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Spyware and Viruses



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 25th 04, 07:46 PM
Michael D. Alligood
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

Some of you folks recognize me from my posts on various newsgroups. I am a
technician with "Geeks On Call". I have been performing IT support for about
10 years now. Nearly two-thirds of my service calls deal with spyware and
viruses. Although there are numerous articles concerning this issue, many
users do not care to read them. They are like me when it comes to my car: If
it starts in the morning, I do not care how it runs. But what you do not
know will hurt you in the end.

Jerry Honeycutt, MS Expert Zone Columnist states,
"As if spam, viruses, and worms aren't bad enough. Adware and spyware are
here to sap the remaining life out of your productivity and privacy. Cookies
are harmless in comparison!

Adware is software that displays advertisements on your computer. These are
ads that inexplicably pop up on your display screen, even if you're not
browsing the Internet. Some companies provide "free" software in exchange
for advertising on your display. It's how they make their money.

Spyware is software that sends your personal information to a third party
without your permission or knowledge. This can include information about Web
sites you visit or something more sensitive like your user name and
password. Unscrupulous companies often use this data to send you unsolicited
targeted advertisements."

Now I am sure all of you have heard about spyware removal tools such as
SpyBot, Ad-Aware, Pest Patrol, and spyware blocking programs like SpyWare
Blaster. I ran all four programs on my PC and have had zero instances of
spyware in over a year. The problem occurs when the users of these programs
forget to update the spyware definitions for these programs. Spyware is very
similair to viruses in that new spyware is being developed and redesigned
everyday. If you do not up-to-date definitions, you cannot counter them.

When running any of these programs (with the exception of SpyWare Blaster)
it is a good idea to do this in Safe Mode. Spyware loves to load itself into
memory.

A majority of the spyware / viruses cases I see deal with file sharing
programs like Kazaa. This program in particuliar has cost my clients a lot
of money. I have removed as many as 4,000 articles of spyware and 39 viruses
off one PC.

Anyway, I hope that this helps you out. If you have any questions or
comments, please fill free to post them and I will help out in any way I
can.


--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI



Ads
  #2  
Old July 25th 04, 08:43 PM
CWatters
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses


"Michael D. Alligood" wrote in message
...

Now I am sure all of you have heard about spyware removal tools such as
SpyBot, Ad-Aware, Pest Patrol, and spyware blocking programs like SpyWare
Blaster. I ran all four programs on my PC and have had zero instances of
spyware in over a year.


I got hit by Webhancer and Roings recently and none of the removal programs
would remove them even after updating. After three days of trying they still
kept coming back after a reboot. In the end I worked out that these programs
were leaving some suspect processes in startup that were repairing others
and even creating files and folders on my HD!.

I finally got rid of the bloody things after nearly 100 hours work (Mostly
speant teaching myself what was going on)....

This is what I did...

1) killed a bunch of suspicious processes using task manager (see below)
2) Removed a bunch of processes from startup using msconfig (see below)
3) Ran Adaware which found the files and folders (and might have repaired
the damage that Webhancer did to my network stack etc)
4) rebooted.

Note: Step 3 on it's own did not work, nor did running SpyBot, Ad-Aware,
Pest Patrol on their own or in combinations.

Here is the full list of processes that I removed from my startup using
msconfig...

All are around 36Kbytes in size and all were created in C:\WINDOWS by the
pests.

aekjhhpnc.exe
anikvz.exe
aqnnjo.exe
arjzyv.exe
bjcozmfwg.exe
cggrzown.exe
cphe.exe
dgrzked.exe
emzxt.exe
eudi.exe
eujbo.exe
fbkdql.exe
fbmxii.exe
fleffz.exe
fwpckdg.exe
geerp.exe
govfkazlx.exe
hfqoenf.exe
hnztvtuaf.exe
hrafu.exe
hwpxnd.exe
ihyxgsm.exe
limj.exe
lioxyusb.exe
lmudhpr.exe
mdjsqjy.exe
mjcedbh.exe
nanvorwgh.exe
nrrdhh.exe
oambkk.exe
odqdprgsu.exe
odrynrc.exe
oolrc.exe
orlnbihw.exe
ouvchaefo.exe
oxdliflxz.exe
pmiabsxs.exe
pndspm.exe
rhuvhj.exe
rjgkn.exe
rnkggsi.exe
rsbmtkntd.exe
rznk.exe
sfyxh.exe
skoeetux.exe
ssqvjt.exe
sung.exe
sypd.exe
tmato.exe
tsphdyx.exe
ubczlau.exe
upvzv.exe
uyxhizb.exe
uzpzdwke.exe
vatlvmlo.exe
vnvjiyd.exe
vstfgd.exe
xfeg.exe
xkwl.exe
xrhkczx.exe
xznfc.exe
ygrww.exe
ygsuc.exe

WhAgent
WhSurvey




  #3  
Old July 25th 04, 08:43 PM
Michael D. Alligood
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

That sounds par for the course. Some of these spyware programs (WinTools)
are very difficult to remove -- even with the programs I mentioned.
Sometimes you have to search the registry and directories to remove the
whole program. What I try to do with new computer users is educate them on
protecting their systems immediately witht the spyware removal/blocking
programs. Some clients call in for PC setups (setting their PC up, etc...)
and thats a great time to educate and protect them against issues of
spyware.

Thanks for the reply!

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI


"CWatters" wrote in message
...

"Michael D. Alligood" wrote in message
...

Now I am sure all of you have heard about spyware removal tools such as
SpyBot, Ad-Aware, Pest Patrol, and spyware blocking programs like

SpyWare
Blaster. I ran all four programs on my PC and have had zero instances of
spyware in over a year.


I got hit by Webhancer and Roings recently and none of the removal

programs
would remove them even after updating. After three days of trying they

still
kept coming back after a reboot. In the end I worked out that these

programs
were leaving some suspect processes in startup that were repairing others
and even creating files and folders on my HD!.

I finally got rid of the bloody things after nearly 100 hours work (Mostly
speant teaching myself what was going on)....

This is what I did...

1) killed a bunch of suspicious processes using task manager (see below)
2) Removed a bunch of processes from startup using msconfig (see below)
3) Ran Adaware which found the files and folders (and might have repaired
the damage that Webhancer did to my network stack etc)
4) rebooted.

Note: Step 3 on it's own did not work, nor did running SpyBot, Ad-Aware,
Pest Patrol on their own or in combinations.

Here is the full list of processes that I removed from my startup using
msconfig...

