Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Internet Safety Tip #4

It happened again last night. I took a call from a customer and was told "my computer is infected". Security Tool was the fake security program that was on the PC. Running into fake security programs is nothing new. This incident surprised me. It was on a Windows 7 machine.

Windows 7 is a much more secure operating system and should, installed with default security settings, be able to resist drive by infections. It appears that the PC manufacturers may be dialing back the security settings to make 7 a friendlier operating system.

There is a way to prevent these pests from invading the computer. Make sure you use the administrator account on your computer only to maintain the machine. Use it to add or remove programs, run windows updates, antivirus scans etc. Do not browse the internet as an administrator. Drive by infections can not be installed if you are operating as a regular user. Yes, I know it can be a pain to switch between users, but you will be much more secure.

To add a new administrator account, open the control panel and go to users. Within users, create a new account. Call it something other than administrator - that name is reserved. Make sure the new account is set as a computer administrator. You may want to put a password on the account as well. Log off your current account and log in using your new administrator account. Go back into the control panel, users. Switch all other accounts to limited. Log off the administrator account and log into one of your limited accounts. Your surfing will be much safer.

Breaking News concerning Mcafee

Straight from http://apnews.myway.com//article/20100421/D9F7KO0O0.html

NEW YORK (AP) - Workplace computers across the world got stuck rebooting themselves Wednesday after an antivirus program identified a normal Windows file as a virus.

Antivirus vendor McAfee Inc. confirmed that a software update caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download.

Intel Corp. appeared to be one of the victims, according to employee posts on Twitter. Intel did not immediately return calls for comment.

Online users indicated that thousands of computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 were affected.

Peter Juvinall, systems administrator at Illinois State University in Normal, said the first computer started rebooting before 9 a.m. It quickly became evident that it was a major problem, affecting dozens of computers at the College of Business alone.

"I originally thought it was a virus," he said. When the tech support people concluded McAfee's update was to blame, they stopped further downloads of the faulty software update and started shuttling from computer to computer to get them working again.

McAfee shares fell 20 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $40.39 in afternoon trading.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Internet Safety Tip #3

One of my favorite musicals is Meridith Wilson's The Music Man. In it, Harold Hill forms a boys band in order to protect the youth of River City, Iowa from the evils of the world.

As parents, we all want to keep our children 'pure'. The internet makes it much harder to keep our children safe. Our children need to be on the internet to do school work. We need to limit what they have access to while letting them get their work done. Unless you are willing to sit with your children whenever they are on the internet, it can be very difficult to control where they go and what they do.

Fortunately, there is an answer. Many internet security suites have parental controls built into them. These programs will by default, prevent access to adult web sites, chat rooms, web mail and other locations where your children could be harmed.

These programs need to be customized after being installed. By default, they lock down much of the internet. As a parent, you will need to decide what to leave locked down and what to open up. Parental controls software also includes the ability to log the web sites that have been both blocked and visited. Many of the programs can also control what time of the day the internet is available.

If your internet security program does not include a parental controls feature, there are many free and paid programs available. One of the free ones is from K9 Web Protection (http://www1.k9webprotection.com/). Other options include Net Nanny (netnanny.com), CyberPatrol (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/) and Safe Eyes http://www.internetsafety.com/safe-eyes-parental-control-software.php). Read about each product, decide which one will work best for you and install it on your computer.

To learn more about cyberstalking and other online threats, read the articles "Teens online: Easy Prey for cyberstalkers" (http://www.examiner.com/x-21588-LA-Cyber-Safety-Examiner~y2009m9d3-Teens-online-Easy-prey-for-cyberstalkers) and "Beyond Parental Controls (http://www.macworld.com/article/136339/2008/10/parentalcontrols2.html).

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Internet Safety Tip #2:

Your computer's security suite does a great job of keeping most pests off of your pc. However, none of them can do the complete job. The latest generation of pests operates completely differently from the old style infections. They are much more dangerous and can destroy your computer in a short time.

Many of these pests pretend to be real security programs, with names such as Security Tool, XP Internet Security or Antivirus 2010. When you land on an infected web site, a graphic pops up on your screen, saying your computer is infected. If you click on the graphic to close the screen, the fake security program installs itself and infects the computer.

Fortunately, there are tools available you can install to remove these fake security programs. These programs are not supported my most internet service providers. ISPs have no control over what there third party programs do. Unless your ISP has a contract with one of these vendors, they will not mention them.

There are two anti spyware programs currently in favor. They are Malwarebytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org/) and Superantispyware (http://www.superantispyware.com/). Both come in free and paid editions. The free editions will remove pests once they are on the machine. The paid version will keep the machine free of pests, plus comes with support.

The best time to install these programs is now. If you wait until the machine is infected, it could be too late.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Internet Safety Tip #1:

The internet is a dangerous place, populated by people who want to steal your money and trash your PC. Tip #1 will insure that first line of defense if working properly.

Make sure you are have an active security program running on your computer. Even if you think you are protected because your ISP has a security program, be doubly sure. Make certain that there is one on your computer, it is properly configured and up to date. Make sure that it is scanning your computer at least once per week. Make sure active protection is turned on, so it checks files before your computer can use them. Check to see that all emails are scanned as they are received. It should be updating on a regular basis. If you are using a program that is a paid subscription, make sure your subscription is up to date.

While the security program will not protect you from all ills, it is your first line of defense.