Surf Safely This Summer – PandaLabs’ Safe Summer Web Guide

PandaLabs’ Safe Summer Web Guide

Courtesy of Panda Security.

Although most of us like to relax during the summer, computer security is one area in which you should always keep your guard up. Remember, cyber-crooks don’t take holidays.

The summer period often sees people using computers for more leisure-oriented activities than during the rest of the year. The use of services such as chats, online games, software downloads or online stores increases as users have more time on their hands. Children also tend to spend more time in front of the computer during the summer.

Cyber-crooks, however, will try to take advantage of all of this to target new victims. Here is a series of recommendations to help you keep your computer protected this summer:

Pay close attention to your email, as this is a frequently used channel for spreading threats, as well as phishing attacks and other scams distributed in spam. Typically at this time of year, waves of spam emerge offering unrealistically cheap holidays. These messages either surreptitiously ask users to reveal confidential data or prompt them to download information, which is really an infected file. So, needless to say, you should ignore all emails from unknown senders.

Promptly install the latest security patches for your applications. Cyber-crooks frequently launch attacks that exploit security holes in commonly-used programs. Developers are continually making security patches available to resolve the problems detected. If your application doesn’t notify you that these updates are available, you should enter the product’s official page occasionally to check whether any patches need to be installed. It is therefore a good idea to update applications on your computer just before you go on vacation and also when you come back.

Don’t download programs from dubious Internet sites – they could be infected. The summer period also tends to see a rise in the number of downloads people make. Yet it is important to take special care with what you download from the Internet. In particular, you should scan all downloads before running them, as much malware is distributed under the guise of files such as films, series etc. to trick users.

Take care with information you enter on social networks. Make sure you don’t publish details like the day you’ll be going on holiday, especially if details of your address are available on the same social network. – Leave your router switched off. This will prevent other users connecting to your network -possibly with malicious aims- in your absence. For example, someone could connect to your network and download malicious code which could remain on the network until you start your computer and consequently infect it.

Take precautions if you use shared computers. Many of us go to cybercafes when on holiday to read emails, chat with friends, stay in touch on social networks, etc. In this case, you should take a few precautions. Firstly, don’t enable any option that saves passwords on the local computer when you are logging into accounts from public computers. This would obviously allow the next user of the computer to access any of your accounts. Also, make sure the computer you use is not infected. At the first suspicious sign (pop-ups, malfunction…), stop using the computer. Finally, never use shared computers for bank transfers.

Use parental control programs. During the summer vacations, children will no doubt be using the computer more than usual. That’s why it is as important as ever to instruct them on how to use the Internet safely. It’s a good idea to set timetables for using the Internet, keep an eye on them when they are browsing and prevent them from accessing certain pages or content that could be unsuitable for them. Given that parents will not always be around to monitor how children use the Web, it is advisable to install a parental control program, a tool that will help establish which Web pages your children can see, and which they can’t, etc.

Make sure your computer has an up-to-date and active antivirus solution installed. There are free antivirus programs available from the Web, such as Panda Cloud Antivirus.

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Need Spyware, Virus, and Browser Protection? – Free Solutions

Searching out, downloading, and installing free security programs from the Internet may appear to be a “no brainer”, given the vast quantity of such programs out there in the wild blue of the Internet.

The problem, as I see it, for the casual computer user, is not the availability of these programs, but which ones work; which ones have a deserved reputation for quality and functionality.

I’ve been involved in system and Internet security for many years, and I have tested the following recommended applications and their updates over those years for reliability, functionality, and quality. These programs have a strong and loyal following that is well deserved.

Anti-virus software:

avast! Home Edition

This anti virus app is a real fighter, scanning files on demand and on access, including email attachments. Let’s you know when it detects mal-ware through its shield function. An important feature is a boot-time scan option which removes mal-ware that can’t be remove any other way.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Anti-Virus Free now incorporates protection against spyware through a new combined anti-virus and anti-spyware engine as well as a “safe-searching component” which has been incorporated into the new AVG Internet Security Toolbar. This program scans files on access, on demand, and on schedule and scans email incoming and outgoing.

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic

This anti-virus program offers comprehensive protection with an easy to use interface. In the eight months I have been testing Avira I have been impressed with its performance, and I have come to rely on it as my primary anti-virus program. I highly recommend this one.

