Signs That Your Computer Is Being Spied, What To Do About It

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Hey Everyone!,

Signs That Your Computer Is 

Being Spied 

What To Do About It

Even if you’re not a CEO or government official, hackers may be out to steal your private information. Here are the signs that you might be under attack, and what to do about it.

What is spyware?

“Spyware is any piece of software that collects and transmits information without the user’s consent and with covert methods,” shares Steven Solomon, co-founder and CTO of Arcutek. It is used to gather information on a target, usually passwords, credit card, and financial information, system files, and, in extreme cases, keylogging and screen capture, he says.

Your computer starts running slower

If your computer suddenly starts taking forever to turn on or open up applications, that could be a symptom of malware infection, especially a worm or a Trojan horse, warns Sophie Miles, CEO and co-founder of elMejorTrato.com. “This happens because malicious software consumes too many CPU resources, which overloads your computer and causes it to run much slower than normal,” she says. However, computers can be slow for a host of other reasons, including lack of maintenance, full hard disk, overheating of the processor, and more, so it’s not a definitive sign that it has a bug

Your fans go into hyper speed

“One the simplest ways to tell if a machine or mobile device has spyware, crypto-mining malware, or other viruses that consume processing power is paying attention to the physical temperature and battery life of the machine,” says Bill Siegel, founder of Coveware. So if your phone suddenly needs to be charged three or four times a day, its fan is running more than half the time, and it is always hot in your pocket or handbag, this can be a sign that malware is running and burning a significantly higher amount of CPU power. 

You used a stranger’s USB drive

Just like you wouldn’t eat food you found sitting in a library or other public place, don’t pick up any old USB memory stick and put it into your computer, advises Mike Bradshaw from Connect Marketing. And, if other people have access to your computer, whether it’s co-workers or the person sitting next to you at a Starbucks, always check to see if any mysterious drives have been plugged in without your knowledge while you were away from your machine.

Your webcam randomly starts recording

If your webcam or microphone turns on by itself that could be a sign of an infection, says David Geer from Geer Communications. And spies aren’t only trying to see you in an uncompromising position, hackers will try to catch your various passwords as you type them in. 

Unknown sending and receiving

Another indicator that someone else is controlling your computer? “Blinking send and receive lights when your computer is idle is a warning sign,” says Jack Vonder Heide, president of Technology Briefing Centers, Inc.

Your apps act up

“A known approach to data collection is injecting attacker code to the target application,” says Lindsay Hull, Senior Strategist at Zer0 to 5ive. The result is an app may run slowly or crash frequently. 

You start seeing more pop-up ads

“If all of a sudden you have browser add-ins or plug-ins you don’t remember installing, your machine may be infected,” says Richard Ford, PhD, chief scientist at Force point. “Often, these add-ins help an attacker monetize their access to your machine. Similarly, if the web now seems full of pop-up advertisements, you may be infected.”

Your homepage changed

“If you open your web browser and are taken to an unfamiliar page instead of your normal homepage, or if you type a search term into your browser, and another browser pops up with a list of websites for your search term, this could be a sign of spyware,” says Stacy M. Clements of Milepost 42. “This is especially true if you realize your browser settings have been modified and you are unable to change the settings.”

Mysterious tools show up

“Other signs of potential spyware are files appearing on your computer, or toolbars and tray icons that you didn’t install suddenly showing up,” Clements says. You may also find that your antivirus software or some system tools on your computer are unresponsive or don’t work properly. 

Websites suddenly stop responding

“I’m not talking about one or two websites but multiple ones that aren’t related,” Trave Harmon, Triton Computer Corporation says. And if your co-workers or other people on your same network aren’t having any problems accessing these same sites, that’s even more of a red flag.

You get a warning

“If an anti-virus warning pops up, don’t ignore it,” says Adam Dean, security specialist at GreyCastle Security. And don’t presume it has removed the virus, either. “If you see a malware detection by anti-virus software, assume it’s letting you know you have an issue, not that it has deleted the virus,” he says.

You ignore updates

“Regularly updating your devices and its software helps ensure they are armed with critical patches that protect against bugs or flaws in their operating systems that cybercriminals can leverage,” says Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at McAfee. “Though it’s tempting to skip out on these updates or put it off for a few days or even a few weeks, taking a few minutes to download them means you aren’t recklessly leaving your devices open for hackers.” 

