Be Your Own IT Guy!

Viruses, Worms, and Hackers: Protect Your Personal Computer

“Just Minutes to the Internet”

“Software companies should take more responsibility for security holes, especially in browsers and e-mail clients. There are some straightforward things the industry should be doing right now to fix things, and I don't know why they haven't been done yet.”

Tim Berners-Lee - World Wide Web Founder

Relaxing Day Surfing…..

¨ Or so you were thinking on your day off, but the PC is slow, or maybe didn’t start at all..you try everything but it just sits there laughing, time you face facts……………

YOURE INFECTED!!!!

.

The Problem….

¨ There is a tradeoff between ease of use and security for computers

¨ To sell more products, companies have to make computers easy to use.

¨ However, today’s powerful computers plugged into the internet shouldn’t be treated like any other new household appliance. They need informed users who maintain and protect themselves.

The Even Greater Problem…

¨ The Internet is being scanned constantly by automated self-replicating worms and deliberate attacks.

¨ Hackers want to exploit computers with lax security to take advantage of hard drive space, relatively fast connections, and passwords to your finances.

Common Security Problems for Home Machines

¨ May include:– privacy invasions– backdoor/trojan infections where an unauthorized

person remotely has complete control of your computer.

– virus and worm infections, – spyware– warez (file-trading) servers installed, – your computer is used to attack other computers– destruction of files (data, operating system, etc)

Am I at Risk at home? Why?¨ Cable modems / DSL: have a fast, always on

connection that hackers can return to again and again. This atmosphere also provides a good breeding ground for self-replicating worms.

¨ “Camping out” on a WiFi modem: keeping the same router address allows hackers to scan your system and return at a later date to infect it.

¨ Short dial up modem sessions: Occasionally, security incidents occur on dial-up machines with both worms and “hacking” incidents.

Malware, Viruses, and Worms

¨ Viruses are small programs which cause some unexpected event on a computer and automatically spread to other computers via e-mail, open file shares, and programs installed on the computer (e.g. Kazaa, AOL Instant Messenger, etc).

¨ Worms are self-replicating viruses that are loaded into computer memory rather than altering files on the machine. A worm’s main goal in life is to spread to as many other machines as possible.

Malware, Viruses, and Worms

¨ Malware is software which has malicious intent that is usually installed without the owner’s knowledge. Malware may be disguised to look like benevolent software.

¨ A fake Antivirus called “Antivirus 2009” and now Antivirus 2010” has infected dubious millions.

How to Make Your Home Machine As Secure As Possible

¨ Make sure your computer has good passwords¨ Patch your machine regularly¨ Install an anti-spyware product¨ Use a good anti-virus product and update it

regularly¨ Use a router-based firewall or install a personal

firewall¨ Know what is running on your system¨ Use good “internet hygiene”

Where do I start?

There are 3 facets to PC Security:

¨ Prevention¨ Defense¨ Last Resorts

Prevention

¨ Passwords¨ Patches ¨ Updates

Make Sure Your Machine Has Good Passwords

¨ Most operating systems require a password to protect your computer from unauthorized access.

¨ Passwords should not be dictionary words and should consist of 7+ characters of mixed case including numbers, letters, and symbols.

¨ Perfect Password a free password generator that is exceptional can be found at:

WWW.GRC.COM

Patch Your Machine Regularly¨ Computer software vendors provide regular updates

for their products that can protect against known security vulnerabilities. These updates are called patches.

¨ Use automatic updates where possible (e.g. Windows Update) or download updates from vendors. Try to download major / “critical” patches to removable media such as CD and install them before putting your computer on the Internet for the first time.

¨ When you hear of a new major vulnerability or patch, try to install it as soon as possible.

Automatic Updates of MS Windows Operating Systems

¨ All Windows OS patches can be accessed at the Microsoft Website, you may have to use IE to access.

¨ You can set up your Microsoft operating system to check for updates automatically– Using Windows 7. Vista and XP:

Click on the Start button > Control Panel > System

– Using Older Versions:Click on Start > Control Panel > Automatic Updates

Automatic Updates of MS Windows Operating Systems

¨ Using Windows 7, Vistaor XP, select System then click on the Automatic Updates tab

¨ Be sure the check box near the top is checked,then select the radio buttonwhich suits you.

¨ Using Windows 98 or Me select the Automatic Updatesicon (this next screen will differ slightly)

DEFENSE: The best defense is a great offense!¨ Firewalls¨ Antivirus¨ Anti-Spyware¨ Good Old Fashioned Common Sense

A. Personal Firewall¨ A personal firewall is a software-based filter between your

computer and the outside world that is installed on your computer to protect it from unauthorized access by other external users.

¨ Personal firewalls are configurable to specify which incoming and outgoing programs, ports, and IP addresses can be accessed.

¨ Recommended personal firewalls that are free for personal use: Zonealarm

• http://www.zonealarm.com Comodo

• http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/

PC Tools• http://www.pctools.com/firewall/

Inexpensive Routers with Built-In Firewalls

¨ A firmware or hardware based firewall is a separate device that physically sits between your computer and internet connection.

¨ This type of firewall is generally more secure than a personal firewall and saves processing time on the computer that the personal firewall would otherwise be using.

¨ Router-based firewalls can range in price from relatively inexpensive ($60) to thousands of dollars.

¨ This type of firewall device is highly recommended for home use and can protect many types of connections including dialup modem, cable modem, DSL, etc.

