What is a Bitcoin

You might or might not have heard of the latest trend in digital money Bitcoin, Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically. No one controls it.  A software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto proposed bitcoin, which was an electronic payment system based on mathematical proof. The idea was to produce a currency independent of any central authority, transferable electronically, more or less instantly, with very low transaction fees. Bitcoins are not physical and are digitally created by a community of people that anyone can join and they based on mathematics.

There is to much to explain about bitcoins in one blog! So below we have hunted out some good links that explain in much better detail.

Bitcoin explained

The maths behind it

Bitcoin project

Fake Windows 10 Update

Wondered about the free upgrade to Windows 10?

Microsoft started there official free upgrade roll out on July 28^th, 2015 to 190 countries. However it didn’t take long for cyber-crime individuals to start their own roll out of a fake Windows 10 upgrade. The ransomware is sent to the victim via email that claims to be a legitimate Microsoft Windows 10 free upgrade.  Disguised as an installer the ransomware is encrypting Australian users and business computers.

The email sent claims to be from Microsoft offering the free upgrade; the ransomware is attached in a zip file which contains a program labelled as the Windows 10 installer. If you run this program it will encrypt any important files, including Word documents and photos on your computer. Being a Microsoft  partner here at iT and Beyond, we have never received emails from Microsoft  with program attachments! We advise that if you receive an email offering a free upgrade to Windows 10, DO NOT OPEN IT or any attachments.

Windows users interested in upgrading their computer can register via Microsoft’s official website. Windows 10 updates will then be facilitated by a program on your computer, not via an email offer Businesses are advised to be vigilant in protecting their existing computer systems and in ensuring that their critical data is backed up in case an attack does occur. Encrypted data could then be recovered from backup copies.

Staying Safe

In order to protect yourself and your business from this attack a Disaster Recovery Plan, Online backups and Remote Data Storage Solution’s  are essential for your critical data to be secure and offsite away from sabotage.

Security researchers at Cisco have provided detailed technical information about the attack aswell as Stay Smart Online has provided alerts about a number of ransomware attacks in the past.

If your computer is compromised from this attack you can report the incident to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN).