Software Safety

The following information is for software safety basics to help you protect yourself against Viruses, Spyware, Identity Theft, and other online software attacks:

(Click on the topic to view the information)

Protecting Against Spyware

What is spyware?

Spyware is any internet program that lands on a computer then tracks and sends information back to a third party without the user’s permission. You may download it unintentionally, as it can sneakily hide away as part of free downloads from the internet. Spyware can also be part of a computer virus executed by an unsuspecting user.

Spyware can be just an irritation - but it can also be a potential disaster. If you’ve spyware on your PC it will almost certainly cause your internet connection to slow dramatically and result in an avalanche of annoying pop-up windows. Left untreated spyware could begin to crash your PC and even lead to identity theft.

Even though you may remove the virus or fix the problems it caused, spyware can remain on your computer, collecting data and reporting back to parties interested in stealing information.

How to protect against spyware.

Be proactive. Anti-spyware protection is a must to keep your data private. For a small yearly fee programs such as Counter Spy will help prevent, scan for and remove the bulk of spyware from your computer.

Should you choose to install an anti-spyware program, it’s essential that it automatically downloads upgrades weekly or more frequently and is set to perform a full system scan every week.

Firewalls are your friend. A firewall will watch over the data port through which information enters your computer or network and denies access to unwanted data. In essence firewalls hide your PCs from others who are trying to get in over the internet. Various software companies offer firewall protection, but hardware-based firewalls like those built into network routers provide a greater level of security. Often times its recommended to use both to ensure the most protection.

Guard against spyware everyday

Beware of suspicious emails from unknown sources. They’re just waiting to infect your computer with spyware. Try to steer clear of websites of ‘ill repute’ – you know the ones. Like any dodgy area, this is where malicious and annoying intruders are waiting. Another source for spyware and viruses are Peer-to-Peer networking programs such as limewire and bittorrent.

Tips to avoid Identity theft

Identity theft is everyone’s ultimate nightmare. That’s why we want you to read this list of safety steps carefully and make sure you do everything you can to protect yourself.

Here are some basic steps you can take to lock out intruders and infections that could steal your files or passwords.

How to keep financial information safe

Your identity’s been stolen! Don’t panic!

Phishing

What is Phishing?

Online identity theft that involves an individual or company attempting to fraudulently acquire personal and/or private information from you such as passwords, account numbers, social security numbers.

The “phisher” poses as a trustworthy person or business and uses email or an instant message to convince you that you need to respond with personal information. It’s usually financial information they are after so they can use your credit card or bank account for criminal acts.

What does Phishing look like?

The spoofed email will look extremely similar to one you’d receive from your financial institution or another company you do business with. It might ask you to “verify your account information” or “confirm your billing information”. The link will direct you to a spoofed site that also mimics that of the company they are posing as.

If you visit the fake site, your personal information can be used to create fake accounts in your name, ruin your credit or even prevent you from accessing your email or account.

Often times when you receive emails from your bank it with either include your full name on your account, the last 4 digits of your account number or both.

How can I protect myself?

While these aren’t all the foolproof ways in which Phishing occurs, there are smart tips you should practice every day. Here’s how you can spot a fake:

  • Spelling mistakes and the presence of an IP address in the link within the email

  • Lack of a personal greeting, although the presence of one does not mean it’s legitimate

  • Absence of partial account numbers from banks and credit card companies

If you are at all suspicious, contact the company you think is sending you the email. They can either confirm it is truly from them or alert their customers that someone may be Phishing.

Other tips to help protect your privacy

Install a spam filter on your email.

Some of the latest Internet browsers (Microsoft IE7, Mozilla Firefox 2.0, and Opera) contain special software to automatically check for fraudulent URLs

Security passwords

The stronger the better

Your name, your date of birth, your telephone number, your pet’s name. Use any of these as your password? Then it’s time to think again. Hackers are fiendishly clever and cracking an obvious or short password is child’s play to them.

Of course you need to be able to remember your password but to make sure you’re the only person viewing your online accounts you need to protect yourself with ones that are much tougher to crack.

Here are a few tips:

  • Use at least one upper case character

  • Use at least one lower case character

  • Use at least six characters, 8 or more are recommended.

  • Don’t use repeating characters

  • Don’t use spaces

Hackers are good at guessing

  • Don’t use a common or dictionary word – even spelled backwards

  • Don’t use your name, a relative’s, a close friend’s or the dog’s name

  • Don’t use personal numbers – driver’s license, license plate, social security number, telephone number or date of birth

  • Change your password monthly or at least bi-monthly. It might be a pain but nowhere near as painful as letting the hackers in

Introduction to Security

Keeping it safe

Viruses

Description: A program or file that 'self replicates'. Viruses normally carry some sort of 'payload' or cause some system issues whether it be deleting files or causing adverse system issues.

Causes: Running viruses masquerading as normal files, usually a very similar file name to an 'original' file for example scvhost.exe instead of svchost.exe.

Solutions: A good antivirus package or integrated security suite should prevent viruses from running and replicating further. There are various subscription, trial and free virus checkers available, some of the better ones are as follows:

Trojans

Description: Similar to viruses but these guys attach themselves to existing legitimate files, again most will self replicate and cause various issues.

Causes: As per the description, usually attached to something else. A common source of these are key generating programs, 'cheat' programs and 'crack' files. All of the latter are usually found on large Peer 2 Peer networks such as those accesses through programs such as 'Limewire' and 'Bittorrent'.

Solutions: As above, A good antivirus package or integrated security suite should prevent viruses from running and replicating further.

Spyware/Adware

Description: This is currently the biggest threat on the Internet due to the amount of monetary damage they can do, these redirect searches from search engines to 'affiliated' sites, pops up with messages on screen. The latest appear as antivirus/antispyware programs with annoying popups asking to register etc, but in fact are the virus/spyware themselves.

Causes: Clicking on bad/infected links on various websites, installing 'sponsor' programs which come attached with 'free' software such as screensavers, registry checkers, driver checkers etc.

Solutions: A good antispyware solution, many antiviruses have built in antispyware routines however a dedicated antispyware solution which runs 'on demand' (so as not to interfere with the resident antivirus) can be better.

Malwarebytes – A good dedicated antispyware program which has a free version for personal use. Webroot Spysweeper – Another good dedicated antispyware program but check with any antivirus+antispyware package you may have for possible conflicts.
Counter Spy- A low system resource using dedicated antispyware program that is also packaged with Antivirus in the program VIPRE.

Common Sense:

I've highlighted the above to get your attention so hopefully you wount click ok on every window that appears without firstly reading it and checking for unusal behaviour – if your really not sure then just give us a call. These days if a window pops up whilst you’re browsing and it says your infected and is NOT your own security software, then click cancel or close the window.

When installing programs, watch out for 'sponsor' software which is often bundled spyware which will redirect searches and popup with annoying random advertisements windows.

Stay off Peer 2 Peer networks, whilst there are some legitimate software solutions the vast majority or networks using Peer 2 Peer software contain mainly illegal files, of which many will have 'attached' viruses and spyware.

Last Updated: May 25th, 2009
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