All are around 36Kbytes in size and all were created in C:\WINDOWS by the
pests.

aekjhhpnc.exe
anikvz.exe
aqnnjo.exe
arjzyv.exe
bjcozmfwg.exe
cggrzown.exe
cphe.exe
dgrzked.exe
emzxt.exe
eudi.exe
eujbo.exe
fbkdql.exe
fbmxii.exe
fleffz.exe
fwpckdg.exe
geerp.exe
govfkazlx.exe
hfqoenf.exe
hnztvtuaf.exe
hrafu.exe
hwpxnd.exe
ihyxgsm.exe
limj.exe
lioxyusb.exe
lmudhpr.exe
mdjsqjy.exe
mjcedbh.exe
nanvorwgh.exe
nrrdhh.exe
oambkk.exe
odqdprgsu.exe
odrynrc.exe
oolrc.exe
orlnbihw.exe
ouvchaefo.exe
oxdliflxz.exe
pmiabsxs.exe
pndspm.exe
rhuvhj.exe
rjgkn.exe
rnkggsi.exe
rsbmtkntd.exe
rznk.exe
sfyxh.exe
skoeetux.exe
ssqvjt.exe
sung.exe
sypd.exe
tmato.exe
tsphdyx.exe
ubczlau.exe
upvzv.exe
uyxhizb.exe
uzpzdwke.exe
vatlvmlo.exe
vnvjiyd.exe
vstfgd.exe
xfeg.exe
xkwl.exe
xrhkczx.exe
xznfc.exe
ygrww.exe
ygsuc.exe

WhAgent
WhSurvey






  #4  
Old July 26th 04, 09:35 AM
CWatters
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses


"Michael D. Alligood" wrote in message
...
That sounds par for the course. Some of these spyware programs (WinTools)
are very difficult to remove -- even with the programs I mentioned.
Sometimes you have to search the registry and directories to remove the
whole program. What I try to do with new computer users is educate them on
protecting their systems immediately witht the spyware removal/blocking
programs. Some clients call in for PC setups (setting their PC up, etc...)
and thats a great time to educate and protect them against issues of
spyware.


I think it would also be worth mentioning the need to update windows
regularly to fix known security flaws as they are made available. I don't
know how this stuff got onto my wifes PC other than by a security flaw - we
hadn't updated for about a month - but and her IE security settings are a
tight as poss while still allowing reasonable functionality, and we run a
router with a firewall. She hadn't installed any new S/W so it didn't get in
that way.





  #5  
Old July 26th 04, 01:43 PM
Michael D. Alligood
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

Very good advice! Thanks...

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI


"CWatters" wrote in message
...

"Michael D. Alligood" wrote in message
...
That sounds par for the course. Some of these spyware programs

(WinTools)
are very difficult to remove -- even with the programs I mentioned.
Sometimes you have to search the registry and directories to remove the
whole program. What I try to do with new computer users is educate them

on
protecting their systems immediately witht the spyware removal/blocking
programs. Some clients call in for PC setups (setting their PC up,

etc...)
and thats a great time to educate and protect them against issues of
spyware.


I think it would also be worth mentioning the need to update windows
regularly to fix known security flaws as they are made available. I don't
know how this stuff got onto my wifes PC other than by a security flaw -

we
hadn't updated for about a month - but and her IE security settings are a
tight as poss while still allowing reasonable functionality, and we run a
router with a firewall. She hadn't installed any new S/W so it didn't get

in
that way.







  #6  
Old July 26th 04, 07:43 PM
Shenan Stanley
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

CWatters wrote:
I think it would also be worth mentioning the need to update windows
regularly to fix known security flaws as they are made available. I
don't know how this stuff got onto my wifes PC other than by a
security flaw - we hadn't updated for about a month - but and her IE
security settings are a tight as poss while still allowing reasonable
functionality, and we run a router with a firewall. She hadn't
installed any new S/W so it didn't get in that way.


Suggestions on what you can do to secure/clean your PC. I'm going to try
and be general, I will assume a "Windows" operating system is what is
being secured here.


UPDATES and PATCHES
-------------------

This one is the most obvious. There is no perfect product and any company
worth their salt will try to meet/exceed the needs of their customers and
fix any problems they find along the way. I am not going to say Microsoft
is the best company in the world about this but they do have an option
available for you to use to keep your machine updated and patched from
the problems and vulnerabilities (as well as product improvements in some
cases) - and it's free to you.

Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones as
you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when selecting the
updates and if you have trouble over the next few days, go into your control
panel (Add/Remove Programs), match up the latest numbers you downloaded
recently (since you started noticing an issue) and uninstall them. If there
was more than one (usually is), install them back one by one - with a few
hours of use in between, to see if the problem returns. Yes - the process
is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble like I mentioned - but as
you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is MUCH better than the
alternatives. (SASSER/BLASTER were SO preventable with just this step!)

Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
manufacturers of the other products usually have updates as well. New
versions of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some
are pay - some you can only download if you are registered - but it is best
to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
download sections.

You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface
with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see on
your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output and
so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always (IMO) get the
manufacturers hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows
Update site I mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware
drivers - no matter how tempting.

Have I mentioned that Microsoft has some stuff to help secure your computer
available to the end-user for free? This seems as good of a time as any.
They have a CD you can order (it's free) that contain all of the Windows
patches through October 2003 and some trial products as well that they
released in February 2004. Yeah - it's a little behind now, but it's better
than nothing (and used in coordination with the information in this post,
well worth the purchase price..)

Order the Windows Security Update CD
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

They also have a bunch of suggestions, some similar to these, on how to
better protect your Windows system:

Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/


FIREWALL
--------

Let's say you are up-to-date on the OS (operating system) and you have
Windows XP.. You should at least turn on the built in firewall. That will
do a lot to "hide" you from the random bad things flying around the
Internet. Things like Sasser/Blaster enjoy just sitting out there in
Cyberspace looking for an unprotected Windows Operating System and jumping
on it, doing great damage in the process and then using that Unprotected OS
to continue its dirty work of infecting others. If you have the Windows XP
ICF turned on - default configuration - then they cannot see you! Think of
it as Internet Stealth Mode at this point. It has other advantages, like
actually locking the doors you didn't even (likely) know you had. Doing
this is simple, the instructions you need to use your built in Windows XP
firewall can be found he

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320855

If you read through that and look through the pages that are linked from it
at the bottom of that page - I think you should have a firm grasp on the
basics of the Windows XP Firewall as it is today. One thing to note RIGHT
NOW - if you have AOL, you cannot use this nice firewall that came with
your system. Thank AOL, not Microsoft. You HAVE to configure another
one.. So we continue with our session on Firewalls...