Anti Spyware Software:

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition from PC Tools is an excellent choice, as a secondary line of defense. This free version of the award winning program, with its easy to use interface, is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers; it’s reported there are a million+ additional downloads every week. Be aware however, there is no real-time protection offered with this version and this is the reason I recommend this application as a secondary scanner only.

Spyware Terminator

Having tested virtually all of the major anti-spyware applications over the past year or more, I’ve settled, for now, on Spyware Terminator primarily due to its strong real-time protection against spyware, adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats. Spyware Terminator excels in strong active protection against know and unknown threats. If anything, I find it perhaps a little overly aggressive. On the other hand, better this than the alternative.

Internet Browser Protection:

SpywareBlaster

SpywareBlaster prevents ActiveX-based spyware, adware, dialers, and browser hijackers from installing on your system by disabling the CLSIDs (a system used by software applications to identify a file or other item), of spyware ActiveX controls. A secondary but equally important function offered by SpywareBlaster, is its ability to block spyware/tracking cookies and restrict the actions of spyware/adware/tracking sites in Internet Explorer, Mozilla FireFox, Netscape, Seamonkey, Flock and other browsers.

Since SpywareBlaster doesn’t scan for or clean spyware, but as stated earlier, prevents installation only, you should use it in combination with Spybot Search & Destroy and/or Ad-Aware, in addition to your normal anti-malware security applications to gain the maximum amount of protection.

Web of Trust (WOT)

WOT is a free Internet Browser add-on (my personal favorite), that has established an impressive and well deserved reputation. WOT tests web sites you are visiting for spyware, spam, viruses, browser exploits, unreliable online shops, phishing, and online scams, helping you avoid unsafe web sites.

Adware Protection Software:

Ad-Aware – Anniversary Edition

In my view, Ad-Aware Free is the best free adware remover available. It does a good job of protecting against known data-mining, Trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers and tracking components. The only downside with the free version; real-time protection is not included.

Firewalls:

Comodo Firewall Pro

The definitive free firewall, Comodo Firewall protects your system by defeating hackers and restricting unauthorized programs from accessing the Internet. I have been using this application for 10 months and I continue to feel very secure. It resists being forcibly terminated and it works as well, or better, than any firewall I’ve paid for. This is one I highly recommend. Amazing that it’s free!

PC Tools Firewall Plus

PC Tools Firewall Plus is a powerful free personal firewall for Windows® that protects your computer by preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network. By monitoring applications that connect to the network Firewall Plus can stop Trojans, backdoors, keyloggers and other malware from damaging your computer and stealing your private information.

ZoneAlarm Basic Firewall

The free version of ZoneAlarm lacks the features of ZoneAlarm Pro’s firewall. Its program control asks you regularly whether to allow programs; for some this can be intrusive and annoying. But it’s been around forever it seems, and it can’t be shut down, or out, by mal-ware.

Additional System Protection:

WinPatrol

Do you want to get a better understanding of what programs are being added to your computer? Then WinPatrol is the program for you. With WinPatrol, in your system tray, you can monitor system areas that are often changed by malicious programs. You can monitor your startup programs and services, cookies and current tasks. Should you need to, WinPatrol allows you to terminate processes and enable, or disable, startup programs. There are additional features that make WinPatrol a very powerful addition to your security applications.

HiJackFree

If you are an experienced/advanced computer user and you’re looking for a program to strengthen your anti-malware resources, then HiJackFree is one that’s worth taking a look at. This free application, from EMSI Software, offers a potent layer of additional protection to add to your major anti-malware programs. The program operates as a detailed system analysis tool that can help you in the detection and removal of Hijackers, Spyware, Adware, Trojans, Worms, and other malware. It doesn’t offer live protection but instead, it examines your system, determines if it’s been infected, and then allows you to eradicate the malware.

HijackThis

HijackThis is a free utility by Trend Micro which heuristically scans your computer to find settings that may have been changed by homepage hijackers, spyware, other malware, or even unwanted programs.

This application has a well deserved reputation for being aggressive in tracking down unauthorized changes that have been made to your system/applications.

