Social Media

This month's newsletter looks at some topics posted on the eComputerZ Social Media sites.

Let's get right into it by telling you all about Hollie Guard.

This is a mobile phone app designed to protect you and your family. It is especially useful for children when they are out and about on their own.

Features range from real-time journey tracking to alerts that send their location and live footage of what is happening to your nominated contact.

The aim of this fantastic application is to be a deterrent to any form of attack.

Click the image below to learn more.

Ransomware is becoming more and more popular with cyber criminals. Not only that, it is beginning to evolve.

The latest ransomware released this past month see's hackers covertly connecting to your machine and finding ways to check your online bank details.

Once they hack your account, they encrypt your data and customise the ransom fee based on what you can afford!

This nasty trick is called the Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Shade. It originated from Russia, and looks like this if you get infected.

Another piece of ransomware called R980 issues the decryption key after payment via a mail account that expires after a period of time.

If you don't get to it in time, kiss your data goodbye! Remember, Backup, Backup, Backup.

There is a fair chance that even if you pay the ransom you won't get your data back. To pay you often need to access the dark web and bitcoins.

Keep yourself safe and ensure all of your devices are protected with anti virus and anti-malware programs.

Guest writer Ken Wilson, Security Specialist for The PC Doctor, has published an article on eComputerZ that covers the basics for keeping yourself safe while online.

Take a moment to read it.

The Windows 10 Anniversary update, issued on the 2nd August, didn't go according to plan.

Those who were eager to install and take advantage of the new features, such as sketching on a screenshot (called Windows Ink) also found their webcams stopped working.

This affected people's ability to Skype properly. It has affected millions of Microsoft's customers.

This was due to a video encoding issue. At the time of writing, Microsoft has failed to issue a fix.

As a member of the British Computer Society I often get newsletters with lots of interesting articles.

This month I thought I would share with you an article by a teacher.

In the article he outlines what he thinks is critical for teaching primary and secondary school children about technology.

Termed 'Digital Literacy' the teacher says primary school children should focus on how to use devices, apps, images, video and sound in an academic context.

Children born in this century do not know a world without the Internet, mobile phones, Twitter, Facebook, gestures (swipe, tap) etc.

However, this doesn't mean they are properly educated for productive learning and developing.

The teacher identifies this as a gap in the curriculum, and has a plan to plug it. Click or tap to read the Digital literacy - What do primary aged children need to know? article. As a parent, do you agree?

Final Thoughts

To round up this month's edition of eBits n ByteZ, I'll give you a sneak preview of a new 6-part series I am in the middle of writing.

This new series is based on the tools you need to help fix your computer hardware issues.

Part 1 is written, and looks at an initial set of tools including bags, screwdrivers and cutters.

Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter. Until next time feel free to take a look at the following eComputerZ resources.

• eComputerZ Blog
• eComputerZ Twitter Page
• eComputerZ Facebook Page