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08/13/2003 10:45:13 AM · #1 |
Protecting yourself from various computer anomolies such as virii, trojans, and worms is not very difficult. Understanding how you can be affected by these things will help you in your effort to stay safe.
A 'virus' is a program that may or may not cause damage to your data. A virus is a program that, once your computer is infected, uses your computer to spread itself to other computers. The most common method of virus propogation these days seems to be via email. An unsuspecting computer user will receive an infected email. The email itself is usually harmless, but when you open the infected attachment in the email, you will become infected with the virus. Once your are infected, most common virus programs use computer and your email system to automatically send new email messages to everyone in your address book with the virus attached. Some virus programs do no actual harm to your data. They just use your system to 'reproduce' to other systems. However, some virus programs will use your computer to propogate and then do some funky things to your system.
You can prevent the threat of virus programs in several ways. First of all, you can avoid any email where you do not know the source. You shoudl NOT randomly open emails you receive and then open the attachments that come along with them. Even if they come from your friends, you are still at risk if your friends are not 'protected' from this. In order to have the best possible protection from email virus software, you should have an antivirus program on your computer and you should update it no less than once a week. Most of the newer antivirus software applications will allow you to set them up to automatically update at specified intervals. If you set up this way, you can be fairly sure you are safe. Most of the newer antivirus software programs also scan incoming email as you download it and alert you to any know issues with those email messages.
Another threat that you will face are 'worm' programs. A worm is different from a virus because they can affect you without you having to do anything to 'trigger' it. Worm programs start out from a single computer on the internet. These programs scan internet addresses and look for other computers that are 'vulnerable' to their attack method. When these worm programs locate a computer that is 'open' to their programmed threat, they will attempt install programs on the remote computer. These programs may do several things... they may 'hijack' your computer for the purpose of locating other computers that are vulnerable. They may 'hijack' your computer for a long list of reasons... they may want to use your computer to send spam... they may want to use your computer to launch 'denial of service' attacks against other computer systems or websites... The list goes on and on...
Antivirus software can be effective in protecting you from worms also. Once the worm is publically identified, AV software can be updated to look for it and eliminate it. A 'firewall' program is also very useful in protecting yourself from worms. Without going into detail about how worms actually break into your computer, the firewall closes the 'doors' that these programs use to get on your system. There is a freeware firewall available called "ZoneAlarm" from //www.zonelabs.com that is worthwhile to download if you are not currently running firewall software.
Most importantly, you should backup any data on your computer that you can't live without. Regardless of virus and worm programs, you will eventually have a problem that will cause you to lose data. Hardware failures happen and backups are your only method of recovery when they do.
:)
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08/13/2003 12:25:28 PM · #2 |
I thought I should add that there are several worms that can install themselves despite the prescence of anti-virus programs and then disable them. I believe EVERYBODY should have a firewall, I personally use ZoneAlarm. Keep your windows updates up to date as well!
Stay safe... |
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08/13/2003 12:25:32 PM · #3 |
I would like to add to John's superb summary above the importance of Windows Updates, for those of you using recent versions of the Windows OS.
Unfortunately a number of large software vendors seem to have reduced the amount of energy expended on thorough testing of the product before launch. This means that operating systems are sold despite being riddled with bugs and security loopholes.
To be fair, there are also some loopholes that probably couldn't have been foreseen at the time of original release, given the nature/ speed of virus and worm mutation and generation.
In Windows XP you can go to Start, Windows Updates (when connected to the internet) and you will be alerted of any patches that are available to fix these problems.
Those that are labelled as Critical really should be installed immediately.
I am not familiar with similar procedures for other OS or even whether other OS are as vulnerable.
Kavey
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08/13/2003 12:27:09 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by Kavey:
In Windows XP you can go to Start, Windows Updates (when connected to the internet) and you will be alerted of any patches that are available to fix these problems.
Those that are labelled as Critical really should be installed immediately. |
PS This should be done regularly.
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08/13/2003 02:19:15 PM · #5 |
Another great program taht i use is Norton internet security ($50) It has all the past trojan updated url's (and others) and it has an automatic live update. It detects port intrusions and blocks them. You can then see first hand and trace where it came from. you can then take there IP address and block them manually or by using a range. Ive never had a problem since ive had it. It also come with norton anti virus
Message edited by author 2003-08-13 14:19:44.