The program doesn’t target specific programs, but instead it analyses registry and file settings, and then targets the methods used by cyber-crooks. After you scan your computer, HijackThis creates a report, or log file, with the results of the scan.

Because of the heuristic methods (behavior analysis), used by HijackThis, the results of the scan can be confusing/intimidating to those who are not advanced users. On the other hand, the strength of this program lies in the large community of users who participate in online forums, where experts (voluntarily and for free), will interpret HijackThis scan results for you, and then provide you with the information you need to clean any infection.

Despite the fact that you may only need this small application infrequently, it deserves a place in your anti-malware toolbox.

ThreatFire

ThreatFire blocks mal-ware, including zero-day threats, by analyzing program behavior and it does a stellar job. Again, this is one of the security applications that forms part of my front line defenses. I have found it to have high success rate at blocking mal-ware based on analysis of behavior. Highly recommend this one!

SnoopFree Privacy Shield

SnoopFree Privacy Shield is a powerful application that guards your keyboard, screen and open windows from all spy software on Windows XP. I have been using this application for quite some time, and I have been amazed at the number of programs that have requested access to my keyboard and screen. In particular, programs that I am in the process of installing. If you’re serious about privacy, this is a must have addition to your security toolbox.

Sandboxie

Surfing the Internet without using Sandboxie is, to me, like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. Deadly! This application creates a “Sandboxed” protected environment on your machine within which you browse the net. Data that is written to your hard drive is simply eliminated, (or not, your choice), when the sandbox is closed.

Utilizing this application allows you to surf the web without the risk of infecting your system with mal-ware or other nasties. This is another security application I have been using for over a year and it has yet to let me down.

KeyScrambler Personal

KeyScrambler Personal is a free plug-in for FireFox, Internet Explorer, and Flock web browsers which protects all input you type into the browser from Keyloggers. This free version of KeyScrambler encrypts your keystrokes at the kernel driver level.

By encrypting your keystrokes at the keyboard driver level, deep within the operating system, a Keylogger is beaten since it can only record the encrypted keys which are indecipherable.

Unlike AntiVirus and AntiSpyware programs that depend on recognition to remove Keyloggers that they know about, KeyScrambler will protect you from both known and unknown Keyloggers.

Good luck and safe surfing.

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Spam is a Pain in the Ass!

The following statistic bears repeating – last month (June, 09), over 90% of email was spam, and of this total more than 83% was sent our way by botnets. (Data from MessageLabs‘ June report).

Botnets or not, personally, I don’t really care where the spam comes from – it’s a major pain in the ass!

I operate multiple email accounts most of which I established 10/12 years ago. Recently, I setup a new email account on Gmail to allow readers of my WordPress site to contact me directly. Almost immediately, I noticed the type of Spam directed at this account was considerably different from the daily spam going to my long established accounts.

Generally, the spam aimed at my older email accounts is fairly harmless and not particularly dangerous, since most of it is calculated to attempt to sell me something I don’t want, and that I have absolutely no interest in.

While these emails are not harmless given that sending spam violates the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) of almost all Internet Service Providers, it’s the phishing emails aimed at my relatively new Gmail account that causes me the most frustration.

The following graphic (this is only one day), clearly illustrates just how pervasive this type of phishing Spam is. Most of this spam has the following in common: notification that the reader has won a huge sums of money, or that they will have access to a huge sums of money but only after a payment of  hundreds of dollars.

Click for larger.

As well, in almost every case the spammer requests the following type of personal information:

Your name

Your current address

Your phone number – both land line and cell

It seems to me that phishing spammers target new or relatively new email accounts, more often than well established accounts. And why not?

In a spammer’s view, I suspect, the theory is – an experienced Internet user is less likely to respond to this type of email, while the percentage of relatively new users who respond should be higher due to the new user’s inexperience. Without a doubt, there are some people, somewhere, who will respond to this nonsense.

Opening this type of email is definitely not recommended since, at a minimum, opening one lets the spammers/scammers know that your email address is “live”. Generally not a good idea, since this virtually guarantees you will receive a lot more spam.

You may well be curious when it comes to emails like this, but don’t let your curiosity override your common sense. Security experts argue (none too successfully it seems), that a significant number of malware infections could be avoided if users stopped “just clicking haphazardly” or opening the types of files and emails that are clearly dangerous.

