Your Computer Is Targeted

This last weekend, I got a call from my Dad. As any geek can attest to, when you know computers, you end up being the family computer tech. My Dad’s computer had been attacked by a pretty bad virus which screwed up the computer, hijacked Windows files, and then attempted to blackmail him into buying a product to fix the damage. This came out of the country of Russia.

My Dad is not exactly computer illiterate. He also had anti-virus and a firewall installed.

The facts are simple. If you are running a Windows-powered computer, you are running the operating system which has the biggest bulls eye painted right on it. See, Windows is used by around 90% of the marketplace. And that makes it target #1 for hackers.

People know this. We see a lot of searches for security related matters on their machines. I also see a lot of software products out there, all boasting to be the magic pill for securing your PC. But, there is NO substitute for knowing what you’re doing.

Part of my job is to educate, but I just don’t have the time to do it all by myself. So, I turn to others. And one of those people is Bill Hely, author of The Hacker’s Nightmare.

Bill has written an authoritative guide to PC and online security. And what’s more, it is NOT written for nerds! No, this is a plain-English book, written for people just like you. Just like I want it. Bill says:

“My goal is to make important technical topics understandable to the non-technical reader, so in that context I guess you could call them “non-technical books”. I’m proud to say they have been praised by all types from beginners to experts and IT professionals.”

Some statistics for you:

At its peak infection rate, about 1 in 12 emails on the Internet were MyDoom Viruses
MessageLabs reports that 1 in 87 emails sent contain a virus in August 2008.
55% of online users said they had been infected with spyware, and 82% believed it posed a threat to online privacy.
The average unprotected computer can be compromised in a matter of minutes.

The Hacker’s Nightmare will show you how to:

Track down and remove spyware infestations that have already taken hold of your PC
Block all incoming pathways to your computer which could be used by an outside to gain access
Recognize the tactics used by spammers and hackers
Protect your documents and files
and a lot more

In fact, the Hacker’s Nightmare is a full 500+ pages of valuable content. It has plenty of diagrams and illustrations and is broken down into small sections with easy step-by-step procedures. This is what I like about this book. It is powerful information that everybody needs, but it doesn’t read like a boring computer manual.

So, yes, this post is designed to try to sell you this product. But, I am confident in my recommendation. In fact, Bill has been one of the commenters on PCMech.com lately (this is, in fact, how I first became aware of him). Bill backs up his product with personal, one-on-one support – direct from him. You’ll get the book in downloadable format immediately, but Bill will also send you a hard copy on CD via regular mail. And after all that, he’s providing a 60-day guarantee. So, if you get it and decide it doesn’t help you at all (which I doubt), you can return it and get your money back.

Do me a favor. Click this link and check out The Hacker’s Nightmare. If you’d like to get a copy, buy it. Get that big target off your computer.

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http://twofourtech.com Ded Ryzing
Nice ad. “And on today’s PCMech, how to turn a blog post into an infommercial”. Article is not so much about how to protect your system but how generate income.

David Risley
Way to go pointing out the obvious. For your next trick, show me how to run a site this big without paying the bills. Come on, J, you’re better than that.
http://www.perkster.net perkster
and whats wrong with that exactly? its not like hes selling double glazing its a related product that might be of use to some of the people who visit here and help david pay his bills at the same time. while i personally dont need the book, i have no issue with dave posting such ads ocassionally.

http://kkomp.com Sharron Field
Hey you; I’ve sold double glazing before now lol:
Of course there are a few scam artists and con mercahnts who dishonestly use pressure tactics and scare stories to sell it; but this is a dysfunction of today’s strange society in any sector of any industry – In the UK at least. Despite its grim reputation I can tell you from experience that the double-glazing industry has always had more straight people than crooks working in it. (At least in the UK: Where I assume that you’re from too?)
Ded Ryzing was only talking tongue-in-cheek: I’m pretty sure Dave understands that. In fact I think it would be a nice gesture on Ded Ryzing’s part if he were to assist Dave by buying a copy of the product for all members of PCMech and sharing it with us as “open-source material” in that transaction alone; therfore allowing all Windows users to benefit from the value of the information at no cost to themselves.

http://www.HackersNightmare.com Bill Hely
>>> it would be a nice gesture on Ded Ryzing’s part if he were to assist Dave by buying a copy of the product for all members of PCMech and sharing it with us as “open-source material”
And the ensuing discussion between my lawyers and his would also be of great entertainment value, not to mention make me quite wealthy .
– Bill Hely
– Author: “The Hacker’s Nightmare”
– http://HackersNightmare.com
– “How to keep hackers, worms & other germs out of your PC”
http://www.HackersNightmare.com Bill Hely
BTW, that was meant to be tongue in cheek — there was supposed to be a smiley after “wealthy”.
– BH

Drew
My computer isn’t targeted. It’s hiding with the alleged WMD’s If a hacker can actually ‘find’ my PC and get in, they can have at it!
marc
This used to be a pretty cool website.
Drew
Bill – Once something is made available online at a cost, it’s a certifiable guarantee that you will later on find it elsewhere – for free.
While I’m not promoting this as ethical, it’s naive to think otherwise.
http://www.HackersNightmare.com Bill Hely
Of course Drew, but that doesn’t mean that publishers just have to sit back and take it — as so many are prepared to do; and some even advocate that such transgressions should be ignored.
Periodically updated, The Hacker’s Nightmare is in its 4th year, and I have quite a few “feely fingers” out there poking around, looking for signs. The only time I ever found one worth chasing, the combination of an ominous legal warning and an ethical ISP shut the thief down in no time. He was a bumbling amateur and I was able to identify and watch him for a while afterwards — there was no attempt to start up elsewhere.
While I accept that it is inevitable that it will happen, I don’t accept that there is never any thing you can do about it.
While someone can sell a stolen copy of The Hackers Nightmare, they can’t as easily give away membership credentials without us spotting that there is something wrong. By providing a CD by mail and making ongoing access to a private membership area an attractive part of the proposition, there is a tendency for the duped buyer to report back to us.
It’s all part of the same old US vs THEM game.
Ded Ryzing
Man oh man…never did I expect such a flurry of activity from a small little comment. Dave and I butt heads a lot, and it’s all cool (at least I think it is). He will continue doing his thing, I will continue popping in on PCMech Live…
“That’s http://www.pcmech.com/live/ every Wednesday night at 8:00pm EST where you get your geek on and talk tech with Dave and Rich…check it out”
…and our lives will go on as normal. No harm, no foul. Heck, I may even offer more articles for publishing on PCMech.
And Bill, not to worry. I have no intentions of buying your book and giving it away…mostly because my lawyers suck.

http://www.HackersNightmare.com Bill Hely
Not to worry Ded — my comment was just a waggish response to Sharon.
But I thought Drew raised a point worthy of serious comment.
The reason many publishers (especially of the “marketing guru” variety) advocate ignoring rip-off attempts is that much of the ghost-written, manufactured pulp they sell as eBooks is worthless anyway, and simply not worth protecting.
OTOH some of was put a lot of work into our intellectual property and feel it’s worth a bit of effort to protect our Copyright.