Recently I had the delight (and I use the term quite loosely) of fixing yet another Virus riddled laptop. Now I am not going to be berating users in this post over people’s lack of adequate Security software, however what I want to highlight is a rather unusual trait that this particular virus was showing.
A family friend was telling me the other day that they recieved a call from a tech company claiming that they had a virus on their PC and that it could be fixed remotely for £185. Being sound of mind she told them where to get off and immediatley contacted me. My first impression was that she did the right thing as unknown companies shouldn’t be scanning PCs for threats on behalf of anyone, especially those who cold call to tell you as much. After that I didn’t think much about it until I came across numerous reports of it happening to other hapless individuals. The scammers trade from a number of fake web sites so keep an eye out and if anyone you know gets contacted by these poor excuses for human beings tell them to beware, and if you’re really not sure speak to me, I’ll ‘ave em!
Well it’s about time! Considering Microsoft have given us a decade or three of vulnerable operating systems I’m surprised it took so long to see the final release of Security Essentials, their free virus and malware security suite. Fair enough there are lots of great freebie virus programs out there like AVG and Avast but they only provide you with basic protection unless you stump up the fee to go pro. Microsoft SE (as I’ll now affectionally refer to it) is one of the best combined virus and malware scanners I’ve seen in a long time.
Proving realtime protection as well as full scanning capabilities you’d have to go along way to find a better free security solution but as with all things free all may not be as it seems.
First of all only install this on a legitimate copy of Windows XP, Vista and 7. If you’re running a hooky copy from your mate I wouldn’t advise you trying this out as the install scans your version to see how ‘legal’ it is.
Now as it’s Microsoft and they’re all about profit it does seem odd to be giving something away. Now this is an unfounded observation of mine but I’m sure there must be some sort auditing element stuffed in there, but then again what software doesn’t nowadays?
But if you are good boys and girls and aren’t doing anything you shouldn’t then you won’t go far wrong. Get it here.
So you may have heard on the grapevine that the German government are advising their poplous not to use Internet Explorer. Today they were joined the French sharing the same sentiment. So what’s all the fuss about?
Well it was all sparked by the recent cyber attacks in China for which Google have become embroiled. I won’t go into it in depth but basically it exposed another one of those lovely vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s flagging browser. The vulnerability is in all versions of IE but the advice is, if you insist on using IE make sure you’re running the latest version, IE8. To check your version load up IE, then click on help and then the about option. If you’re only on version 7 or even worse 6 go grab the latest version here.
Obviously those Firefox, Chrome and Safari users can chill out… for now!!!
Additional 26/01/2010
Microsoft have now released a patch for the vulnerability for all versions of IE. Direct download links can be found below.
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
In the light of ‘climate gate‘ and the Windows 7 ‘black screen of death‘ I have decided that our inaugural post should be about that most important of things, the 3 S’s (security, security, security). I’m sure at this point that present Mac and Linux users are beaming from ear to ear but it’s a subject that cannot be avoided and must be tackled. So are you doing enough to protect yourself fellow PC user? Your checklist follows…
Spyware
Gone are the days when it was a virus created by a 12 year computer genius that could seriously spoil your PC’s day. It’s all organised crime and online hoodlums nowadays intent on stealing your password, PIN number and identity. It was just the other day when I was installing the latest version of AVG that one of their ‘buy the premium version’ scare tactic notices pointed out that less than 5% of data fraud were caused by your common or garden virus. They’re all a lot cleverer than that now. You may even already have them lurking on your hard drive. So it’s best you make sure that you’re covered. A lot of the following may be the proverbial sucking of eggs but it’s worth a check.
Get protected
One of the most surprising things about PC protection is that you can do most of it for free. Fair enough your premium security package may cover most of the bases but few of us have the funds to pay monthly subscriptions so I advise the following arsenal to get you started.
MalwareBytes
MalwareBytes is a program that I have only been using in anger for the last 9 months or so. It is officially a paid product that promises to provide real time protection against internet nasties but there is however a free version that can give you that initial security boost. Download said free version here and install without delay. On running it for the first time perform the advised update and launch the program. I would advise the full scan option. On completion you will be flagged as to any nasties they deem harmful, if this is the case remove these items immediately. With this done you should now feel more secure and generally less dirty.
SpyBot Search & Destroy
SpyBot is one of my all time faves and completely free (although you can donate to their cause). Download, install and update. On your first run get on over to the immunize tab and make sure that you are protected against the 80,000+ dodgy web sites listed in their extensive database. Now I would advise running the inbuilt search. I know you are probably feeling better after MalwareBytes efforts, but belt and braces people and remove anything it finds. Now the most important thing with SpyBot is to regularly run the update option and to apply the immunization whenever you can (I would say once every 2 weeks at least). If on installation you opted for the additional TeaTimer option, this will give you real time reports of when applications, good and bad, try to access your machine and you can manage these depending on what you feel is safe. So job done. Keep this up and you can at least feel as though you have a routine for keeping the nasties at bay.
Paying The Price
One of the biggest misconceptions I have come across with PC owners is from those with new machines that come pre-bundled with the likes of Norton and McAfee security centres. They assume that they are protected right out of the box which to a certain extent is true but only for a matter of time. These large companies are only offering a tasted of the security they offer and these are generally on a trial basis. After a couple of months you normally find that these grace period end and if you would like to continue with their services this can only be done by producing your credit card, but it doesn’ t have to be like this. Two of the best security packages AVG Free Antivirus and Microsoft’s Security Essentials are totally free (although there is a paid option for AVG should you fancy it) but keep them armed with our spyware heroes listed above and you should have a fairly decent armory to keep you and your loved ones safe.
In Conclusion
No security system is watertight but regular checks and general common sense should keep you safe. Not sure? Then get in touch. Also be sure to check that all PC accounts and especially administrative accounts and share have decent passwords and that obviously you don’t tell people what these are. And most importantly (and seriously I have seen this) do not write your login details down and stick them to your monitor, you are just asking for trouble. It’s never to late to start taking this stuff seriously, if you don’t, you’ll soon know about it.