273 June 2017 - Gryffe Advertizer

24 the advertizer t: 01505 613340 07731 923970 e: info@advertizer.co.uk
Welcome to our new Councillors
Following last month’s local elections, the results are now in! We would
like to welcome back some of the regular faces plus a number of new
ones. You’ll notice some new voices in our village news pages and we
look forward to hearing more about what’s going on in the local area in the
coming months.
For Inverclyde, Ward 1 - Inverclyde East (includes Kilmacolm & Quarriers):
● Christopher Curley (Scottish National Party)
● Stephen McCabe (Scottish Labour Party)
● David Wilson (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)
For Renfrewshire, we have a number of wards in our distribution area as
follows:
Ward 8: Johnstone South and Elderslie
● Jacqueline Cameron (Scottish National Party)
● John Hood (Scottish Labour Party)
● Alistair Mackay (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)
● Andy Steel (Scottish National Party)
Ward 9: Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch
● Derek Bibby (Scottish Labour Party)
● Bill Binks (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)
● Andy Doig (Independent)
● Emma Rodden (Scottish National Party)
Ward 10: Houston, Crosslee, Brookfield and Linwood
● Audrey Doig (Scottish National Party)
● Alison Jean Dowling (Scottish Labour Party)
● Scott Kerr (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)
● James Sheridan (Scottish Labour Party)
Ward 11: Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank
● Natalie Don (Scottish National Party)
● James MacLaren (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)
● Colin McCulloch (Scottish Labour Party)
Ward 12: Erskine and Inchinnan
● Tom Begg (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)
● Michelle Campbell (Scottish National Party)
● Jim Harte (Scottish Labour Party)
● Iain Nicolson (Scottish National Party)
IT Blog
with Colin Fyfe of Colcom
In August, last year I encountered two separate instances of the
Cryptolocker Virus. Although not for the first time, it prompted me
to conclude in my article here the following month that, ‘these threats
are going to become even more prevalent in the coming years and will
probably become, in one way or another, the primary data security threat
that we will face.’
The now ubiquitous ‘WannaCry’ ransomware variant made international
news headlines last month on the back of its viral proliferation in our private
and public services networks and localised infections over the globe. The
following working day I wrote a quick email to my customers reminding
them of the most important prevention and data security measures.
These were to be on guard for suspicious emails; don’t click on suspect
links or attachments. If in business and in doubt then check with your IT
support. Check that all Operating Systems and Anti-Virus are updated.
Finally, ensure a backup is in place and operational.
A lot has been made of the point that Windows XP is the problem and that
the NHS is running off old XP kit. This probably isn’t the case. Windows
7 is the most likely OS to be affected by the WannaCry variant due to
its mass appeal with around two thirds of business machines running
the OS and its older ‘Windows Update’ process. This process, in large
office networks is often governed by a server that in turn is governed by
an IT department. The security patch for Windows 7 that would nullify
the infection was released a couple of months before the event unfolded;
putting it on a to-do list oh-so-near the top of an in-tray heap.
Keep in mind that this threat is an urgent reminder of the importance of
backup. With Cryptolocker, the encrypted files cannot be recovered.