We fix this in our First Aid!

A few variations exist, including identifying as  the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and  as having associated with child pornography sites or other illegal online activity.  The  things they all have in common is convincing government seals, scare tactics like recording your IP address and capturing video from your webcam (visible on your screen), and a GreenDot Moneypak payment link.  That’s where the scam comes in.  It states that a $200 fine must be paid to unlock and continue using your computer, attempting to extort money from the user.

This scam is confirmed by government officials,  “We’re getting inundated with complaints,” said Donna Gregory of the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). There are reports of people that have been tricked, and paid the “fine”. Code-named Reveton, Gregory of IC3 explains “Unlike other viruses, Reveton freezes your computer and stops it in its tracks. And the average user will not be able to easily remove the malware.”

The IC3 suggests the following if you become a victim of the Reveton virus:

• Do not pay any money or provide any personal information.
• Contact a computer professional to remove Reveton and Citadel from your computer.
• Be aware that even if you are able to unfreeze your computer on your own, the malware may still operate in the background. Certain types of malware have been known to capture personal information such as user names, passwords, and credit card numbers through embedded keystroke logging programs.
• File a complaint and look for updates about the Reveton virus on the IC3 website.[source]

Good advise dealing with any virus really.   Being computer professionals, you can give us a call at 1-510-786-7103 and we can handle everything for you. Otherwise continue down for the nitty gritty.

1. Now, Reveton sets up a proxy on your computer, so internet access is tricky.  Even if you happen to have access, you may be redirected along the way, so it may be risky to download from the infected computer.  You need to use another computer with internet access and download Malwarebytes Antimalware.  Also grab the manual updates.
2. Use a flash or external hard drive to transfer these files to the infected computer.
3. Start the infected computer into Safe Mode, and install Malwarebytes, and update using the manual updates.
4. Hope that it finds something!  This virus has so many different variations, and it is constantly evolving, but thankfully Malwarebytes is one of the best at keeping up, and seems to do good against most variants.  If it finds something, let Malwatebytes fix/clean it.

Remember, even if this gets rid of the FBI warning, you may still be infected, and your security and privacy may still be at risk!  Make sure you have a good, up-to-date antivirus program.  We recommend buying Eset Nod32, or Microsoft Security Essentials if you need a free option.  Also consider buying the pro version of Malwarebytes, which works nicely alongside traditional antivirus programs.

A. The short answer is that Windows 7 is awesome. It’s more secure, has vastly better driver (meaning hardware) support and runs better than XP (and needless to say Vista) on newer machines.

Q. Ok, I’m sold, but do I want 32- or 64-bit?

A. Probably 64-bit. The primary advantage here is that you can utilize more RAM (memory). 32-bit operating systems are limited to 3 gigabytes of RAM, but you may very well need more, especially going forward. The price for Windows is the same regardless, and most modern processors (central processing units) have full 64-bit support.

Q. That’s all well and good, but what’s with all these different versions?

A. There are 3 versions of Windows sold in the United States: Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.

• Ultimate is mostly for those who need to switch between languages on the fly, and is probably more than you need.
• Professional has more options for file encryption and better compatibility with programs that will only run on Windows XP. True to its name, this is the version for your businesses.
• For anyone who doesn’t need these extras, Home Premium is almost certainly the way to go, being the least expensive of the three.

Sam Miller is a technician and blogger-at-large for Authorized Computer Repair.

He’s our dedicated on-site technician so he’ll be the one you see when we come to your home or office.  Customers find him very patient, attentive, and thorough.  Dennis has excellent attention to detail which is very important when dealing with the many detail oriented functions we use our computers for.  I’ve noticed many computer technicians think they know-it-all and don’t listen to customers’ needs.  Dennis is just the opposite.  We take special care in selecting our techs and I think we hit a winner with Dennis.

Now that we have a dedicated on-site tech, we’re able to handle more on-site jobs with greater punctuality.  Before Dennis, I, Jonathan the Owner, had to handle all the on-site jobs myself!  Running a company and performing all the on-site work was difficult.  We’re very happy to have Dennis on board and I think our customer will agree.

Dying to meet him?  Call us and schedule an on-site visit and you’ll get that chance! 

–
Jonathan Santeramo
President/Lead Technician
jonathan@authorizedcomputers.com
www.authorizedcomputers.com
510-786-7103

Authorized Computer Repair
1700 Martin Luther King Way
Berkeley CA 94709

Were in the process of adding almost 3 times the amount of space we had before.  We have a totally new tech area, nice clean reception area, and easier access to our office from the front door.  And the best news is that we’re still in the same building.

Come check us out!

Our phones are back up.  Sorry for any inconvenience.  Our VOIP carrier suffered an extreme outage that affected all its customers all over the world.  We didn’t have phone service for about half the day but all seems to be well now.

We apologize for any inconvenience.