I get this same question a lot; what’s the difference between viruses, malware, and spyware?
It used to be that we distinguished viruses from malware and spyware. Viruses really screwed up your computer and malware and spyware just slowed it down and annoyed you – Now, they‘ve all morphed into what we affectionately call “Infections.”
Infections affect your computer in many ways and while there are some that don’t seem to affect the performance, they may be stealing information from you — Yes, they’re all bad.
Over the years we’ve tried many Antivirus products with mixed results and we have tried them all! The standards, Symantec and McAffe along with others are very good, but can slow down your computer or even keep it from functioning properly– and they don’t stop many common infections. The popularity of social networking sites, particularly Facebook, has infections on the rise exponentially.
In the last half of 2010, we finally concluded that there was no product that was effective in keeping a Windows XP machine from getting infected – We began to recommend a two-product solution:
If you or your company has already paid for an Antivirus product, we advise to leave it installed and use it instead of Option 1.
Test Case:
When we acquired the Waterloo Ice House organization, they had a chronic problem with repeated virus infections despite the fact that every machine had a working and current Antivirus solution installed. In the first two months, they had 17 infections that took an average of 45 minutes to eradicate. In some instances, a reinstall was necessary. Big Village IT purchased Corporate licensing @ $18.00 per workstation and installed it along with their current AV product (yes, you can do this with Malwarebytes) – We configured Malwarebytes to update and scan nightly. The infection rate decreased by 90%!
I t doesn’t take much math to figure out the potential savings, not to mention the productivity gains.
The really good news is that Malwarebytes is free to home users. The slight drawback is that the free version only runs manually. That is, you have to update it and run it. However, this is what we use most of the time to remove infections from client’s computers and very effective even when downloaded after you’ve been infected. The full version cost is $24.95 and a very good value. This version will update and scan automatically once configured.
You can download here: http://www.malwarebytes.org
You will be directed to another site (that’s ok) to download the install. Be careful when going to these other sites, they may try to trick you into downloading something else, so remember, it pays to pay attention. The file you want is called – mbam-setup.exe – As a courtesy to the makers of Malwarebytes, we don’t provide a copy of it.
Here’s a video of me installing Malwarebytes on a computer so that you can see how it is done:
Install Malwarebytes today for more peace of mind and safer computing.
If you have any questions about Malwarebytes or any other IT related needs, please call our office.
Wayne Kimes
Blue Coat K9 Web Content Filter
In the last month, I’ve had about a dozen people asking me how to protect their kids from viewing inappropriate websites on the family computer. With the summer coming, there will be lots of family getting together with time off from work and school; so it seems like a good time to tell you how.
There is a product that I recommend that is effective, safe, and free for home use. It’s also easy to install – at the end of this post, there are two videos of me showing you how to download and install it.
The product is called K9 Web Protection and is developed and distributed by Blue Coat. Blue Coat makes some pretty heavy duty web content filters for business, but provides a version that can be installed on a Windows based machine or a Mac OS-X, which is free for personal use.
It is reliable and contains no spyware or other malicious programs that sometimes accompany free programs. I’ve installed this on dozens of computers and have never had a problem.
It will effectively block a wide variety of web content based on categories, or you can simply block specific content. You need a password to make changes or un-install it – so it’s pretty “bullet proof.”
It is also effective in blocking Spyware or Malware from invading your computer; it does this by blocking “known” websites that deliver these harmful programs to your system.
It’s free for personal use, updates itself, and is maintenance free.
Watch this two short videos and I’ll show you how to get it, install it, and configure it.
Download and install – Video 1
Configuring the web content filter – Video 2
If you’re ready to install it – click here – http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
Good luck and next week, I’ll show how to download, install, and run the program we use to remove Spyware, Malware, and other viruses. There is a free version and it is the best we’ve seen in removing malicious software from your PC.
As Always, if you have questions about K9 or any other product, please feel free to call out office and someone will be happy to help you
Safe Computing,
Wayne Kimes
Protecting your Identity Online
Recent security breaches at Epsilon, Sony and the Texas State Comptroller’s Office illustrate just how easy it is to access a user’s personal data. In each case, millions of usernames and passwords were stolen, and in each case, it was done from inside. Someone clicked on something that allowed a hacker from the outside access. Once stolen, this information is often sold to others. The buyers will use the usernames and passwords to try to gain access to other sites and financial institutions.
Email addresses are often used as usernames and many people frequently use the same password with multiple accounts; so it’s easy to apply this username and its related password to random sites to try and gain access. There is software that automates this task and is highly successful.
Many people have multiple websites they log into and they tend to use the same username and password, or a variation of the password, because it’s easier for them to remember. Unfortunately, that need to be able to remember the password makes you more vulnerable to data and identity theft, or worse – financial loss.
The best protection against this is unique usernames and passwords for each and every website or service you access. You can do a Google search for “Best practices for usernames and passwords” to find an abundance of information on this, but I’m going to offer my thoughts for what I think is the minimum of protection.
Cisco (Prince of Routers)
1. For sites that have financial information or personal data such as social security numbers: Use a unique username and password. If it’s an email address for username, sign up for another Gmail, Hotmail or whatever “free mail” service provider and only use that email for that account; do not use it for anything else.
2. The password should be complex with upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. The best passwords are combination of something that is entirely random and which it is unlikely someone would expect you to use. You might create one from a combination of familiar names or dates. An example might be: CiscoPOR997030 – That’s my dogs name (AKC) and birth-date backwards. Cisco “Prince of Routers” 03/07/99. You can use a family member, city or whatever you’d like – you get the point.
3. If you’ve had the same passwords for years now – change them today!
Remember, being online is neither private nor very secure. Data breaches occur daily but are not reported or caught. The sheer number of people with online data makes the odds of your being a victim a statistical improbability, but not an impossibility. When you are a victim – it really sucks!
If you need help or have questions – please call our office for assistance!
