Do I really have two weeks to save my computer?

The latest news from Creative-i-Design

The press has been full of dire warnings about zombie computers, hackers on a grand scale and multi-million pound risks, so it's worth reviewing the facts and talking about how best to be prepared.

What's the story?
An international police operation raided a group that was hacking on a huge scale, taking over their servers and stopping them in their tracks. That's the good news.

What were they doing?
In simple terms, they were infecting computers with a small program which ambled around your computer looking for and stealing financial information. If they couldn't find any, they'd then encrypt your files and demand a ransom to let you back in.

What's this two weeks business?
Police reckon that despite taking over their servers, another group will probably set up a similar operation and it'll take them around two weeks to do it.

So will I be at risk?
In theory, everyone who has access to the internet or emails is theoretically at risk, so it's important that you practice safe surfing.

What do I need to do?
There's a few things that you can do to protect yourself:

Make sure your computer is up to date.
Make sure your anti-virus is up to date.
Run an anti-malware program every month.
Be cautious about emails with links - if you're not expecting it (even if it's from someone you know), check with the sender.
Be cautious about emails with attachments that you're not expecting, even from someone you know. Always save the attachment to your desktop, right click on it and select "scan".

If you're worried, go to CERT, the UK National Computer Emergency Response Team's website and follow the link to their latest alerts - it has details of programs which scan just for this particular nasty. I recommend Trend, which is on the list, but there are others.

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