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The Norton Anti-virus Scam

Here's a phishing email that I haven't written about before. To start with I think it's worth mentioning that we don't recommend Norton as an Anti-virus solution anyway. We've found it to be a rather cumbersome application which is arguably a case of the cure being worse than the disease. We find that it clogs up computers and is constantly trying to upsell to Users. We recommend and manage ESET Anti-virus instead which is a lot less intrusive and does an excellent job.  However, the email ...

Windows 11 Widgets

The Widgets Board in Windows 11 is very similar to the News and Interests section of Windows 10. It's comprised of a bunch of little windows like news, weather, stocks, calendar and so on that are dynamic, customisable and re-arrangeable. The widgets are at the top of the Widgets Board and you'll find news feeds underneath. The idea seems to be that widgets are where you can go on your computer to keep up to date with things that you like to follow. ...

File Explorer in Windows 11

Good organisation is vital if you want to use your computer efficiently, and organisation takes place in File Explorer. It was in Windows 10, and is still in Windows 11, the library catalogue of your computer. The Start Menu is where you find your applications but File Explorer is where you find your own documents, files, photos, downloads etc. Anything you save winds up here so it's important to get it right if you want to be able to access these things again in the future. Savings items to you...

Windows 10 vs Windows 11 - What's the Difference?

I've written quite a few blogs this year about Windows 11 and whether you should move to it. I tend to get bogged down in logistical concerns - have the usual transitory bugs been worked out? Can my computer support it? And what are the time frames for Microsoft's continued support for Windows 10? But what about the actual functional differences between the two operating systems? How will Windows 11 change your daily experience of using your computer? ...

Green Mouse Covid-19 Precautions

Now that Omicron is active in the Waikato and in the Cambridge community, the Team here at Green Mouse is taking steps to ensure continuity of service to our valued clients. Our strategy is to split up our staff to avoid becoming close contacts of each other if anyone is exposed to Covid. Most of the team are working from home and the office will be manned by just one team member at a time. What this means for service is that we will carry out as much work as we can remotely (Download Team Viewe...

Is Your Business Omicron Ready?

Covid 19 has drastically shaken up how businesses operate. Over the last two years we've had lockdowns, working from home, parents needing more flexibility in their work to deal with homeschooling, masks, distancing, santising, delivering more services remotely, increasing online purchasing, serving customers at the door... It's been an impressive display of adaptibility and good old Kiwi ingenuity by NZ businesses, and now we have to deal with the next stage - Omicron.  Based on ...

Windows 11 Update

Late last year I advised that Windows 10 Users might want to wait until January to upgrade to Windows 11. Your computer has probably already been suggesting this. Like many big upgrades, Windows 11 has had some teething issues when installed on existing computers, though many people have already upgraded with no problems. My caution was also about our availability over the Christmas period to fix your computer for you in the event that the upgrade causes problems.  The new computers we...

Merry Christmas!

Green Mouse will close for the holidays at mid-day on the 24th of December.We will re-open on the 10th of January at 8:30am....

We Have Monitors!

After months of struggle to get hold of monitors from our suppliers we now have a good range available. If you're keen to get hold of one before Christmas, give us a call or email today....

Your Vaccine Certificate - Keep it Safe

Just like tickets that you buy for an event or a flight, you absolutely should not post pictures of your new Vaccine Certificate to Facebook or other social media. These items can be easily stolen just by taking a screen shot of your post. It's also a risk for identity theft - it shows your full name and date of birth. The Vaccine Certificates became available for download on the 17th of November but as of this morning (the 18th) the site is still experiencing heavy traffic - you might want to w...

Phishing Emails

Recently I received a phishing email of exactly the type that we've been warning our clients about and taking measures to protect them from - the kind of phishing email that businesses are being subjected to more and more often. Scammers have realised that the security of Microsoft 365 and SharePoint is top notch, so the easiest way to get hold of valuable company data that can be held for ransom, is to trick users into giving them access with an official log-in....

Windows 11 - Time to Wait

The Windows 11 update is out and some Users will already have received notifications popping up on their computer encouraging them to upgrade. At this stage there are two important points to make about this update. 1 - The update is not suitable for every computer.  Here are the specifications (from ARS Technica):  A "compatible" 1 GHz or faster dual-core 64-bit processor from Intel, AMD, or Qualcomm4GB of RAM64GB of storageUEFI Secure Boot supported and enabledA Trusted...

