PC Security Forum - All Forums

Protection from Identity Theft

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:38:00 -0600

Some law-enforcement authorities call identity theft the fastest growing crime across the country right now and also worldwide.

Such fraud may account for as much as 25% of all credit card-fraud losses each year. Not surprisingly 49% of the victims, who have had their identities stolen, stated that they do not feel they know how to adequately protect themselves from this crime.

What Steps Can you Take to Avoid Identity Theft?

Credit Report
Order your credit report each year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. Check each credit report carefully for accuracy and for indications of fraud, such as credit accounts that you did not open; applications for credit that you did not authorize; credit inquiries that you did not initiate; charges that you did not incur; and defaults and delinquencies that you did not cause. Check the identifying information in your credit report to be sure it is accurate pay particular attention to your identifying information like your name, address, and Social Security number. Make sure that you recognize every line of information established in your file.

Social Security Report
Additionally order your social security earnings and benefit statement once a year so that you can check to make sure your earnings are correctly recorded. If the numbers are inflated it maybe because someone is using your Social Security number for employment. (Note - The Social Security Administration now automatically mails these statements annually to all eligible workers age 25 and older).

Checks
Call the payees of any outstanding checks that you are not certain you wrote. The payee is the person or business to whom you wrote the check. Explain to each payee that you are the victim of identity theft and that you have to close your checking account for that reason. Ask each payee to waive (forgive) any late payment or returned check fee. Then send each payee a replacement check drawn on your new account and stop payment on the check that it replaces. It's a good idea to enclose a note with each check explaining why you are sending a replacement check and reminding the payee that the payee has agreed to waive the late payment or returned check fee.

Mail
If you are traveling be sure to stop your mail delivery at the post office, rather than having it accumulate unattended in your mailbox. If you do not receive your credit card statement on time or if you do not receive a new or renewed credit card when you expect it, your mail may have been stolen. If you notice your mail is dwindling, check with the post office to see if they have any change of address posted. If a change of address request has not been filed at the post office check if one has been filed with the creditor. Guard your mail from theft. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office, rather than in an unsecured mailbox. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox. Install a lock on your mailbox if you live in an area where mail theft has occurred. This will reduce the risk of mail theft.

Good Record Keeping
Be sure to keep a list of all your credit card account numbers, expiration dates, and telephone numbers of the customer service and fraud departments in a secure place, not in your wallet or purse, so that you can quickly contact your creditors in case your cards are lost or stolen. Make a list of, or photocopy, all of your credit and debit cards. For each card, include the account number, expiration date, credit limit and the telephone numbers of customer service and fraud departments. Additionally be sure to store a list of bank accounts in secure location, along with access numbers.

Lost or Stolen
A thief may steal, or the consumer may lose, the consumer's purse or wallet. The thief then may use the consumer's stolen personal identification information to obtain credit in the consumer's name.

Collection
If you receive calls from collection agencies or creditors for an account you don't have or that is up to date. Someone may have opened a new account in your name, or added charges to an account without your knowledge or permission. Financial account statements show withdrawals or transfers you didn't make. A creditor calls to say you've been approved or denied credit that you haven't applied for. Or, you get credit card statements for accounts you don't have. You apply for credit and are turned down, for reasons that do not match your understanding of your financial position.

Notebooks
Laptops and notebooks are treasure troves of useful information. Be sure to password protect any sensitive information. When creating passwords and PINs (personal identification numbers) do not use any part of your Social Security number, birth date, middle name, spouse's name, child's name, pet's name, mother's maiden name, address, telephone number, consecutive numbers, or anything that a thief could easily deduce or discover. For tips on strong passwords refer to: http://www.password-software.com . Avoid using an automatic log-in feature that saves your user name and password; and always log off when you are finished.

ATM/ Credit Cards
If your ATM card has been lost, stolen or otherwise compromised, cancel the card as soon as you can. Get a new card with a new PIN. If you suspect unauthorized use, contact the provider's customer service and fraud departments immediately. Never give out your credit card, bank account or Social Security number over the telephone unless you placed the call and you have a trusted business relationship with the business or organization. Place passwords on credit cards, bank and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers. Cancel your unused credit cards so that the accounts will not appear as being "open" or "active" on your credit report. Shield your ATM or telephone key pad when using an ATM or making a phone call with your phone calling card. Some shoulder surfers' use binoculars or video cameras to record your numbers. If you use ABMs or point-of-sale terminals, always shield the entry of your PIN, and never give your access code (PIN) to anyone. Choose a PIN that can't be figured out easily, as you could be liable if you use a PIN combination selected from your name, telephone number, date of birth, address or Social Insurance Number (SIN). Remember that no one from a financial institution or the police will ask you for your PIN. Always take credit card, debit card and ATM receipts with you. Never throw them in a public trash container. ear them up or shred them at home when you no longer need them.

Trash
One person's trash is another person's treasure. Shred documents before throwing them away. Be sure to shred credit card statements, bank statements, pre-approved applications, any important papers with identifying numbers. Memorize ALL passwords and PIN numbers. Keep them private. Some thieves create identities by retrieving personal information in your garbage or recycling bin by "dumpster diving".

Public Information
Some thieves use public information, Searching public sources, such as newspapers (obituaries), phone books, and records open to the public (professional certifications). Consider not listing your residence telephone number in the telephone book, or consider listing your name and residence telephone number without an address. If you decide to list your name and telephone number, consider not listing your professional qualification or affiliation (for example, "Dr.," "Atty.," or "Ph.D .").

Online Banking
After completing a financial transaction or online banking, make sure you sign out of the Web site and clear your Internet file/caches (Internet files are retained in your computer automatically and thus should be cleared so that hackers cannot obtain the information). Most financial institutions provide instructions on how to clear the caches under their "security" section. Look for "https" in the URL header and a padlock icon on your Internet toolbar at the bottom of the screen; both indicate that a secure connection is in effect. With Microsoft Internet Explorer, click Tools then Internet Options. On the General tab, click Delete Files, Delete Cookies and Clear History buttons.

Posing
Do not release any information to anyone calling. Thieves often pose as a creditor, landlord or employer to get a copy of your credit report or access to your personal information from other confidential sources.

Wireless Networking How to

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:24:21 -0600

Wireless networking is evolving, its' getting bigger day by day. For all its complicated ability, is far simpler to use than you might expect. If you feel panicky while setting or utilizing benefits of wireless network at home, worry no more. Wireless internet far easier to set up.

What Wireless networks are and how they operate
Wireless networks use radio waves instead of wires to transmit data between computers. Here's how:

It's well known that computers transmit information digitally, using binary code: ones and zeros. This translates well to radio waves, since those 1s and 0s can be represented by different kinds of beeps. These beeps are so fast that they're outside the hearing range of humans.

Wireless networking can be thought of as a Morse code for computers. You plug in a combined radio receiver and transmitter, and the computer is able to send out its equivalent of dots and dashes (bits, in computer-speak) to get your data from here to there.

Wavelengths And Frequencies
You might wonder how the computer can send and receive data at high speed without becoming garbled nonsense. The key to wireless networking is how it gets around this problem.

First, wireless transmissions are sent at very high frequencies, which allows more data to be sent per second. Most wireless connections use a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz (2.4 billion cycles per second) -- a frequency similar to mobile phones and microwave ovens. However, this high frequency produces a wavelength that is very short, which is why wireless networking is effective only over short distances.

Wireless networks also use a technique called "frequency hopping." They use dozens of frequencies, and constantly switch among them. This makes wireless networks more immune to interference from other radio signals than if they transmitted on a single frequency.

Internet Access Points
The final step for a wireless network is to provide internet access for every computer on the network. This is done by a special piece of wireless equipment called an access point. An access point is more expensive than a wireless card for 1 computer, because it contains radios capable of communicating with around 100 computers, sharing internet access among them. Dedicated access points are necessary only for larger networks. With only a few computers, it is possible to use 1 of them as the access point, or to use a wireless router.