Prevention is the best defense

The best way to avoid infection is to have a solid, reputable antivirus/antimalware program installed in your computer, says Troy Wilkinson, CEO of Axiom Cyber Solutions. Fortunately, even advanced antivirus/anti malware solutions are not expensive. “These cost just a couple of dollars a month, so there really is no valid reason not to use one. But if you get infected, spyware can run hidden in the background, silently collecting your information and could cost you hundreds or thousands in the long run.”

What Else To Fix It

“Malicious software removal, including spyware, is part science and part art; it’s always tedious and never reliable,” says Greg Scott, cyber security expert and author. 

One popular fix is to run a Windows System Restore to revert your system back to a date just prior to when you started noticing the virus symptoms. “Unfortunately, some sophisticated spyware also corrupts the restore points, so this is not a universal fix,” Scott says.

Another popular fix is downloading, installing, and running a second antivirus package, like Malwarebytes, which is free to download and offers a manual scan. “Unfortunately, since the system is already compromised, it may not be possible to download and install yet another software package. And if this is a new spyware attack, antivirus solutions may not find it because its signature is unknown,” Scott explains. “Instead, it’s often more effective to make backup copies of all documents, scan those to make sure they’re clean, then wipe and rebuild the problem system.” 

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Abbreviations

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Hey Everyone!,

    What Do These Abbreviations 

    Mean And What is there Origin 

                                    

               

We use these abbreviations all the time without realizing what they mean (and that some of them actually don't even make sense).

No.

When it comes to confusing abbreviations, our No. 1 question is: Why is “No.” the abbreviation for “number,” since there’s no “O” in the word? Well, there may not be an “O” in “number,” but there is one in the Latin word numero, which is where the English word comes from. The “No.” abbreviation actually comes from a symbol meaning “number” (also derived from numero) that depicted a capital N with a miniature O, often as a superscript (Nº). Over time, the signal morphed into a regular N and O.

Lb

How did the letters “L” and “B” get to be the abbreviation for “pound,” a word that contains neither of those letters? It has to do with the origins of the word. The English word “pound” originates from Latin, specifically from an ancient Roman unit of measurement called a Libra pondo, meaning “a pound by weight.” “Pondo” became the English word “pound,” while the “Libra” provided the origin for the “lb” abbreviation. This is also the reason that the abbreviation for the British currency, pound, resembles an L.

Oz

The abbreviation “oz” for “ounces” may make a bit more sense than “Lb” for “pound,” but it’s still a little perplexing. Where does the “Z” come from? Well, the word “ounces,” just like its big cousin “pounds,” originates from a Latin word. The Roman empire called an ounce uncia. As uncia evolved through the other Romance languages, it became unce in Anglo-French, leading to the English ounce. In Medieval Italian, the word was onza, which is where the “Z” in the abbreviation comes from.

A.M. and P.M.

Here’s another prime example of American abbreviations that are Latin in origin. Most people use “A.M.” and “P.M.” every day to refer to different times, without any idea what they stand for—and understandably so. A.M. stands for ante meridiem, or “before noon,” while P.M. stands for post meridiem, meaning (you guessed it) “after noon.” “Post,” meaning “after,” is a very familiar Latin loanword that we use all the time; we just may not realize that it’s the “P” in P.M., too.

PIN

When an ATM asks for your PIN, you know that this means the machine needs a four (or more)-digit number to identify your account. But do you know what “PIN” actually means? The three letters stand for “personal identification number.” We have a Scottish engineer named James Goodfellow to thank for this technological innovation; Goodfellow received a patent for an automatic cash machine, with a PIN pad, in 1966. So now you know that if you talk about your “PIN number,” you’re saying “personal identification number number.” The “PIN” abbreviation already has the word “number” embedded in it. (Bonus abbreviation: ATM stands for “automated teller machine.”) Here are some more phrases you’re using that are actually redundant.

CC

We see this handy little pair of letters whenever we send an email and know that it’s a super-simple way to send a message to someone who isn’t the primary recipient. But how many of us know exactly what it means? Well, it’s short for “carbon copy” and references the technique of printing an identical copy of a typewritten document onto carbon paper, dating back to the late 19th century. According to Merriam-Webster, the use of “CC” as a verb, meaning to add a recipient to an email, began in 1983. “BCC” stands for “blind carbon copy”; if you BCC a message, it means that you can send it to someone else without the primary recipient seeing.

