Time to Write

A gift for anytime of the year

Beware fake ransomware, and tips for being safer online

Probably you've read about ransomware, malware that encrypts all of the data on your computer, followed by demands for payment to restore your files.

An article in the Guardian estimated that 40% of businesses have been affected by it.

Paying up is no guarantee that you'll actually get your files back and may make you the target of further attacks. Law enforcement has been relatively ineffective in catching the attackers, who often are thousands of miles away.

PANIC!

The other day I thought it was my turn. A window popped up saying that unless I called the phone number in the window, all my data would be destroyed. I wasn't able to close that window nor to close the browser.

FAKE RANSOMEWARE--AND THE SOLUTION

Panic, especially since I thought I was protected by using a program called Bitdefender (which I recommend).

However, before doing anything, I looked up ransomware on my iPad and discovered that in some cases the demand is a fake and the information on the computer has not been affected. It's just a pop-up window and while you can't close it in the normal way, if you use the "force quit" command to close the browser and then open it again but without restoring the tabs you had open, you're back in business.

That, fortunately, is exactly what happened.

I have been using both Safari and Chrome; it seems to me that lately a lot of unwanted material is coming up when I use Chrome. I don't know whether others have had the same experience. 

HACKED TWICE THIS YEAR

My sites have been the target of hackers twice in the past year. The first time, they took over my sites and posted weird images and a "tag" similar to the signage favoured by gangs. I don't think they targeted me specifically, my sites just happened to be among the many they took over.

I changed servers and had an expert increase the security settings, but several of the sites were hacked again, this time by criminals who used them to create home pages that looked like the home pages of banks and credit card companies and tried to get people to give up their banking details. 

I've had the expert install even more security, but it seems that it's difficult, if not impossible, to be totally safe. Such attacks mean the sites are unavailable, and restoring them can be expensive. There's also a feeling of violation not unlike coming home and finding that someone has broken in. 

TIP 1: CHECK THE ORIGIN OF EMAILS

By the way, if you get any emails that might not be genuine, check the full address from which the message was sent. Often a message that supposedly is from your bank turns out to have originated from an address like "odie1barclays." A fake message I got recently about a book not being delivered was from somebody at "Amazn.com".

The more sophisticated con artists are more clever than that, but quite a few depend on us being too busy to make even rudimentary checks.

TIP 2: USE AN ALTERNATIVE BROWSER FOR IMPROVED PRIVACY

If you don't like the idea of your browser tracking your every move, consider DuckDuckGo. Unlike most others, they don't keep a record of your internet activity. You can find out more at DuckDuckGo.com.

TIP 3: DO ONLINE AND OFFLINE BACK-UPS

Of course you should be backing up all of your files, and to be extra secure it makes sense to back up onto the cloud and also onto a storage device. 

External hard drives have become very small and cheap now or you can still back up onto DVDs. However, to be totally safe you'd need to disconnect the drives when not actually backing up. Otherwise, apparently hackers can target connected external drives as well. 

THE NEW REALITY

It seems that whether it's the US presidential election or our modest little websites, the internet is another front that requires us to be alert. I'm not an expert on any of this, just sharing what's happened to me in case you might find something useful in it. If in doubt, do a detailed internet search for fuller information and advice.

 

Could be the next best-seller...at least in one part of the UK

Apologies to my US readers, for whom the parody cover below won't ring a bell. I shall explain: Here in England there's a railway operated by a company called Southern. The people who run the company and the people who work for it don't get along well, which means there are lots of strikes. Which means lots of trains don't run when they're supposed to (or sometimes at all).

During commute times they pack people in like sardines, while charging very high rates...partly because eventually they give in to the strikers and that means paying more or hiring more people or both.

There's just enough of the "stiff upper lip" tendency left over in the UK for companies and unions to get away with situations like this. "Mustn't grumble," they say, grumbling. Perhaps one day a hero will arise to lead the downtrodden commuting masses. Me, I work at home.

 

 

The danger of focusing on "what if's"

As writers, it's natural for us to focus on "what if's":

• what if nobody wants to buy what we write?
• what if it's not good enough?
• what if I should have been writing that other thing instead?
• what if I don't figure out the ending? 

I'm sure you can think of some more!

Of course sometimes we come up with "what if's" that are more fun: "What if it's a best-seller? What if it makes me a LOT of money? What if it turns out as well as I hope it will?"

If we spend too much time on either (or both) what if's, it can hold us back, according to professors and co-authors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans in this video.

 

Tate Publishing Update: Lawsuits, Layoffs, and Arrests

UPDATE JUNE 2016: Ryan Tate and his father have been arrested on felony charges.

For a complete update, including a link to the forms you need to fill out in order to file a complaint with  the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, see:

http://timetowrite.blogs.com/weblog/2017/06/tate-publishing-executives-arrested-authors-cheated.html

Also see The Writer Beware pages on this: http://accrispin.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/tate-publishing-enterprises-slapped.html?commentPage=2

UPDATE FEBRUARY 2017: Tate Publishing has gone out of business. For the best current information, go here:

http://accrispin.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/tate-publishing-enterprises-slapped.html

If you, like many other authors, have spent money and gotten little or nothing in return, this comment suggests one thing to try:  If you've paid anything to Tate via credit card, dispute the charges (this goes for PayPal, too):

 If you are a former recent Tate Authors who paid fees upfront with a credit card, DISPUTE THE CHARGES. I just got off the phone with Discover, who I paid all of my payments adding up to $900 with, and we are disputing all charges from July through November of last year. They investigate, and if they can't get contact with Tate (Lord knows they won't since no one can), then I win. The money will be returned to me. I don't know how other credit card companies handle disputes, but I will always use Discover if they get my money back...

update of October 2016:

I've written previously about Tate Publishing and now there's an update on the valuable "Writer Beware" website. You can read the whole thing there, but here are few tidbits:

The Better Business Bureau took away Tate Publishing's accreditation, after receiving more than a hundred complaints over the past three years;

Xerox is suing Tate Publishing for $1.89 million for non-payment on service agreements and promissory note payments;

There have been layoffs at Tate Publishing's printing plant;

Their employment practices are being investigated by the Department of Labor.

Previously, they threatened me with legal action for writing about their practices; now it looks like their lawyers will be busy on the other side of the fence.

If you are considering signing a contract with Tate, do your own diligence so you can make an informed decision.