Uninvited Guests

Uninvited Guests 

This week on Battle Born Tech, our callers’ computers are playing host to some very uninvited guests.

Tom suspects something is hiding deep in his system — and he’s right to worry. Rootkits are the sneakiest squatters in computing, designed to stay invisible while they run the show. We dig out the eviction tools: Malwarebytes with rootkit scanning switched ON (it’s off by default — you have to ask for it), and the legendary Kaspersky TDSSKiller for the stubborn cases that won’t leave quietly.

Jackson’s Bluetooth speaker has its own uninvited guest: a previous user lurking in the store.  Joe helps sort it out with some hard-won wisdom — the best wireless audio today means aptX Adaptive, LC3, LE Audio, or Bluetooth 5.2+, but the catch is both your headphones AND your source device have to speak the same language. Bluetooth doesn’t negotiate. It just picks the codec both sides have in common.

We go hunting with Brian in Windows Security settings and finds something nobody invited: OneDrive ads squatting in his security panel. We also uncover the ghost of Windows S Mode, still haunting fresh Windows 11 installs under a new name: Smart App Control and explain how ransomware protection through version history is available in Microsoft’s OneDrive. Christy remembers Giant Anti-Spyware the ancestor of Windows Security.

In Battle Plans: we clear up the difference between MoCA internet over coax and the old Token Ring network — not the same animal at all — and explain why your coax cable might already be doing double duty without you knowing it.

“Uninvited Guests” — because your computer didn’t lock the door.

We are in the studio Saturdays 9 am to 11 am Pacific. Call direct to studio then or anytime at 775-241-3571 and set up a time to battle your tech!
 

1. Tom wonders if he can find out rootkits. We help him dig them out. Correction: MalwareBytes Rootkit is an OPTION to turn it on. Shift+Restart will get you to reinstall Windows – with or without! your data
2. Jackson solves a Bluetooth speaker. Joe recommends aptX Adaptive, LC3 or LE Audio or Bluetoon 5.2+ is today’s best but both headphones AND the source have to have matching codecs
3. Brian goes on a safari in Windows Security settings. What are all these OneDrive ads!? They do some ransomware protection with version history for recovery. The echo of Windows S mode in Smart App Control in fresh installs of Windows 11. And the dangers of ClickFix cut and past to run attack.

“Nothing Works All the Time” 

“Vampire Clamps…Scary Times”

“I wasn’t there when the accident occurred.”

“Bluetooth is promiscuous.”

“I don’t know where that operating system came from!” 

“Anti-virus doesn’t protect you from being tricked by the tricksters.”

“No extra anti-virus recommended at all.” 

“Set it on fire and buy a new system.”