We hope you have a crime free Halloween. If you see groups forming and anti-Social Behaviour brewing – please phone it through on the 101 number. We have extra patrols on over the weekend and it would help us to direct those resources to best advantage. We will just direct them to patrol and circulate areas where we have traditionally have issues. If anything starts to develop in your area, let us know and we will re-direct them.
NEXT: RE BUSINESSES AND RANSOMWARE
I HAD A RESPONSE FROM AN EXPERT VOLUNTEER GURU, WHO DELIVERS ADVICE ABOUT ONLINE BUSINESS SECURITY:
Hi Jeff,
This week we start a series of tutorials to help small businesses (and individuals) stay safe on line without the expense of bringing in an IT specialist.
These are written by Jeff Maynard a police volunteer and Fraud and Cyber Crime Prevention Specialist with Thames Valley, Surrey and Sussex police forces.
Deploy a robust backup regime
All your data is fragile (hard disk crash, user error, software glitch all can lose valuable information); but a serious new threat is ransomware which entails a rogue program encrypting all of your files followed by a demand for a ransom to be paid for the decryption key (we will deal with preventing the intrusion in the first place in a later tutorial). As well as potentially costing money, a ransomware attack can be very disruptive to you or your business. We do not recommend paying any ransom demand for two reasons: it encourages the bad guys to target others and there is no guarantee that payment will result in receipt of the decryption key.
If you are unfortunate enough to be hit by a ransomware attack you can follow three simple steps to recover:
Remove the offending malware (the method varies according to which malware is in your system so you will need to search for the relevant process)
Delete all of the encrypted files
Recover everything from your backup
An effective backup ticks all these boxes: runs automatically, keeps multiple versions, is stored off-site – realistically, you can only achieve these objectives, by subscribing to an on-line backup service (there are plenty available and all will do the job – just search and pick the one that best suits your needs and budget).
Note that synchronisation services including Box, DropBox, OneDrive, iCloud etc do NOT provide a backup solution; this is because the keep only the latest copy of any files so that the encrypted version is synched…
Jeff
NEXT Tutorial, next week !
Many thanks Jeff – this will be really helpful
NEXT: ANOTHER SEXTORTION CASE !:
A man in his 20s was approached by what appeared to be a very attractive woman on a dating site. After several sessions where they chatted – she sent him an intimate video of herself and asked him to respond – which he did.
As soon as he had done so, he received a message – ‘I am a man, make a deal or just ruin your life and career’ ! He demanded £1,200 or he would post the video to everyone in his personal address book. He sent stills from the video, to convince the victim, he was serious. When he refused to pay, he reduced the demand to £650 !
ONCE AGAIN – NEVER SAY, DO, WRITE, VIDEO, PHOTOGRAPH ANYTHING ONLINE THAT YOU WOULD NOT BE HAPPY FOR YOUR FAMILY, RELATIVES, FRIENDS, NEIGHBOURS, WORK COLLEAGUES – AND BOSS OR ANYONE IN YOUR PERSONAL ADDRESS BOOK – TO SEE OR HEAR.
DON’T LET IT BE YOU !!!
CRIME
I have attached reference numbers to each crime report. If you live in the vicinity of any of the crimes mentioned and have CCTV or a video doorbell, can you please check the footage. If you have any that might be of interest to the police, can you please make contact with us, quoting reference number given.
Alternatively you can call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or email -
www.crimestoppers-uk.orgMAIDENHEAD CENTRAL:
maidenheadcentralgeographical@thamesvalley.police.uk27/10 Wednesday 3.20 p.m. High Street. A witness reported a man trying to steal a bike. Ref. No: 43210485162
28/10 Thursday 6 p.m. / 8.30 p.m. High Street / St. Mary’s Close. Bike locked in a bike rack stolen. A grey bike. Ref. No: 43210487428
RIVERSIDE & BELMONT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT.
MAIDENHEAD WEST
maidenheadwestgeographical@thamesvalley.police.ukBISHAM, COOKHAM, HURLEY, THE WALTHAMS, LITTLEWICK GREEN & KNOWL HILL:
27/10 Wednesday 7 p.m. / 9.30 p.m. Odney Lane. Car rear window smashed – LAPTOP IN LAPTOP BAG TAKEN FROM THE FOOTWELL. Ref. No: 43210486947
PINKNEYS GREEN & FURZE PLATT:
27/10 Wednesday 12.15 p.m. Malder’s Lane. Heating oil stolen from the tank in the front garden, though a small hole in the side of the tank. Ref. No: 43210484802 This is the first case of heating oil being stolen in years ! If you have a tank – please take extra security precautions at this time.
MAIDENHEAD SOUTH
maidenheadsouthgeographical@thamesvalley.police.ukBOYN HILL, COX GREEN & WOODLANDS PARK
27/10 – 28/10 Wednesday 6 p.m. / Thursday 8.30 a.m. Welbeck Road. Garage break. Lock removed. Tools stolen. Ref. No: 43210486130
OLDFIELD, BRAY & HOLYPORT:
27/10 – 28/10 Wednesday 7 p.m. / Thursday 8.20 a.m. Hotel Car Park, Manor Lane. Car rear window smashed – 2 briefcases, containing LAPTOPS stolen. Ref. No: 43210486109
28/10 – 29/10 Thursday 12 noon / Friday 8 a.m. Hotel Car Park, Manor Lane. Car rear windscreen smashed – bag containing waterproof jacket stolen. Ref. No: 43210487394
