So many of my clients think that because they have antivirus protection, that they are protected against spyware. This is so far from the case I can’t even tell you about the horror stories I have seen in the past few months. [Read more…]
About Y-Not Tech Services – Lethbridge, AB
Y-Not Tech Services provides Computer Repair, Service and Technology Training locally to the Lethbridge, AB area and to all of Canada with Remote Connections.
I’m a one-man operation committed to providing my expertise and experience to clients. I strive to provide excellent value in everything I do for my clients. Clients, friends, and family I help appreciate my friendly demeanor and simple, jargon-free
Simply put, I want to be your Go-To guy when you need computer help.
For a list of our services Click Here
To learn more about Owner and Technician, Tony, Click Here
Defrag – Is it needed? – Lethbridge, AB
Many of my clients will call and say “I defragged, but it isn’t faster”…
Defragmenting a computer or “defragging” will seldom make a noticeable difference in the speed of your computer. It’s still a good idea to regularly defrag your hard drive. In fact, most recent operating systems are set up to do this automatically. (Special note: If you computer is equipped with a Solid State Drive you should not run defrag on it) But in these days, a computer running slow can be from many other issues. [Read more…]
When Should You Get Your Computer Repaired Vs. Buying a New One? – Lethbridge, AB
“Should I get my computer fixed or just buy a new one?”
This is a common question. And it’s a hard one to answer because there are so many factors involved. The question can really only be answered on a case by case basis. However, I’ll outline the factors I take into consideration when making a recommendation to my clients. [Read more…]
Do You Own Your Own Business in Lethbridge?
Most big companies have an IT department. Someone to call when things don’t go the way they should. If you run a small business, do you have an IT budget? Time is money. If the systems you use in your business go down, you’ll be losing money while you work on getting them back up and running. Why not have preventative measures in place and an IT professional ready to tackle any problems that arise.
Y-Not Tech Services can be your IT Department. We can help you with your Computers, printers, Smart Phones, and tablets. Everything you need to run your business efficiently. In addition to helping you with keeping your devices running smoothly, I can help you manage your business contacts, get email marketing setup and even show you how to advertise on Google or Facebook (Please Note that Y-Not Tech Services isn’t an advertising agency and makes no claims to know the ins and outs of advertising – but we have experience with Facebook advertising and Google Adwords Express that we are happy to pass on to you).
Do you have a backup of your business files?
What measures do you have in place to protect against RansomWare attacks?
Are you confident in your Antivirus software?
Does your Antivirus software also protect you against Malware? What about unwanted programs? Spyware?
Contact Y-Not Tech Services today and see how we can help your business.
A Friend of Mine Was the Victim of Bank Fraud in Lethbridge, AB
Bank Fraud. We all know it happens. It’s never happened to me. Hopefully, it won’t. Hopefully, it hasn’t and won’t happen to you either. Below, you’ll find some tips to prevent it. It happened to a friend of mine. This is a true story. He woke up and found his bank account was overdrawn. He went from having money and knowing how his bills were getting paid to having negative $250 and stressing about paying rent. As he started to unravel the trail, he discovered just how devious these criminals are. They had gained access to his online banking with Scotia Bank. Then they sent an E-Transfer to someone already on his transfer recipient list (in this case, his roommate that he had sent money to for concert tickets). They sent all the money in his account, plus his overdraft in an E-Transfer and gained access to the roommate’s email to accept the E-Transfer and send it to the criminal’s account. Poof! All of my friend’s money was gone. He’s filed a fraud report with the bank and hopefully will get the money back. I doubt the criminal behind this will be caught though. And even if the money is returned, my friend is in for a very stressful time. All his day to day expenses are currently being put onto his emergency Credit Card. The longer it takes the bank to finish up their investigation and place the lost funds back in his account, the more debt he will incur and the more interest he’ll need to pay. He’s so stressed out about it, he can hardly concentrate at work.
Y-Not Tech Services can’t be sure how the criminal gained access to my friend’s account. But we have some guesses.
- Keylogger – A keylogger on the device used to log into the bank account would send the account number and password straight to the criminal. Perhaps a shared device also gave the criminal the roommate’s email password.
- A weak password – The criminal may have been able to guess or use a brute force method to find the password used on the account.
