Weekly Tech Tips and News for October 12, 2018

It's definitely been a weather whiplash kind of week. We were literally running air conditioning at the beginning of the week, and they've mentioned the S word for tonight. (I don't want to speak it into existence!) While I'm whining about the inconvenience of the Fall weather, my thoughts and prayers go out to those in Florida who have lost everything in hurricane Michael. While we are praying for their safety, there are a few concerns we need to deal with regarding a different kind of safety - cyber safety. If you have been presented with a pop up message prompting you to update Adobe Flash - do not play along, it will load malware on your Windows PC. If you have already received this pop up and downloaded/installed the file, the second post below will show you how to get rid of it. We can never be too vigilant!

• This Cryptojacking Mining Malware Pretends to be a Flash Update
• How to Remove Viruses and Malware on Your Windows PC
• G Suite Updates:  Get Google 2-Step Prompts on All Phones, Google Slides Adds Automatic Captions, Consumer G+ Going Away After Bug Revealed, Easily Add Images and Charts From Other Files to Google Docs and Slides
• Microsoft Fixes the October Windows 10 Update
• EDU in 90:  Google Drawings in the Classroom
• How to Create Personalized Certificates in Bulk Through Google Sheets

This Cryptojacking Mining Malware Pretends to be a Flash Update

This Cryptojacking Mining Malware Pretends to be a Flash Update, from ZDNet by Danny Palmer
Here's a new word for our vocabulary...cryptojacking. Good luck using that in a sentence three times today, but your friends will be so impressed when you do! Cryptojacking is when hackers infect a computer so they can use it to mine cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Monero, Zcash, etc.). The latest cryptojacking malware making the rounds is disguised as a pop up notice on your Windows PC prompting you to update Flash - don't click on it to download and "update". It is actually malware, which will quietly run in the background and you may not even know it's there. In this case, it is mining Monero, which is another cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin. FYI:  Flash typically updates itself in the background and doesn't ask you to download and install. While this malware doesn't harm your files, it will use your computer's resources, run down the battery and hog your internet bandwidth. What to do if you think you've accidentally installed this malware? Download the free version of Malwarebytes and run daily scans. It will find malware files and prompt you to quarantine them.

How to Remove Viruses and Malware on Your Windows PC

How to Remove Viruses and Malware on Your Windows PC, from How-To Geek by Lowell Heddings
So, let's say you did accidentally install that cryptojacking mining malware mentioned in the previous article, or maybe your computer isn't acting right. Now what? This article will walk you through exactly what you should do if you think your Windows PC is infected and your anti-virus didn't catch it.

G Suite Updates:

Get Google 2-Step Prompts on All Phones

I've said it before, if you are not already using 2-step verification for your Google accounts - especially your school account - I strongly recommend you set this up. It makes it much harder for your account to be hacked, and Google makes it pretty painless - especially now that you can turn it on for all the phones you login to. What is 2-step verification? When you login to your Google account, you will receive a prompt on  your phone to verify it's you logging in. You simply tap Yes, and you're logged in. When setting up 2-step verification in Settings, simply turn on the feature in the image above. Full details for this new upgrade are available in this G Suite Update blog post. This feature is available now. Incidently, 2-step verification is available for most of your online accounts - banks, credit cards, social media, shopping sites, etc. Just check the settings for each account.

Google Slides Adds Automatic Captions

Do you ever find yourself presenting in a noisy room...or classroom? Do any of your students have a hearing impairment? In about two weeks, Google Slides will be able to automatically show closed captions in your slide show as you present. You will need to turn captions on before using this feature. The microphone in your computer will be used to record the presenter's voice. Check out this G Suite Updates blog post for full details.

Consumer G+ Going Away After Bug Revealed

If you use Google +, it will soon be going away for consumer accounts. This means the G+ account associated with your personal Google account will be going away, but not for business customers. It's still unclear if it is staying or going for Education accounts. Google is taking these measures after finally revealing there was a bug that would expose personal data to 3rd parties if you gave apps access to your profile data. This bug has been around for several years, but Google just became aware of it and patched it last March, so there is no current threat. Unfortunately, they didn't pass along this tidbit of info until now, because there was no evidence that the data had been mined and misused. If you would like to delete your Google+ account only, and not your entire Google account, here are step-by-step instructions. If you use your school G+ account as a learning network, you may want to hang on to it until it is clear whether or not it is sticking around for Education accounts.

Easily Add Images and Charts From Other Files to Google Docs and Slides

Using the Explore tool, which is built in to Slides and Docs, you can look through Google Drive to find images and charts from other files to insert into your Doc or Slide. Check out the full description and screen shots here. You should begin to see this new feature in the next 2 weeks.

Microsoft Fixes the October Windows 10 Update

Microsoft pulled back their October update last Friday, and fixed the file-deleting bug in it. They reissued the update this week, and it is now safe to install the update when you are prompted. This month's update is more than a routine monthly security update. It is a feature update, that installs new Windows 10 features. This update will take longer than the normal monthly update, so make sure you have some time before starting the installation. My upgrade took 15-20 minutes - not too long, but longer than normal monthly updates. Several of the new features were outlined in last week's blog post.

EDU in 90:  Google Drawings in the Classroom

How to Create Personalized Certificates in Bulk Through Google Sheets

How to Create Personalized Certificates in Bulk Through Google Sheets, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
This is a huge time saver. It can be used for more than just certificates. I use it in the fall to email Infinite Campus set up letters to parents. I'm sure you can also think of several ways to use this trick. Also included in this post, is a way to send certificates via Google Forms.