It is Halloween time again and all kinds of ghosts, goblins, ghouls, vampires, zombies, and sexy Ebola nurses are on the loose. Don’t let these tricksters affect your computer. Here are several ways computers take part in the Halloween reveries.
- Ghosts – Everyone has seen it … things just happen… “I didn’t touch anything and all the data in my Excel is gone.”
Zombies – Clicking on that “Check this out” Facebook (FB) link can turn your PC into a zombie. The fake link infects your computer and turns it into part of a zombie army. It has lost its mind and roams the interwebs attacking anything that its new master tells it to. Keep your patches and anti-malware up to date to defend against zombie attacks.- Trick or Treat – The email from Aunt Sally says it has a video of a Kitty playing with a Ducky …. Does Aunt Sally call you for help opening an attachment? Does she still use AOL? Do you open the link? Is it a treat and Kitty is really playing with the Ducky? Or is it a trick and you just installed a virus? Only your anti-virus software knows for sure, update it now.
Costumes – Every trick or treater knows masks are part of Halloween. Put a mask on your data as it travels across the Intertubes with encryption. With encryption, you put a mask on your data when you leave home and take the mask off when you get to your friend’s house.- Vampires – You turn your computer off when you’re done with it right? Do you turn off your monitor? Your printer? Your cable box? If not you are the victim of power vampires. Power vampires suck electricity from your walls even after you turned off the PC.
You have been warned. Happy Haunting.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