Wireless Industry Standards
Wireless equipment from different manufacturers can work together to handle these complex communications because there are standards which guide the production of all wireless devices. These standards are technically called the 802.11. Because of industry compliance with these standards, wireless networking is both easy to use and affordable today.

Wireless Is Simple To Use
If all this talk of frequencies has you worried -- relax. Wireless networking hardware and software handle all of this automatically, without need for user intervention. Wireless networking, for all its complicated ability, is far simpler to use than you might expect.

Protecting your Gmail account from Hacking

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:20:15 -0600

GMail has been allowing access from both secure https and non-secure http protocol. If you sign in to Gmail via a non-secure Internet connection, like a public wireless or non-encrypted network, you are more vulnerable to hacking and hijacking. If you login to your account via http:// protocol and not https://, the connection between browser and google servers is not encrypted and hacker may sniff the data in between. Protecting your Gmail account from Hacking is easy.

After logging in to GMail go to Settings, under General tab

Set ‘Browser Connection’ to ‘Always use https.’
Click Save Changes and you're done.

Please note,
- Gmail Notifier users must download a patch for Notifier to work with this setting.
- Errors in the Gmail for mobile application may result from enabling this setting.
- Errors in Google Toolbar may result from enabling this setting.

How to remove autorun.inf virus from pen drive

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:47:45 -0600

Removable drivers are one of the main sources of virus, worm & trojan infections. Normally they are trigged by autorun.inf files residing on the drive itself. Autorun.inf is what loads in Windows when you insert the USB drive. It is essential to remove the malicious autorun.inf files not only from fixed drives but also from the source, and that is pen drive.

For a security point of view, you can always disable autorun and autoplay features on removable media.

How to disable the Autorun functionality in Windows on Microsoft Knowledgebase. This article lists all the various methods you can perform to disable autorun on different flavors of windows.

If you are sure you have a virus in your pen drive, perform the following steps to remove autorun.inf virus & its payload. Don't just rely on your antivirus, my AVG free version failed to detect it completely when I scanned the drive.

Insert the drive, don't just click or open it via Windows explorer, assuming your Pen drive is assigned letter L.

- Go to start, run, type "cmd" without quotes. It'll get you to dos prompt.
- Type attrib -h -r -s L:\autorun.inf (this will set attributes to file and unhide and make it readable if it is hidden)
- Type del L:\autorun.inf

If the commands executes successfully, your autorun.inf in the pen drive has been deleted. You can safely open your drive and scan it with a good antivirus or delete any unnecessary files or folders that smell as malware.

Default IP addresses and admin passwords of popular routers

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:04:39 -0600

Every router comes set with a default IP address and login password. You need it to access the router admin panel. Documentation lists such details. However if you have forgotten the password or there is no documentation available, the following will definitely help you recover your password if you have not changed it.

http://www.routerpasswords.com/
Router passwords database is constantly updated with passwords from visitors. Now you can stop wondering the default router username and password. The RouterPassword site has all the router username and password information. All you need is select the router model and brand name. Then click find password button and it will list down all default user names and passwords for the routers by model.

http://www.phenoelit-us.org/dpl/dpl.html
has a huge list of admin name and passwords of a number of router vendors.

The attached pdf also lists most common passwords of all the popular router brands. [attachment=12]

How to set up & configure a router?

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:40:00 -0600

So, you have purchased a brand new router and having difficulty in setting it up. Dont' worry, its' not that difficult. First look for the manual that came with it. The router manual sufficiently describes with the help of detailed instructions and diagrams exact how it would need configuring. The documentation should at least give the default IP address and user name and password to access router console.

The internal, LAN-IP address is normally set to a default, private number. Linksys routers, for example, use 192.168.1.1 for their internal IP address. D-Link and Netgear routers typically use 192.168.0.1. Some US Robotics routers use 192.168.123.254, and some SMC routers use 192.168.2.1. Once you have figured out your routers' default address.

