Last night I was watching hockey.  Around 6 I thought with all the virus etc it was time to do a full scan with Windows Defender.  Slow process and when I turned in for the night I was only half way done.  Simply let it run overnight, no idea when finished.
Was pleased to see nothing was detected.

Please read the following link, it is vital and important that you up your computer if you are running windows.  There is a cyber ransomware siege going right now.

Disruptions from global cyberattack continue to ripple worldwide
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/disruptions-from-global-cyberattack-continue-to-ripple-worldwide/2017/05/13/d8b33bc8-376d-11e7-ab03-aa29f656f13e_story.html?utm_term=.de88382e0c8f


Update your Windows systems now. Right now.
By Hayley Tsukayama May 12 at 6:52 PM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/12/update-your-windows-systems-now-right-now/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.090a244f9e2a

Hal the link to the Washington Post requested me to join in order to read, and no interest in the Washington Post.

I did go to settings and checked for updates, everything current with the last update yesterday the 12th.

Its a very good idea to keep your computer updated and not to download everything without doing a antivirus check. From Hal's Washington Post Link;

"LONDON â€" Evidence of the cyber attack that hit up to 100 countries continued to ripple around the world Saturday with reports of Chinese students unable to access their graduation theses, British doctors canceling operations and passengers at train stations in Germany greeted by hacked messages on arrival and departure screens.

Individuals and organizations around the world were scrambling after the international attack, which began Friday and spread like wildfire, to limit the damage or put in place preventive measures.

The attack was a form of ransomware that locks up computer systems and prevents access to data or systems until a payment is made.

It hit Britain’s beloved but creaky National Health Service particularly hard, causing widespread disruptions and interrupting medical procedures across hospitals in England and Scotland. Thousands of operations, as well as routine weekend appointments, were canceled.

[The Switch: Update your Windows systems. Right now.]

Worldwide hack exploits a flaw identified in leaked NSA document
During the attack on Britain’s NHS system, computer screens were locked by the malware that prompted the user to pay $300 in bitcoins or risk having their files erased.

Similar messages â€" written in local languages â€" popped up on screens across Europe.

In Germany, people posted pictures on social media of scheduling screens at train stations displaying the ransomware message. Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway service, tweeted that its train service had not been compromised and that it was working full speed to solve the problems. According to DPA news agency, Deutsche Bahn's video surveillance has also been hit.

Other targets in Europe included Telefónica, the Spanish telecom giant and a local authority in Sweden, which said about 70 computers were infected. Odd, a Norwegian football club, said that its online ticketing system was hit by the bug.

On Saturday, it was still unclear who was behind the sophisticated attack, which spread rapidly via email.

“We’re not able to tell you who is behind that attack. That work is still ongoing,” Amber Rudd, Britain’s home secretary told the BBC. She said that it has affected “up to 100 countries” and that it wasn’t specifically targeted at Britain’s NHS.

TMT post, a Chinese online news outlet focusing on the Internet industry, reported that a number of Chinese universities had been affected by the attack.

Several schools â€" including Nanchang University, Shandong University and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China â€" issued alerts on their Weibo social media feeds warning faculties and students to backup important files and not to open suspicious emails.

According to Chinese magazine Caijing, some students’ graduation theses and projects have reportedly been encrypted.

In Russia, hacking attacks had been confirmed Saturday at the country’s Interior Ministry, which manages the police force, the Ministry of Health, the state-run Russian Railways and the telecommunications company Megafon. There were also reports that the powerful Investigative Committee, which investigates high-level crime, and several other telecommunications companies had been targeted.

The Interior Ministry said that 1,000 of its computers had been blocked by prompts demanding payment. By Friday evening, the ministry said it had “contained” the attack and denied that any of its information had been stolen.

Jakub Kroustek, a malware researcher with Avast, a security software company in the Czech Republic, said in a blog post that Russia was the most affected country so far. “We are now seeing more 75,000 detections of WanaCrypt0r 2.0 in 99 countries,” he wrote Friday night.

Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based Internet security firm, also said that the attacks were mostly in Russia.

One reason Russia may have been so hard hit is the use of outdated software by government agencies.

“Russia has a very rickety, out-of-date infrastructure, using not just outdated software but pirated, out-of-date software,” said Mark Galeotti, a senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague. According to Galeotti, one Interior Ministry official in 2013 estimated that 40 percent of the ministry’s computers could be using pirated Windows software, which is widely available in Russia for download or at local computer markets.

