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'Ello all. I'm a Brit who has no expertise with these computer kinda things (hey... I'm a lorry driver, so what can ya do?) and my problem is.... I keep on gettin' viruses and stuff even tho i have Norton2002 and Antivirus2002. (which is updated every time i come on-line). :confused:
Anyways.... I'd like to get some working knowledge of how security threats happen and what i can do to stop them from messing up my PC.
P.S - nice to meet ya all (if ya get my drift...)
QUOTE
First to understand antiviruses you must know the opposite of it which would be 'a virus' and also some other types which act very similar as a virus:
What is a Virus?
A virus is a manmade program or piece of code that causes an unexpected, usually negative, event. Viruses are often disguised games or images with clever marketing titles such as "Me, nude."
What is a Worm?
Computer Worms are viruses that reside in the active memory of a computer and duplicate themselves. They may send copies of themselves to other computers, such as through email or Internet Relay Chat (IRC).
What is a Trojan Horse?
A Trojan horse program is a malicious program that pretends to be a benign application; a Trojan horse program purposefully does something the user does not expect. Trojans are not viruses since they do not replicate, but Trojan horse programs can be just as destructive.
(by: McAfee)
Well now you know what they are....so an Antivirus would be the same thing but instead it triggers a counter attack onto the virus. Antiviruses will now always clean your computer off from spyware and adware which are not viruses so dont get those confused.
How can I protect Myself:
1. Get an Antivirus software (i will give some lonks to some free ones at the bottom of this page)
2. Update your antivirus software regulary (very important, they must be up to date)
3. Scan your system at least once a week
4. Repeat step 2 and 3 every time you run a scan
5. Download less
6. Do not open attachet files in your mail if you do not recognize the sender
Some last infos on Viruses/antiviruses....
There are specific degrees on how dangerous each virus is. There are very many viruses...to round it off it would be close to a thousand and each week new one come out so it is very important that your antivirus software is up to date. There are also online scanning for antiviruses...but i dont like 'em
Some downloadable Antiviruses:
http://www.bitdefender.com/bd/site/d...php?menu_id=21
http://www.norman.com/download_nvc5.shtml
http://www.pscs.co.uk/downloads/avast.html
http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/
http://www.ravantivirus.com/pages/download.php
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3000-...ml?tag=lst-0-6
http://www.bestdownload.com/cat.php?dcat=Antivirus
QUOTE
QUOTE: There are seven major types of Trojan:
1. The remote access Trojan takes full control of your system and passes it to the hacker. This Trojan acts as a server and usually listens on a port that is not readily available to other attackers (there are over 130,000 ports available). While a firewall will block external hacker access to the Trojan (only if the "unused" ports have been blocked by your up-to-date firewall configuration), an internal hacker (one who resides on the agency side of the firewall) can connect to this type of Trojan without any trouble.
2. The data-sending Trojan sends data back to the hacker. These Trojans can communicate with the originating hacker by means of e-mail to a Web-based e-mail account or Web site. Key-loggers (programs that log and transmit each keystroke you make) are common data-sending Trojan payloads.
3. The destructive Trojan has only one purpose: to destroy and delete files. The Trojan can be activated by the hacker, or written to execute at a specific time/date. These Trojans are different from your garden-variety Trojans since they are written purposefully to attack YOU, and therefore unlikely to be detected by anti-virus software.
4. The denial-of-service (DOS) attack Trojans combine your computing power with that of the other computers/systems it infects to launch an attack on another computer system. By using the power of 300 or more infected computers, the hacker can flood a computer system with so much traffic that it crashes.
5. The proxy Trojans allows a hacker to turn YOUR computer into HIS server to make purchases with stolen credit cards, sell and trade child pornography, and run other organized criminal enterprises in YOUR name.
6. The FTP Trojan opens port 21 (the port for FTP transfer) and lets the attacker connect to your computer using File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
7. The security software disabler Trojan is designed to stop or kill security programs such as anti-virus software, firewalls, etc., without you knowing it. This Trojan type is normally combined with another type as a payload.
Just adding some usefull info.
Basics on trojans: http://netsecurity.rutgers.edu/trojan.htm
ohh no these QUOTE didnt work :(
peace
Ok, so now C4 Grey fox you know all about viruses...
To protect yourself, make sure you keep your virus scanner up to date, you say that you are doing that, which is good, just check it once in a while to ensure if is indeed up to date.
Make sure that Realtime file system protection is enabled.
Don`t open any email attachments from anyone unless you know what they are, in fact, just delete anything suspicious that you see in your inbox.
If you use IRC, AIM, etc...don`t accept files from anyone unless you know a) who they are, and b) what they are sending.
If you have a personal firewall then make sure it is running and blocking everything both inbound and out unless it something you need. Most Firewalls will prompt you "do you want to allow xxx service to access the internet", if you have opened your web browser and this pops up then chances are you need to do it, if your computer is idle and you are not accessing the net, and the prompt is not for something you know, then deny it, you can always allow it later if something is no longer working.
If you get any software on CD, floppy disk, USB memory stick etc.. from anyone, scan it with your virus scanner before you use it.
Try and steer clear of any dodgy web pages, these too can harm your computer as malicous code can be on them.
If events of the last week have shown anything its that you should avoid opening any attachments from anyone unless you are absolutely sure of that they are.
Hope this helps, if you have any other problems then let the folks on here know and they will come up with an answer.
Your problem might not be actual virus's at all. you might be heavily smoothered with spyware (adware/malware). It would be good at any rate to clean the spyware from your system and prevent what you can from reoccurring.Quote:
Originally posted here by C4 Grey Fox
and my problem is.... I keep on gettin' viruses and stuff even tho i have Norton2002 and Antivirus2002. (which is updated every time i come on-line). :confused:
For that try these:
1) Spybot Search & Distroy - http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
2) Ad-Aware - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Both are free or have free editions.
3) CWSherreder/Hyjackthis - http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
Also free
For more information check out our forum on spyware -
HERE
Seeing that people have given great advice already. Well I decided to post some links that I found to be helpful when I began to learn how to protect my pc, as well as some other things. You also might want to check some of the tutorials that members have written which contain very valuable info that will also help you understand things.
Tutorial OR Guide OR Other :
[1.] CERT® Coordination Center Home Computer Security
[2.] CERT® Coordination Center Security of the Internet
[3.] CERT® Coordination Center Home Network Security
[4.] CERT® Coordination Center Before You Connect a New Computer to the Internet
[5.] Virus Alerts Mail List
[6.] Online Identity Theft Spoof Email Phishing Scams and Fake Web Pages or Sites
[7.] Spyware Guide
[8.] F-Secure Virus Screenshots Archive
Program[s] :
[1.] MooSoft Development - The Cleaner
[2.] Spy Sweeper
[3.] OptOut
I hope that this helps info helps you in some way.Quote:
VirusList.com Virus Alerts List
There you will get the latest news about new viruses: methods of their prevention, detection and removal. With emergency virus alerts we will keep you informed about the most dangerous virus threat.
Note : Dont worry if you dont understand eveything right away with due time the knowledge and understanding will come.