But let's say you DON'T have Windows XP - you have some other OS like
Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000. Well, you don't have the nifty built in
firewall. My suggestion - upgrade. My next suggestion - look through your
options. There are lots of free and pay firewalls out there for home users.
Yes - you will have to decide on your own which to get. Yes, you will have
to learn (oh no!) to use these firewalls and configure them so they don't
interfere with what you want to do while continuing to provide the security
you desire. It's just like anything else you want to protect - you have to
do something to protect it. Here are some suggested applications. A lot of
people tout "ZoneAlarm" as being the best alternative to just using the
Windows XP ICF, but truthfully - any of these alternatives are much better
than the Windows XP ICF at what they do - because that is ALL they do.

ZoneAlarm (Free and up)
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conten...eeDownload.jsp

Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html

Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
http://www.agnitum.com/download/

Sygate Personal Firewall (Free and up)
http://smb.sygate.com/buy/download_buy.htm

Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall (~$25 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/

BlackICE PC Protection ($39.95 and up)
http://blackice.iss.net/

Tiny Personal Firewall (~$49.00 and up)
http://www.tinysoftware.com/

That list is not complete, but they are good firewall options, every one of
them. Visit the web pages, read up, ask around if you like - make a
decision and go with some firewall, any firewall. Also, maintain it.
Sometimes new holes are discovered in even the best of these products and
patches are released from the company to remedy this problem. However, if
you don't get the patches (check the manufacturer web page on occasion),
then you may never know you have the problem and/or are being used through
this weakness. Also, don't stack these things. Running more than one
firewall will not make you safer - it would likely (in fact) negate some
protection you gleamed from one or the other firewalls you ran together.


ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
------------------

That's not all. That's one facet of a secure PC, but firewalls don't do
everything. I saw one person posting on a newsgroup that "they had
never had a virus and they never run any anti-virus software." Yep - I used
to believe that way too - viruses were something everyone else seemed to
get, were they just stupid? And for the average joe-user who is careful,
uses their one-three family computers carefully, never opening unknown
attachments, always visiting the same family safe web sites, never
installing anything that did not come with their computer - maybe, just
maybe they will never witness a virus. I, however, am a Network Systems
Administrator. I see that AntiVirus software is an absolute necessity given
how most people see their computer as a toy/tool and not something
they should have to maintain and upkeep. After all, they were invented to
make life easier, right - not add another task to your day. You
can be as careful as you want - will the next person be as careful? Will
someone send you unknowingly the email that erases all the pictures of your
child/childhood? Possibly - why take the chance? ALWAYS RUN ANTIVIRUS
SOFTWARE and KEEP IT UP TO DATE! Antivirus software comes in so many
flavors, it's like walking into a Jelly Belly store - which one tastes like
what?! Well, here are a few choices for you. Some of these are free (isn't
that nice?) and some are not. Is one better than the other - MAYBE.

Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$11 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.kaspersky.com/products.html

Panda Antivirus Titanium (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/
(Free Online Scanner: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/)

AVG 6.0 Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
http://www.grisoft.com/

McAfee VirusScan (~$11 and up)
http://www.mcafee.com/

AntiVir (Free and up)
http://www.free-av.com/

avast! 4 (Free and up)
http://www.avast.com/

Trend Micro (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.trendmicro.com/
(Free Online Scanner:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/hous...start_corp.asp)

RAV AntiVirus Online Virus Scan (Free!)
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/

Did I mention you have to not only install this software, but also keep it
updated? You do. Some of them (most) have automatic services to help you
do this - I mean, it's not your job to keep up with the half-dozen or more
new threats that come out daily, is it? Be sure to keep whichever one you
choose up to date!


SPYWARE/ADWARE/POPUPS
---------------------

So you must be thinking that the above two things got your back now - you
are covered, safe and secure in your little fox hole. Wrong! There are
more bad guys out there. There are annoyances out there you can get without
trying. Your normal web surfing, maybe a wrong click on a web page, maybe
just a momentary lack of judgment by installing some software packages
without doing the research.. And all of a sudden your screen starts filling
up with advertisements or your Internet seems much slower or your home page
won't stay what you set it and goes someplace unfamiliar to you. This is
spyware. There are a whole SLEW of software packages out there to get rid
of this crud and help prevent reinfection. Some of the products already
mentioned might even have branched out into this arena. However, there are
a few applications that seem to be the best at what they do, which is
eradicating and immunizing your system from this crap. Strangely, the best
products I have found in this category ARE generally free. That is a trend
I like. I make donations to some of them, they deserve it!

Two side-notes: Never think one of these can do the whole job.
Try the first 5 before coming back and saying "That did not work!"
Also, you can always visit:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
For more updated information.

Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/

Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de

CWSShredder (Free!)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Hijack This! (Free)
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
( Tutorial: http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html )

SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

IE-SPYAD (Free!)
http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm

ToolbarCop (Free!)
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html

Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

The Cleaner (49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/

That will clean up your machine of the spyware, given that you download and
install several of them, update them regularly and scan with them when you
update. Some (like SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy) have
immunization features that will help you prevent your PC from being
infected. Use these features!

Unfortunately, although that will lessen your popups on the Internet/while
you are online, it won't eliminate them. I have looked at a lot of options,
seen a lot of them used in production with people who seem to attract popups
like a plague, and I only have one suggestion that end up serving double
duty (search engine and popup stopper in one):

The Google Toolbar (Free!)
http://toolbar.google.com/

Yeah - it adds a bar to your Internet Explorer - but its a useful one. You
can search from there anytime with one of the best search engines on the
planet (IMO.) And the fact it stops most popups - wow - BONUS! If you
don't like that suggestion, then I am just going to say you go to
www.google.com and search for other options.

One more suggestion, although I will suggest this in a way later, is to
disable your Windows Messenger service. This service is not used frequently
(if at all) by the normal home user and in cooperation with a good firewall,
is generally unnecessary. Microsoft has instructions on how to do this for
Windows XP he
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...e/stopspam.asp


SPAM EMAIL/JUNK MAIL
--------------------

This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one
sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,
although there are services out there to help you, some email
servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into
their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision
maker on what is spam and what isn't. If these things worked perfectly, we
wouldn't need people and then there would be no spam anyway - vicious
circle, eh? Anyway - I have two products to suggest to you, look at them
and see if either of them suite your needs. Again, if they don't, Google is
free and available for your perusal.

SpamBayes (Free!)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/

Spamihilator (Free!)
http://www.spamihilator.com/

As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have
seen function for hundreds+ people.


