Has Your Data Been Stolen?

With the recent news that over 500 million Yahoo accounts being breached, it's only the latest of many large breaches this year. Some of the others were U.S. Department of Justice, with over 30.000 employees information being leaked; Internal Revenue Service with over 700,000 tax payers information being stolen; Premier Healthcare with over 200,000 patients information being stolen; Major E-Mail providers Hotmail, Gmail and others with more than 270 million e-mail addresses and passwords being stolen; LinkedIn with 117 million e-mail and passwords being stolen; Dropbox with 68 million usernames and passwords being stolen.

Why is this important to you? What can people do with that information? Well, how many of you use the same password for most of the website you log into, like your bank or your credit card sites, or the shopping sites you visit? If someone had access to that, they'd have access a lot of your money. How many of you keep emails that contain login information for various sites? If someone had access to your email, they'd have access to all of that information. If someone had access to your email accounts, they could send email to your contacts that contained links to malware.

How can you tell if your information has been taken in any of these breaches? Visit haveibeenpwned.com and enter the email addresses and usernames you use. If any of them are included in a website breach, it'll let you know and show you which sites. You should then go to that website and change your password. If you've used that same password on other sites, you should also go to those sites and change the password there as well.

Have you heard of two-factor authentication (2FA)? Two-factor authentication helps prevent unauthorized access to your email, financial or other accounts by sending a code to your phone that you enter after you enter your login information on a website. By enabling 2FA when available, it prevents access to your account by anyone who might have stolen your login information. You can go to twofactorauth.org for a partial list of sites that offer 2FA. I'd recommend it for your bank sites and credit card sites.

Have You Received a Virus Warning While on the Internet?

I've been hearing from a number of people that while on the internet they get a screen come up stating that they have thousands of viruses or that the FBI is tracking them or....AND to call 888-888-8888 or download software from a link in order to scan and clean the malware.

These are called Scareware and it is a form of malware designed to scare and trick users into downloading useless or harmful programs on their computers. Worse yet, scareware may prompt users to call a number where a “technician” remotes into the computer and “fixes” the problems. The "technicians" end up charging large amounts of money to do so. What gets installed usually is worse than the symptoms. They usually end up installing software that really is malware and will cause real problems with your computer.

The problem is that when you get one of these screens, there's no way to close them. You can't click on the red X to close it, you can't shut it down any normal way. DO NOT call the number on the screen and DO NOT click on the download button. So, what do you do?

Press Ctrl-Alt-Del
Click on Task Manager
Click on the Processes Tab
Click on your internet browser process
Click on End Process or End Task in Windows 10

You may have to do this once or twice but eventually it will close your browser and that scareware window. You should be able to safely open your browser up again and do what you were doing. If you start receiving popup windows then chances are you've had malware installed and you should scan your computer with your antivirus software.

Fun Things to do With Google Search

Type Solitaire in Google's search box and right at the top you'll see the option to play

Type Tic-Tac-Toe in Google's search box and you'll be given the option to play Tic-Tac-Toe

As for animal sounds, just enter what sound does a "pig", "cow" etc. make and you'll be presented with animal sounds.

Everything coming to Netflix in October

Click the following to see the list: Coming to Netflix

If you use Amazon Prime video or iTunes as well as Netflix, I found these web pages that will allow you to search for what you want to view and the results will show you which streaming media offers the show/movie for free and which ones will make you pay for it.

GoWatchIt - GoWatchIt is your comprehensive guide to finding movies and TV shows on the platforms you care about – in theaters, online, on TV, or on Blu-ray/DVD. Use GoWatchIt to discover, consume, or bookmark everything you want to watch!

JustWatch - On JustWatch you can easily find out where to watch your favorite movies & TV shows in the United States. Choose your favorite streaming providers and see what’s new.
Filter by genre and release year to find the perfect movie to stream Search for a specific movie or TV show to find out where to watch it legally online. Available also as an app for your phone.

AskBillFirst Remote Computer Service

"Hi Bill, my computer is running beautifully again!!! Thank you!!!"
"Hi Bill, my computer is working just great."
"Thanks again!! You're the best!!!"

Those are just a few of the comments I've received from people I've worked with.

When your computer is running slow, or your programs aren't working, who are you going to call? When your software vendor is blaming your hardware and your hardware vendor is blaming your software, who are you going to call? When your helpful friend decides to help you out by running some new special program and your computer no longer starts, who are you going to call? When your kids get done using your computer and you can't run your programs because of all of the popup ads, who are you going to call? Need help in getting your new technology set up properly so that you are safe from vendors who want to get to know you better, and from other bad elements on the internet?

You're going to want to call me. I can remotely connect to your computer to assist you with what may be going on with your system so don't hesitate to ask if you need to. It won't always be free support, but I promise that I won't charge anything if I can't help you. I can assist with both Windows and Macintosh computers.

I also offer a monthly service for a small fee, where I connect to your computer remotely, with your permission, and run Windows updates, security scans, and clean up your hard disk. This ensures that you're running with the most recent "safe" updates and your computer is working at its best.

This service also entitles you to unlimited email and phone support throughout the month as well.

Please email me at billj@askbillfirst.com or call me at 714-922-0135 if you have any questions.

You can also click here or the link below to schedule a consultation with me or to set up the monthly service.

https://www.vcita.com/v/bill.jimenez

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This issue is kind of technical in nature...I know, duh.

If you have any questions or need help with any of this, please contact me.

If you find this information worth sharing, please do. Forward it on, or encourage your friends and family members to sign up to recieve their own newsltetter.

Additionally, I am available for technical support. I can remotely connect to your computer to assist you with what may be going on with your system so don't hesitate to ask if you need to. It won't always be free support, but I promise that I won't charge anything if I can't help you.

Please email me at billj@askbillfirst.com or call me at 714-757-0976 if you have any questions.

You can also click here or the link below to schedule a consultation with me or to set up the monthly service.

https://www.vcita.com/v/bill.jimenez

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