I get occasional e-mails telling me that I need to confirm my log-in credentials to financial institutions, Amazon, eBay, etc. Some are from places I've never had any dealings with. What should I do?
    Yours is a common and very scary situation these days! Without exception, ANY e-mail you receive that asks you to "click here" to confirm your personal information (sometimes under threat of having an account closed, blocked or otherwise interrupted) IS A HOAX and is a brazen attempt to get you to reveal data which can put you at grave risk of identity theft! Obviously any request coming from an entity that you have no relationship with should be ignored without question. Even requests that appear legitimate are often bogus!
    The truth is that NO legitimate request to confirm or update online credentials will come in the form of an e-mail with a clickable link to a website. None! It is child's play for a scammer to craft an e-mail that looks absolutely genuine but links to a website set up for the sole purpose of harvesting the personal data for any number of sinister purposes.
    Usually if an online-based service you deal with (whether it is your bank or Netflix) finds a need to confirm your credentials, they will advise you of what steps need to be taken to resolve the issue the next time you access their site as you normally do. Some will simply lock down the account and wait for the affected user to contact them for resolution of the issue. On a few rare occasions, some vendors will contact customers by USPS mail and provide resolution instructions.
    Don't ever hesitate to give Terri or me a call for assistance in evaluating any request for personal information you receive in an e-mail.

Why was so much media attention given to that "Wannacry" ransomware that popped up recently?
    Here in the OCW Insider we've talked before about ransomware as a subset of the many kinds of viruses, worms and other malware out there on the Internet.
    Ransomware is probably the most insidious threat on the Internet today. An affected computer is essentially locked down by encrypting all of the user's personal data and the only way it can be UNlocked is to pay a ransom via a deposit of funds into an online account controlled by the ransomware author.
    The "Wannacry" attack was special for a number of reasons that caught the attention of the media. The initial method of distributing the infective was via an e-mail attachment. Unfortunately for many computer users, the nature of the infective attachment was so unusual that most anti-virus/anti-malware software couldn't detect and block it. Further, once the infective insinuated itself into a user's computer it was capable of attacking other computers on the same network without need of e-mail retransmission. This secondary distribution mechanism was especially dangerous in large, high-speed network situations like those found in corporations and educational institutions. Only the chance discovery of a "kill switch" in the infective source code by two inquisitive computer engineers in different countries kept "Wannacry" from being far more destructive than it turned out to be. While this particular attack was specific to Windows PCs, there's no reason that a similar attack couldn't be crafted to infect Macintosh computers.
    "Wannacry" should be viewed as a wake-up call to any computer user on the Internet (PC or Mac!) to make sure that anti-virus/anti-malware is both installed and regularly updated. Beyond that, it should remind all of us to be very cautious about opening any attachment to an e-mail message, even if it appears to be from someone familar.
    We can't stress too much the importance of both skepticism and wariness when it comes to ANYTHING you might receive in e-mail! If you have the slightest misgivings about the legitimacy of an e-mail's content, either delete it outright or at least give us a call to help you decide how to deal with it.

OK, you've managed to scare me pretty well! Should I just quit using my computer???
    No, it is still quite safe to use your computer on the Internet if you are conscious of where the dangers are. Any tool, whether it be a screwdriver or a laptop PC, can cause problems for you if misused or its safety is taken for granted.
    Let's reprise a short list of issues to be aware of:
-->Keep your computer's operating system up-to-date. For a PC, that means your version of Windows should be no older than Windows 7. On the Mac side, the operating system should be at Mac OS 10.9 (Mavericks) or later. Both PCs and Macs are normally set up to check for operating system updates on a regular basis and that configuration shouldn't be circumvented. If you don't know how to determine the version of your computer's operating system, we can help you with a single phone call. Running an older version of the Windows or Mac operating system may be putting yourself at some risk.
-->Use some kind of anti-virus/anti-malware software and update it regularly. There are both paid and free versions of such software for both Macs and PCs. While the free versions are generally adequate to the task of shielding your computer from most threats, the paid versions are sometimes more frequently updated and offer additional features that may make them more effective in some situations.
-->The World Wide Web is a wonderous place. Facebook is a great way to keep up with family but know its limitations when it comes to security. Free sofware out on the web can make your computing life easier but only if you know exactly what you are getting and are aware of threats that can accompany software downloads. Like any town or city, the Web has places that are both safe to wander and places that you should studiously avoid. Be careful out there.
-->By its free nature and ease of use, e-mail is probably the most dangerous program on your computer. It has essentially no security, so don't send or seek to receive sensitive personal or other information via e-mail. Increasingly, financial, insurance and medical institutions are setting up secure internal communications channels to and from customers within their websites. Use them when possible. Be suspect of any e-mail, even from familiar senders, linking you to a website on the pretext of resolving a security issue. Be wary of e-mail attachments. Pictures are generally safe enough to view but think twice before double-clicking any kind of attached document unless you are absolutely sure of what it is and from whom it came!
    Never be concerned that you will look foolish by asking for help in any aspect of your computer use! There are NO stupid questions when it comes to computers and we absolutely want you to have the best experience possible when using yours.