You may be lucky, and you may be able to recover control of your computer if your anti-malware applications are up to date, and the malware signature recognize the intruder as malware. But I wouldn’t count on it. Often, anti-malware programs that rely on a definition database can be behind the curve in recognizing the newest threats.

It is beyond dispute that the Internet now fits the criteria of a world that is not just perceived to be, but is in fact, personally threatening to uninformed or casual Internet users. I could go on, but I think the message here is clear. Think carefully before you click on unsolicited emails.

Not clicking will ensure your safety and that these email will remain nothing more than a pain in the ass.

If Malware Could Speak – What a Tale it Would Tell!

If malware could speak, you could have an illuminating conversation with one, or more, of the scourges that infest the Internet.

You might be surprised at what could be learned from such an imaginary conversation. It might go something like this -

I might be malware, but in most cases I’m pretty polite; I won’t infect your computer unless you invite me in. But I can count on lots of you doing just that.

Take my good buddy LOP, for example, he’s been away for awhile, but he recently came back from vacation and he’s now infecting unsuspecting computer users’ machines with renewed vigor.

He will accept your invitation, to infect your system if, for example, you download and install either of two rogue Peer to Peer (P2P) applications currently making the rounds on the Internet. BitRoll-5.0.0.0, and Torrent101-4.5.0, are two programs that are used to exchange P2P files that he likes to piggyback on. There are many more than that of course.

The people he works for (some might call them cyber-crooks – well, actually everyone calls them cyber-crooks), are experts at using false/rogue applications to install malicious code like LOP.

LOP is a pretty neat piece of malware (his employers are pretty smart fellows), since he’s been designed, amongst other things, to display ads from a range of advertisers through pop-up windows, banner ads and so on.

Oh, and he’ll automatically switch your Internet Explorer home page to his own search engine. One he particularly likes is www.mp3search.com. When searches are made with this engine, the results that you see will be advertising pages that LOP chooses to display.

(Sample misdirected search)

Just in case you decide that LOP is no longer welcome on your computer (that happens all the time), he will connect, every so often, to a web page from which new malware files will be downloaded  making it much more difficult to delete all of the active malicious files on your system.

I should tell you that LOP is extremely hard to get rid of, and just in case you try,you’ll have to deal with over 200+ changes to your Registry Keys. And in case that’s not enough bad news, you should know that LOP will invite lots of his other malware friends over, so that they can party on your system.

But LOP has even more tricks up his sleeve. He can  monitor your system’s processes, and can even play with your security applications making them ineffective.

Since he’s a sporty fellow, once he’s done that, he’ll launch a keylogger to capture your key strokes and just for fun, he’ll go on to scan your email address book so that he can bug your friends. Hmm, maybe they’ll become your ex friends.

LOP is definitely a hard worker (which is why his employers like him so much), so in his spare time he’s going to look around your operating system for vulnerabilities. You see, he knows that like most people, you probably haven’t installed the latest operating system updates, nor have you updated your security applications, like you’re supposed to.

Even if you have taken care of these critical areas, it’s almost certain you haven’t updated your installed productivity applications, and LOP knows just how vulnerable these applications can be.

So think carefully before you offer LOP, or any of his malware friends, that invitation. Once invited in, LOP will settle in for a long, long visit.

Thanks for the chat, but I have to get going. There are lots of unaware Internet users’ waiting to invite me into their computers. I know that many Internet users’ are kind of “click crazy”; so why should LOP be the only one to have some fun!

Oh, by the way, unless you paid attention to what I said, I’ll probably drop by your machine soon.

You have a good day now.

Elsewhere on this Blog you can read “The Best Free Spyware, Virus, and Browser Protection”, an article on free anti-malware programs, including anti-virus software, and you can download those that suit your needs.

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Spam and Botnets – Who’s Responsible?

A fairly recent survey on Internet security released by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), determined – “U.S. consumers don’t understand botnets; networks of compromised computers that have become one of the major methods for attacking computer systems”.

Pointedly, Ron Teixeira, executive director of the NCSA, said in a statement. “Consumers’ unsecured computers play a major role in helping cyber criminals conduct cyber crimes not only on the victim’s computer, but also against others connected to the Internet.” Teixeira went on to say that it is “alarming” people don’t know how to keep their computers secure.

