Never Open an Attachment!

Website drive-by’s are one of the most common ways for Malware (i.e. Virus, Spyware or unwanted program) to reach the computer and another is email attachments.  If you are using a secure email connection (https) to receive email then the Anti-Malware (Anti-Virus) email scanner cannot scan it or you might not even have one.  No worries, if you follow this advice:

NEVER OPEN EMAIL ATTACHMENTS

Instead, download the attachment, right-click on it and select the installed Anti-Virus program to scan the file.   To help with the incentive to do this consider the following:

1. There are twice as many cyber-attacks then babies born each day.

2. Consider the feeling of invasion when that false Virus Alert Pops-up and keeps you from using the computer.

3. Without your knowledge your computer is now part of a spy-bot network hacking and attacking other computers.

Take back the control, put this practice into place and save yourself future frustrations and expense.

Computer Security Explained

[Think of the Computer as a Multi-Story Office Building]; to help explain Computer Security in Non-Technical terms.  People are running errands from this Building to the rest of the town.  The rest of the town is the Internet containing other buildings (Computers).  Each building has doors on the ground level (Computer Ports) in which different types of people are entering and leaving.

A Firewall places a Security Person at each door (Port) to check Identification badges, the packages of each person and determine if they are allowed to enter the Intranet Zone which is the 20 Story Building.  The town is the Internet Zone.  With good security the doors (Ports) to the Building will be protected (Closed) and with a Top-Notch Firewall the whole building will appear to disappear (Stealth) as viewed from the town (Internet).

Criminal elements try to sneak (Inject) Malware into the building (Computer) by impersonating the people who go in and out.  Or, without a properly secured Firewall they will use an unprotected door to enter.  If the criminal is successful, a Malware (package) will be placed in a clever place attempting to avoid detection.

An Anti-Malware Program works within the building (Computer) to watch the activities of each person in the building and puts a special tag on them.  Any person in the building without a valid tag is immediately placed under arrest (Quarantine) and with approval the police are called to take them away.

The SCAN command used by Anti-Malware Software directs its Security Team to search throughout the building to find any Malware (packages) that might have gone undetected.  The Anti-Malware Program uses the Most-Wanted-List (Signature File) to identify bad people and packages.  It also knows how most bad people act (Malware) and endeavors to identify new criminals who have not yet been added to the Most-Wanted-List (Heuristics).

To recap, the Firewall secures the doors and the Anti-Malware uses the latest Most-Wanted-List (Signature File) to identify the good or bad people and packages.

(Excerpt from the Computer-Appliance-Learning-Maintenance-Manual)

Can I just look over your shoulder at what you’re doing?

Let’s say you just got that nice cup of java, you start up the computer and … you hear, “excuse me, you don’t know me but I would like to just stand here and watch what you’re doing and maybe copy down a few things you type.  Would that be okay?”  If you are using FREE WIFI that does not require a password that is likely what is happening to you via someone in the same JAVA cafe or any place with FREE WIFI.  It is likely you doubt it, well, there is a place on the web that has a piece of software that is installed in seconds and there you go, you’re watching the screens of the computers using the FREE WIFI and it is downloaded at rate of 1000′s per minute!

Not to worry as there is a FREE way to not agree to that previous question and the instructions are here: Setup a VPN

Speed and Safety with Opera Web Browser

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The pera Browser shows impressive speed for Browsing.  Along with speed is a concern for safety.  The Web of Trust that allows you to check on the safety and the communities rating of different websites before visiting is a wonderful tool.  It is an easy Add-On for the Mozilla Firefox browser and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer .  There is a way to add the features of WOT to the Opera Browser that require moderate computer knowledge:

1. First download the Opera Browser from the link above (left-click on the “O” above) and install it.
2. Go to this ExtendOpera link and keep the current Browser open to this web-page.
3. Next, create a Folder on the computer either; under where the DOCUMENTS are located or another location on the primary hard-drive.
4. Open Notepad.  In Windows XP, left-click , left-click on RUN… and type in NOTEPAD, press ENTER.  In Windows Vista or 7, left-click the Windows Symbol and in the search box that appears type in NOTEPAD, press ENTER.
5. Return to the Web Page opened in step 2, and there is a link “WOT.js“.  Left-Click on it and text page will appear, Left-Click once on the web page and press & hold the CTRL key followed by the A key and release.  ALL of the text will high-light.
6. Copy & Paste the text into the open NOTEPAD.
7. Save the NOTEPAD file as something like MYWOT.js or OPERAWOT.js or any other name as long as the filename ends in “.js” in the file location that was created in step 3.
8. In the Opera Browser left-click on  file, preferences, advanced, content, Javascript Options and Browse to the Java file location created in step 7 and lef-click okay all the way out.

