{"id":5453,"date":"2018-11-24T10:44:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T14:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/?p=5453"},"modified":"2019-05-25T12:19:21","modified_gmt":"2019-05-25T16:19:21","slug":"thanksgiving-thoughts-bluff-ransomware-win-1809-mojave-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/thanksgiving-thoughts-bluff-ransomware-win-1809-mojave-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS – Bluff Ransomware, Win 1809, Mojave and more!"},"content":{"rendered":"
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL – and what *I* have to be thankful for!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is wishing all my customers and readers a most Happy Thanksgiving!
\nIts been a tough year – recovering from the Mt Vernon Fire that destroyed my store last Christmas Day!
\nRight after the fire, I was horribly depressed.\u00a0 Thought – ‘how can I go on’ and the like.\u00a0 It was pretty rough at first!
\nBut – the outpouring of support I got from you all was wonderful.\u00a0 And uplifting.
\nFortunately – nothing important was destroyed.\u00a0 By which I mean, my wonderful co workers Alex and Danko were fine, and
\nno one was hurt in the fire!
\nYes, I lost a lot of STUFF.\u00a0 About $400000 worth.\u00a0 and no, I didnt have insurance.\u00a0 My homeowners paid a fraction of it for personal losses, and I have to<\/p><\/div>\n

appreciate that.\u00a0 But – all the THINGS I lost were only after all things.\u00a0 My mineral collection that I spent 50 years collecting was lost.\u00a0 But my wife was always<\/div>\n
worried ‘what if you get hit by a bus? what would happen to them’ and I had been considering trying to sell off parts of it just because – it was time for someone else to enjoy them!
\nMy customer computers – I’ve replaced things where possible and done the best I can where it was not.\u00a0 And many of you who had a laptop in the shop told me ‘they didnt like it anyway and not to worry about it’ – truly heartwarming.<\/div>\n
And various other computer stores really helped out too.\u00a0 When I needed parts – they cut us breaks due to the disaster.\u00a0 MOST appreciated I can tell you!<\/div>\n
Oh – and for a few years my wife Kim had been whaling on me to ‘downsize’ said I had ‘too much stuff’ – well – enuff said. I downsized!
\nWhat REALLY got me about the fire though – was all the customers who called up and said ‘I was thinking of buying THIS’ or ‘I was going to get THAT’ – and I would almost cry out ‘well WHY DIDNT YOU??\u00a0 At least you would have that item – but now its all destroyed!<\/p>\n

Our new shop (TopTech at 8332 Richmond Highway) is up and going nicely.\u00a0 and we have been joined by Mohamed of Or-Logic.<\/p><\/div>\n

For a while Daryl of Mt Vernon computers was with us as well, but he has decided he wants to go back to his independent ways – and I for one will miss him.<\/div>\n
But no recriminations – it just didn’t really work out.\u00a0 Anyone wishing to reach Daryl is welcome to call him directly on his cell – 7036354265
\nWe have quite a few local repair shops bringing us things to fix and our abilities to fix ANY computer ANY problem are only getting stronger!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
All in all – I have a loving wife, great customers, great coworkers, dealer friends, and even reasonable health (I’ve lost about 60lbs over the last year or so!).
\nMuch – much to be thankful for.\u00a0 And I am.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
BLUFF RANSOMWARE EMAILS! BE WARNED – BUT NOT TOO CONCERNED!\u00a0<\/strong>NO NEED TO PAY THEM!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many customers (and myself as well) have been receiving threatening\u00a0emails claiming access to your system, planting viruses, got proof you\u00a0are into child pornography and the like.<\/p>\n

–EXAMPLE–<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi\u200c<\/p>\n

So\u200c I a\u200cm the\u200c ha\u200ccke\u200cr who\u200c cra\u200ccke\u200cd yo\u200cu\u200cr e\u200c-ma\u200ci\u200cl a\u200cnd de\u200cvi\u200cce\u200c\u00a0a\u200c se\u200cve\u200cra\u200cl mo\u200cnths ba\u200cck.<\/p>\n

