Team , question for the tech guys over security on computer.

Lots about it in the press lately where is seems to start from your email attachments
so you get locked out until you pay up.

So I use gmail , have done for years and never any issues , also use Mac home pc .

So if I open an infected attachment in gmail via my mobile phone what happens , will it infect my home PC
when I turn on my PC and open up gmail or would it be confined to my mobile phone device.

Thanks all.

A good dunking in water for each device should ensure it never gets a virus.

Not too sure about the potential risks as per your question. I suspect that if your PC and your mobile are not inter-connected, and there is no transfer of data between the two, then I think there is no problem there.

Regarding mobile phone, I believe most run on a different operating system other than Microsoft Windows. The latest round of infection are caused by a loop-hole in Windows.

Regardless of mobile phone or PC, I suggest you need to be very judicious on your emails. I have received dodgy emails with attachments, or a link. Because I am unsure of their origin, I deleted them without clicking on them. Such unscrupulous fraudsters are getting smarter each day.

I received emails with friends' email address. But then, my skepticim kicked in. The emails usually opened with simple line such as "Hi", or "Hi, how are you", but without addressing me correctly as my friends usually did. Then an attachment wit the email. Another trick is an attachment with a request for confirmation of a payment. Informing you of a parcel to be picked up is also quite common.

Please don't allow your curiosity get the better of you. Delete the bloody thing first, then ask question later.

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dreamliner said..
Team , question for the tech guys over security on computer.

Lots about it in the press lately where is seems to start from your email attachments
so you get locked out until you pay up.

So I use gmail , have done for years and never any issues , also use Mac home pc .

So if I open an infected attachment in gmail via my mobile phone what happens , will it infect my home PC
when I turn on my PC and open up gmail or would it be confined to my mobile phone device.

Thanks all.

if you mean wannacry virus... it's doesn't come via attachments..
just back up all your valuable files and hope for the best..
that's what I gathered so far..not a tech guy myself though

definitely a good backup system and mirror of your operating system and software.

Then if you get infected, I assume just remove bad hard drive and insert new, then reinstall. I'm not a IT guy but that's my basic business plan.

On all the computers in my household, we have an Administration account that is only used when installing software, and the rest of the time we use a General user account. Hopefully this limits susceptibility to whatever gremlins are out there.

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Poida said..
definitely a good backup system and mirror of your operating system and software.

Then if you get infected, I assume just remove bad hard drive and insert new, then reinstall. I'm not a IT guy but that's my basic business plan.

Yep I mirror on my Mac using Time Machine and an external drive. The great thing about Time Machine is that if your computer should completely die, you simply get a new one, plug the mirrored drive in and it restores your system 100%, including all passwords and user profiles. There's probably an equivalent software backup in the PC world no doubt.

OK, the non smart arse answer to your questions

Wannacry was/is spread by users clicking on malicious links in email (generally) on unpatched windows PC's, not opening attachments. Once it's on a network (home or office) it will infect all other unpatched windows PC's it can find. Blame the good old NSA for this one. They developed the exploit and then the code was leaked onto the internet for all nefarious types to take advantage of.
There are many more of these exploits in the wild and there will be many more variants coming soon. It's a "mines bigger than yours" thing with hackers. The benchmark has now been set.

As for Gmail, generally safe (but they have had issues recently). Best to check your Gmail on your phone/non Windows device first. You can then delete (permanently! Empty trash and junk) spurious messages before using Gmail on your PC.

Now for your PC (Windows or Mac or Linux). PATCH AND BACKUP! Can't underestimate these two. Yes, this latest exploit targeted windows, but if you own a Mac and think that this alone will save you, then think again. Make sure your operating system and the software you use is up to date. Latest patches and versions for everything. If you have a "spurious" copy of some software you got off a mate then you are making your system less secure. Your choice, but might be better to remove it. Wannacry in China and Russia went ballistic due to pirated copies of windows (that don't get patches). Linux powered cloud servers are falling victim to exploits all the time due to the way they get set up. Unless you have locked down your Linux install, you are still vulnerable.
Backups. A minimum of two copies of your important stuff in two different locations. Portable hard drives are great for backups and will save you if your PC's hard drive or other components fail or you get hit with a encryption or other type of virus. Not good if it's stored next to your PC and you have a house fire or other event that damages the drive. Get two drives and store one at a friend or family's place and swap them when you go and visit.
Cloud services are good (OneDrive/DropBox etc.) as an off-site backup option. Go with the bigger providers as they are less likely to go broke and loose access to your data.

You need a license to drive a car, but any idiot can (try and) use the internet.

Thanks everyone , great info. Looks like I need a hard drive backup.

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dreamliner said..
Thanks everyone , great info. Looks like I need a hard drive backup.

At least 1...

Its no longer an "if" but a "when"

A while back a business needed to recover from just such an attack - the onsite backup files were corrupted by the attack.
Off site HDD saved the day, otherwise...loads of stuff would've been lost. Not just files, but email, intranet services - the lot. No different to if the building had burned to the ground.

TEST YOUR RECOVERY!!

I just backup my important stuff like pictures and important doc on flash drives, too easy and cheap. Just don't loose your flash drives, it's memory that only you can hold in your hand, unlike clouds, which I don't trust. Everything else is generic and replaceable.