Open your web browser, type default addresss most common is http://192.168.1.1/ into the address bar and hit "Enter."

Use "Admin" as the username in the pop-up box and leave the password blank.

Connect to the Internet and click on "Internet Setup."

Select your connection type from the drop-down menu. Choose "DHCP" for cable modems or PoE" for most DSL modems. If you are unsure of these options, check with your ISP.

Set a service set identifier (SSID) to identify the router and change the password. The different brands come with their default SSDs. It is good security practice to change it.

If you're using a wireless router, encrypt your wireless connection using a Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP) key to prevent eavesdropping. Under the "Wireless Security" option, enter a passphrase and click "Generate." This will generate a password which will need to be used by any client connecting to your router. That should be it.

Understanding different types of Malware

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:27:28 -0600

It is said that the the best way to defeat your enemy is to understand him. Be informed about what malware is and in how many forms it exists.

What is malware? Malware is exactly what its name implies: mal (meaning bad, in the sense of malignant or malicious rather than just poorly done) + ware (short for software). More specifically, malware is software that does not benefit the computer's owner, and may even harm it, and so is purely parasitic. Malwares is a broad term and may imply any program with malicious intentions. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, and other malicious and unwanted software.

Virus is a program that mainly focuses on causing damage to computer though there some viruses are just made to play pranks. They usually do not cause damage. Just like biological viruses, a software virus has the ability to replicate itself and spread quickly.

Trojan or trojan horse is a program which is used to gain access to a computer by installing a program on infected PC to open some backdoor. Arguably the most dangerous kind of malware, at least from a social standpoint. While Trojans rarely destroy computers or even files, that's only because they have bigger targets: your financial information, your computer's system resources, and sometimes even massive denial-of-service attack launched by having thousands of computers all try to connect to a web server at the same time.

Worm is a program which infects the computers which are connected by some network. Worms slow down the network. Worm are notorious in the way that they try to infect your email communication channels and spread itself to your contact list.

Backdoors Backdoors are much the same as Trojans or worms, except that they do something different: they open a "backdoor" onto a computer, providing a network connection for hackers or other malware to enter or for viruses or sp@m to be sent out through.

Keyloggers No prïze for guessing what this software does: yes, it logs your keystrokes, i.e., what you type. Typically, the malware kind of keyloggers (as opposed to keyloggers deliberately installed by their owners to use in diagnosing computer problems) are out to log sensitive information such as passwords and financial details.

Spyware monitor/Log the activity performed on a computer. These are used to spy on some one either for legal or illegal perpose. Example: Keylogger applications. Spyware usually phone their creater to pass information they were created to gather on infected machine.

Adware are the programs which delivers ads to your computer (generally in POP-UP's form). They consume your network bandwidth and slow it down.

Rootkit The malware most likely to have a human touch, rootkits are installed by crackers (bad hackers) on other people's computers. The rootkit is designed to camouflage itself in a system's core processes so as to go undetected. It is the hardest of all malware to detect and therefore to remöve; many experts recommend completely wiping your hard drive and reinstalling everything fresh.

Wabbits According to Wikipedia, wabbits are in fact rare, and it's not hard to see why: they don't do anything to spread to other machines. A wabbit, like a virus, replicates itself, but it does not have any instructions to email itself or pass itself through a computer network in order to infect other machines. The least ambitious of all malware, it is content simply to focus on utterly devastating a single machine.

Step by step guide to securing wireless router

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:47:30 -0600

Setting up a wireless router is easy. Essentially you turn your cable or DSL modem off and your wireless router on. Then, you connect the router to the modem with a cable, and turn the modem back on. You are more or less done. The wireless network wizard on your computer will pick up the router and, if your ISP does not have any special requirements, away-you-go, you are on the Internet.

