I’m sure you have heard about the “ransomware” attack on the NHS computers. It is not just affecting the NHS computers. It can attack ANY Windows computer that does not have the antidote on, even yours!

Windows versions before Windows 10 are especially vulnerable. Microsoft now automatically applies fixes to Windows 10 every time you connect to the internet. With previous versions of Windows you could simply choose not to receive and apply fixes. However old versions of Windows no longer have any fixes sent to them. Windows XP is the main version that is now unsupported but Vista and 95 is also too old to support.

This “infection” was spread by email. If anyone clicked on a link in the bad guy’s email it then sent copies of itself to anyone it could find in your address book or was connected to your computer by WiFi. If you never click on an email that you do not recognise then you reduce your chances of being infected – unless someone on the same WiFi network does it!

So in summary,

• Use Windows 10
• If, not make sure all fixes are fitted. They are distributed every Tuesday
• Don’t use anything less than Windows 7
• Make sure you have a paper copy of anything vital to your life or business or at least on a non-Windows device e.g. smartphone.

My wife has just started using a Mac rather than ANY Windows machine.

You are safe using this website. It is on one of the world’s safest computers and run by professionals at WordPress.com. We just add the words and photos.

In a previous life I was the manager of the Disaster Recovery service for IBM. The first thing I did was rename it to Business Continuity Services because business should not DEPEND on computers. They should use them to improve efficiency only.

John Oakley