Advantage Computing

Helping People with IT

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    • REMOTE SUPPORT

    Hacked?

    Have you been hacked?

    The Basics

      1. If your screen is flashing and making noise or talking to you – Do Not Panic! 
        * Turn your computer completely off by holding the power button down until the computer is off. 
        * Reboot and see if the warning has disappeared. 
        (You may need to clear your browser as these are just webpages that try to trick/scare you into calling the number on the screen.) 
        Whatever you do, do not call a number on your screen that you didn’t request or look for.
      2. Have you given someone access to your computer? 
        If you do not know them or if you are unsure who they are – turn off the computer immediately to disconnect their access.  Never give account information, credit card information or other sensitive data to someone over the phone or on your computer. 
      3. Is your computer acting odd, programs launching, data missing that you cannot explain?  Did you recently give access to your computer or install software you were not confident was safe? 
        Find a local IT support and have them check your system for viruses or other malicious software.  Be prepared to rebuild the computer as it is the only way to guarantee that a system is free from viruses or malware.

    Advanced

      1. If you or your staff has fallen for a Malicious Email 
        * Contact your IT Team
        * Have them disable the Account Login with affect Email Provider IMMEDIATELY! 
        * Review the logs and determine what the hackers had access to and clean out any back door access or email rules put in place (leave all evidence for potential remediation).
        * Contact your Cyber Security Provider Immediately especially if you have any Security Policies as a business (i.e. HIPAA, FINRA, CMMC, etc.).
        * Provide Security Awareness Training to your team to avoid future breaches.
      2. Do you believe you have a Virus or Ransomware? 
        * If you believe a virus has infected your machines or network – disconnect the Internet IMMEDIATELY!
        * Contact your IT Team and engage them to find out what the software may be.
        * Backup all systems and servers for potential future forensics.
        * Contact your Cyber Security Insurance Provider for next steps and guidance.
        * Recover your systems from Backups and rebuild everything.

    Advantage Computing provides long term support for your systems, monitoring activity and making sure your Anti-Virus is up-to-date and protecting you from malicious activity.  We cannot stop you from giving access to 3rd parties, especially if you have administrative rights on your computer.  We want to reduce your risk for being hacked from the beginning.

    For individuals (this is the start of our list for business clients), we recommend you have implemented the following:

    • You must have a password on your computer (if it logs in when you turn it on, you do not have a password)
    • You should turn on your screensaver and check the option to “auto-lock” when the screensaver is turned on
    • You should have a 3rd party anti-virus installed and active subscription on your system
    • We highly recommend your user account be “standard” and that you have a secondary account for Administrative Rights
    • You should always update your system for all security updates (Major OS migration should be planned for, i.e. Windows 10  to Windows 11 or macOS major named versions)
    • You should have your files backed up to another drive or be using and maintaining a cloud backup, i.e. OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive, etc.

    Please note that we do not have a store front and we do not provide IT support to the general public.  If you’re interested in remediation due to a hack, we can onboard and give you an estimate on costs and timeline for recovering your computer.  Cost will be a minimum of 2 hours of labor or $250. 

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