Yo\u200cu\u200c type\u200cd i\u200cn yo\u200cu\u200cr pa\u200csswo\u200crd o\u200cn o\u200cne\u200c o\u200cf the\u200c we\u200cb pa\u200cge\u200cs yo\u200cu\u200c\u00a0vi\u200csi\u200cte\u200cd, a\u200cnd I i\u200cnte\u200crce\u200cpte\u200cd thi\u200cs.
\nHe\u200cre\u200c i\u200cs yo\u200cu\u200cr pa\u200csswo\u200crd fro\u200cm **YOURACTUALEMAILADDRESS** o\u200cn ti\u200cme\u200c\u00a0o\u200cf ha\u200cck: **YOURACTUALPASSWORD**
\nOf co\u200cu\u200crse\u200c yo\u200cu\u200c ca\u200cn wi\u200cll cha\u200cnge\u200c i\u200ct, o\u200cr e\u200cve\u200cn a\u200clre\u200ca\u200cdy\u00a0cha\u200cnge\u200cd i\u200ct.
\nHo\u200cwe\u200cve\u200cr thi\u200cs do\u200ce\u200csn’t me\u200ca\u200cn mu\u200cch, my ma\u200cli\u200cci\u200co\u200cu\u200cs so\u200cftwa\u200cre\u200c\u00a0mo\u200cdi\u200cfi\u200ce\u200cd i\u200ct e\u200ca\u200cch a\u200cnd e\u200cve\u200cry ti\u200cme\u200c.
\nDo\u200c no\u200ct try to\u200c ge\u200ct i\u200cn to\u200cu\u200cch wi\u200cth me\u200c o\u200cr e\u200cve\u200cn fi\u200cnd me\u200c, i\u200ct\u00a0i\u200cs i\u200cmpo\u200cssi\u200cble\u200c, si\u200cnce\u200c I se\u200cnt yo\u200cu\u200c e\u200cma\u200ci\u200cl fro\u200cm yo\u200cu\u200cr\u00a0a\u200ccco\u200cu\u200cnt o\u200cnly.
\nBy me\u200ca\u200cns o\u200cf yo\u200cu\u200cr e\u200cma\u200ci\u200cl, I u\u200cplo\u200ca\u200cde\u200cd ma\u200cli\u200cci\u200co\u200cu\u200cs pro\u200cgra\u200cm\u00a0co\u200cde\u200c to\u200c yo\u200cu\u200cr Ope\u200cra\u200cti\u200co\u200cn Syste\u200cm.\u00a0I sa\u200cve\u200cd yo\u200cu\u200cr e\u200cnti\u200cre\u200c co\u200cnta\u200ccts a\u200clo\u200cng wi\u200cth bu\u200cddi\u200ce\u200cs,\u00a0co\u200clle\u200ca\u200cgu\u200ce\u200cs, lo\u200cve\u200cd o\u200cne\u200cs a\u200cnd a\u200clso\u200c a\u200c co\u200cmpre\u200che\u200cnsi\u200cve\u200c\u00a0hi\u200csto\u200cry o\u200cf vi\u200csi\u200cts to\u200c the\u200c Wo\u200crld-wi\u200cde\u200c-we\u200cb re\u200cso\u200cu\u200crce\u200cs.<\/p>\n

