John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmitz has Invited You to a Celebration of Life

You may get an email (or have gotten one) from a person that you know. There will be names and email addresses of other people that you know as well listed in the To: field.

If you see this email with this title, delete it immediately! This is an elaborate ruse to take over your computer and it is self propagating, you do not even need to click this email, there is an executable attached to it that seems to run unbeknownst to you. I know this because it ran on my computer.

Your antivirus won’t pick it up because the file that it runs is an actual program that we in the tech industry use to provide remote support for users. The program is called ScreenConnect and it is by Connectwise. There is a link at the bottom of the email, as seen here, it says Open Inivtation. I did not click this, however, I walked away for a second to use the restroom and when I came back, I saw a little ScreenConnect Buble at the top of my screen that said “Your computer is being controlled by: Insert Bad Actor Name Here” (I don’t remember what the name was).

When I followed the procedure to remove this program, it “Hozed” my Windows installation, (Thankfully, I use cloud backup) When I rebooted as you are supposed to do when making modifications to the system registry, the system would no longer boot, as it appears that the malware program was written to corrupt the registry if you tried to remove it.

I had to format my drive and reload Windows (don’t worry, it didn’t take too long for me to do as I have solid state drives in my laptop, and I didn’t lose any data, only time.

All of this to say the following. There are bad actors out there (no, I don’t mean Middletooth… you know who this is, just think of 80s action movies involving Navy Pilots, or movies that have incredibly hard missions in the title. If you are like me, and use Preview mode in Outlook, there is a chance that your system could be compromised. Take precautions and also get a cloud backup service from a trusted provider. DJNM Technologies Re-sells iDrive Cloud backup products, we can help you find the right solution. It might be time for a system check. We also offer Secure System/Network Monitoring and Secure Remote Support Solutions available in a monthly subscription for $50/month, plus whatever time it takes when you have an issue that needs to be resolved.

Contact Us now if you are interested in these services!