The information gathered in this survey is not new to experienced computer users’, or to those of us involved in Internet and system security. It seems to me, that this is simply repackaged information that we have had access to, in some cases, for years. In fact, the statements in this survey can be applied to worldwide Internet users’ and are not restricted to just users’ in the U.S.

I think that one would have to have been on an extended vacation from both computers and cyber space, not to have an understanding that the Internet is now the playground of cyber criminals and has been for a considerable time.

Consider this – last month (June, 09), over 90% of email was spam, and of this total more than 83% was sent our way by botnets. (Data from MessageLabs‘ June report).

So the question is, why is the average, or typical computer user, so lacking in knowledge when it comes to Internet security precautions; some might say even negligently so?

Problem solving this issue does not require one to be a profound thinker to arrive at a number of hard and undeniable conclusions.

A reader of this Blog, commenting on a previous article, summed up this issue particularly well when he stated, “most people still see the computer as a kind of entertainment device… Computers are for playing, chatting, and watching short clips; listening to tunes…. people don’t take Internet security seriously because they don’t think of the computer as a serious device”.

He went on to write – “Some of this is related to our cultural laziness around safety and prevention. People are routinely reckless with automobiles, decline to clean out the (dryer) lint catch, and mishandle loaded guns. My frustration is with government, health and educational institutions that push people to use the internet as though it were as secure and straight forward as a hard-line telephone”. A factual and precise comment, I think.

And so we arrive at the root of this problem: No one wants to take responsibly for the abysmal state of Internet safety and security. Not governments; not software developers; and least of all, Internet users’.

We are long past the point where we need to stop just talking about this issue. We need to stop being part of the fear campaign and the feeling of helplessness that accompanies it, and develop appropriate solutions.

Many computer experts agree that it is primarily flawed computer software and not just inadequate user knowledge that is the biggest contributor to the proliferation of unsecured computer systems and cyber-crime, on the Internet.

It seems to me then, what is needed as a good first step, are machines that are designed with simple, but internally sophisticated operating systems, secure and easy to use for the majority of users; where little or no user interaction is required to maintain the security of the system. Microsoft’s soon to be released Windows 7 operating system, developed with security in mind, appears to be a step in that direction.

More to the point however, a massive change in Internet users’ attitudes and perceptions needs to take place. Users’ have to come to the realization that we all have a shared responsibility to offer mutual protection to each other, by ensuring our individual machines are not part of the problem, but instead, are part of the solution.

One particular software developer has focused on the concept of “people driven security”, an idea based on the concept of the shared responsibility we each have, to offer mutual Internet protection to each other. Web of Trust has developed an Internet Browser addon which takes security this one step further. The solicited opinions of users/members, on a web site’s safety, are incorporated into the overall site safety rating.

There are other solutions of course; some draconian, some less so, but unless we as computer users take responsibility for our own online safety, you can be sure that governments will eventually introduce measures that will be considered draconian.

We now live in the age of the “interconnectedness of all things”, in which we are beginning to see the development and availability of large numbers of Internet connected devices. There is no doubt that this will lend new strength to computer-aided crime and perhaps even terrorists; and here we are, back to the concept of draconian government imposed Internet security measures.

Unless we develop a rational approach to the underlying security issues surrounding the Internet, and amongst other solutions, insist software companies’ stop rushing out new products with little regard for security, hackers will continue to flourish and successful attacks on computers over the internet will continue to proliferate.

There are steps you can take to decrease the likelihood you will be the victim of a successful attack on your computer. If you reduce your exposure to successful attacks on your machine, then downstream you are helping to protect my machine and those of others.

The following is a brief guide to the basic security issues you should be aware of on the Internet, followed by a guide to some of the steps you can take to secure your computer for Internet usage.

Security risks on the Internet you need to be aware of.

Trojan horse programs

Back door and remote administration programs

Denial of service

Being an intermediary for another attack

Unprotected Windows shares

Mobile code (Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX)

Cross-site scripting

Email spoofing

Email-borne viruses

Hidden file extensions

Chat clients

Packet sniffing

Security Checklist: Actions you can take to protect your computer system.