Windows 11

We got the big announcement from Microsoft this week that Windows 11 will be available from the 5th of October. You might also have received pop up notifications on your computer about it. Microsoft is touting a fresh design, Teams integration into the taskbar, a better gaming experience, increased speed and efficiency, improved integration with touch, pen and voice input, an updated Microsoft Store and more. Check out Microsoft’s release details here.However the reality is that the updat...

Track and Trace Package Scam

I received this package scam email twice this morning. It’s a fairly poor attempt frankly, claiming to be from NZ Post without even making use of their new logo (or even the old one). Plus the sender address is this give-away: <admin.9m9sgrjwa2pbdplsyz6@coralco.org.uk>The entire email is a link so wherever you click you’re going to a secondary site, so please don’t click on it. These scammers are trying to take advantage of the lockdown situation where people are ordering packages an...

Windows 10 will Block ‘Unwanted’ Apps

The unwanted apps feature has been turned off by default but starting very shortly it will be turned on. It sounds good in theory – the trick will be what Windows 10 defines as unwanted, and whether you agree.These unwanted apps are referred to as PUAs (potentially unwanted applications), the blocking of which is considered to be a security feature. PUAs are essentially low level malware – they carry out functions which are annoying but not technically illegal. This article from Bleepin...

Windows 10 Basic Tips

Despite Windows 7 being out of support since January 2020 there are still people transitioning out of it and into Windows 10. If you’re still using Windows 7…please don’t. Seriously though, it’s a security issue at this stage. At the very least you should not use a Windows 7 computer for internet banking. When I say out of support, what I mean is that Microsoft is no longer releasing security updates, so every nefarious hacker and his dog will be looking for a way in, and Microsoft ...

The New Windows Update and the Value of Restarts

Another Windows update has been released this week – the 21H1 update. This is not a major update, we’re expecting a much larger one around October. You probably won’t notice much difference in terms of functions. Here are the changes listed in this article from The VergeWindows Hello multicamera support to set the default as the external camera when both external and internal Windows Hello cameras are present.Windows Defender Application Guard performance improvements including optimi...

Attacks via Email – The Waikato DHB

No doubt you’ve all seen the news articles about the security breach suffered by Waikato Hospital this week. When it first happened Simon said his bet was that it had come in via an email, and that seems to be the case (Check out this article from Stuff).The reason we’re not surprised about this is that emails are one of the most common sources of cyber security breaches for individuals, and increasingly commonly, businesses as well. In this case they suspect an email attachment, but li...

Help! My Inbox is Chaos

Is your email inbox a gigantic mess? Email has become an exercise in constant management. It’s like trying to keep your kitchen clean – if you don’t do it regularly it soon turns into a terrible nightmare. We see inboxes all the time with many thousands of emails where the user has just totally given up.It can be a simple matter of getting set up, so we would like to offer to help. Come to our office for a half hour session with Gina during May for the discounted rate of $40 and we’ll ge...

Massive International Shortage of Chips for Routers

As a result of the disruptions to the supply chain last year and the increased demand for home internet, a big shortage of routers is about to hit. So far the suppliers have enough on hand but they’ve been advised of wait times of up to 60 weeks for more. Check out the details hereThe chips are used in a whole stack of computing and communications equipment but since selling to Apple for iPhones is worth more to the supplies than selling them to companies that make routers, the routers wi...

Another Facebook Data Breach

Another Facebook data breach has occurred – apparently the personal details of about 533 million users worldwide were hacked some time ago but we’re just learning about this particular batch now.It isn’t the first time that Facebook has been breached in this way. Facebook was quick to point out that they’ve improved security since the breach occurred but it’s such a ripe target that my guess is that it’s bound to happen again eventually.Has your data been hacked?The easiest way to ch...

Easter Leave for Employers and Employees

An employee can only required to work on a public holiday if it’s written into their employment agreement and it’s a day they would usually work. Otherwise, an employee can be asked to work on a public holiday, but they don’t have to agree.If an employee works on a public holidaythey must get paid at least time and a halfif the public holiday falls on what is a normal working day for them, they must also get a paid day off at a later date....