Posts tagged spyware

Know your Antivirus/Anti-Spyware software..

0
425 days
by in Internet

I got a call from a very freaked-out relative a few weeks ago.. this person was very, very worried because out of the blue a program was telling them that they had a ton of viruses on their system and they were being warned that their personal banking information had been exposed to hackers. I got this person to calm down a bit and asked if they had clicked on anything in that window.. and luckily they hadn’t. This person had nearly fallen prey to a type of potential malware called “scareware”.boo

What is “Scareware”, you ask?  Technically speaking.. it is a piece of software designed to fool the average computer user into paying for a service that they don’t need by convincing them that they do in fact need what the scammer is selling.  The most common scareware I’ve seen in the past few months is the very same one that my relative stumbled upon.. a fake antivirus program that looks very, very real – all the way down to the Windows Vista-styled icons.  In this case the fake AV program was only a pop-up ad, albeit a very dangerous one.. click anywhere in the window and, voila – spyware infection.  This is the very reason that you need to know exactly what antivirus and anti-spyware you have installed on your system.. if something different comes up you can kill it via the Windows taskbar.

If you’re not sure what antivirus or anti-spyware software you’re currently running is called I’ll be happy to help you.. just drop me a line.

Read PDF Files? You might be asleep at the wheel and headed over the cliff..

3
580 days
by in Internet, Linux, Mac, Personal Computing, Windows 7

Back in March of this year a security expert figured out a way to use a specially-crafted Adobe PDF file to cause your computer to run an executable file embedded in that PDF document.  If you understood what I just wrote there’s a pretty high likelihood that you heard about the flaw and did your Adobe update last week when the patch was released.  If you didn’t really get any of that you’re probably one of millions of people who don’t pay attention to the little blinking update icons sitting down there in your system tray.  If that’s you, you need to change your ways!  Most of the virus and malware issues I see are a result of two things: outdated virus subscriptions and missing system updates.  Updates, especially Windows updates can be tedious.  This is one of those things that you just have to do, so make the time!

Important Updates to do:

  • Antivirus (it should be doing this automatically)
  • Windows Updates (I’m not a fan of auto-applied updates – do them manually as the icon pops up)
  • Java updates (these are less frequent, do them as they come up)
  • Adobe updates (also infrequent, so catch them when they arrive)

Software updates are a fact of life on any platform – including Mac and Linux.  In fact.. Linux updates come out much more frequently than Windows updates.  Manage these little annoyances and you’ll have fewer computer issues!

You're gonna get an infection..

1
830 days
by in Personal Computing

When I get a call from a friend or client to come take a look at their computer I have a laundry list of things that I check, not necessarily in order. I mentioned operating system (OS) updates in a previous post.. the second most common thing that I find is the lack of antivirus (AV) updates. In these cases I rarely find that there isn’t any AV software installed.. what I find is that when the 1-year trial period for the AV software has ended and new updates aren’t being applied. Let me tell you now.. if you haven’t re-upped your AV subscription your computer is at high risk for getting infected, if you aren’t already.  Even if you don’t do much on the internet, just clicking a link to one person’s MySpace page is enough to cause you trouble.  Case in point.. my wife clicked on a MySpace link on Tuesday to do some research for a project.  She was instantly bombarded by messages from her AV program notifying her it had blocked several viruses.. they were apparently embedded in content on that page.  One of the viruses in question was first seen only three months ago!  Your two-year old virus definition set that you haven’t been updating wouldn’t have gotten this bug.

So, what can you do now?

Update your AV subscription NOW.  It is absolutely worth the $30 to get that done now versus the potential loss of time and money you’ll experience getting viruses removed later.  It doesn’t matter much whose AV program you use as much as it matters that you use one.  Some are indeed better than others, and with some you get what you pay for.  For example, my giant-mega-cable company gives away a pretty well-known AV program for free with your paid cable bill.. and it is absolutely horrible.  That particular program will bring well-built computers and laptops to their knees while they perform a scan.  In a corporate setting I use a enterprise-type package that gives me incredible reporting tools for machines in the office.. for remote business and personal use I highly recommend AVG Anti-Virus for its speed and ease of use.

If you suspect you’re having a problem with viruses I can help.. drop me a line.

photo credit: I woz ere

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