Razinhell
10-08-2005, 07:42 AM
figure it would helpful to everyone if we posted a little helper on how to prevent virus' and ad/spy ware from getting on your computer or getting it off your computer.
#1 Preventive measure is to not be connected to the internet directly. 99% of all viruses, worms, Trojan’s are picked up by computers connected directly to the internet. Connected to the internet means you connect your cable/dsl/dial-up modem directly to the back of you computer. In one study they set up 5 different machines (1 apple, 4 windows (1 Win2k, 1 WinXP, 1 WinXP Service pack 2, 1 Win98 (shits and giggles)). It took the windows 2k machines a little over a half an hour to be infected with a virus/worm/trojan. WinXP with service pack 2 faired much better, but it eventually was infected. All the computers were infected at one point.
How to protect yourself:
FIREWALL
Buy your self a router. Don't buy a wireless router unless you really need it or are willing to set up the security protocols. I still wouldn't bother because even the best wireless router can be easily compromised or some loop hole will be discovered and if you don't update the firmware you will be open for attack. Why a router, because it will prevent your computer from being directly connected to the internet. I won't go into details, just update the router every so often and make sure you change the admin password.
Software Firewall ZoneAlarm (Free) Download Here (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/pro ducts/sku_list_za.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=dbtopnav_pro) I feel Microsofts Firewall is inadequate. ZoneAlarm is great. It’s a little tough to learn, but basically it will only allow you to connect to the internet with programs you want to use. I.E. if you open your browser for the first time after installing it a flag will pop up saying what program attempted to access the internet and do you wish to allow it. It may be sometimes difficult to run certain games with Zonealarm as the program will be waiting for a internet response and ZoneAlarm is waiting for you to answer a flagged access and you cannot see the flag on your screen. You can configure that program ahead of time to be allowed access so this doesn't happen. Remember to check the box “Remember this program” for programs you use often otherwise ZoneAlarm will become annoying.
VIRUS SCAN A lot of people have a virus scan, but don't maintain the software. If its not up-to-date then it most likely won't be affective. Rarely do hackers use old viruses. They usually change code and improve. If your virus scan isn't aware of the new version it may or may not block it. If you don't want to pay for it then get a free version from Grisoft AVG Free Edition (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1)
Excellent virus scan and will update automatically everyday. Update the software engine. Besides updates, older versions of Virus scans aren’t updated anymore yet people will still use them. That McAfee Virus Scan 2001 is so old it probably won’t stop 50% of today’s viruses. If you don’t maintain the software then it will do you no good.
UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE Update everything you use often. Go to Microsoft’s website and update your operating system, update your browser right away especially if you use it to purchase things, update hardware firmware’s from their prospective companies (sometimes updates cause other problems so watch out and sometimes firmware updates clear all settings on routers). You need to make sure everything is up to date. By not updating software you are allowing a loop hole to get into your system. Network Administrators are #1 for not updating their systems so even the professionals have problems with this. I can remember when Apache (Website running software) had a software security loop hole and about what 80% of the internet websites are run on it and so many of them were running old versions and being compromised. It costs lots of money/time to rebuild a company website. Now you have one computer or so to maintain so updating only takes a few minutes.
E-MAIL Don't open attachments, don't click on links within e-mails and always make sure you know who the sender is. Its easy to spoof a sender of e-mail. Don't be fooled, even the least computer savvy person can learn how to spoof an e-mail and proxy it so that you can never find out the originator. E-mail attachments are #1 on the list of infections within network environments. People just open things without thinking. Certain preventative measures can stop them, Most Virus scan software can proxy your e-mail account (Outlook/Endora/Mozilla and such) so that is scans before you see it. AVG has worked very well for me, but even it can miss them so don't let down your guard. Don't click on links within your browser. They can be written to look like this www.yahoo.com (http://www.msn.com) In this case it looks like a link to yahoo, but is really a link to msn.com. Its just one way to fool you to go to a particular website. Don't be fooled. If you want to go to that website then type it in. If its an e-mail that you were expecting, like an activation for a forum you just signed up for, then it will be fine to click through, just don't blindly click on things. Some legitimate programs are built on the same premise as Virus/Worms. Hotbar is an excellent example and i hate this program. It adds a link to an e-mail which when clicked on will install it to your computer. So if you are using Hotbar to spruce up your e-mail messages then you are also sending out links to others and I’m sure they will click on it thinking you sent it. Hotbar is somewhat clear as to what it will do, but people still are curious and once you click it it will try to install itself. It is easy to uninstall and lists itself in your Add/Remove Programs control panel link. Its just another example of e-mails being a compromise to your security. Just be aware what you are doing and don't click on things unless you were expecting that particular e-mail.
