In today’s class we discussed Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 10, which is available for free if you are running Windows 7 or 8/8.1 (see our previous post).  We had Windows 10 running on the projector and both the Windows 7 and Windows 8 users were interested in the upgrade – mainly the Windows 8 users who miss the start menu.

We talked about the features of Windows 10, and how newer versions of operating systems tend to be more secure than previous versions. We also covered how Microsoft is offering Windows 10 for free if you upgrade within the next 12 months.

But with the good comes the bad. Cyber criminals are always looking at ways to cash in on easy money and have created a scam Windows 10  upgrade email that leads to ransomware being installed on your machine. This comes in as a spam email advising you your Windows 10 copy is ready to download. Opening the attachment will lead to CTB-Locker Ransomware being installed. After which all your files will be encrypted. If you receive an email of this nature (or any other suspicious email) it is best to delete it, and not click any links or open any attachments.

Microsoft will advise you via the ‘Get Windows 10’ task tray icon when your copy is ready to install. If you wish to install it a little quicker Microsoft have a tool available on their website.