B. The Anti-Virus

¨ A program called "Rother J" was the first computer virus to appear "in the wild" — that is, outside the single computer or lab where it was created in 1981. The first publicly documented removal of a computer virus in the wild was performed by Bernt Fix in 1987. He developed a macro thought of as the first Anti-Virus.

Antivirus & Anti-spywares

There are many FREE antivirus soft-wares as well as very good pay packages. Look for limited resource users and ease of use.

For the money, here are personally tested best bets:

¨ Kaspersky Antivirus OR Internet Security¨ NOD32 Antivirus OR Smart Security¨ Sophos Internet Security

FREE Antivirus Solutions

¨ Avast! Antivirus¨ Avira “The Umbrella” Antivirus¨ BitDefender¨ ClamAV

and the new:¨ Microsoft Security Essentials¨ Panda Cloud (first cloud AV)

THREATFIRE

¨ A nice addition to any windows based system is PC Tools “Threatfire” which comes with the firewall as a package and can be downloaded by itself. Protects against rootkits and malware infections. Best of all, its free!

Keep Your Anti-virus Program Up to Date

¨ Update virus definitions weekly, or more often if you hear of a new virus

¨ Set virus protection to automatically download virus definition updates if possible.

¨ Perform a full virus scan of your hard drive(s) at least monthly (if not more often)

MRT.EXE

¨ One last note about anti-virus protection, Windows based PCs all have a “secret” stand alone scanner that is updated monthly for the big threats to your PC.

¨ The Malicious Software Removal Tool can be accessed through your run button in the start menu and typing simply:

“MRT.EXE”

C. Protect Your Machine From Spyware (Adware)

¨ Spyware: software that is installed on a computer without the user’s knowledge which monitors user activity and transmits it to another computer.

¨ Many spyware programs are set to monitor what web sites you visit and how long you visit them for, generally for advertising / marketing purposes (adware).

How Would I Get Spyware Installed On My Machine?

¨ Spyware is usually bundled with other software such as shareware or freeware programs (e.g. Peer to Peer file-sharing programs, games, etc). The disclosure for the spyware is usually in the fine print of the licensing agreement. Who reads these anyway?

¨ Another way to get spyware on your machine is by clicking on a deceptive pop-up message.

Consequences of Spyware¨ Spyware runs in the background, using your

computer’s system resources and memory to log what you are doing. This could interfere with other programs on your computer, and could even cause your computer to frequently crash or lock up.

¨ Spyware also uses your internet connection to send information about your activities to someone else. This could cause your internet connection to slow significantly.

Examples of Malware¨ One example would be a virus that has a

“backdoor” installed. This means that someone at a remote location has total control of your computer. That person can modify or add files to your computer, install programs, add user accounts, or even delete all of your files!

¨ Another example is a “keylogger”, which records every stroke you enter into your keyboard. The keylogger may record a wealth of information: credit card information, passwords, chat room transcripts, private e-mail messages, etc

Scared Yet? Take a Deep Breath and Protect Your Privacy!

¨ Install software to detect and remove spyware, adware, and malware

¨ Adaware¨ Spybot S&D¨ MalwareBytes Anti-Malware¨ Remove-It Pro ¨ A-Squared Free Edition Of these Spybot and A-Squared are the two best

to choose.

Know What Is On Your System

¨ You should periodically determine what all of your running processes are on your computer, and if they are valid.

¨ You can analyze what processes are on your Windows system by downloading a tool such as TCPView, Everest and Belarc Advisor. ALL FREE!

¨ On a unix system, you can analyze running processes by typing the command “lsof”.

D. Good Old Fashioned Common Sense! ¨ Here you're looking to avoid that “Oh God,

what did I just do?” OR the dreaded “What…are..you…doing..PC?” feelings we have all had.

Prevent Identity Theft When Making Online Purchases

¨ Look for a padlock at the bottom of web pages, indicating that the site is secured by encrypting data when submitting sensitive information such as credit card numbers or a SSN.

¨ A secure site means that your data is encrypted during transmission. Keep in mind that it says NOTHING about how secure the data is once it is stored on a remote computer.

Prevent Identity Theft When Making Online Purchases

¨ Purchase from well-known companies (Don’t buy from mass e-mail solicitation)

¨ Realize that reputable web sites will never e-mail request for any personal information such as SSN, password, credit card or bank acct. number, etc.

Use Good Computer Hygiene¨ “Think before you click”

– Be careful with e-mail attachments – call or write back to confirm before opening

– Be careful about what web sites you go to.– Be careful when prompted to download software

¨ Use good passwords and change them periodically for both machine and web sites you visit!

¨ Don’t create non-password protected file shares¨ Backup data frequently¨ Remove internet access when it is not needed¨ Install minimal applications and services

So Now I'm Safe Right?

¨ No Antivirus is 100% effective and neither is a firewall. Hackers create malwares and viruses faster than companies can prevent. Its estimated more than 30 a day!

¨ Sometimes there's nothing you can do for an infection as its in too deep and replicates every time it senses a removal.

¨ You may be infected right now and never ever know it.

THE LAST RESORT

¨ Total re-install and reformat or “wipe” of your machine using the windows disk.

¨ D-BAN (Derek's Boot and Nuke) format tool, for those tough cases you want to make sure its gone, and recreate a brand new hard drive.

To Review….¨ There are a lot of simple steps you can take to

keep your computer secure and free of intruders. These include:

¨ Prevention:– Using “good” passwords– Updating and Patching your computer

¨ Defense– Installing anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall

products– Knowing what is running on your computer and turning

off unnecessary software– Using good internet hygiene and purchasing habits

¨ The LAST RESORT

WWW.Majorgeeks.COM

Questions?