Pictures in e-mail.
When you are sent junk mail usually there are pictures embedded within the e-mail. So when you open the e-mail it will also pull the pictures from the originators website. They send out billions of Spam a day. They have no clue on what e-mail addresses are active and will just send them out blindly. When you open an e-mail and the pictures are embedded it will confirm back to them that your e-mail address was active. Its all through code written within the e-mail. Now you will be put on an active list and probably be sent 10 times the amount of junk mail then before. Newer versions of Outlook and other e-mail programs are starting to not download the pictures unless you allow it. I think even Yahoo has stopped the automatic loading of pictures too. Don’t download those pictures unless you know for sure. If you are expecting a dell coupon or weekly flyer from Buy.com then download the pictures.
DON’T BE FOOLED Yeah I know most of you already know this, but don’t give anyone your password, pin # or any personal information. Phishing scams are very abundant and its because people do think the E-bay can’t access their own systems or the bank has no clue as to access your account because they lost your password. I’ll tell you right now that there is no company that cannot access their own systems directly and no they don’t need your access information to look over accounts.
OTHER SOFTWARE
You can use other programs to prevent things from happening or eliminate ad/spy ware from your computer. 2 good programs I know and use are listed below. You cannot depend on 1 program as no program is perfect and some can miss what others do not. Always update these programs otherwise they won’t be efficient in their tasks.
Ad-Aware - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ - Is a very good and free program. The free version will find programs either running or residing somewhere on your computer. Remember to always do a Full System scan otherwise you may never eliminate the actual programs on your computer. The full version has a pretty good real-time scanner similar to a virus scan. It can prevent the initial infection of ad/spy ware, but its not free. Ad-aware also allows you to quarantine found items so that you can restore them In the event you disable a program you use that required ad bases software.
#1 Preventive measure is to not be connected to the internet directly. 99% of all viruses, worms, Trojan’s are picked up by computers connected directly to the internet. Connected to the internet means you connect your cable/dsl/dial-up modem directly to the back of you computer. In one study they set up 5 different machines (1 apple, 4 windows (1 Win2k, 1 WinXP, 1 WinXP Service pack 2, 1 Win98 (shits and giggles)). It took the windows 2k machines a little over a half an hour to be infected with a virus/worm/trojan. WinXP with service pack 2 faired much better, but it eventually was infected. All the computers were infected at one point.
How to protect yourself:
FIREWALL
Buy your self a router. Don't buy a wireless router unless you really need it or are willing to set up the security protocols. I still wouldn't bother because even the best wireless router can be easily compromised or some loop hole will be discovered and if you don't update the firmware you will be open for attack. Why a router, because it will prevent your computer from being directly connected to the internet. I won't go into details, just update the router every so often and make sure you change the admin password.
Software Firewall ZoneAlarm (Free) Download Here (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/pro ducts/sku_list_za.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=dbtopnav_pro) I feel Microsofts Firewall is inadequate. ZoneAlarm is great. It’s a little tough to learn, but basically it will only allow you to connect to the internet with programs you want to use. I.E. if you open your browser for the first time after installing it a flag will pop up saying what program attempted to access the internet and do you wish to allow it. It may be sometimes difficult to run certain games with Zonealarm as the program will be waiting for a internet response and ZoneAlarm is waiting for you to answer a flagged access and you cannot see the flag on your screen. You can configure that program ahead of time to be allowed access so this doesn't happen. Remember to check the box “Remember this program” for programs you use often otherwise ZoneAlarm will become annoying.