USB

USB ports help us charge our phones, share computer screens, and access our files on any computer thanks to flash drives. We might take the USB technology for granted, including the fact that the abbreviation stands for “Universal Serial Bus.” If you’re wondering what buses could possibly have to do with computer gadgets, it’s not that kind of bus. In computer-speak, a bus is a set of conductors that creates a transmission path. The company Intel produced the first integrated circuits that could support USB technology in 1995.

Et al.

This abbreviation, most often used to list a group of people without naming every single name, comes from the Latin phrase et alia. The phrase means “and others,” which explains why it’s used in scholarly articles to represent the other authors of a work besides the primary one. The Latin word alia is actually where our word for a false name, “alias,” comes from. This abbreviation is a little tricky punctuation-wise, because the “et” in et al. is not actually an abbreviation. Only the “al” needs a period after it. Here are some more punctuation mistakes even smart people make.

CV

During your most recent job search, you may have come across this term, which basically means a slightly fancier, more in-depth resume. Sure enough, the letters “CV” come from Latin; they’re short for curriculum vitae. This phrase translates to “course of life.” Now that’s one way to think of a resume—it certainly makes it sound less commonplace! The use of this phrase with reference to job applicants first appeared in the early 1900s, according to Merriam-Webster.

MO

If you’ve ever described someone’s mannerisms or habits by saying, “That’s just his MO!” without knowing what the M and the O stand for, you’re not alone. It comes from the Latin modus operandi, meaning “method of operating,” and was originally used to describe the behavior of criminals (and sometimes still is). 

SIM

If you have a cell phone, it most likely uses a SIM card that allows you to connect to the network. But these cards also carry unique information about each cell user, which is why SIM stands for “Subscriber Identity Module.” Since the SIM card holds specific information about the user, it provides a way for the network to distinguish individual subscribers. The first SIM card appeared with the debut of GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) technology in 1991.

Mrs.

This is another confusing abbreviation with a stray letter that doesn’t seem to belong there. Where does that “R” come from? And…what exactly is “Mrs.” short for anyway? While today we pronounce it as “missus,” it originally stood for mistress. This word, dating all the way back to Middle English, was the female counterpart to “master” and simply referred to the primary woman in a household, or a female caretaker. As the connotations of the word “mistress” evolved into the late 18th century to be…less positive, “missus” became the primary word for the woman of a household instead, though the abbreviation with the R remained.

Stat

When you spill something and yell, “I need some paper towels, stat!”, you’re speaking Latin, and you may not even realize it! “Stat” is short for statim, the Latin word for “immediately.” 

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Know The Inside Secrets of Flying By Air Which The Airlines Will Never Tell Us

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Hey Everyone!,

      Know The Inside Secrets 

Of

Flying By Air 

Which The

Airlines Will Never Tell Us

These days, air travel is very common,but some mysteries persist 35,000 feet in the air. Airlines don’t want you to know certain things about flying,but  these secrets can help you be an informed passenger. 

What a safety demo doesn’t say

We dim cabin lights at night so your eyes are adjusted to the dark if you need to find a way out. We put up tray tables at takeoff and landing so passengers next to you can escape if needed. And you should open your window shade, so if there’s a crash, firefighters can see inside.

We’re extremely stingy about fuel

It’s expensive to carry because it’s heavy, so keeping levels low saves us a lot of money. But it also means if there’s rough weather or an unexpected delay, we’re more likely to make an emergency landing because we’re running out of gas. 

If your flight is overbooked

don’t accept the first $200 voucher we offer. We typically keep increasing the offer until we have enough volunteers willing to give up their seats. If we don’t get enough volunteers and have to bump you involuntarily, insist on cash compensation instead (many airlines will write you a check at the airport). Department of Transportation rules say you’re entitled to as much as $1,300 in cash, depending on your ticket price and how long you are delayed.

Booking a group trip?

If you book four tickets for a trip online,search for only one ticket at a time, Why?Because if we have only 3 at the lowest Fare,all four are bumped to a higher price bracket.

Lost your luggage?

