La Piazza Blog - PANDA SECURITY SUPPORT

Posted by Leyre Velasco, November 3rd, 2009

Do I have a virus? Am I protected with my current antivirus? Can I post in the Panda Forum? How can I activate my product?
All the answers to these questions and many more can be found in Panda antivirus Technical Support website. Resolve yourself your query any time of the day and from anywhere in the world.
Do you still not know it? Access now the Technical Support page and see it for yourself!! At the product level, Panda offers an extensive Knowledge Base which includes the most searched solutions tailored for you.

From the free antivirus option, you will be able to scan your computer completely free through an online scanner, detecting malware infections, such as threats, rootkits, trojans, identity theft, etc. Besides, from the Panda Support page, you will be able to access the Customer Service section, containing the most frequently asked questions about modifying your customer details, a password reminder wizard and so on.

Last but not least, we would like to highlight the Support Forum, a community meeting point where you can discuss technical and off-topic issues, make suggestions, share your experiences about the Panda products and of course, find solutions to your questions. Why don’t you join in? Simply register and take an active part in the forum!!

How else can we improve Support? Share your suggestions with us! We would be delighted to hear from you!

Posted by Nerea Bezares, 29th October, 2009

Computer fraud is an everyday issue. We are becoming accustomed to hearing on the news about criminal groups that clone credit cards, hack mail accounts, bank accounts, etc.                                                                                                                                                                               

Most of these scams are carried out withour the user’s knowledge. The process is transparent until the scam is complete. However, in the case of phishing, users knowingly send their bank details to an email address (or website), and therefore have an active role in the scam.
 
Despite the best efforts of banks to warn users about these risks, victims still fall into the same traps. Today however, I would like to talk about another scam we have encountered on the Internet. It’s a traditional scam adapted to use a combination of new technologies to defraud users.
 
Ever heard of the pigeon drop scam before? Basically, it involves convincing a victim or ‘pigeon’ to give up a sum of money in order to obtain a larger sum of money. The result however is that the scammers end up with all the money.

There are many variations, but typically, the victim is presented with the chance by one of the scammers -who will often appear to be extremely naïve or stupid- to get a large sum of money (or valuable object) in exchange for a much smaller amount. A stranger (in reality, one of the scammers) will invariably appear, encouraging the victim to seize this ‘opportunity’. The victim hands over his money in exchange for the bag or envelope containing his sudden windfall, which, as the bag has been switched, turns out to be strips of newspaper or other worthless material. By this time the scammers have made off with the victim’s money, and the ‘pigeon’ will rarely report the crime through guilt or shame.
 
As innovation is all the rage among the criminal fraternity, we now have a technological version of this traditional scam. A user receives an email explaining how easy it is to become a hacker and get hold of a list of credit card numbers which can then be used to buy things online, transfer money out of people’s accounts, etc.

To access the list, the user simply has to forward his own credit card details to the sender of the email, who is –needless to say- the real hacker. The hacker will then be able to use the credit card for whatever he wants. The scammed user will not know how to explain it to the authorities, as on the one hand, he has given out his details voluntarily, and on the other, he did so to steal from other users.
 
What do you think about this scam? Do you think those who attempt to scam others deserve what they get?

We remind you we are in the  Tech Support Forum and on http://twitter.com/PandaTechSup

Posted by Leyre Velasco, 27th October, 2009

The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications which facilitate interactive exchange of information, data sharing, and collaboration on the world wide web. It is thought to have been coined after a conference held by O´Reilly media in 2004. The web 2.0 philosophy promotes web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, not to mention social networks aimed at various sociological profiles.

Companies are more and more implementing community knowledge bases enabling users to solve product and customer service issues on their own. In Panda Security, we are particularly sensitive to this issue and have deviced additional means of Support such as forums, multimedia tutorials, blogs, etc.
The Panda Security International Technical Support Forum for example, enables not only moderators, but users to directly help one another. These new sources improve the quality of support as massive feedback is obtained directly from the users themselves. Community knowledge bases create smarter, more informed customers and users. Content can be authored by both internal and external resources providing a rich source of information relating to the company’s products and services. What´s more, collaboration is a key issue: It improves decision-making, and enables knowledge workers to meet mission objectives with the best information available. However, for an average user, technology in this regard may have already gone too far, and the user finds himself not really prepared to face the trend in technology, some users even questioning the validity of all these tools.

So, before web 3.0*, the natural evolution of web 2.0, spreads, let´s test how web 2.0 you are!! Simply fill in this quiz on social media and web 2.0 by Quizible and check how many of the 32 icons you recognize!!

Web 3.0*: a concept which aims to transform the network in a data base, in search of making content accessible by non-browser applications and towards artificial intelligence and the semantic web.

 If you think you need to improve your web 2.0 skills, check this video to grasp the basic concept of web 2.0!

Why don´t you share your experiences with us and tell us which of the various collaborative tools you find most useful generally speaking? Thanks a lot! Your feedback is really useful to us, as we constantly work to provide you with the most user-friendly tools!!

Posted by Cristina Bermudez,  October 16, 2009

This is a relatively common question and the answer is:

Spam is the massive sending of UNSOLICITED email. 

Spam is not mail received due to a voluntary subscription to a distribution list (usually in exchange for relevant information), even if you consider it to be annoying, as long as you can easily unsubscribe with just a few clicks.

 Tips to avoid being saturated by large amounts of unwanted mail:

1. Be wary of messages received from unknown addresses. In general, any message from an unknown address could be spam. If it is unsolicited mail and you don’t know the sender, we advise you to delete it immediately.
2. Never open or respond to the spam message. If you open and respond to an unsolicited mail, you will be confirming the spammer your address is correct and in use, and you will probably receive more spam.
3. Only publish your address on trusted websites that guarantee the address will not be published and you will not receive unsolicited information. 
4. Install an antivirus - anti-spam filter on your PC, NOW! 
5. Do not take part in email forwards, as they are an important source of email addresses for spammers.
6. Incredible but true, you still draw your attention to messages like “The true origin of swine flu”, “Poor deformed child could be cured by forwarding this message”; there are numerous messages of this type and they are all false.

If, after following these tips, you still have a spam problem, we remind you we are in the  Tech Support Forum and on http://twitter.com/PandaTechSup

Critina Bermudez -  eKnowledge Department

Posted by Tony, July 21, 2009

I’d like to start by welcoming you all to the Panda Security Support Blog and Forum, and would like to thank you for taking the time for visiting; I hope you find it insightful as well as useful.

My name, is Tony Roberts and I look after the Support services here in the UK. I was born in the town of Brighton in 1975, which now holds City status. If you have never visited the South coast of England It can only come on the highest of my recommendations, especially in the summertime.

You’ll see me heavily involved within the Forum with the alias of Bone, this nickname came about several years back from a previous Boss of mine, Tony, Tone … Bone, and it seems to have stuck, perhaps too much, as the younger members of my family know me by no other name now!

I have always had a passion for everything tech from since I can remember and have been involved within the IT industry from my very first job, I’ve had many different roles over the years but primarily it’s revolved around Support services to one degree or another, I can fully appreciate being on the receiving end of what seemingly appears to be an almost irresolvable issue and understand the necessity in having easily accessible, professional but friendly support.

When I’m not working I enjoy the usual things, good films (sometimes bad), eating out, catching up with my friends and family etc, I also have a love for the sea to which fortunately I live very close to, I have also recently discovered scuba diving to which I plan to include more in my future holiday destinations.