VIRUS SCAN A lot of people have a virus scan, but don't maintain the software. If its not up-to-date then it most likely won't be affective. Rarely do hackers use old viruses. They usually change code and improve. If your virus scan isn't aware of the new version it may or may not block it. If you don't want to pay for it then get a free version from Grisoft AVG Free Edition (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1)
Excellent virus scan and will update automatically everyday. Update the software engine. Besides updates, older versions of Virus scans aren’t updated anymore yet people will still use them. That McAfee Virus Scan 2001 is so old it probably won’t stop 50% of today’s viruses. If you don’t maintain the software then it will do you no good.
UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE Update everything you use often. Go to Microsoft’s website and update your operating system, update your browser right away especially if you use it to purchase things, update hardware firmware’s from their prospective companies (sometimes updates cause other problems so watch out and sometimes firmware updates clear all settings on routers). You need to make sure everything is up to date. By not updating software you are allowing a loop hole to get into your system. Network Administrators are #1 for not updating their systems so even the professionals have problems with this. I can remember when Apache (Website running software) had a software security loop hole and about what 80% of the internet websites are run on it and so many of them were running old versions and being compromised. It costs lots of money/time to rebuild a company website. Now you have one computer or so to maintain so updating only takes a few minutes.
E-MAIL Don't open attachments, don't click on links within e-mails and always make sure you know who the sender is. Its easy to spoof a sender of e-mail. Don't be fooled, even the least computer savvy person can learn how to spoof an e-mail and proxy it so that you can never find out the originator. E-mail attachments are #1 on the list of infections within network environments. People just open things without thinking. Certain preventative measures can stop them, Most Virus scan software can proxy your e-mail account (Outlook/Endora/Mozilla and such) so that is scans before you see it. AVG has worked very well for me, but even it can miss them so don't let down your guard. Don't click on links within your browser. They can be written to look like this www.yahoo.com (http://www.msn.com) In this case it looks like a link to yahoo, but is really a link to msn.com. Its just one way to fool you to go to a particular website. Don't be fooled. If you want to go to that website then type it in. If its an e-mail that you were expecting, like an activation for a forum you just signed up for, then it will be fine to click through, just don't blindly click on things. Some legitimate programs are built on the same premise as Virus/Worms. Hotbar is an excellent example and i hate this program. It adds a link to an e-mail which when clicked on will install it to your computer. So if you are using Hotbar to spruce up your e-mail messages then you are also sending out links to others and I’m sure they will click on it thinking you sent it. Hotbar is somewhat clear as to what it will do, but people still are curious and once you click it it will try to install itself. It is easy to uninstall and lists itself in your Add/Remove Programs control panel link. Its just another example of e-mails being a compromise to your security. Just be aware what you are doing and don't click on things unless you were expecting that particular e-mail.
Pictures in e-mail.
When you are sent junk mail usually there are pictures embedded within the e-mail. So when you open the e-mail it will also pull the pictures from the originators website. They send out billions of Spam a day. They have no clue on what e-mail addresses are active and will just send them out blindly. When you open an e-mail and the pictures are embedded it will confirm back to them that your e-mail address was active. Its all through code written within the e-mail. Now you will be put on an active list and probably be sent 10 times the amount of junk mail then before. Newer versions of Outlook and other e-mail programs are starting to not download the pictures unless you allow it. I think even Yahoo has stopped the automatic loading of pictures too. Don’t download those pictures unless you know for sure. If you are expecting a dell coupon or weekly flyer from Buy.com then download the pictures.
DON’T BE FOOLED Yeah I know most of you already know this, but don’t give anyone your password, pin # or any personal information. Phishing scams are very abundant and its because people do think the E-bay can’t access their own systems or the bank has no clue as to access your account because they lost your password. I’ll tell you right now that there is no company that cannot access their own systems directly and no they don’t need your access information to look over accounts.
OTHER SOFTWARE
You can use other programs to prevent things from happening or eliminate ad/spy ware from your computer. 2 good programs I know and use are listed below. You cannot depend on 1 program as no program is perfect and some can miss what others do not. Always update these programs otherwise they won’t be efficient in their tasks.
Ad-Aware - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ - Is a very good and free program. The free version will find programs either running or residing somewhere on your computer. Remember to always do a Full System scan otherwise you may never eliminate the actual programs on your computer. The full version has a pretty good real-time scanner similar to a virus scan. It can prevent the initial infection of ad/spy ware, but its not free. Ad-aware also allows you to quarantine found items so that you can restore them In the event you disable a program you use that required ad bases software.