The bug, called Wanna Decrypt0r 2.0 â€" also known by names including WCry, WannaCry and WanaCrypt0r 2.0 â€" exploits a flaw that was identified in a stolen National Security Agency document.

Microsoft released a patch to fix the problem in March, but computer systems that did not install the update remain vulnerable.

In Britain, which is in the middle of an election campaign, the cyber attack triggered criticism about the NHS’s aging computer systems. The vast majority of computers in the NHS reportedly use Windows XP, which doesn’t have the same level of defense against cyber attacks as newer operating systems.

The opposition Labour Party’s Jonathan Ashworth tweeted that the government had been complacent over cyber security. “We need answers on whether funding squeeze compromised security,” he wrote.

Rudd, the home secretary, stressed that there was no evidence that patient data had been compromised but said that there were lessons to learn.

She told the BBC that Windows XP was “not a good platform for keeping your data as secure as the modern ones because you can’t download the effective patches and anti-virus software.”

“I would expect NHS trusts to learn from this and to make sure that they do upgrade,” she said.

Andrew Roth in Moscow, Luna Lin in Beijing, Griff Witte and Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin, and Michael Birnbaum in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

I was not able to check Hal's second link. But there is this from euronews.

http://www.euronews.com/2017/05/13/the-world-is-held-to-ransom

Never think that what happened in Europe won't happen here.

I checked for updates and the message said none were available.  The last check was 5/12 and the next would be 5/19.  I have a HP Pavilion laptop.

Mary Ann

WJoan.  We all feel the same way as we get older. I was able to take care of almost everything alone not for 51 years. I try but have given up and hire things done.
Glad you got you E-M taking care of.  Just forget Yahoo and stick with Gmail. I also have Comcast as my Internet provider.  Their EM service isn't worth a darn either. I gave up using it.

Joan's email address in her profile has been changed to gmail instead of yahoo.

Welcome back Jeanne.  Hope you are all Well. You are really missed by us all when gone.

Thanks, Jeanne.  It's always nice to know you're missed.   

Jeanne Lee, thank you soooo much.  You take care.  Hugs,
Joan

Welcome back, Jeanne Lee.  Yes, you were missed.

Mary Ann

Thanks, Mary Ann.   

Does anyone know what the program silverlight is ? It keeps telling me Silverlight was blocked because it's out f date and needs to be updated...when I'm searching on google...so should I update this?.. Thanks. CC.    Directed to whom ever wants to comment

CC had to look it up, and it is on my machine.   Appears it is like Adobe Flash.  Appears it is to my advantage to use it and by clicking this link you will see if you have and if it has been updated.  Note it does not work with Edge but I am not using, I still use Internet Explorer.


https://www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight/Get-Started/Install/Default.aspx

Jack, I use Firefox.  In one of the recent Firefox updates, it deleted it and said it was not compatible anymore.  I didn't know it was and/or never used it so it didn't bother me.

Mary

Jack, I use Firefox on Windows 10.  Evidently I don't have Silverlight because it wanted to install.  I did not install it.  What am I missing by not using it?

Mary Ann

MaryTX thanks, appears not necessary.

Mary Ann you might go to google and type do I need Silverlight on my the windows you are running.

No suggestion from me on keeping or removing!

Thanks...don't think I will install Silverlight ...CC

How long will Microsoft support your version of Windows?

https://www.howtogeek.com/308290/how-long-will-microsoft-support-my-version-of-windows-with-security-updates/

Patricia, interesting link.  Bottom line read this.

Microsoft always lays out the exact dates when it will end support for a version of Windows in the Windows lifecycle fact sheet, available on Microsoft’s website. Here’s what it says:
Windows 7 is supported with security updates until the end of extended support on January 14, 2020. You must have Service Pack 1 installed to get updates.
Windows 8.1 is supported with security updates until the end of extended support on January 10, 2023. You must have updated to Windows 8.1 to get updatesâ€"the original version of Windows 8 isn’t supported with updates anymore.
Windows 10 is supported with security updates until October 14, 2025. You must have the latest update to Windows 10 installed to keep receiving updates until 2025. (That’s the Creators Update, right now.)
Microsoft could extend these dates if they wantâ€"and they sometimes doâ€"but these are the dates they’re officially committed to at the moment. Microsoft won’t end support before these dates.