Restart the Opera Browser and the familiar WOT donuts should appear next to Web Site Links.  For those new to WOT the community of Internet Users (Millions) rate different web-sites and those that have good policies tend to receive a GREEN donut, unrated web-sites are GREY and those with problems or Malware web-sites appear as YELLOW or RED donuts and should normally be avoided.

Security Essentials from Microsoft, Free and Top Rated!

There is some great news for personal and business computer users surviving on a shoe-string budget.  Microsoft Security Essentials™ has rated as 1 of 3 top Anti-Malware (Anti-Virus) software in a pool of security software tested by AV-Comparatives (Independent Labs) in the November 2009 results.  This means that there is now a FREE active anti-malware software option available without any caveats except that the computer is a Windows based operating system.  This is a significant event since the previous Anti-Malware software tested from Microsoft™ only received the Standard rating.

What the POP-UP! Close it Safely!

Gmail, MSN-Hotmail (Windows Live), and Yahoo, to name several free email providers, have been in the news lately since a list of email addresses and their associated passwords were posted on the Internet!  Since the revelation the posted information has been removed and each company has forced password resets for the email accounts that were affected.  This means the user will be required to change their password the next time they access the email account.  [Note; if a password reset is required and you use POP3 email such as Microsoft Outlook or Express be sure to update the password for the email accounts here also.]

So how did this happen in this case?

The official word is that phishing and mimic websites are the hackers tool.  Here’s how it works:

1. An official looking email is sent to the user or the user visits a “hacked” website.
2. The user clicks on the link in the fake “official” looking email or the faked “official” looking pop-up box.
3. The user enters their Username and Password and Whoala!, you’ve been PHISHED!
4. Or, worse you’ve authorized the download of Malware / Spyware to your computer.

How to protect yourself?

1. Educate; locate the security tips for your email type. [Here are some quick links, Left-Click on the image: ,  , ]
2. Install a reliable Anti-Malware Software and Firewall [a list of free resources for home use is available via a free registration HERE.  Need help on how to install and use computer security software consider the BOOK or EBOOK]
3. Secure the Internet Browser and consider using an alternative Browser such as;

• Mozilla Firefox An established Internet Browser DOWNLOAD LINK
• a more recent entry DOWNLOAD LINK [winning awards for hacker proofing]

A now common trick for Phishers, especially, in trying to download Malware or Spyware is a faked POP-UP window.  If a suspicious window appears DO NOT click on it but close it by pressing and holding the “Ctrl” key followed by the “W” key.  This key combination will close the active Window.   If you end up in a fireball of windows, keep using this combination until all the Pop-Up Windows plus the Internet Browser are closed.  If internet style Pop-Ups occur even with the Internet Browser Closed it is likely there is Malware on the computer and it needs to be scanned and cleaned.

In the follow-on article we will address using certain Internet Browser Settings for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome to improve Internet Surfing security.

Old Java is Not Good for Computer Security

All Software needs to be up-to-date to maintain security.  This rule applies with exclamation points to Java Software, created by Sun Microsystems, that is a popular language used by web-site designers and software developers.  As versions are released the earlier versions are not always automatically removed.  This is to be avoided to eliminate a potential security hole that hackers might exploit.

Revo Uninstaller,  CNET link, is the free program of choice recommended for removing programs because it creates a restore point on the computer in case there are problems.  Download and install to the computer.  If some of these terms and procedures are new for you please check out the information available through the main web-site located via the About Page.  For a Windows XP computer with a Limited User account you can use the “Run as …” command as explained in the Book and also in this Ezine Article.

These are the steps to follow;

1. Download the Java Software, Sun’s Java, to the desktop or any location you select but do not install.
2. Start the Revo Uninstaller program and wait for the listing of programs installed on the computer to finish.
3. Look for entries starting with Java or J2SE.
4. Right-click on one of these, select the uninstall option, confirm it if asked, and select the advanced mode to start the 4 part operation.a & b. The restore point will be created and a analysis will be completed.

   c. Once the default utility starts, navigate the series of questions via the “next” buttons, select the “Remove” option when asked and the “finish” button at the end.

   d.  The “next” button will be gray until each scan completes so click it when it activates.  Once the registry scan is performed, at the following screen, choose “Select All”, “Delete” and “Yes”.

5. Repeat this process for each Java listing.

Once all earlier versions are removed make sure all software and especially any Internet Browsers are closed before proceeding.   Install the latest version downloaded in step 1 above and restart the computer when done.  That’s it!  If this was helpful to you please pass this on.

In case you prefer, another way to follow us is on Twitter.

Windows XP – Implementing the Limited User Account the Easy Way!

If you have read the Block the Hacker series we published via Ezine Articles you will also want to check out the latest installment HERE.

Also, stay tuned for the Java Article to keep improving the computers security.