Should we be worrying?

Make sure your firewall is up to date....otherwise nothing much you can do.....my guess is public services like the NHS and utilities should be much more concerned.....can’t really see what they could achieve with access to personal computers......disrupting medical, water, power etc...much more far reaching and would create havoc!

It was hacking into the router that concerned me. Our smart TV is connected to it. Does this mean that the lovely Vladimir might suddenly burst on to the screen in the middle of East Enders?

Russia has been using cyber attacks on the Ukraine for a few years, so I would imagine that if they do this here, they will do similar things.
I believe they've hacked into power grids and switched off electricity, they use fake news to make the government look incompetent, they run programs that erase all the data on hard disk - but they target companies like railways and media companies - I think things like the email that caused havoc in the NHS a while back are the sort of things they use.
I don't think they bother hacking individuals unless you're a 'high profile' person with something interesting to steal.
There was a long article about what they've been doing in Ukraine in the IT press here if you're interested in the detail.
www.wired.com/story/russian-hackers-attack-ukraine/

Trying to think of a GN name for Putin! Any suggestions? How about nannavlad?

But what would they do with all that info?

Anyone hacking into mine would be bored to tears by the searches for knitting patterns and yarn and kittens!

Wouldn't it be great if Putin actually joined GN ! I think he would find he had bitten off more than he could chew

I posted this morning about the WhatsApp virus my DC alerted me to, and it made me wonder whether this was relevant to your post, jane10.

Lock your house when you go out, and use a proper lock, not a home-made one. Similarly, use security software on your computer. Not something free, it's worth the fairly small cost of a licence. Kaspersky is one of the best, and yes I know it's Russian. I also run MalwareBytes and the Sophos Virus Removal Tool for on-demand scans. I'm somewhat paranoid as I used to work in computer security.

Oh yes - don't click on links in emails!

I think you've got a point Maw, but like a lot of us, I simply couldn't be bothered to wade through these rather odd posts!! I think we should perhaps be a bit wary!

If they were, Maw, they wrote so much that many of us - including me - probably didn't bother to read very far......

I am trying to tell myself all the time that worrying is a largely unprofitable exercise. I think situpstraight has it right make sure you have enough security on your computer as you can.

I just wonder what Vladimir would make of us ????

MawBroon - you made me laugh, for which I thank you x

Interesting.
We had a thread about Russia recently and two new posters appeared, not sounding a lot like Grans. I know you can’t tell, but the “ grannaydar” somehow kicks in. I wonder if they were Russian bots just identifying and posting on any thread mentioning Russia? Or Russian Baboushkas? or do I mean

I think that if it happens and that our security chiefs can’t stop it, then there is little that we can do.
Just be wary of any emails you receive, you can set your email levels, and keep your security system up to date.
Your Security System usually lists potential threats and those who have tried pinging you, but I doubt that it would tell you if it was Russians who were trying to get into your system.