Don’t open unknown email attachments

Don’t run programs of unknown origin

Disable hidden filename extensions

Keep all applications (including your operating system) patched

Turn off your computer or disconnect from the network when not in use

Disable Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX if possible

Disable scripting features in email programs

Make regular backups of critical data

Make a boot disk in case your computer is damaged or compromised

Turn off file and printer sharing on the computer.

Install a personal firewall on the computer.

Install anti-virus and anti-spyware software and ensure it is configured to automatically update when you are connected to the Internet.

Ensure the anti-virus software scans all e-mail attachments.

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Guard Your Sensitive Files With My Lockbox Freeware

Rick Robinette at What’s On My PC, recently wrote a couple of intriguing articles on some esoteric ways cyber-criminals can gain access to the confidential information many of us keep on our computers.

If you think your confidential files are cyber-criminal proof, because you consider yourself an astute and savvy Internet user, and your machine is protected by the latest and greatest AV products – take a look at Atypical Ways of How Your Data Can Be Stolen, and Are Wireless Keyboards Secure?, on Rick’s site. You might be in for a surprise.

Reading these two articles has prompted me to republish the following article on how we can take advantage of the freeware program My Lockbox, to keep confidential files hidden from view.

You might wonder why you would need to conceal files on your computer in the first place; after all you have nothing to hide, right? Well if you’re like the rest of us, it’s almost certain that you do have something to hide.

At a minimum, it would be sensible to conceal files that contain financial data and other confidential information, that can easily be subject to intrusive viewing by others not authorized to do so.

Files that contain financial data and other confidential information continue to be targeted by hackers/information thieves, for the purpose of identity theft. The reality is; there is no such thing as a totally secured internet connected computer; all internet connected computers are subject to attack. Masking these files then, seems like a sensible precaution.

Confidentially of course, may not be the only reason you may have to conceal files. On a shared computer for example, it may be prudent to conceal particular files to ensure that they are not subject to accidental erasure. In fact, you may have lots of personal reasons to mask special files on your machine.

My Lockbox is a freeware software application that allows you to conceal files, and then password protect those files on your computer. Other users will not have access to these files, nor will they be able to accidentally, or otherwise, view them or manipulate them in any way.

The protected folder (lockbox) is hidden from all other users and applications on your computer; including the Administrator and the System. The lockbox (protected folder), is impossible to access not only from the local computer, but also from the Internet.

Following the on-screen instructions makes this program extremely easy to setup and use. The lockbox location, password, and parameters are configured during the easy setup procedure.

After the setup is completed, the lockbox will be hidden and locked until you, as the user, enter the valid password. My Lockbox Control Panel allows you easily change basic lockbox parameters: lockbox location, protection status, and password.

The program is effective, easy to use and best of all – it’s free.

Quick facts:

Very easy to use

Almost any folder on your computer can be password protected

Instant protection – no file scrambling

Lockbox folder is inaccessible even by the system administrators

Lockbox folder is inaccessible both locally and remotely

Lockbox folder can be protected in Windows safe mode

Hotkeys support – you can popup the Control Panel with a keystroke

Skinned user interface

Freeware

System Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, Vista

Download at: Download.com.

Elsewhere in this Blog there is a review, and file download, for a similar type of program that encrypts, as well as conceals your files. The following is part of the review for this open source free program… “T r u e C r y p t is a free open-source disk encryption program for Windows and Linux, which creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk. The program automatically and transparently encrypts in real time”.

Go here for the full review of T r u e C r y p t and the file download.

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Munch Malware With Free Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

There is no one anti-malware tool, that is likely to identify and remove, all of the malware that infests the cyber world.

So to ensure maximum safety, it’s important to have layered defenses in the ongoing fight against malware.

In other words, it’s necessary to have front line line active malware defenses which provide real time protection, coupled with a secondary malware scanner which should be employed on a regular basis, I recommend once a week, to ensure your computer stays clean.

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, which I have been testing for over 8 months, is an excellent choice, as a secondary line of defense and I’m glad to report, it works smoothly on Windows 7 RC. This application definitely munches on malware!

The free version of this speed demon (it’s faster at scanning than any anti-malware program I’ve tested in the last 2 years), with its easy to employ interface, is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers.

I wasn’t surprised to see that this free application has been downloaded over 2 million times from Download.com alone.