Fu\u200crthe\u200crmo\u200cre\u200c I i\u200cnsta\u200clle\u200cd a\u200c Vi\u200cru\u200cs o\u200cn yo\u200cu\u200cr syste\u200cm.\u00a0Yo\u200cu\u200c a\u200cre\u200cn’t my o\u200cnly vi\u200ccti\u200cm, I typi\u200cca\u200clly lo\u200cck pcs a\u200cnd a\u200csk fo\u200cr\u00a0the\u200c ra\u200cnso\u200cm.
\nNo\u200cne\u200cthe\u200cle\u200css I e\u200cnde\u200cd u\u200cp be\u200ci\u200cng stru\u200cck by the\u200c si\u200cte\u200cs o\u200cf\u00a0clo\u200cse\u200c ma\u200cte\u200cri\u200ca\u200cl tha\u200ct yo\u200cu\u200c no\u200crma\u200clly pa\u200cy a\u200c vi\u200csi\u200ct to\u200c.\u00a0I a\u200cm i\u200cn i\u200cmpa\u200cct o\u200cf yo\u200cu\u200cr o\u200cwn fa\u200cnta\u200csi\u200ce\u200cs! I ha\u200cve\u200c ne\u200cve\u200cr\u00a0e\u200cve\u200cr o\u200cbse\u200crve\u200cd a\u200cnythi\u200cng a\u200ct a\u200cll li\u200cke\u200c thi\u200cs!\u00a0So\u200c, whe\u200cn yo\u200cu\u200c ha\u200cd fu\u200cn o\u200cn pi\u200cqu\u200ca\u200cnt we\u200cb-si\u200cte\u200cs (yo\u200cu\u200c kno\u200cw\u00a0wha\u200ct I a\u200cm ta\u200clki\u200cng a\u200cbo\u200cu\u200ct!) I ma\u200cde\u200c scre\u200ce\u200cnsho\u200ct wi\u200cth u\u200csi\u200cng my
\npro\u200cgra\u200cm fro\u200cm yo\u200cu\u200cr ca\u200cme\u200cra\u200c o\u200cf yo\u200cu\u200crs syste\u200cm.\u00a0Afte\u200cr tha\u200ct, I co\u200cmbi\u200cne\u200cd the\u200cm to\u200c the\u200c co\u200cnte\u200cnt o\u200cf the\u200c\u00a0cu\u200crre\u200cntly vi\u200ce\u200cwe\u200cd si\u200cte\u200c.\u00a0No\u200cw the\u200cre\u200c i\u200cs go\u200ci\u200cng to\u200c be\u200c fu\u200cn whe\u200cn I se\u200cnd the\u200cse\u200c i\u200cma\u200cge\u200cs\u00a0to\u200c yo\u200cu\u200cr co\u200cnne\u200ccti\u200co\u200cns!\u00a0Altho\u200cu\u200cgh I a\u200cm su\u200cre\u200c yo\u200cu\u200c do\u200c no\u200ct ne\u200ce\u200cd tha\u200ct.\u00a0He\u200cnce\u200c, I e\u200cxpe\u200cct to\u200c ha\u200cve\u200c pa\u200cyme\u200cnt fro\u200cm yo\u200cu\u200c fo\u200cr my qu\u200ci\u200ce\u200ct.
\nI fe\u200ce\u200cl $900 i\u200cs a\u200cn a\u200cde\u200cqu\u200ca\u200cte\u200c co\u200cst re\u200cga\u200crdi\u200cng i\u200ct!\u00a0Pa\u200cy wi\u200cth Bi\u200ctco\u200ci\u200cns.<\/p>\n