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08/13/2003 02:31:09 PM · #6 |
I personally think a hardware router is about the best transparent protection you can get for not a lot of money. there are better options in hardware than a router but usually they are a bit more complex as a router is usually plug and play.
the problem with most software firewalls is that if the os has a hole many exploits can slip under the radar of them and they stay in system memory (which I personally hate) then again... you could use a combination of both a router AND zonealarm so there would have to be a gaping hole in both router and OS for any malicous code to get through
of course it's probably a good idea to have a virus scanner checking your e-mail for worms and viruses also as that's the major way they propogate nowadays |
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08/13/2003 03:09:30 PM · #7 |
I have a router, but unfortunately, its a little TOO much protection.
:( It prevents me from doing a few things I like to do on the net, like direct connect to a user (friends or family) to share files (usually pictures!) or use internet voice chat. So I'm currently roaming the net without a rainjacket!
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08/13/2003 03:09:49 PM · #8 |
A way to protect your friends and stop anyone from getting a worm once it entered your system is to have a dummy address as your frist address in your address book. AOL long time ago suggested entering this as the first entry in your address book so the worm can't be passed on through your address book. ~~SCREEN NAME. By putting the ~~ before the screen name you confuse the worm and it can't continue on into your address book cause it is literally stuck when it comes up with a bogus screen name. In my case I have ~~OneSweetSin as my first entry in my address book and far as I know no one in my address book was infected so it obviously didn't get past the bogus entry.
As for keeping your virus scan up to date that only works if the virus or worm has been recognized. I updated my scan Friday when I did my weekly scan of my entire system then updated Sunday when I was having some minor problems expecting to find some kind of a worm as the programs were running super slow. Grisoft.com where AVG anti virus is downloaded from didn't have a anti virus update till late in the day Monday and by then it was to late for me!!!!! I was already stuck in a continuous loop of restarting! |
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08/13/2003 03:42:01 PM · #9 |
The patch to stop this latest virus was available July 16th from Microsoft. The 'windows update' patching would have fixed it from that date forward.
This latest worm didn't spread using email, so email/ address book based protections aren't protection, though they do stop email based viruses from being sent to all of your friends if you happen to run one of them yourself. |
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08/13/2003 04:11:08 PM · #10 |
Here is another news link:
//www.techtv.com/news/securityalert/story/0,24195,3498394,00.html
If anyone need a virus program and is a little short on money after spending all their money on camera equipment :)
I use the free AVG virus protection program on computers I build and it works great and has fantastic reviews.
//www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
oops forgot the url tags!
Calvus
Message edited by author 2003-08-13 16:13:42.
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08/13/2003 04:16:06 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Calvus:
If anyone need a virus program and is a little short on money after spending all their money on camera equipment :)
//www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
Calvus |
Another perceptive DPC user! Thanks -- there are now links to free anit-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware software in the two latest threads on this stuff. I've already downloaded and installed the patch for W2000 Pro. |
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08/13/2003 04:52:54 PM · #12 |
Don't forget to test your firewall.
//www.grc.com has a bunch of portscanning tests which will report on the status of your firewall, and offer suggestions for any problems found.
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08/13/2003 05:36:06 PM · #13 |
everyone could go to //securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
and download the fix tool for m32.blaster worm. My win xp machine was clean, but my son's with windows me had it. the tool fixed it.
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08/13/2003 05:46:18 PM · #14 |
That's weird, considering Windows ME is one of the few Microsoft OS's that is supposed to be immune to this latest worm.
//www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp
Message edited by author 2003-08-13 17:46:41. |
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08/13/2003 05:55:42 PM · #15 |
I have to agree with you Gordon, but my son was having problems with his computer when he was trying to shut it down. A message would pop up saying that winblaster.exe was trying to close. It didn't click in my mind untill yesterday what winblaster.exe was. He may not of had an infection, but it was there. ZThe tool from symantic removed it.
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08/13/2003 06:03:19 PM · #16 |
| winblaster is probably the modem software - least that's what it used to be. |
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08/13/2003 06:10:17 PM · #17 |
I'm sure your right Gordon, but when I built this computer for him last christmas, I didn't install a modem because we are on cable internet.
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