It’s important to note; the real time protection module is disabled in the free version. Less critical, is the disabling of scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating in the free version.

Since real time protection is disabled, I would not recommend that you use this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware as a stand alone security application, since it simply will not offer you adequate protection with this restriction. Instead, use it only as an on-demand, secondary scanner.

Despite this real-time protection limitation in the free version, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has an excellent reputation (shared by me), as a first class security application, for its ability to identify and remove adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.

Numerous users of this Blog, have commented on Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware’s ability to deal with one of the real scourges currently making the rounds on the Internet; rogue security applications.

As a secondary line of defense, I highly recommend that you add this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to your security toolbox.

As a full fledged security application, with all of its features unlocked; real-time protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a terrific value at $24.95 US.

Regular readers of this site are aware that I generally do not recommend the purchase of commercial software, but in this case, I have to do so. This application is just that good.

Fast facts:

Blazing speed on quick scanning

Full scans for all drives.

Daily database updates

Quarantine function

Additional utilities for manual malware removal

Multi-lingual support

Command line support for quick scanning

Context menu integration to scan files on demand

Quick summary: Discovered malware, including 3 Trojans, not found by SpyBot, or AVG, on a recent test on my test bed systems.

Systems Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7.

Multi-lingual support: English, Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Download at: Download.com

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition, from PC Tools, is another excellent free secondary line of defense against malware threats. You can read the review, and find the download link in my article “Spyware Doctor Starter Edition – The Best Secondary Malware Tool”, on this site.

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Wireless Keyboards – A Hacker’s Gateway?

Guest writer Rick Robinette, one of my favorite Blogging buddies, explains why he’s concerned with the security of wireless keyboards.

I was sitting here typing on my wireless keyboard wondering what I could write about and explore next; when, low and behold it hit me.  Are wireless keyboards secure? In other words, could another person intercept my keystrokes as I typed from my wireless keyboard?  If this is possible, this is not good.

In my case I am an internet junkie and my credit card numbers, usernames and passwords to all of my accounts, could be stolen. I know as an IT professional that wireless networking can be a security risk; so why not wireless keyboards.

During my research I soon found out quickly from an article at Enterprise Security Today, titled “Symantec Warns of of Wireless Keyboard Security Threat”, that a new form of attack aimed at users of wireless keyboards had been uncovered.

Excerpts from that article:

The warning follows the release of Keykeriki, an open-source “sniffer” project that allows users to remotely decode wireless transmissions.

The project was created by a site called remote-exploit.org. “This open-source hardware and software project enables every person to verify the security level of their own keyboard transmissions, and/or demonstrate the sniffing attacks (for educational purpose only),” the site notes.

Symantec warned that, although the creator’s intentions appear honorable, making the software code and hardware schematics open to everyone means that criminals could use the software to eavesdrop on wireless keyboard inputs.       [ Source: Enterprise Security Today ]

I then came across excerpts and a YouTube video with Steve Gibson, Security Expert and Founder of GRC.com (makers of the Spinrite hard drive data recovery software), being interviewed by Leo Laporte (from the “The Lab with Leo Laporte”) regarding “The Frightening Insecurity of Wireless Keyboards” (see excerpts and video below).

Having a keystroke logger installed on a computer is one of the worst things that can happen. But what it everything you type on your wireless keyboard can be easily intercepted by a neighbor or office worker?!!! It turns out, it probably can be.

Leo and I will examine and describe the incredibly weak “encryption” used on Microsoft’s 1000 and 2000 series (and probably other) wireless keyboards to show how easily that encryption can be broken to allow anyone within “radio range” to log everything typed.

If you Google: “wireless keyboard encryption” right now you’ll find a number of links to articles about the recent revelation of how simple Microsoft’s wireless keyboard encryption is. [ Source: The Lab with Leo Laporte ]

[ CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO ]

Needless to say, following my reviews of this information, I am considering going back to a wired keyboard; at least until the wireless keyboard manufacturers can responsibly demonstrate that the data being transmitted from my keyboard to the receiver is encrypted and is not at risk of being intercepted.

This is a guest post by Rick Robinette, who brings a background as a security/police officer professional, and as an information technology specialist to the Blogging world.

