- Prevention of Viruses, Trojans and Worms.
- Safer Surfing. Spyware, Popups,content ratings etc
- Links to related Software.
Prevention of Viruses, Trojans and Worms.
I wont delve into the what is... scenario here, just that you know they are not nice (mostly) and you need to do what you can to prevent your computer(s) from becoming infected.
Viruses, Trojans and Worms can all come from a variety of sources, floppy discs, emails, web sites and some programs. The first steps to prevention are awareness, vigelance and knowledge. DO NOT open ANY emails that you are not expecting, are from people or companies that you do not know, or are from people that are in your email.
There are an increasing number of emails purporting to come from your bank for instance and ask you to update your details online at their website. In fact banks do NOT do this, and although the website you visit may look exactly like your banks website, it will more than likely be a fake site, set up to capture your banking and personal details as you type them in. Be aware of these and other phishing schemes that try to make you 'click here' to go to the website.
So, vigelance and awareness can take you so far, you also need in your armoury a few programs designed to prevent, find and kill these nasties. You will need a decent Firewall and a good Anti Virus product. (You also need some Anti-Spyware and Popup killers too but these are explained in the next section.)
If you have on your computer Microsoft Windows XP then the first thing to make sure is that you have the latest Service Pack 2 installed. Using Windows Update regularly will tell you what you need to install and when. XP Service Pack 2 contains its own built in Firewall. This offers some form of protection for inbound viruses and trojans. However outbound traffic (from your computer to the outside world) is not checked. I highly recomend therefore that you obtain a more effective firewall in addition to the Windows Firewall. I have for some years now used the ZoneAlarm firewall and it does a great job, it also works fine if Windows Firewall is still enabled. Visit ZoneLabs.com now and get protected with ZoneAlarm. There is a FREE version for home users as well as a paid for Pro version.
Ok, so the Firewalls in place and fighting intruders, or maybe you'll do it at the end of this article, or maybe you'll get round to it at the weekend - but the footie's on and friends are coming round, so maybe next week, maybe .... oops , too late !!!! , seriously, install your Firewall ASAP. Next on the list is a decent Anti-Virus product. There are many out there, some good, some not so, so here I am again with my personal recomendation. Tried and tested, an excellent product, buy the full version of you can - it helps the improvements of the program, again to the rescue of us poor home owners a FREE version is available for download. AVG by grisoft.com is an excellent all round virus beater, and it is also easy to use, which is a big help. I have been using it for over 5 years and have seen many changes over the years, their latest version 7 is excellent.
Now, we have some protection, but it is only as good as its last update. You must update your Anti Virus definition files on a regular basis - if you go on the net daily, check for updates daily. Read the documentation of AVG Anti Virus and ZoneAlarm so you can configure them to best suit your environment. You can also visit the miniTutorials.com forums boards for free advice on setting up and using any products mentioned in this tutorial. You do not need to be a member to contribute to the forums, but there are more forums available to you as a member, membership is (as is the theme of this section) FREE.
Safer Surfing. Spyware, Popups,content ratings etc
There everywhere, but where do they come from and just how do you get rid of them! For some unknown reason to me, some companies might think I need a free University Diploma, or some Viagra, that I would like to have some enhancements done to my body, or that I like smileys and ringtones that cost a fortune. Nope, I don't and my guess is you don't either — not from these people anyway. Popups (and now more commonly PopUnders) are relatively easy to cure.
There are two main types of popup, one type which I will talk about in a minute, comes from the web, activated from web sites that you visit. The other, comes from a service that was originally meant for another purpose — to send messages between computers in a network, usually a home or work network, however some individuals use the service to send messages to your computer via a bigger network, the Internet. The service is built into the Windows operating system and is simply called ' Messenger' , not to be confused with 'Windows Messenger' or 'MSN Messenger', these are seperate and legit programs. To cure this, we turn the service off, and heres how:-
1. Click on the 'Start' button, select 'Run' and in the resulting
dialog box type in the words 'services.msc' and then press the <Enter> key.
2. From
the resulting window that appears, scroll down the 'Name' column until
you come across 'Messenger'. Right Click 'Messenger' and select 'Properties'
(with the left mouse button.)
3. Look for 'Startup Type' and from the drop down box next to it select 'Disabled'
4. Click the 'Apply' button and then the 'OK' button to apply changes and
exit the properties box.
5. Click 'File' and then choose 'Exit' or click the 'X' in the top right
corner to exit the Services Window.
That's it, Messenger Service disabled, no more University Diplomas for you. (It may take a re-boot of the computer for this change to come into effect on some versions of Windows).
Since I wrote the above Messenger removal instructions, several Companies now offer automatic tools to do the job, so if the above looks messy, read what Lavasoft has to say about it here, and then download and install the Ad-Aware Add-On for Messenger-Control.
Now, back to the other type of popup, the more common one that we get whist surfing the web. The easiest way to cure this cancer is to install a program or browser add-on that amongst it's many features, also includes a popup killer. Windows XP Service Pack 2 also comes with a built in popup killer (more correctly, it adds it to Internet Explorer 6) and does a pretty good job, but the occasional one still gets through. My next recomendation is to add a Google Toolbar to Internet Explorer, or you might like to try another web browser such a Mozilla Firefox which also does an excellent job and a great alternative to IE6. (Google has a Toolbar which includes a popup killer for Firefox too! - Downlloadable from their site here.)
To add the Google Toolbar to Internet Explorer — visit http://toolbar.google.com/ and click on the 'Download Google Toolbar' button. Accept any security warning Windows may give you and click on the 'Run' button from the download dialog box. After a minute or two, depending on your connection, and the new toolbar will be installed, it really is that easy. Any other Internet Explorer windows will need to be closed and re-opened for the toolbar to appear.
To try the new Mozilla Firefox Web Browser as an alternative to Internet Explorer visit http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ and click on the download button. You can select 'Run' from the dialog box to download and install immediatly or you can choose 'Save' and save the program to your computer and double-click on the downloaded file to install it at a later time.
Last but not least in this section is 'Content Ratings'. Most decent sites give themselves a content rating, similar to TV programs and Film classifications, that determine the content of the site, and whether or not is is a suitable site for children to have access to.
Links to related Software and more information.
ZoneLabs.com — Firewall. The free version
for home use is available on
this page.
Grisoft.com - Anti-Virus. The free version for home use is available here.
Lavasoftusa.com. Ad-Aware Program. Again there is a Free Version available to home users.
(Lavasoft.de is an alternative location to download Ad-Aware from)
SaferNetworking.org - Spybot Search & Destroy, Spyware/Adware removal tool.
Google.com - Google Toolbar for IE , Popup Blocker amongst other handy tools.
Mozilla.org - Download Firefox, the main alternative Web Browser to Internet Explorer.
Google.com - Firefox Version of the popular Toolbar.
miniTutorials.com — Start at the firewalls page for an in depth view of how Firewalls work.
Brighton Computers - PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER AND WEB DESIGN SPECIALISTS
Phone : 0433 126621 or (08) 9406 8404 at anytime.
email : general .at. brightoncomputers.com