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New York Times: Internet Caution

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 1:53 pm
by Webscout
From a friend..

New York Times: Internet Caution
This has happened a couple of times on our computers, our inclination is to reach down and turn off the electrical powerbar, this shuts down the desktop iMac’s. When you restart the problem is gone. The web screen freezes and won’t let you out of it’s hacker’s control. Perhaps, another method on an Apple computer is to hold down the power button for a length of time, this causes a 'force quit' for battery operated laptops, i.e. the MacBooks.
We had one family member respond on a Windows PC, the hacker was then able to get control of this computer and lock it up for ransom. Realizing what was transpiring the family member shut it down, but her Windows computer was now frozen and unusable. She lost everything, her whole life on that computer. With a new hard drive she had to start all over again. [Moral of the story: Have a back-up external hard drive, the main computer programmed to interface with periodic back-ups, in the Apple world this is called, TimeMachine.]
What’s tricky here it’s not a virus per se, the hacker has written a software program that trolls the web popping up on your computer, if you respond, the hacker interchanges with you and takes control of your computer.

New York Times Internet Caution

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:57 pm
by Michelegib
If we do buy a new one, is there an easy way to transfer all the info on old machine onto new one - or do I have to load everything onto disk and then load it back on again?