Posts by Russell T

March 31st is World Backup Day. Help make sense of what is a potentially confusing topic, we recommend this article:

The Beginner’s Guide to PC Backup

Remember that regular backups not only help recover from equipment failures, but also malware and ransomware.

Congratulations to all our Holiday Open House Prize Winners!

	Carol, Kindle Fire Winner!	Johnny, Kindle Fire Winner!
Melissa, Roku Streaming Stick Winner!	Ken, Smart TV Winner!	Lee, Year of Gigabit Winner!	Siegmar, Roku Streaming Stick Winner!

Due to “Sun Outages” some TV signals may experience degradation over the next ten-day period, from October 2nd until October 12th.

The interruptions do not affect all channels and are an unavoidable side effect of content providers using satellite down-links to distribute their TV Channels. The exact times and duration will vary and usually last for only 5 to 10 minutes occurring in the mornings and early evenings. To read more go to the following link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_outage

ValuNet customers can enjoy HBO for free from 6am Friday, October 7th to 6am Monday, October 10th. Viewers will be able to see the first two episodes of the new HBO series Westworld and the premiere of their widely anticipated comedy Divorce. They can also preview HBO’s movie lineup with Paper Towns, The Martian and Spy. Plus, HBO’s movie premiere of Ride Along 2. HBO channels start at channel 400. See what HBO is all about!

The FTC issued a warning concerning what information your phone may be sharing with a rental car when you sync up with its on-board system.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/what-your-phone-telling-your-rental-car

It was recently announced that as many as 900 million Android devices are subject to a collection of vulnerabilities collectively referred to as “QuadRooter”. It turns out that, though the vulnerabilities exist, it might not be as bad as all that. Read the article below for additional details.

QuadRooter Vulnerability: 5 Things to Know About This Android Security Scare

No exact date has been mentioned, but in the next couple of weeks they’ll be getting rid of their free stream service. The paid service appears to be continuing unchanged. Read the article below for more details.

http://mashable.com/hulu-ending-free-service/

Congratulations to all these extremely talented people! Good luck!

ValuNet customers can enjoy HBO for free from 6am Friday, July 15th to 6am Monday, July 18th. This weekend features the season two premiere of Ballers, the premiere of part 2 of The Night Of and the HBO premiere of Straight Outta Compton. Also, preview HBO’s movie lineup with Ted 2, Spy and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. HBO channels start at channel 400. See what HBO is all about!

Here at ValuNet FIBER we take the security of our customers very seriously. Recent events in the news from around world has prompted us to share some information that can protect you and your family from what the Department of Justice calls “Fraudsters”.

One of the more recent occurrences involves data thefts of personal information from websites. The information often includes name, address, phone number, credit card information and other personal data. The Fraudsters will use this information to extort money from their victim, often by threatening exposure to friends and relatives of the victim’s personal data. Sometimes the information that the Fraudsters use is simply the fact that the victim used a particular website at all, such as in the case of the Ashley Madison hack a few months ago.

Once the threat of exposure has been made the Fraudster will require a payment to keep them from revealing the information. More and more the preferred method of payment is in Bitcoin. A largely anonymous form of digital currency.

The department of Justice has released some tips on limiting your exposure and to help protect yourself from this type of crime:

TIPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF:     http://www.ic3.gov/media/2016/160601.aspx

• Do not open e-mail or attachments from unknown individuals.
• Monitor your bank account statements regularly, as well and as your credit report at least once a year for any fraudulent activity.
• Do not communicate with the subject.
• Do not store sensitive or embarrassing photos of yourself online or on your mobile devices.
• Use strong passwords and do not use the same password for multiple websites.
• Never provide personal information of any sort via e-mail. Be aware, many e-mails requesting your personal information appear to be legitimate.
• Ensure security settings for social media accounts are turned on and set at the highest level of protection.
• When providing personally identifiable information, credit card information, or other sensitive information to a website, ensure the transmission is secure by verifying the URL prefix includes https, or the status bar displays a “lock” icon.

It is recommended that should you become the target of this type of activity that you contact the FBI. Further, it is recommended that you do not pay the Fraudster as this perpetuates their behavior.