EASY FIX

If you have worked with computers, there have been times when you yelled at your computer, maybe said some bad words and wanted to throw the damned thing out the window. I have been in that situation lots of times, most recently this morning.

My wife couldn’t get on the internet with her computer, a Windows 7 Toshiba laptop. When it works, it connects to the internet through a wireless router. I went to the control panel on her machine and opened Network and Sharing Center and tried to connect from there. I was told that either there was a loose connection or I need a driver update. (A driver is a program that runs some element of the computer or something attached to it.)

I knew it wasn’t a loose connection because the Toshiba connects wirelessly, and my computer was getting on the internet with no problem. And if the problem was a driver, how could I download a driver if the machine wasn’t connected to the internet?

How to solve the problem? Maybe I could connect Janet’s computer directly by connecting it to the router if I had an Ethernet wire that was long enough. Of course that would eliminate one of the advantages of a laptop. She would have to remain close enough to the router for the wire to reach.

I have an old router. Maybe if Janet’s computer could not connect the router I am using now, she would be able to connect through the old one. I didn’t think there would be a problem connecting two routers to the modem that brings the internet signal into the house.

I had to go someplace and didn’t have time to try hooking up any of these wiring combinations, but I wanted to try something quick and easy before I left.

I turned the computer off and turned it back, and it connected with the internet.

Often computer problems can be fixed that easily. Before you get all frustrated and start saying bad words and thinking about throwing you machine out the window, just turn it off and turn it back on. Often that’s all it takes.

LIFE WITHOUT THE INTERNET

A lot of people my age, the over-the-hill generation, want nothing to do with computers. They’ll say things like, “I’ve got along without computers for 73 years. I guess I can get along without them for a few more years.” With good reason they scorn idiots who walk into traffic with their faces glued to their smartphones. Nevertheless, despite their wishes, these technophobes depend on the internet many times every day.

This point was made clearly one day in February 2015 when vandals cut the fiber optic cables that brought the internet to northern Arizona. Many places have a backup internet connection. At the time, Arizona did not. All of a sudden there was no telephone service, and it wasn’t just cell phones that didn’t work. A lot of landline phones don’t make calls over telephone wires but over the internet. The city of Flagstaff lost its telephone service. Citizens could not call the fire department or police department. Robberies were not reported. Police could not respond to accidents nor the fire department to fires. Eventually Flagstaff had to rely on the Arizona Department of Public Safety to dispatch the police and firemen.  North of Phoenix, 911 service was supplemented by hand-held radios. In Yavapati County authorities could not access police department data bases.

Television stations could not access weather reports. Broadcasters showed blank spaces on weather maps where weather statistics would normally appear. Students who wanted to email their assignments to their professors before the deadline could not get online.

Ordinary citizens were affected, and not just those who couldn’t check their email or looks something up on Google. Even the most hardcore Luddite has at least a flip phone for emergencies. These days everyone has a credit card or two and a debit card. One couple in Arizona decided to buy an ice cream cone. They wanted to pay for it with a credit card, but the vendor could not accept credit cards with the internet down. No problem, said the customer. On the other side of the street was an ATM. He crossed the street and put his debit card into the ATM. Alas, without internet access, the ATM wouldn’t let him get any cash.

Workers toiled through the day to find and repair the break. At 6:30 that evening service started to come back, but it was not fully restored until 3:00 the next morning. 

IS YOUR COMPUTER SMARTER THAN YOU?

In the 1980s I was taking a programming class. One of the students asked the teacher how smart computers were. She said, they have an IQ of about 1. After all, computers don't know anything until some human being puts the data in. If the programmer didn't give the instructions correctly, the dumb machine could not use its own judgment to correct the process.

Well, a lot has changed in the last 30 years. Computers have more memory, faster processors, more storage capacity, and they also have access to the internet, which they didn't have 30 years ago. Not only do they have great capacity, but computers are capable of learning new things through a technology called machine learning.

If you're not sure how to spell Constantinople, your computer will tell you. And don’t even think about matching your number crunching skills with a computer, but these machines can do a lot more sophisticated stuff than spelling and arithmetic. Way back in 1997 an IBM computer named Deep Blue beat chess champion Garry Kasparov in a match. In 2011 a new IBM supercomputer, Watson, beat two Jeopardy champions at their game. Technicians had been feeding data to Watson for months, but the machine was not connected to the internet for the contest. It beat the champions with information it held within itself.