- Using the same or similar password – It’s doubtful in this case that Scotiabank’s servers and files were compromised. However, if my friend used the same password for his banking as he used on other, less security minded websites, and one of these were hacked, the criminal could simply apply that compromised password to the bank account.
- Easy Security Questions – Most Accounts have security questions you can set up to gain access to your account if you forgot the password. Questions like, “What was my mother’s Maiden name?”, “What elementary school did I attend?”, or “What was my first pet’s name?” Do you know where I can find the answer to most of those questions? Your social media accounts.
- Poor Email Security – This is related to the others, but if a criminal gains access to just your email account, they can wreak havoc on your life. Not only can they see all the accounts you’ve signed up for, but some accounts will actually send your password in a welcome email in plain text. Now if you have a habit of doing number 3, the criminal has a great starting point to reverse engineer the passwords to your other accounts, like your bank. Additionally, your bank and other accounts may offer to email you a link to reset your password, so if the criminal has access to your email, they will get the link.
- Social Engineering and Phishing – It’s possible my friend was the victim of a phishing attack, having entered his account details in a fraudulent site without realizing it.
Now let’s look at each of these possible attacks and examine how we might be able to avoid them.
- A good Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware should take care of any keylogger lurking on your computer. In Y-Not Tech Services experience and research we’ve come to trust Emsisoft. You can get a FREE 30 Day Trial here.
- Coming up with and remembering good passwords can be a challenge. This is why so many people end up using simple passwords. Some of the most popular passwords out there include 1234, password and football. It’s important for us to use strong passwords. It’s a good idea to include both capital and lower case letters, numbers and symbols in your password.
- OK, I’ve created a strong password. Let’s say it’s 3x@mP1e – I’ll just use this strong password on every site I visit! That’s not a good idea. If you do, all it takes is one site to be compromised and have their user data stolen. Now the criminals behind the attack on the site could have both your email and the password you used. Then it’s just a matter of typing them into other sites and gaining access to your accounts. We should use a different password for different sites.
- We want to pick obscure questions when choosing our security questions. Don’t choose anything that the answer can be found on your Social Media profile. Even if you have locked down the privacy on your own social media account, criminals may gain access to your information through a friend who has their account compromised.
- Keeping your email account safe, mostly comes down to focusing on the other aspects we’ve mentioned. Use a strong, unique password for your email account. Choose your security questions carefully. If available, you might consider using 2-factor Authentication for your account. Change your password frequently and use a good Anti-Malware software.
- To avoid Social Engineering attacks you need to familiarize yourself with the tactics they use. You can start with Y-not’s Internet Security Basics article. Once again, a good security software will often detect and alert you to fraudulent sites.
I hope that these tips will help you avoid identity theft and fraud. I know that many of them are inconvenient to stay on top of. Using strong passwords and remembering many different ones, but it can be compared to the inconvenience of locking your home’s door. It takes extra time and it’s annoying to unlock it while juggling 17 grocery bags, but you do it because burglary is all too common. It’s the same with our digital security. It might be annoying, but if want to avoid financial loss and stress we should take the time to review our online security.
Why not let Tony help you audit your security measures?
UPDATE: About a month after this happened, the bank concluded their investigation. They determined that this wasn’t something they could prove was fraud (or something like that) and they aren’t able to return his money.
Contact us today to set up an appointment.
Tips to Keep Your Children Safe Online | Y-Not Tech Services – Lethbridge, AB
As the father of two young daughters (currently 1 and 4 years old), this is a subject I think about a lot. So far, we haven’t had to worry about it too much. Our 4 year old knows how to use our tablets and phones to watch YouTube, Netflix, read some books I’ve loaded on it and occasionally play a few games I selected. She doesn’t get access to a web browser or any messaging. She also doesn’t get access to the device without permission so we can keep an eye on her use. As she grows older and gains independence, we’ll re-evaluate. This article will focus on tips and advice I have compiled that will help keep your children safe online. [Read more…]
Laptop vs. Desktop – What should you buy?
So you’re looking to buy a new computer, but unsure which to buy?