DISABLE (Set to Manual) UNUSED SERVICE/STARTUP APPS
---------------------------------------------------

I might get arguments on putting this one here, but it's my spill. There are
lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default you don't
use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all of the
services you might find on your computer are and set them according to your
personal needs. Be CAREFUL what you set to manual, and take heed and write
down as you change things! Also, don't expect a large performance increase
or anything - especially on todays 2+ GHz machines, however - I look at each
service you set to manual as one less service you have to worry about
someone exploiting. A year ago, I would have thought the Windows Messenger
service to be pretty safe, now I recommend (with addition of a firewall)
that most home users disable it! Yeah - this is another one you have to
work for, but your computer may speed up and/or be more secure because you
took the time. And if you document what you do as you do it, next time, it
goes MUCH faster! (or if you have to go back and re-enable things..)

Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Taskl...s/tasklist.htm

Black Viper's Service List and Opinions (XP)
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/

There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you start
up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle these
I have found he

Startups
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php


That's it. A small booklet on how to keep your computer secure, clean of
scum and more user friendly. I am SURE I missed something, almost as I am
sure you won't read all of it (anyone for that matter.) However, I also
know that someone who followed all of the advice above would also have less
problems with their PC, less problems with viruses, less problems with spam,
fewer problems with spyware and better performance than someone who didn't.

Hope it helps.

--
- Shenan -
--
The information is provided "as is", with no guarantees of
completeness, accuracy or timeliness, and without warranties of any
kind, express or implied. In other words, read up before you take any
advice - you are the one ultimately responsible for your actions.


  #7  
Old July 26th 04, 08:54 PM
Michael D. Alligood
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

Thank you Shenan, I did read throguh all of it! Great job.

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI


"Shenan Stanley" wrote in message
...
CWatters wrote:
I think it would also be worth mentioning the need to update windows
regularly to fix known security flaws as they are made available. I
don't know how this stuff got onto my wifes PC other than by a
security flaw - we hadn't updated for about a month - but and her IE
security settings are a tight as poss while still allowing reasonable
functionality, and we run a router with a firewall. She hadn't
installed any new S/W so it didn't get in that way.


Suggestions on what you can do to secure/clean your PC. I'm going to try
and be general, I will assume a "Windows" operating system is what is
being secured here.


UPDATES and PATCHES
-------------------

This one is the most obvious. There is no perfect product and any company
worth their salt will try to meet/exceed the needs of their customers and
fix any problems they find along the way. I am not going to say Microsoft
is the best company in the world about this but they do have an option
available for you to use to keep your machine updated and patched from
the problems and vulnerabilities (as well as product improvements in some
cases) - and it's free to you.

Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones

as
you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when selecting

the
updates and if you have trouble over the next few days, go into your

control
panel (Add/Remove Programs), match up the latest numbers you downloaded
recently (since you started noticing an issue) and uninstall them. If

there
was more than one (usually is), install them back one by one - with a few
hours of use in between, to see if the problem returns. Yes - the process
is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble like I mentioned - but as
you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is MUCH better than the
alternatives. (SASSER/BLASTER were SO preventable with just this step!)

Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
manufacturers of the other products usually have updates as well. New
versions of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some
are pay - some you can only download if you are registered - but it is

best
to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
download sections.

You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface
with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see

on
your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output

and
so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always (IMO) get the
manufacturers hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows
Update site I mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware
drivers - no matter how tempting.

Have I mentioned that Microsoft has some stuff to help secure your

computer
available to the end-user for free? This seems as good of a time as any.
They have a CD you can order (it's free) that contain all of the Windows
patches through October 2003 and some trial products as well that they
released in February 2004. Yeah - it's a little behind now, but it's

better
than nothing (and used in coordination with the information in this post,
well worth the purchase price..)

Order the Windows Security Update CD
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

They also have a bunch of suggestions, some similar to these, on how to
better protect your Windows system:

Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/


FIREWALL
--------

Let's say you are up-to-date on the OS (operating system) and you have
Windows XP.. You should at least turn on the built in firewall. That

will
do a lot to "hide" you from the random bad things flying around the
Internet. Things like Sasser/Blaster enjoy just sitting out there in
Cyberspace looking for an unprotected Windows Operating System and jumping
on it, doing great damage in the process and then using that Unprotected

OS
to continue its dirty work of infecting others. If you have the Windows

XP
ICF turned on - default configuration - then they cannot see you! Think

of
it as Internet Stealth Mode at this point. It has other advantages, like
actually locking the doors you didn't even (likely) know you had. Doing
this is simple, the instructions you need to use your built in Windows XP
firewall can be found he

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320855

If you read through that and look through the pages that are linked from

it
at the bottom of that page - I think you should have a firm grasp on the
basics of the Windows XP Firewall as it is today. One thing to note RIGHT
NOW - if you have AOL, you cannot use this nice firewall that came with
your system. Thank AOL, not Microsoft. You HAVE to configure another
one.. So we continue with our session on Firewalls...

But let's say you DON'T have Windows XP - you have some other OS like
Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000. Well, you don't have the nifty built

in
firewall. My suggestion - upgrade. My next suggestion - look through

your
options. There are lots of free and pay firewalls out there for home

users.
Yes - you will have to decide on your own which to get. Yes, you will

have
to learn (oh no!) to use these firewalls and configure them so they don't
interfere with what you want to do while continuing to provide the

security
you desire. It's just like anything else you want to protect - you have

to
do something to protect it. Here are some suggested applications. A lot

of
people tout "ZoneAlarm" as being the best alternative to just using the
Windows XP ICF, but truthfully - any of these alternatives are much better
than the Windows XP ICF at what they do - because that is ALL they do.

ZoneAlarm (Free and up)

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conten...eeDownload.jsp

Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html

Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
http://www.agnitum.com/download/

Sygate Personal Firewall (Free and up)
http://smb.sygate.com/buy/download_buy.htm

Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall (~$25 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/

BlackICE PC Protection ($39.95 and up)
http://blackice.iss.net/

Tiny Personal Firewall (~$49.00 and up)
http://www.tinysoftware.com/

That list is not complete, but they are good firewall options, every one

of
them. Visit the web pages, read up, ask around if you like - make a
decision and go with some firewall, any firewall. Also, maintain it.
Sometimes new holes are discovered in even the best of these products and
patches are released from the company to remedy this problem. However, if
you don't get the patches (check the manufacturer web page on occasion),
then you may never know you have the problem and/or are being used through
this weakness. Also, don't stack these things. Running more than one
firewall will not make you safer - it would likely (in fact) negate some
protection you gleamed from one or the other firewalls you ran together.


ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
------------------

That's not all. That's one facet of a secure PC, but firewalls don't do
everything. I saw one person posting on a newsgroup that "they had
never had a virus and they never run any anti-virus software." Yep - I

used
to believe that way too - viruses were something everyone else seemed to
get, were they just stupid? And for the average joe-user who is careful,
uses their one-three family computers carefully, never opening unknown
attachments, always visiting the same family safe web sites, never
installing anything that did not come with their computer - maybe, just
maybe they will never witness a virus. I, however, am a Network Systems
Administrator. I see that AntiVirus software is an absolute necessity

given
how most people see their computer as a toy/tool and not something
they should have to maintain and upkeep. After all, they were invented to
make life easier, right - not add another task to your day. You
can be as careful as you want - will the next person be as careful? Will
someone send you unknowingly the email that erases all the pictures of

your
child/childhood? Possibly - why take the chance? ALWAYS RUN ANTIVIRUS
SOFTWARE and KEEP IT UP TO DATE! Antivirus software comes in so many
flavors, it's like walking into a Jelly Belly store - which one tastes

like
what?! Well, here are a few choices for you. Some of these are free

(isn't
that nice?) and some are not. Is one better than the other - MAYBE.

Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$11 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.kaspersky.com/products.html

Panda Antivirus Titanium (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/
(Free Online Scanner: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/)

AVG 6.0 Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
http://www.grisoft.com/

McAfee VirusScan (~$11 and up)
http://www.mcafee.com/

AntiVir (Free and up)
http://www.free-av.com/

avast! 4 (Free and up)
http://www.avast.com/

Trend Micro (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.trendmicro.com/
(Free Online Scanner:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/hous...start_corp.asp)

RAV AntiVirus Online Virus Scan (Free!)
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/

Did I mention you have to not only install this software, but also keep it
updated? You do. Some of them (most) have automatic services to help you
do this - I mean, it's not your job to keep up with the half-dozen or more
new threats that come out daily, is it? Be sure to keep whichever one you
choose up to date!


SPYWARE/ADWARE/POPUPS
---------------------

So you must be thinking that the above two things got your back now - you
are covered, safe and secure in your little fox hole. Wrong! There are
more bad guys out there. There are annoyances out there you can get

without
trying. Your normal web surfing, maybe a wrong click on a web page, maybe
just a momentary lack of judgment by installing some software packages
without doing the research.. And all of a sudden your screen starts

filling
up with advertisements or your Internet seems much slower or your home

page
won't stay what you set it and goes someplace unfamiliar to you. This is
spyware. There are a whole SLEW of software packages out there to get rid
of this crud and help prevent reinfection. Some of the products already
mentioned might even have branched out into this arena. However, there

are
a few applications that seem to be the best at what they do, which is
eradicating and immunizing your system from this crap. Strangely, the

best
products I have found in this category ARE generally free. That is a

trend
I like. I make donations to some of them, they deserve it!

Two side-notes: Never think one of these can do the whole job.
Try the first 5 before coming back and saying "That did not work!"
Also, you can always visit:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
For more updated information.

Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/

Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de

CWSShredder (Free!)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Hijack This! (Free)
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
( Tutorial: http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html )

SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

IE-SPYAD (Free!)
http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm

ToolbarCop (Free!)
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html

Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

The Cleaner (49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/

That will clean up your machine of the spyware, given that you download

and
install several of them, update them regularly and scan with them when you
update. Some (like SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy) have
immunization features that will help you prevent your PC from being
infected. Use these features!

Unfortunately, although that will lessen your popups on the Internet/while
you are online, it won't eliminate them. I have looked at a lot of

options,
seen a lot of them used in production with people who seem to attract

popups
like a plague, and I only have one suggestion that end up serving double
duty (search engine and popup stopper in one):

The Google Toolbar (Free!)
http://toolbar.google.com/

Yeah - it adds a bar to your Internet Explorer - but its a useful one.

You
can search from there anytime with one of the best search engines on the
planet (IMO.) And the fact it stops most popups - wow - BONUS! If you
don't like that suggestion, then I am just going to say you go to
www.google.com and search for other options.

One more suggestion, although I will suggest this in a way later, is to
disable your Windows Messenger service. This service is not used

frequently
(if at all) by the normal home user and in cooperation with a good

firewall,
is generally unnecessary. Microsoft has instructions on how to do this

for
Windows XP he

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...e/stopspam.asp


SPAM EMAIL/JUNK MAIL
--------------------

This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one
sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,
although there are services out there to help you, some email
servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into
their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision
maker on what is spam and what isn't. If these things worked perfectly,

we
wouldn't need people and then there would be no spam anyway - vicious
circle, eh? Anyway - I have two products to suggest to you, look at them
and see if either of them suite your needs. Again, if they don't, Google

is
free and available for your perusal.

SpamBayes (Free!)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/

Spamihilator (Free!)
http://www.spamihilator.com/

As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have
seen function for hundreds+ people.


DISABLE (Set to Manual) UNUSED SERVICE/STARTUP APPS
---------------------------------------------------

I might get arguments on putting this one here, but it's my spill. There

are
lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default you

don't
use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all of the
services you might find on your computer are and set them according to

your
personal needs. Be CAREFUL what you set to manual, and take heed and

write
down as you change things! Also, don't expect a large performance

increase
or anything - especially on todays 2+ GHz machines, however - I look at

each
service you set to manual as one less service you have to worry about
someone exploiting. A year ago, I would have thought the Windows

Messenger
service to be pretty safe, now I recommend (with addition of a firewall)
that most home users disable it! Yeah - this is another one you have to
work for, but your computer may speed up and/or be more secure because you
took the time. And if you document what you do as you do it, next time,

it
goes MUCH faster! (or if you have to go back and re-enable things..)

Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Taskl...s/tasklist.htm

Black Viper's Service List and Opinions (XP)
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/

There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you

start
up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle

these
I have found he

Startups
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php


That's it. A small booklet on how to keep your computer secure, clean of
scum and more user friendly. I am SURE I missed something, almost as I am
sure you won't read all of it (anyone for that matter.) However, I also
know that someone who followed all of the advice above would also have

less
problems with their PC, less problems with viruses, less problems with

spam,
fewer problems with spyware and better performance than someone who

didn't.

Hope it helps.

--
- Shenan -
--
The information is provided "as is", with no guarantees of
completeness, accuracy or timeliness, and without warranties of any
kind, express or implied. In other words, read up before you take any
advice - you are the one ultimately responsible for your actions.




  #8  
Old July 27th 04, 06:48 PM
JW
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

Realizing it's a bit late to reply, but here's a twist that has helped me
many times. I created a special Limited Account for Internet-only usage.
Then I removed from this Internet-only account all access rights to the
folders named \Windows and \Program Files, except Read/Execute. I use this
account for no purpose other than surfing the wild wild web. Since I turned
on Auditing on those folders, I have been surprised to see that every week,
some vermin from somewhere attempts to monkey with files in \Windows or
\Program Files, e.g. trying to install entries in the registry, corrupt
files like explorer.exe, or uninstall programs. In Event Viewer, they are
all logged as Failed Attempts.