For ease of setup and configuration, manufacturers ship wireless routers with all security disabled. Therein lies the problem. If you do not take any further steps to secure your router, and a surprising number of people don’t, your network will be wide open to all passersby and strangers. It’s like you’ve hung out a sign, “The door is open. Please come in and help yourself.”

The problem is not that strangers will be able to use your router to access the Internet but that, without further protection, would-be intruders will be able monitor and sniff out information you send and receive on your network. Malicious intruders can even hop on to your internal network; access your hard drives; and, steal, edit, or delete files on your computer.

The good news is that it is relatively easy to secure your wireless router. Here are three basic steps you should take.

Password protect the access to your router’s internal configuration
To access your router’s internal setup, open a browser and enter the routers setup URL. The URL will be specified in the manual. The URLs for D-Link and Linksys routers, two major manufacturers of wireless routers, are http://192.168.0.1 and http://192.168.1.1, respectively. My Netgear router is accessed through the private ip http://10.0.0.1.

For Linksys routers, leave the user name blank and type “admin” (without the quotes) in the password field and press enter. To change the password, simply click on the Password tab and enter your new password.

For other routers, please consult your manual. Alternately, you can search on the Internet with the term “default login for ”. Don’t be surprised to find quite a number of pages listing default login parameters for many different routers, even uncommon ones.

Change the default SSID (Service Set IDentifier)
The SSID is the name of a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). All wireless devices on a WLAN use SSIDs to communicate with each other.

Routers ship with standard default SSIDs. For example, the default SSID for Linksys routers is, not unsurprisingly, “Linksys”. As you can see, if you don’t change the default SSID of your router a would-be intruder armed with a few common SSIDs from major manufacturers will be able to find your wireless network quite easily.

To change the SSID, click on the Wireless tab. Look for an input item labeled SSID. It will be near the top. Enter a new name for network. Don’t use something like “My Network”. Use a name that is be hard to guess.

Disable SSID broadcast
Wireless enabled computers use network discovery software to automatically search for nearby SSIDs. Some of the more advanced software will query the SSIDs of nearby networks and even display their names. Therefore, changing the network name only helps partially to secure your network. To prevent your network name from being discovered, you must disable SSID broadcast.

In the same screen that you changed the name of your network, you will see options for SSID broadcast. Choose “Disable SSID” to make your network invisible. Now save all your settings and log out.

Since your wireless network is now invisible, you will have to configure your computers to connect to your wireless network using the new name. On Windows XP, start by clicking on the wireless icon in the Notification Area and proceed from there.

With these three steps, your network now has basic security. However, if you keep sensitive information on your computers, you may want to secure your wireless network even further. For example, you can

- Change the channel your router uses to transmit and receive data on a regularly basis.
- Restrict devices that can connect to the router by filtering out MAC (Media Access Control) addresses.
- Use encryption such as WEP and WPA.

As with most things in life, security is a trade off between cost (time, money, inconvenience) and benefit (ease of use). It is a personal decision you make. However for the majority of home uses, the three basic steps plus WEP/WPA encryption provides reasonably strong security.

Turning on encryption is a two-step process. First you configure your router to use encryption using an encryption key of your choice. And then, you configure your computer to use the encryption key. The actual process of configuring your router for encryption varies from router to router. Please consult the router’s manual.

There are even stronger methods for ensuring security. A strong and robust security method is RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service). Using RADIUS requires additional hardware and software. However, there are companies that offer RADIUS security as a subscription based service. The fees are reasonable and dropping.

Therefore for example, if you run a business on your wireless network, have sensitive data on your computers such as credit card information, and have a number of users who access your network, you should consider using RADIUS.

IPv4 addresses to exhaust soon

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 08:27:40 -0600

IPv4 ip addresses days are numbered. The remaining pool of unallocated IPv4 addresses could be depleted as early as December due to unprecedented levels of broadband and wireless adoption in the Asia Pacific region, experts say.

Per Network World here http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/06...ml?hpg1=bn

The acceleration of IPv4 address depletion is putting more pressure on network operators to migrate to IPv6, the long-anticipated upgrade to IPv4, the Internet's main communications protocol.