Laptop vs. Desktop computer
Once upon a time, the laptop was only good for those that travelled for work, but those days are long gone! Computers are a big part of our lives at this point. It seems that most people take their laptops on vacation. Whether that’s to keep in touch with work or store vacation photos, we seem to need to stay connected. [Read more…]
Why is my Computer Slow and How to Make it Faster? – Lethbridge, AB Computer Repair
Dealing with a slow computer is never an enjoyable experience. In this article, we’ll go over some of the common reasons why a computer gets slow and some ways to solve it. We won’t be able to go over every reason. There are simply too many different things that cause a computer to slow down. [Read more…]
How to Improve Wi-Fi Coverage and Range | Y-Not Tech Services – Lethbridge, AB
It seems almost every home has a Wi-Fi network today. Having a fast wireless network that covers your entire home is more important than ever. With smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, laptops and ‘Internet of Things (IoT)’ devices including speakers, doorbells, security cameras, baby monitors, light bulbs and more all connecting through our Wi-Fi network, we need that network to reach all corners of our home and have enough bandwidth available to handle all these devices. This article will cover some practical ways we can make the most of our Wi-Fi network.
What Affects Wi-Fi Coverage?
Modern Wi-Fi networks can reach up to 150 feet indoors and 300 feet outdoors. However, with interference from walls, windows, siding, appliances, wiring inside of walls and other wireless signals the actual range you achieve can vary greatly. The materials your walls are made out of can affect the strength of your wi-fi signal. Metal walls or siding will almost stop the signal in its tracks. Your furnace and A/C vents can also affect coverage. Aquariums will lower the signal coverage as Wi-Fi signals don’t move as freely through the water as they do in open air. Almost any electronic device in the area that gives off wireless signals will limit your network’s coverage. This includes Microwaves and cordless phones. Another factor is other wi-fi networks within reach. If you can see other networks available from your phone or laptop, they will affect your own network’s performance.
Placement Matters
More often than not, I see wireless routers stuffed away in closets, in the utility room in the basement, behind the furnace or under a desk. There’s a good reason for this too. Most routers are not the best-looking devices and they tend to have a lot of wires hanging off them. Certainly not something most people want in the middle of their dining room or living room. However, the placement of the router can be very important to your coverage.
Ideally, your router should be in a central location of your house, in the open and not too close to either the floor or the ceiling. Ideally. But guess what. My router is at one end of my house in a cabinet. Why? Simply because it gets me the coverage I need from there. I can comfortably use my laptop anywhere in my house, out on my deck and in many areas of the yard. So before you go erecting a special pedestal so your router can have a perfectly central location in your home, ask yourself if your coverage is OK as it is. Internet in every corner of your home is no good if you trip over cables each time you want a snack from the kitchen. If you aren’t happy with your wi-fi coverage, then it might be time to consider a move for your router.
Change the Channel
Wireless routers operate on channels. The more signals sharing the same channel at once, the worse each signal’s strength will be. And, most routers will use the same handful of channels by default. This means that by analyzing the wireless signals in range of your devices and switching to a less used channel, you can significantly improve the quality of your network. To find a channel with little traffic on it, you’ll need an application to check them. Here are a few you can use: Wifi Analyzer for iOS or Wifi Analyzer for Android. Look for a channel with little to no other networks on it. Changing the channel of your router is relatively easy to do. You need to visit the configuration page for your router:
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Log in and look under the wireless settings for the Channel Selector, then set it to the channel you found with the least traffic.
Throw Money at the Problem
The previous tactics will help your coverage, but depending on the equipment you have and the layout and building materials of your home, you might need to do some upgrading to get whole house coverage. After all, it isn’t really feasible to change the whole layout of your home to improve wi-fi coverage. Especially since adding some equipment to your network is simpler and more economical.
If your router is an outdated 802.11b or 802.11g model, it is probably time to upgrade to a 802.11ac model or maybe even get ahead of the curve with a new WiFi 6 model. If all this is a bit confusing, that’s okay. You really only need to know that g is a newer revision than b, n is newer than g and ac is currently the newest one. Each newer one gets higher speed and longer range capabilities.
Wi-Fi repeaters or Wi-Fi range extenders can be used to pick up your signal and rebroadcast it to extend the range. This is a nice solution to if you only have one dead area in your network and it’s close enough that a Range Extender can be placed both within range of your current router and close enough to the dead zone to cover it.
If you want one of the best Wi-Fi networks available a Wi-Fi Mesh system is probably your best bet. They tend to be on the more expensive side, but are the best option for a large home or office if you want great coverage.
If you need help getting your wi-fi network up and working top notch, book an appointment below. We can help with anything from optimizing your current router’s settings to helping suggest and set up upgrades as needed.
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