Now Watson is being fed medical information. IBM sees Dr. Watson as a tool that can help human physicians. Medical computers can diagnose illnesses better than humans can. For one thing, the machines can hold a lot more information than any human can. Also even the best of us have our prejudices which inform our judgments. Computers are free from prejudice and other forms of intellectual limitations that all of us mere humans have.

Computers can do more than just act as medical assistants. In 2001 robots beat human beings in simulated financial trading competition. Machines can even write financial reports and real estate analyses. They can generate news articles or sports reports based on statistical data from games. They can write in English, Spanish, French or German.

A company called Yseop (pronounced Easy Op) uses artificial intelligence to help its business customers boost revenue, reduce, costs, and increase productivity. The company’s software enables it to speak intelligently to customers. By the year 2020, Yseop believes, every computer, smart phone, and tablet will be a smart machine, able to reason, dialog intelligently, and express conclusions and recommendations in natural language. Yseop’s mission is to turn every computer into a smart machine that partners with people to increase their capacity and performance.

Not only are modern computers pretty smart, but individual machines get even more intelligent through machine learning. I will take a look at machine learning next week.

The computer on which I compiled this blog is far from being a top-of-the-line, newest machine. I bought it about five years ago for $300. I think I’m smarter than this machine, but I’ve been wrong about my own capabilities before. I’m planning to get a new computer within the next year. Will I be smarter than the new machine? I wouldn’t bet on it. 

RANSOMEWARE

The scam

A while back a friend of mine had her computer kidnapped and held for ransom. It was not the old-fashioned message with words cut out of a newspaper and glued to a blank sheet of paper. The note popped up on her computer screen. It claimed to be from the FBI and accused her of downloading child pornography.  My friend’s computer was then locked down, and she could not access her files. The “FBI” would restore her access to her computer when she paid a fine of $300.

My friend, a woman in her seventies, had not downloaded any pornography, nor was the ransom note from the FBI. It was from cyber criminals using ransomware. Somehow they gain control of the victim’s computer and freeze the contents by encrypting it and threatening to destroy it unless a ransom is paid. These criminals attack individuals, small businesses and even hospitals.

Hospitals under attack

A number of large hospital systems have been attacked by hackers. MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center had its data frozen in a ransomware hit. The criminals demanded 45 bitcoins, worth about $19,000, before they would release the key to the frozen data. (Bitcoin is an artificial form of currency. Cyber  criminals prefer it to actual currency because it is harder to trace.)

Hospitals of course need to have constant access to its files. They not only need to protect medical records but they need the network to access critical medical information and to avoid medical errors.

How did the crooks get onto the hospital’s network?

They can gain access by phishing. Phishing is tricking employees to click on a link that opens the network to outsiders. If you have ever received an email with a vague message like, “I thought you would be interested in this” followed by a hyperlink, you have been subject to a phishing expedition. Even if you know the person who supposedly sent you the message, it could in fact be from a hacker. Hackers can hijack user’s email address books and send out spam or virus to everyone on the address book.

 Another way that criminals worm their way into a computer network is by exploiting vulnerabilities in the network itself. Computer systems are so complex that it is impossible to avoid vulnerabilities in them. That is why it is important to keep your antivirus programs up to date.

Protect your data before you are hacked

Get in the habit of backing up any important data so that if your computer is hacked, you can still gain access to your files. However, if you back anything up by a device attached to your computer by a usb plug, that material is also subject to hackers. Likewise a storage device connected to your WiFi is vulnerable to attack. To be sure that your data is safe, store it on a device that is not attached in any way to your computer. Even better, store it in the cloud. That way, even if your computer is completely destroyed, you will be able to recover your records.

What to do if your computer is held for ransom

Hospitals that were hit with ransomware had to pay the ransom because it was critical to get to many of their files. Police and computer companies like Microsoft recommend that individuals not pay the ransom. For one thing, you don’t know whether the thieves will actually release your data.

If criminals are holding your computer for ransom, the first thing you need to do is disconnect it from the internet and intranet so that the virus won’t spread.

Next try to get rid of the virus. Download Malwarebytes or another malware scanner to try to track down the problem. If you can’t use the affected computer, download it on another computer. See what you can find out about the bug that is on your computer and how to get rid of it.

If you have backed up your data, you’re all set.

Prevention

It’s a lot easier to keep malware out of your computer than it is to get rid of it after it gains entry.

• Don’t fall into the trap of clicking on suspicious hyperlinks
• Keep your antivirus up to date

Back up your data so you can easily recover it