Hackers, Prevention Corner Options

[Kelador]

I am posting a link to a website that I like their straight-forward descriptions. I will try to bring in more links and advice as I can.

http://www.hackingalert.com/hacking-articl...cker-tricks.php

[Kelador]

Big Bad Virus Kelador

[Taramira]

i have a router that acts, in some ways, as a hardware firewall.
it is not a hardware firewall, but it is sufficient for the casual victim.
next is a chain of prophylactic applications on each of my computers;
zonealarm (free) software firewall
ad-aware (free) anti-malware (but with ad-watch (cost a little)) real-time protection.
avg (free) anti-virus (more about this, later)
windows defender (free) software firewall

lastly, a couple of applications that have to be launched to be used;
spybot (free) anti-malware
(good time to run an ad-aware)
CCleaner (free) registry and application cleaner

i should scan my machines more often than i do, but i've been lucky; little has gotten through.
YOU SHOULD KNOW...
one of the biggest threats to computer users, now, is attack on third-party software;
adobe reader, adobe flash, etc.
you MUST keep these little applications updated. the updates are to plug the multitude of 'holes' and exploits.
i have, recently, re-enabled auto-update on some of these... i AM scared.

i am ready to switch to some other antivirus program; avg does a LOT of work in the background (a good thing)
but it seems to put an awful load on the machines these day (previous versions did not).

finally, microsoft provides (free for the downloading) a suite of apps called microsoft essentials; malware and virus protection;
added to windows defender firewall, that looks good;
so good, in fact, that i forewent the previous apps and put essentials on my son's new laptop.
i MUST like it, because i'm the one who will have to fix any damage done, after the fact.

what do you guys use?

[Ammamis]

(SNIP)

what do you guys use?

Personally, I use whatever Taramira tells me to use

[Kelador]

You will not going to want to do this....but Becky and I do not use any antivirus. I have been running Antivirus-free for over 6 months.

How do I do it, you ask? I am an extremely careful and skeptical web surfer. I will not use websites I am unfamiliar with without first doing research on them. I do not randomly click on video, picture, and music links. I never use p2p freeware.

I scan my computer with Malwarebytes from http://www.malwarebytes.org/, and CCleaner from http://www.ccleaner.com/

I remove viruses from client computers each week, and i have to say Tara is correct. One of the number one reasons people get viruses is not updating their Flash players, Java, etc. Facebook, Myspace, and other popular community sites rely heavily on these technologies which is why they are so aggressively targeted.

Keep your computer programs updated!!!

I'm going to start looking for a new antivirus program to recommend, but for the moment I would recommend getting the paid version of Malwarebytes which runs automatically.

[Valrotha]

You like Malwarebytes more than Ad-Aware, Kel? I don't have any experience with Malwarebytes yet, but I just downloaded the free version to check it out.

[Kelador]

I do indeed! Malwarebytes is an effective spyware and trojan removal progam.

[Taramira]

when kel speaks; people listen.

today, ONLY.
malwarebytes' anti-malware lifetime consumer license $15.
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1865505

i downloaded a copy.

[Kelador]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tara

I try to stay up to date on malware and virus threats and how to combat them.

[Taramira]

on my XP machine, i removed AVG and Ad-Aware.
i substituted malwarebytes and avast! anti-viyrus.
things seem a little faster, but the final decision is still in the works.
does malwarebytes REALLY have to speak to me????

[Kelador]

It's not interrupting game-play, is it?

[Taramira]

It's not interrupting game-play, is it?

heh... not that i could tell.

[Taramira]

bad rap:
it was not malwarebytes that was talking to me, it was avast! anti-virus.
i turned THAT off pretty quickly.
in avast!'s defense, she told me that she found;
JS:FakeAV-DX[Trj]

bad trojan.... bad !!
reboot
(poof!)

[Kelador]

Fake AV is one of the nasty ones. Did you run a full sweep of Malwarebytes afterward? It will usually pick up some of the Fake AV fragments as well. Computers infected with that set of trojans usually mean I'm going to be getting a phone call for service.

Can you say..."Identity Theft" ...

Please check out my website as well, on the "Links" section. I have some resources posted there which I reccomend.

http://www.compumechs.net/

[Taramira]

yes...
i did another complete scan.
wouldn't we like to know how/when that got on my computer?
i have no way of knowing.

edit:

so what do you do at 4:30 am, when you can't fall back asleep?
you track down a virus, that's what !!

the trojan was found in my temporary internet files folder.
this is the folder that holds bits and pieces of the web sites that i have visited,
enabling faster loading of the pages when i return.
there are files in there from zakarum.net, for example.
now...
every once in a while, i delete my temporary internet files.
so...
this file was dropped on me during a 'drive-by' web site viewing, in recent times.
that tells me how it got on my computer, but not from where.

i still have the file, if there's a coder amongst us, who'd like to look into it, further.
in my heart, i believe that while there is information to be gleaned, in there,
it won't be the location of the drop.
it's a java script, i believe.

by the way, this is fodder for my argument that you should have an anti-virus program on your machine;
too bad they all seem to slow the machine down to one degree or another.
i lead a fairly boring internet web site life, but i am not the only person to use this computer.
that is NOT an indictment of anyone else who uses this computer (looks over shoulder at wife),
ANY web site could have done it. cooking recipes? billiards cues? quilting patterns? electric drills?

this is a good time to mention windows internet explorer.
i am GUILTY of using i.e.6 on this machine !!
as the banner at slickdeals.net says "using i.e. 6 makes babies cry; please update."
as annoying as it is to have my i.e 8, on my vista machine, spontaneously shut down when i'm redirected to a web site,
i know, in my mind, that it has just spotted untoward activity and saved me from it.
as likely as not, it was a 'false postitive', but it's a good feeling.
when that happens time after time, i open up my firefox browser and complete my business.
so...
internet explorer version six is VULNERABLE to attacks; updating to i.e. eight is a good thing.
the use of firefox (it just auto-updated this morning, by the way) is also a good thing, BUT...
a couple of add-ons, that you can download for it, have had trojans built in; so you wanna be careful 'bout THAT.
add-ons are fun and productive, but firefox is a capable web browser on its own. (i don't use any add-ons, personally)

rant over; ignore at your own risk. likely, kelador has a slightly different take on this... also a good thing.

[Kelador]

Internet Explorer 6!!!!??? o.O

Update! Update!!!

Babies are crying everywhere!!!!!


Always update every piece of software on your computer...that is one of the number one ways hackers exploit computer users...security holes. That is the driving force behind updates...patching security holes....that and driver incompatibilities.

Anyway...I have to get out the door or I would rant more on this...perhaps more later.

[Charon]

I would rather kiss a rabid bat than use IE 8. Maybe IE8 isn't so bad, maybe it's the stupid windows live nonsense. I use Firefox exclusively, with only the bare minimum of plug-ins.

[Taramira]

i use i.e. 8 on my personal machine at work. it seems a little slower than i.e. 6, but i can't prove that.
it works okay; i do liked the tabbed windows feature.
i DON'T like when it shuts down, spontaneously, when i'm redirected somewhere
(although i know it's saving me from myself).
i use firefox to get around that.
my wife uses firefox to connect to her business mail server. (i guess i.e. 6 makes mail servers cry, as well.)
i'll check to see what version uncle sam is using when i get to work...
but everything he uses is proprietary, to one degree or another.

i went to another site that i visit each day; it said "we will no longer support your version (6) of i.e.
THAT was the new york times.
sigh; they're gonna drag me into the present... kicking and screaming.

edit:
my work computer uses i.e. 6.