That will take me to age of 95, hope, with the machine, that we both last that long.

Jack, that is true. It is amazing to me to know that both my ID and one of my credit cards don't expire until 2020. It is still sometimes amazing to me after 17 years to put the 20 in front of a year.

However, many folks never take the time to read or use current updates and backups so it is good to have that information for those of us seniors and also the general public. Thanks for the condensation.

Angel, hmmmmm, the PC Medic cost 29.99 (on special) if you want it to clean up all the things it claims to clean.  I called the support folks at PC Medic and he wanted to access my computer to see what problems I had, I really have none, but I thanked him for his concern but that I didn't have time for him to check everything.  I think they are part of Norton.  Oh, well.

You're probably right, Hal.

I have used the same two programs for seventeen years with only one hiccup that was caused by my own not thinking. So many folks like me, are too quick to jump instead of thinking first.

Anytime someone wants to check my machine first or doesn't have a free trial available or lastly, doesn't have customer reviews, (Weed out those overly product favorable as those are usually planted by the company);  those are all big red flags!

CCleaner, a free program is universally recommended by the pros. I don't use it now as
I have another paid program, but it works quite well to clean out junk and pups and other garbage and it is free and as I said, universally recommended.

Microsoft Offers XP Patch For WannaCrypt Ransomware

Despite the fact that Microsoft stopped security support for XP over 3 years ago, the company stepped up to push out updates to out-of-date operating systems, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP embedded. These patches don’t cover every security issue that could affect these servers, however, they will protect from the WannaCrpt ransomware that paralyzed the National Health Service in the UK and many other agencies across the globe. You can download the patch by clicking 

http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4012598

The patches for Vista and 8.1 are there, too.

The main thing is not to become complacent and think "I let my PC handle it, I don't need to keep up on security." Or "I don't like to have automatic updates" or "I'll do it later when I have a moment." Or even that golden oldie of "there's nothing I can do."

Why do people put hundreds of dollars into these computers and other electronics and put medical, personal and security information out there unprotected in these times and in light of what we hear about nightly? It is not just computers or cameras or "smart" homes we need to worry about either. So much that we use and daily depend on is often computer related and driven as well.

I just noticed a knew icon on my toolbar or tray (whatever is at the bottom of the screen).... Little cloud shape that says "One Drive Up To Date".   What is that & where did it come from?  Darn computer had another update this week (started as XP & been updated to Windows 10 now)....keeps going to sleep unless I move the mouse about every 60 SECONDS.... no kidding, can't stop to think or it shuts off.  Back to the One Drive, after a Google it sound like giving permission to someone to use my computer?  Help?  Do I need it or should I uninstall or whatever?  Thanks!

Shirley, One Drive is a function of Windows 10 so you can't delete it. It is W10's version of storage except it only works on each computer and isn't assessable from another computer. It says Cloud storage but it is on your computer and uses your bandwidth. Microsoft says about One Drive;

"The OneDrive cloud storage solution has become an important part of Microsoft's platform, and in Windows 10, it's baked directly into the operating system. You're set up for it when you log in with your Microsoft Account, and you'll find the storage available in File Explorer.Mar 25, 2017."

"
OneDrive is built into Windows 10, so you can’t uninstall it like an app. However, you can hide it and stop syncing OneDrive files to your PC. To do so, follow the steps, in Turn, off or uninstall OneDrive."

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/c2aafab1-3433-45a0-8037-2f4b25e41751/turn-off-onedrive-in-windows-10

My HP PC is Windows 10, has only been Windows 10, and I don't have that icon in my task bar.  I haven't looked in Programs to see if I have it.  I like to think I've been getting along fine without it so I think I'll continue without it.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, If you have W10, then you have One Drive as it's a integral part of the system. It's listed in programs. I do not know how Shirley's icon ended up on her task bar.

I am unable to delete Cortana, (An animated voice given to Microsoft's Bing search engine); One Drive or Windows Defender as I do not care for any of them and feel all of them are bandwidth memory hogs and not that effective. Others may disagree, but that is their opinion and right. What I have been able to do is turn them off and eliminate any used bandwidth. You can Google how to if you would like, or not.