Why not pay a visit to Rick’s site at What’s On My PC. Like me, you’re sure to become a frequent visitor.

Spammers Go Short – Cut Link Lengths

The presence of shortened URLs in spam has skyrocketed over the past few days and now appears in more than two percent of all spam, according to MessageLabs Intelligence.

With many social networking sites providing character restrictions on status updates and messages, the use of free URL redirection services which turn lengthy web addresses into shortened URLs, is increasing in popularity with spammers for a number of reasons.

According to Paul Wood, MessageLabs Intelligence Senior Analyst, Symantec – “There are literally dozens of websites that offer URL shortening services and spammers have realized that using these services eliminates the need to solve a CAPTCHA or register an account.”

“The newly shortened URLs also help cybercriminals disguise the true destination of where their victims will click through to, posing further risks of entering websites used to conduct drive-by malware attacks as well as spam. Donbot, the botnet responsible for sending approximately five billion spam messages every day, is one of the main culprits using this technique. Links of any size all need to be treated with caution.” Since you are a cautious Internet user, you know that, right?

For more information on email security, checkout MessageLabs Solutions.

Stay On Top of Malware – PandaLabs Second Quarter Malware Report

Courtesy of Panda Labs

Panda Security, the Cloud Security Company, announced yesterday that PandaLabs, Panda Security’s laboratory for detecting and analyzing malware, announced the findings from its second quarterly report of 2009 and determined that Trojans accounted for 70 percent of all new malware between April and June 2009. The full report can be downloaded from Panda Security.

One of the most notable findings of the report is the 6.25 percent drop in spyware, which now represents just 6.9 percent of all new malware. In contrast, adware rose dramatically over this period, from 7.54 percent in the previous quarter to 16.37 percent.

This is largely due to the increase in fake antivirus applications, a type of adware that passes itself off as a legitimate security solution. As for worms, their percentage has also risen slightly, now accounting for 4.4 percent of all malware.

Trojans were also responsible for more infections than any other type of malware over this period. This type of malware was behind 34.37 percent of all infections detected by PandaLabs, an increase of 2.86 percent with respect to the previous quarter.

Adware infection levels remained stable, accounting for 19.62 percent of the total.

Worms increased slightly (0.89 percent), staying in the picture due largely to the effectiveness by which they spread. Dialers, at 4.48 percent, stubbornly refused to disappear despite the overriding trend for broadband instead of dial-up connections.

In terms of specific strains of malware, the number one ranked specimen between April and June 2009 was Downloader.MDW, a Trojan designed to download other malware on to computers. The Virtumonde spyware and Rebooter.J Trojan were also among the malicious codes that caused most infections.

When broken down geographically, Taiwan continues to top the list with 33.63 percent of computers infected with active malware. Turkey and Poland come next, with just under 30 percent. Three Scandinavian countries, Sweden (14.2 percent), Norway (12.48 percent) and Finland (12.17 percent), are the countries with the lowest number of computers infected by active malware during the first half of 2009.

Malicious use of Twitter

A worm appeared in April which used a cross-site scripting technique to infect Twitter users when they visited the profiles of other infected users. It then infected the new user’s profile to continue propagating. New variants appeared, and finally the creator’s identity was revealed: an individual named Mikey Mooney, who apparently wanted to attract users to a service competing with Twitter.

In early June, Twitter was the focus of other attacks, this time using different techniques, most predominantly, BlackHat SEO. Twitter has a feature called “Trending Topics”, which is a list of the most popular topics that appears in the interface of all Twitter users. When users select a topic through this feature, they  see all ‘tweets’ published that are related to this issue.

In this case, malicious users were writing tweets about the topics listed in Twitter Trends with links to malicious Web pages from which malware was downloaded. The first attack focused on just one of the topics, but just a few days later the scope of the attack increased and all popular topics contained malicious links.

When the actor David Carradine died, there were hundreds of malicious tweets in just a few hours, and the same thing occurred with other popular issues on Twitter.

The second anniversary of Collective Intelligence, a detailed analysis of the Waledac worm, trends regarding the sending of malware via spam and the evolution of BlackHat SEO techniques are just some of the other issues covered in the PandaLabs Quarterly Report.

If you have a serious interest in keeping up with prevailing trends in malware, this report is a must read.

Download at: Panda Security.