This happens even while employing the following tools: Spybot S&D,
SpySweeper (PC Magazine Editors' Choice Award winner for best anti-spyware
in their March 2004 issue), IE Privacy (used to stop all 3rd party cookies),
ICF, ZoneAlarm Pro (also used to stop all pop ups, banner ads, 3rd party
cookies, persistent cookies, web bugs, ActiveX, VBscript, JavaScript, and
MIME objects), AVG Antivirus, and anti-spam and anti-virus filters on my
ISP.

I know it's not the magic pill that prevents all illness. By itself it does
not protect \Favorites, \Cookies, and other folders on the profile for this
Internet-only account. There is also the added step of transferring files
to/from \All Users, when I want to send/receive/download/upload files to and
from the web. But it is one more effective layer in the many layers of
defense we should all employ.


"Michael D. Alligood" wrote in message
...
Some of you folks recognize me from my posts on various newsgroups. I am a
technician with "Geeks On Call". I have been performing IT support for about
10 years now. Nearly two-thirds of my service calls deal with spyware and
viruses. Although there are numerous articles concerning this issue, many
users do not care to read them. They are like me when it comes to my car: If
it starts in the morning, I do not care how it runs. But what you do not
know will hurt you in the end.

Jerry Honeycutt, MS Expert Zone Columnist states,
"As if spam, viruses, and worms aren't bad enough. Adware and spyware are
here to sap the remaining life out of your productivity and privacy. Cookies
are harmless in comparison!

Adware is software that displays advertisements on your computer. These are
ads that inexplicably pop up on your display screen, even if you're not
browsing the Internet. Some companies provide "free" software in exchange
for advertising on your display. It's how they make their money.

Spyware is software that sends your personal information to a third party
without your permission or knowledge. This can include information about Web
sites you visit or something more sensitive like your user name and
password. Unscrupulous companies often use this data to send you unsolicited
targeted advertisements."

Now I am sure all of you have heard about spyware removal tools such as
SpyBot, Ad-Aware, Pest Patrol, and spyware blocking programs like SpyWare
Blaster. I ran all four programs on my PC and have had zero instances of
spyware in over a year. The problem occurs when the users of these programs
forget to update the spyware definitions for these programs. Spyware is very
similair to viruses in that new spyware is being developed and redesigned
everyday. If you do not up-to-date definitions, you cannot counter them.

When running any of these programs (with the exception of SpyWare Blaster)
it is a good idea to do this in Safe Mode. Spyware loves to load itself into
memory.

A majority of the spyware / viruses cases I see deal with file sharing
programs like Kazaa. This program in particuliar has cost my clients a lot
of money. I have removed as many as 4,000 articles of spyware and 39 viruses
off one PC.

Anyway, I hope that this helps you out. If you have any questions or
comments, please fill free to post them and I will help out in any way I
can.


--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI




  #9  
Old July 28th 04, 02:53 PM
Peggy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

I wish you could help me.......I downloaded AOL's spyware 11 July and deleted what it found and have not been able to use the internet explorer since. AOL or Dell have not been able to fix the problem. Any ideas?

"Michael D. Alligood" wrote:

Some of you folks recognize me from my posts on various newsgroups. I am a
technician with "Geeks On Call". I have been performing IT support for about
10 years now. Nearly two-thirds of my service calls deal with spyware and
viruses. Although there are numerous articles concerning this issue, many
users do not care to read them. They are like me when it comes to my car: If
it starts in the morning, I do not care how it runs. But what you do not
know will hurt you in the end.

Jerry Honeycutt, MS Expert Zone Columnist states,
"As if spam, viruses, and worms aren't bad enough. Adware and spyware are
here to sap the remaining life out of your productivity and privacy. Cookies
are harmless in comparison!

Adware is software that displays advertisements on your computer. These are
ads that inexplicably pop up on your display screen, even if you're not
browsing the Internet. Some companies provide "free" software in exchange
for advertising on your display. It's how they make their money.

Spyware is software that sends your personal information to a third party
without your permission or knowledge. This can include information about Web
sites you visit or something more sensitive like your user name and
password. Unscrupulous companies often use this data to send you unsolicited
targeted advertisements."

Now I am sure all of you have heard about spyware removal tools such as
SpyBot, Ad-Aware, Pest Patrol, and spyware blocking programs like SpyWare
Blaster. I ran all four programs on my PC and have had zero instances of
spyware in over a year. The problem occurs when the users of these programs
forget to update the spyware definitions for these programs. Spyware is very
similair to viruses in that new spyware is being developed and redesigned
everyday. If you do not up-to-date definitions, you cannot counter them.

When running any of these programs (with the exception of SpyWare Blaster)
it is a good idea to do this in Safe Mode. Spyware loves to load itself into
memory.

A majority of the spyware / viruses cases I see deal with file sharing
programs like Kazaa. This program in particuliar has cost my clients a lot
of money. I have removed as many as 4,000 articles of spyware and 39 viruses
off one PC.

Anyway, I hope that this helps you out. If you have any questions or
comments, please fill free to post them and I will help out in any way I
can.


--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI




  #10  
Old July 28th 04, 03:20 PM
Michael D. Alligood
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

Sure! Give me a little background on the problem. What seems to be going on
when you open IE?

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI


"Peggy" wrote in message
...
I wish you could help me.......I downloaded AOL's spyware 11 July and

deleted what it found and have not been able to use the internet explorer
since. AOL or Dell have not been able to fix the problem. Any ideas?

"Michael D. Alligood" wrote:

Some of you folks recognize me from my posts on various newsgroups. I am

a
technician with "Geeks On Call". I have been performing IT support for

about
10 years now. Nearly two-thirds of my service calls deal with spyware

and
viruses. Although there are numerous articles concerning this issue,

many
users do not care to read them. They are like me when it comes to my

car: If
it starts in the morning, I do not care how it runs. But what you do not
know will hurt you in the end.

Jerry Honeycutt, MS Expert Zone Columnist states,
"As if spam, viruses, and worms aren't bad enough. Adware and spyware

are
here to sap the remaining life out of your productivity and privacy.

Cookies
are harmless in comparison!

Adware is software that displays advertisements on your computer. These

are
ads that inexplicably pop up on your display screen, even if you're not
browsing the Internet. Some companies provide "free" software in

exchange
for advertising on your display. It's how they make their money.

Spyware is software that sends your personal information to a third

party
without your permission or knowledge. This can include information about

Web
sites you visit or something more sensitive like your user name and
password. Unscrupulous companies often use this data to send you

unsolicited
targeted advertisements."

