will love to get something for free.

Just hope that such attacks make data security and original software a practice and not a compulsion.

Can not agree more to this. Always being laughed at whenever I mentioned my systems are on paid and purchased version of anti virus and MS Office is also paid.
Anyway i compare them with people laughing at wearing seat belt.

[pcpranav]

Not sure if many have read this, seems this is a right forum to talk automobiles and malwares !

https://auto.ndtv.com/news/honda-hal...&category=News

Btw, I also think we should positive contribute in the idle thread about "anti-virus software" which may assist the community at large.

Regards,