My Bi\u200ctco\u200ci\u200cn wa\u200clle\u200ct a\u200cddre\u200css i\u200cs 12m9psxbsR19YFNCyRtb8NcvMSLMDkMWK3\u00a0If yo\u200cu\u200c do\u200c no\u200ct re\u200ca\u200clly kno\u200cw ho\u200cw to\u200c do\u200c thi\u200cs – e\u200cnte\u200cr i\u200cnto\u200c
\nGo\u200co\u200cgle\u200c ‘ho\u200cw to\u200c tra\u200cnsfe\u200cr mo\u200cne\u200cy to\u200c a\u200c bi\u200ctco\u200ci\u200cn wa\u200clle\u200ct’. It\u00a0i\u200cs e\u200ca\u200csy.\u00a0Ri\u200cght a\u200cfte\u200cr ge\u200ctti\u200cng the\u200c spe\u200cci\u200cfi\u200ce\u200cd a\u200cmo\u200cu\u200cnt, a\u200cll yo\u200cu\u200cr\u00a0da\u200cta\u200c wi\u200cll be\u200c pro\u200cmptly de\u200cstro\u200cye\u200cd a\u200cu\u200cto\u200cma\u200cti\u200cca\u200clly. My\u00a0co\u200cmpu\u200cte\u200cr vi\u200cru\u200cs wi\u200cll a\u200cddi\u200cti\u200co\u200cna\u200clly re\u200cmo\u200cve\u200c i\u200ctse\u200clf thro\u200cu\u200cgh\u00a0yo\u200cu\u200cr o\u200cs.\u00a0My Vi\u200cru\u200cs po\u200csse\u200css a\u200cu\u200cto\u200c a\u200cle\u200crt, so\u200c I kno\u200cw whe\u200cn thi\u200cs\u00a0pa\u200crti\u200ccu\u200cla\u200cr ma\u200ci\u200cl i\u200cs re\u200ca\u200cd.\u00a0I gi\u200cve\u200c yo\u200cu\u200c two\u200c da\u200cys (48 ho\u200cu\u200crs) to\u200c ma\u200cke\u200c a\u200c pa\u200cyme\u200cnt.\u00a0If thi\u200cs do\u200ce\u200cs no\u200ct o\u200cccu\u200cr – e\u200cve\u200cry yo\u200cu\u200cr fri\u200ce\u200cnds wi\u200cll ge\u200ct nu\u200cts\u00a0sho\u200cts fro\u200cm yo\u200cu\u200cr da\u200crke\u200cr se\u200ccre\u200ct li\u200cfe\u200c a\u200cnd yo\u200cu\u200cr de\u200cvi\u200cce\u200c wi\u200cll\u00a0be\u200c blo\u200ccke\u200cd a\u200cs we\u200cll a\u200cfte\u200cr 48 ho\u200cu\u200crs.
\nDo\u200cn’t be\u200c si\u200clly!\u00a0Co\u200cps o\u200cr pa\u200cls wo\u200cn’t su\u200cppo\u200crt yo\u200cu\u200c fo\u200cr ce\u200crta\u200ci\u200cn …
\np.s I ca\u200cn pre\u200cse\u200cnt yo\u200cu\u200c wi\u200cth a\u200cdvi\u200cce\u200c wi\u200cth re\u200cga\u200crd to\u200c the\u200c\u00a0fu\u200ctu\u200cre\u200c. Do\u200cn’t ke\u200cy i\u200cn yo\u200cu\u200cr pa\u200csswo\u200crds o\u200cn u\u200cnsa\u200cfe\u200c we\u200cbsi\u200cte\u200cs.
\nI wi\u200csh fo\u200cr yo\u200cu\u200cr wi\u200csdo\u200cm.<\/p>\n

–END EXAMPLE–<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve seen (and received) dozens very much like this.\u00a0Now the customer who received this – panicked – and not unreasonably\u00a0because it DOES have the right email address AND a valid (maybe old) password!<\/p>\n

BUT BUT BUT – *** ITS ONLY A BLUFF ***<\/strong><\/p>\n

They have *NOT* accessed your computer. OR planted viruses. OR\u00a0downloaded anything (let alone proof of child pornography)!<\/p>\n

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE???<\/strong><\/p>\n

They have purchased off the Dark Web the list of emails and passwords –\u00a0from some recent BigSite data breach. Yahoo has lost 4 billion\u00a0accounts. Facebook. Gmail. Sears. Target. Bank of America. The\u00a0list goes on – and on – and on!<\/p>\n

Now they email everyone on the list with the above email (or something\u00a0like it). And they wait for their bitcoin wallet to get fatter. And make\u00a0the ka-ching (you have money) sound!\u00a0(I actually left their REAL bitcoin address there if you want to send
\nthem some $$$).<\/p>\n