Don’t delay reporting it, even if the lines to do so are long. Most of us require you to file a report within a very short time period. If you miss the deadline, your claim may be denied. 

Our pilots can’t eat together

Some airlines don’t allow two pilots flying together to eat food from the same source within an hour of each other. Either they have to eat at different restaurants, or one waits at least an hour to make sure the other doesn’t get poisoned or sick.

Our seats really are getting tinier

You’re not imagining it. Our Seats are really getting tinier. In the Boeing 777s used for long-haul international flights, we recently shrank the seats by one inch so we could fit an extra seat in each row.

Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize

You don’t want any food that that you dropped on the tray table. Most airlines don’t clean trays between flights. Before you touch anything, clean it with sanitizing wipes.

If your flight is cancelled

get in line at the ticket desk or the gate counter, but also get on the phone. You’ll probably reach an airline phone agent before you get to the frazzled agent behind the desk.

We’re not a fan of price-comparison websites

We pay a fee every time you book through price-comparison online sites like TripAdvisor and Orbitz, so we’re making it harder for you to use them. Some airlines don’t release fares at all to certain third-party sites.

There’s a right time to switch seats

Check the seat map about four days (100 hours) before your flight. That’s when we start upgrading fliers from coach to business and some of the best seats open up.

We are totally disgusted when

We see you walking around barefoot on the plane. That carpet? Everything you can imagine has been spilled on it: vomit, milk, baby pee, and blood, to name a few

Know what you’re entitled to

If we cancel your flight, we will offer to put you on the next available flight. If you accept, your meals, and accommodations  until that flight will be fully paid  by the airline. But you should also know that even if you have a “nonrefundable” fare, we will give you your money back if you ask. 

Your smartphone won’t bring down the plane

A cell phone has never caused a plane to crash.

Flight attendants ask everyone to switch their phones to airplane mode before takeoff. But the real reason you should do so involves interference. Kenny Kirchoff of Boeing’s Electromagnetic Interference Lab, tells CNN interference from electronics can affect aircraft systems, not crash planes.

Surprising objects are hidden throughout every airplane

Flight attendants can access handcuffs, a defibrillator, supplemental oxygen, a fire extinguisher, and an ax or a crowbar.

These objects protect passengers from others and themselves. Hidden handcuffs can restrain anyone causing a disturbance. All planes still have bathroom ashtrays because a rulebreaker is less likely to throw a cigarette butt in the trash — and cause a fire — when an ashtray exists. Plus, planes have what’s needed in case of a heart attack, fire, or electrical problems.

The airline can’t keep you on a delayed plane

Regulations limit the time an airline can keep passengers on an aircraft.

Being “trapped” on a plane may not be such a bad thing, however. The government has a rule: “Airlines cannot keep passengers stuck on planes without going anywhere for longer than three hours.” Unfortunately, this rule increases flight cancellations, reports the Chicago Tribune. Why? Airlines don’t want fines for holding passengers on planes for too long.

Skip the airplane meal

The in-flight food is old and over-seasoned to trick your taste buds.

The Daily Meal spoke with flight attendants about airplane food. One staffer who worked for five major airlines disclosed that food is made as many as 12-24 hours before passengers receive it. Some foods, like eggs, aren’t actually the real thing. And the pressurized cabin dulls your senses of taste and smell, so the food is often loaded with salt to taste.

You’re allowed to take your own meal onto the plane

There are no formal limits on how much food you can take on board.

“The practical thing to do is pack your own meal,” advises the New York Times. You can bring as much food in your carry-on as you want. But know the TSA’s regulation on liquids includes yogurt and hummus. They must be in clear bags to pass security. Consider odors and allergies, too. A tuna sandwich won’t make you popular with fellow passengers.

Buy on certain days and fly on certain days

Truth: The cheapest days to fly are Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Fewer business clients travel on those days. But you should buy your tickets on the cheapest days of the week, Tuesday through Thursday, HowStuffWorks suggests.

Hope You Enjoyed Reading This.

Every Travel Has Its Own Mysteries Or Secrets.If anyone knows any other such Secrets or agrees or disagrees?!Please Share your thoughts in the comments below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me!” 

Bye for Know

Sameer 

There’s more to that

If you’re looking for more,Please subscribe to my blog by clicking on Subscribe in a reader the icon or Subscribe via Email by submitting your email id on the side bar;)

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