Spammers and hackers today are very sophisticated when it comes to covering their tracks. Instead of sending spam or using their own computers to attack an orginization or individual they now employee Botnets.

 A Botnet is a collection of computers (that have been hacked and taken over) which a remote user can use to execute operations such as spam, DOS attacks and other types of mailicious activities.

To quote another article I recently read: “Joe St. Sauver, manager of security programs at the Internet2 networking consortium and the University of Oregon, said there are 5 million to 5.5 million botnets in active rotation at any time.”

Article: Botnets Running Rampant Neal Weinberg, Network World care of PC World

The best way to help prevent this from occuring for an end user is to keep your operating system up to date; Always have an updated virus software running (with a scheduled scan enabled weekly); Employee a good firewall.

I understand many of the computers that are part of Botnets are generally not an end user machines, but rather machines hosted in a public environment such as libraries, campuses and other public domains. Is there no IT staff available to monitor these networks?

Generally speaking the case is that the IT department is so understaffed, overworked, and under budgeted they simply don’t have the time or the money to implement the proper equipment which can detect and prevent this from occuring. That is if they have an IT department at all.

Look…We all know how to prevent most of this from occuring. I am by no means saying it will ever stop, because anything that can be secured can be hacked (it’s all a matter of time), but lets atleast try to secure our own computers.

If you would like more information on how you can secure your computer please follow this link to a previous article over best security practices I previously wrote. I hope it helps.

Last seen in 2006 another virus known as “Ransomeware” is trying to extort US $300 from users. The virus apparently encrypts your personal files.

After your files have been encrypted the virus then copies a file named read_me.txt  to the PC. This text file simply contains a ransom note which demands the user buy their software for $300 in order to decrypt the files.

The virus states that it uses a RSA-4096 algorithm with a 4,096-bit key. This is surely just a ply to extort money, but apparently the files do have some sort of encryption.

As well the virus seems to only have a limited shelf life from July 10 to July 15, but knowing the past actions of the hackers that create of these viruses it is likely we will see another variant.

Apparently Kaspersky is working on a decryption scheme to save these files. If you are ever infected by such a variant remember it is vary unlikely that paying the ransom will get the hackers to release your files.

Always keep your virus software up to date and run a frequent full system scan. Backing up your data to a secondary location can save your files as well. 

Does anyone else find it hard to pick up work after vacationing? Having completed a weeks worth of vacation I am back to the grind….well….sort of.

I am using this day to read up on new stories and technologies for new content on the site. Please bare with me while I compose myself and get my head out of the vacation cloud. Of course this is not easily done…

As you can see from the last post we are now taking posted questions to better serve our users. As well I would like to add if there is a new technology or concern you would like for me to address please post a comment to this blog. I would be happy to research and address topics for our users.

After all….It is you the end user for which we create the content.

A users favorite utility for removing spyware and adware; Lavasoft has updated it’s Ad-Aware program. Improvements  include better detection, a scanning engine that does not use so many system resources, and a new updated interface.

Scanning has definitely been improved. Scan times (At least in my case) dropped by approximately 45%. This new version is supposed to have a new ability to seek out and delete rootkits and other threats that have been previously difficult to remove.

A privacy tool has been added so you can remove all traces of your Internet browsing history from your system. This feature supports the Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera browsers.

You will also notice the program’s new interface which is available in all versions. It includes more than just cosmetic changes. You will find tools and tweaking are much easier. The new version of Ad-Aware also implements an improved handling of definition updates.

All this and it’s still free. Of course their are more options and protection available with the pay versions. Such options include:

Real-time protection

Ad-Watch RegShield- provides improved protection against attempted Registry changes

Hosts File Editor- which blocks advertisement sites, prevents browser hijack attempts, and offers limited parental controls.

The Scheduler- allows you to set automatic scans and updates.

The Pro version has even more protection; Such as tools to identify keyloggers and prevent identity theft, and as well a network option to scan multiple PC’s on a network.

Note: New versions of Ad-Aware 2007 do not currently support the Vista operating system. Vista-compatible versions are slated for release in August 2007.

Ad-aware 2007 has been much improved. Once the release of the Vista compatible version is made available I will test the version and blog my findings.

Windows Live One Care is a utility designed by Microsoft to scan your computer for several different issues. Live One care scans your computer for unnecessary temporary files, invalid registry entries, open ports, malware, and even checks your hard drive to see if defragmentation is necessary.

The service is free for ninety days after which time there is a required yearly fee of $49.95 to maintain a subscription. Microsoft has deployed this utility to help users maintain security and functionality of their computers.

If you decide to acquire use of this utility they do require you uninstall any third party virus or firewall applications. If you have already purchased one of these types of applications this can be problematic as you will lose the use of the paid subscription to the third party service.

Overall this utility seemed to work well. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any detailed information as to what the scan has found. When trying to review the registry entries that were flagged as errors I could not locate any detailed information on the entries and what they may relate to.

Microsoft seems to counter this by stating if you have any undesirable effects to use system restore which will reverse any registry changes. This seems to be counter productive.

Before deciding to use this service you may want to read the installation requirements document by clicking here.

Windows live One Care may be a useful utility if you do not own software that already performs these functionalities. To review more detailed information concerning this product you may visit the Windows live One Care web site by clicking here.

Over the years spyware has become a very problematic entity. Originally spyware was created to help companies taylor website experiences towards consumers. As of late this type of software has evolved to track your browsing and computer habits and even offers itself as a doorway to viruses.

Its very interesting that software that was originally designed to improve a consumers experience was later tailored to make us all pull our hair out.

In this day and age you can acquire spyware from many websites. Many companies offer such things as “free” gaming sites to lure you in and then they can infect your machine. One thing to look for on any website before you attempt downloading or installing there site software is to look for a seal of approval. There are companies dedicated to scanning sites and software for these infections. Many companies now days pay these vendors specifically to test there sites for these entities. Any site that has planned protection will display a seal of approval from the company.

We have all experienced the frustration that these entities can impose. Most users can experience anything from slowness while browsing all the way to the other end of the spectrum to capturing of vital information as well as total system failure due to compromise from a virus.

Remember in order to protect yourself from pulling out your own hair from frustration as well as protect your system from infiltration you must keep your virus software up to date. This alone will not protect your computer from infiltration by spyware, but will protect your computer from viruses. Everyone with a computer should own a valid virus software and subsequently keep that software updated weekly.

There are many utilities available for use to remove spyware. Some of these titles are removal utlilities only. A few of the more popular are Spysweeper and Ad-aware. Both offer a free version for consumer use. If you wish to have proactive scan options you do have to purchase a license as the free versions do not offer the proactive scan. However if you scan regulary using the free versions say weekly you can keep the effects down to a minimum.

I hope you enjoyed this article and found it helpful. Helpful to keep your computing trouble free and in maintaining your hair supply. Of course if you have pulled all your hair from its roots due to frustration you can save some monitary value on visits to the Barber or salon. 

Happy Computing

Patrick
PC911