Now I am sure all of you have heard about spyware removal tools such as
SpyBot, Ad-Aware, Pest Patrol, and spyware blocking programs like

SpyWare
Blaster. I ran all four programs on my PC and have had zero instances of
spyware in over a year. The problem occurs when the users of these

programs
forget to update the spyware definitions for these programs. Spyware is

very
similair to viruses in that new spyware is being developed and

redesigned
everyday. If you do not up-to-date definitions, you cannot counter them.

When running any of these programs (with the exception of SpyWare

Blaster)
it is a good idea to do this in Safe Mode. Spyware loves to load itself

into
memory.

A majority of the spyware / viruses cases I see deal with file sharing
programs like Kazaa. This program in particuliar has cost my clients a

lot
of money. I have removed as many as 4,000 articles of spyware and 39

viruses
off one PC.

Anyway, I hope that this helps you out. If you have any questions or
comments, please fill free to post them and I will help out in any way I
can.


--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI






  #11  
Old July 29th 04, 07:18 PM
Michael D. Alligood
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

Thank you Shenan, I did read throguh all of it! Great job.

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI


"Shenan Stanley" wrote in message
...
CWatters wrote:
I think it would also be worth mentioning the need to update windows
regularly to fix known security flaws as they are made available. I
don't know how this stuff got onto my wifes PC other than by a
security flaw - we hadn't updated for about a month - but and her IE
security settings are a tight as poss while still allowing reasonable
functionality, and we run a router with a firewall. She hadn't
installed any new S/W so it didn't get in that way.


Suggestions on what you can do to secure/clean your PC. I'm going to try
and be general, I will assume a "Windows" operating system is what is
being secured here.


UPDATES and PATCHES
-------------------

This one is the most obvious. There is no perfect product and any company
worth their salt will try to meet/exceed the needs of their customers and
fix any problems they find along the way. I am not going to say Microsoft
is the best company in the world about this but they do have an option
available for you to use to keep your machine updated and patched from
the problems and vulnerabilities (as well as product improvements in some
cases) - and it's free to you.

Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones

as
you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when selecting

the
updates and if you have trouble over the next few days, go into your

control
panel (Add/Remove Programs), match up the latest numbers you downloaded
recently (since you started noticing an issue) and uninstall them. If

there
was more than one (usually is), install them back one by one - with a few
hours of use in between, to see if the problem returns. Yes - the process
is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble like I mentioned - but as
you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is MUCH better than the
alternatives. (SASSER/BLASTER were SO preventable with just this step!)

Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
manufacturers of the other products usually have updates as well. New
versions of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some
are pay - some you can only download if you are registered - but it is

best
to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
download sections.

You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface
with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see

on
your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output

and
so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always (IMO) get the
manufacturers hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows
Update site I mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware
drivers - no matter how tempting.

Have I mentioned that Microsoft has some stuff to help secure your

computer
available to the end-user for free? This seems as good of a time as any.
They have a CD you can order (it's free) that contain all of the Windows
patches through October 2003 and some trial products as well that they
released in February 2004. Yeah - it's a little behind now, but it's

better
than nothing (and used in coordination with the information in this post,
well worth the purchase price..)

Order the Windows Security Update CD
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

They also have a bunch of suggestions, some similar to these, on how to
better protect your Windows system:

Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/


FIREWALL
--------

Let's say you are up-to-date on the OS (operating system) and you have
Windows XP.. You should at least turn on the built in firewall. That

will
do a lot to "hide" you from the random bad things flying around the
Internet. Things like Sasser/Blaster enjoy just sitting out there in
Cyberspace looking for an unprotected Windows Operating System and jumping
on it, doing great damage in the process and then using that Unprotected

OS
to continue its dirty work of infecting others. If you have the Windows

XP
ICF turned on - default configuration - then they cannot see you! Think

of
it as Internet Stealth Mode at this point. It has other advantages, like
actually locking the doors you didn't even (likely) know you had. Doing
this is simple, the instructions you need to use your built in Windows XP
firewall can be found he

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320855

If you read through that and look through the pages that are linked from

it
at the bottom of that page - I think you should have a firm grasp on the
basics of the Windows XP Firewall as it is today. One thing to note RIGHT
NOW - if you have AOL, you cannot use this nice firewall that came with
your system. Thank AOL, not Microsoft. You HAVE to configure another
one.. So we continue with our session on Firewalls...

But let's say you DON'T have Windows XP - you have some other OS like
Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000. Well, you don't have the nifty built

in
firewall. My suggestion - upgrade. My next suggestion - look through

your
options. There are lots of free and pay firewalls out there for home

users.
Yes - you will have to decide on your own which to get. Yes, you will

have
to learn (oh no!) to use these firewalls and configure them so they don't
interfere with what you want to do while continuing to provide the

security
you desire. It's just like anything else you want to protect - you have

to
do something to protect it. Here are some suggested applications. A lot

of
people tout "ZoneAlarm" as being the best alternative to just using the
Windows XP ICF, but truthfully - any of these alternatives are much better
than the Windows XP ICF at what they do - because that is ALL they do.

ZoneAlarm (Free and up)

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conten...eeDownload.jsp

Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html

Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
http://www.agnitum.com/download/

Sygate Personal Firewall (Free and up)
http://smb.sygate.com/buy/download_buy.htm

Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall (~$25 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/

BlackICE PC Protection ($39.95 and up)
http://blackice.iss.net/

Tiny Personal Firewall (~$49.00 and up)
http://www.tinysoftware.com/

That list is not complete, but they are good firewall options, every one

of
them. Visit the web pages, read up, ask around if you like - make a
decision and go with some firewall, any firewall. Also, maintain it.
Sometimes new holes are discovered in even the best of these products and
patches are released from the company to remedy this problem. However, if
you don't get the patches (check the manufacturer web page on occasion),
then you may never know you have the problem and/or are being used through
this weakness. Also, don't stack these things. Running more than one
firewall will not make you safer - it would likely (in fact) negate some
protection you gleamed from one or the other firewalls you ran together.


ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
------------------

That's not all. That's one facet of a secure PC, but firewalls don't do
everything. I saw one person posting on a newsgroup that "they had
never had a virus and they never run any anti-virus software." Yep - I

used
to believe that way too - viruses were something everyone else seemed to
get, were they just stupid? And for the average joe-user who is careful,
uses their one-three family computers carefully, never opening unknown
attachments, always visiting the same family safe web sites, never
installing anything that did not come with their computer - maybe, just
maybe they will never witness a virus. I, however, am a Network Systems
Administrator. I see that AntiVirus software is an absolute necessity

given
how most people see their computer as a toy/tool and not something
they should have to maintain and upkeep. After all, they were invented to
make life easier, right - not add another task to your day. You
can be as careful as you want - will the next person be as careful? Will
someone send you unknowingly the email that erases all the pictures of

your
child/childhood? Possibly - why take the chance? ALWAYS RUN ANTIVIRUS
SOFTWARE and KEEP IT UP TO DATE! Antivirus software comes in so many
flavors, it's like walking into a Jelly Belly store - which one tastes

like
what?! Well, here are a few choices for you. Some of these are free

(isn't
that nice?) and some are not. Is one better than the other - MAYBE.

Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$11 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.kaspersky.com/products.html

Panda Antivirus Titanium (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/
(Free Online Scanner: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/)

AVG 6.0 Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
http://www.grisoft.com/

McAfee VirusScan (~$11 and up)
http://www.mcafee.com/

AntiVir (Free and up)
http://www.free-av.com/

avast! 4 (Free and up)
http://www.avast.com/

Trend Micro (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.trendmicro.com/
(Free Online Scanner:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/hous...start_corp.asp)

RAV AntiVirus Online Virus Scan (Free!)
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/

Did I mention you have to not only install this software, but also keep it
updated? You do. Some of them (most) have automatic services to help you
do this - I mean, it's not your job to keep up with the half-dozen or more
new threats that come out daily, is it? Be sure to keep whichever one you
choose up to date!


SPYWARE/ADWARE/POPUPS
---------------------

So you must be thinking that the above two things got your back now - you
are covered, safe and secure in your little fox hole. Wrong! There are
more bad guys out there. There are annoyances out there you can get

without
trying. Your normal web surfing, maybe a wrong click on a web page, maybe
just a momentary lack of judgment by installing some software packages
without doing the research.. And all of a sudden your screen starts

filling
up with advertisements or your Internet seems much slower or your home

page
won't stay what you set it and goes someplace unfamiliar to you. This is
spyware. There are a whole SLEW of software packages out there to get rid
of this crud and help prevent reinfection. Some of the products already
mentioned might even have branched out into this arena. However, there

are
a few applications that seem to be the best at what they do, which is
eradicating and immunizing your system from this crap. Strangely, the

best
products I have found in this category ARE generally free. That is a

trend
I like. I make donations to some of them, they deserve it!

Two side-notes: Never think one of these can do the whole job.
Try the first 5 before coming back and saying "That did not work!"
Also, you can always visit:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
For more updated information.

Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/

Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de

CWSShredder (Free!)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Hijack This! (Free)
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
( Tutorial: http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html )

SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

IE-SPYAD (Free!)
http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm

ToolbarCop (Free!)
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html

Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

The Cleaner (49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/

That will clean up your machine of the spyware, given that you download

and
install several of them, update them regularly and scan with them when you
update. Some (like SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy) have
immunization features that will help you prevent your PC from being
infected. Use these features!

Unfortunately, although that will lessen your popups on the Internet/while
you are online, it won't eliminate them. I have looked at a lot of

options,
seen a lot of them used in production with people who seem to attract

popups
like a plague, and I only have one suggestion that end up serving double
duty (search engine and popup stopper in one):

The Google Toolbar (Free!)
http://toolbar.google.com/

Yeah - it adds a bar to your Internet Explorer - but its a useful one.

You
can search from there anytime with one of the best search engines on the
planet (IMO.) And the fact it stops most popups - wow - BONUS! If you
don't like that suggestion, then I am just going to say you go to
www.google.com and search for other options.

One more suggestion, although I will suggest this in a way later, is to
disable your Windows Messenger service. This service is not used

frequently
(if at all) by the normal home user and in cooperation with a good

firewall,
is generally unnecessary. Microsoft has instructions on how to do this

for
Windows XP he

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...e/stopspam.asp


SPAM EMAIL/JUNK MAIL
--------------------

This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one
sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,
although there are services out there to help you, some email
servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into
their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision
maker on what is spam and what isn't. If these things worked perfectly,

we
wouldn't need people and then there would be no spam anyway - vicious
circle, eh? Anyway - I have two products to suggest to you, look at them
and see if either of them suite your needs. Again, if they don't, Google

is
free and available for your perusal.

SpamBayes (Free!)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/

Spamihilator (Free!)
http://www.spamihilator.com/

As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have
seen function for hundreds+ people.


DISABLE (Set to Manual) UNUSED SERVICE/STARTUP APPS
---------------------------------------------------

I might get arguments on putting this one here, but it's my spill. There

are
lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default you

don't
use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all of the
services you might find on your computer are and set them according to

your
personal needs. Be CAREFUL what you set to manual, and take heed and

write
down as you change things! Also, don't expect a large performance

increase
or anything - especially on todays 2+ GHz machines, however - I look at

each
service you set to manual as one less service you have to worry about
someone exploiting. A year ago, I would have thought the Windows

Messenger
service to be pretty safe, now I recommend (with addition of a firewall)
that most home users disable it! Yeah - this is another one you have to
work for, but your computer may speed up and/or be more secure because you
took the time. And if you document what you do as you do it, next time,

it
goes MUCH faster! (or if you have to go back and re-enable things..)

Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Taskl...s/tasklist.htm

Black Viper's Service List and Opinions (XP)
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/

There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you

start
up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle

these
I have found he

Startups
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php


That's it. A small booklet on how to keep your computer secure, clean of
scum and more user friendly. I am SURE I missed something, almost as I am
sure you won't read all of it (anyone for that matter.) However, I also
know that someone who followed all of the advice above would also have

less
problems with their PC, less problems with viruses, less problems with

spam,
fewer problems with spyware and better performance than someone who

didn't.

Hope it helps.

--
- Shenan -
--
The information is provided "as is", with no guarantees of
completeness, accuracy or timeliness, and without warranties of any
kind, express or implied. In other words, read up before you take any
advice - you are the one ultimately responsible for your actions.




  #12  
Old July 29th 04, 07:37 PM
Michael D. Alligood
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Spyware and Viruses

Very good advice! Thanks...

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI


"CWatters" wrote in message
...

"Michael D. Alligood" wrote in message
...
That sounds par for the course. Some of these spyware programs

(WinTools)
are very difficult to remove -- even with the programs I mentioned.
Sometimes you have to search the registry and directories to remove the
whole program. What I try to do with new computer users is educate them

on
protecting their systems immediately witht the spyware removal/blocking
programs. Some clients call in for PC setups (setting their PC up,

etc...)
and thats a great time to educate and protect them against issues of
spyware.


I think it would also be worth mentioning the need to update windows
regularly to fix known security flaws as they are made available. I don't
know how this stuff got onto my wifes PC other than by a security flaw -

we
hadn't updated for about a month - but and her IE security settings are a
tight as poss while still allowing reasonable functionality, and we run a
router with a firewall. She hadn't installed any new S/W so it didn't get

in
that way.







 




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