THEY HAVE NEVER ACCESSED **YOUR** COMPUTER. Only Yahoo, Gmail etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SO – what do you need to do?
\nIf it IS your real email address and password – CHANGE it. They could\u00a0try to login to say your yahoo account. Most big providers will notice\u00a0that the login is from Romania, not Virginia and may ask them your\u00a0secret questions. (which they may well NOT have). And – worst case –\u00a0they could read some of your emails. That’s it. CHANGE your password,\u00a0and then make a note to CLOSE your account at Yahoo, Target, whatever.\u00a0After all you might not want to reward them with your business!}<\/p>\n

And you might want to contact them and complain that THEIR security\u00a0holes allowed your information to be stolen. There are various class
\naction lawsuits in the works over this kind of loss – and you may get a\u00a0few months free service as a reimbursement.<\/p>\n

Now what is the chance that they have ACTUALLY read your emails? Pretty\u00a0close to ZERO. Why? Because reading your emails does not get them any
\nBitcoin. THREATENING YOU WITH THE ‘proof’ THAT THEY CAN READ YOUR\u00a0EMAILS – MAY make their Bitcoin fatter. And they can do a blast email
\nto millions of potential victims all at once! Reading millions of folks\u00a0emails would be MOST time consuming – and likely VERY boring!<\/p>\n

SO – word to the wise. DON’T PANIC. Bring it by my shop if you want me\u00a0to check out your system after receiving this kind of threat (I’ve done
\nthis for about a dozen customers so far – so this is WIDESPREAD. But –\u00a0also so far – no trace of any infection on any of the customer\u00a0computers!)<\/p>\n

WINDOWS 1809 AMUSEMENTS<\/strong>
\nMicrosoft has started rolling 1809 out again as an update. This is the\u00a0one they aborted the release of a few months ago – because the upgrade
\ndeleted some customers Document Folders! It still should be avoided.\u00a0Reports are they have removed support from some older Intel HD graphics
\nfamilies – and obviously that would be a problem if you actually HAVE\u00a0one of those graphics chips! They hopefully will get things right soon,
\nbut for now RESIST! RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE here!<\/p>\n

MOJAVE?<\/strong>
\nNot ready to recommend the upgrade yet I have been experimenting with it\u00a0on 3 different macs. So far – looks good, but I will beat on it more!
\nBUT – NOTHING so far that is a killer feature that you all have been\u00a0dying for!
\nAND we have already had a casualty! One customer who did the mojave upgrade would up killing the GPU graphics processor chip!!<\/div>\n

DAMGER WILL ROGBINSON!<\/p>\n

ADOPTION CORNER
\nLots of nice systems on hand – I’m making up a page especially for\u00a0adoptions!<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Have a very nice 2015 15in retina 2.2ghz i7. 256gb. 16gb.
\nA SUPER NICE Touchbar 15in 2.9ghz i7 16gb 256gb SSD.
\nVarious 13in unibodies and 15in unibodies.
\nA VERY nice 7th generation Dell Latitude – thin, and FAST with SSD
\ndrive, 8gb ram.
\nASUS VERY nice 15in gamer!
\nNice 2013 Imac 21.5 inch i5 – the new thin screen model!
\nAlso have been building some Mac Pro (Cheesegrater Silver Desktop) boxes
\n– and I have been most impressed! I upgraded one I bought last spring
\nand have now a dual Hexcore (12 core) 3.45 Xeon cpu, 32gb of ram, USB 3,
\na good Radeon R9 4gb graphics card, and NICE 2TB SSD drives. This
\nsystem LOOKS like an old G5, but its a screamer!<\/p>\n

and others as well ALL with 6 month warranties!\u00a0Its getting near Christmas – tell me what you are looking for!<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL – and what *I* have to be thankful for! Here is wishing all my customers and readers a most Happy Thanksgiving! Its been a tough year – recovering from the Mt Vernon Fire that destroyed my store last Christmas Day! Right after the fire, I was horribly depressed.\u00a0 Thought – ‘how … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5454,"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453\/revisions\/5454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theeldestgeek.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}