As you may be aware, IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses and can support 4.3 billion devices connected directly to the Internet. IPv6, on the other hand, uses 128-bit addresses and supports a virtually unlimited number of devices -- 2 to the 128th power.

"The Asia Pacific region has very large economies that are underserved by IP addresses such as India, China and other places," Jimmerson says. "They are really seeing a big surge in broadband deployment and wireless data handset deployment, and that translates into having to have unique IP address space. That trend is likely to continue."

It is important to note that most security precautions were ignored in the development of IPv4, and they have continued to be a challenge for application developers since then. The IPsec security protocol was an afterthought, and Network Address Translation (NAT), which has been widely deployed to solve the address-depletion problem and for perceived security benefits, makes true end-to-end, secure applications difficult to deploy.

NAT is eliminated in IPv6, allowing all nodes to communicate with one another using globally routable addresses. Since IPv6 offers almost infinite address space, NAT isn't needed.

INTEC Systems Institute, Inc. has developed a nice "IPv4 Exhaustion Counter" that visualizes the status of IPv4 address exhaustion. You can use the below script to display it on your website, blog etc.

Code:

Let's get ready to move to the better and more secure IPv6.

6 steps to protecting your Windows computer

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:54:16 -0600

Windows operating system is not the safest OS around. With the advent of Windows 7, things have changed a little bit. However, it is still far from being termed as the safest. Also, not everyone is using Windows 7.
Most of us are aware that there are continuous security issues with Microsoft’s Windows operating system and other programs. However, what most people do not realize is how easy it is to significantly improve your computer’s security and reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim to ever increasingly sophisticated internet threats.

1) Windows Update – the first crucial step you need to take to make sure that all your Microsoft applications have all the latest product updates installed. These updates or “patches” address security vulnerabilities and other issues. Microsoft usually issues these updates on a monthly cycle. Visit the Microsoft website or switch on automatic updates from the Windows Control panel. Even if your “new” computer is second hand this is still a critical first step. If you buy a used computer with Windows XP make sure Service Pack 2 or SP2 is installed. Make sure you have not turned automatic updates.

2) Secure your Browser - IE still holds the largest market share in the browser market. It may not be the safest browser around. If you are running older versions of internet explorer, make sure you upgrade to the latest, IE 8. Every browser has its vulnerabilities and security holes that developers try to patch with updates from time to time. I personally use Opera browser along with Firefox. There are specific settings, plugins, extensions you can employ in your browser to make it more secure. Viruses and other malware often attack IE and change the default home page. Keep an eye on such things. If your home page is changing and strange pop ups have started appearing out of no reason, it is most likely that your pc is infected and your browser is no longer secure.

3) Strong Passwords - people often overlook this but having well thought through passwords is an important for your computer security. A strong password should include at least 8 characters with a mixture of text, symbols and numbers. At a minimum you need to make sure the services most at risk have a strong log-in password. These services include your bank, credit card, other financial services like PayPal, your email address and any other services like Ebay which hackers can use to generate profit. Do not use the same password for your important logins.

4) Anti Virus Protection – We are all aware of computer viruses and the havoc they can wreck on our data. These days, almost all the major pc manufactueres have been bundling full or OEM suites of antivirus software. For example the Dell I purchased was shipped with a 90-day trial of McAfee's Internet Security Suite. The best bet here is to purchase a security package which includes firewall and anti virus software as a minimum. Microsoft has also entered the market with their "OneCare" offering which is very aggressively priced. Microsoft Security Essentials is available for free download.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

If you're looking to purchase a robust and great quality antivirus, I'll suggest Kaspersky antivirus. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 monitors all virus entry points leaving you with a virus-free PC Purchase Kaspersky Antivirus 2010 here.

5) Software Firewall - if you are using a broadband connection then a firewall is definite requirement to manage the traffic flowing between your computer and the internet. A firewall monitors the inbound internet traffic passing through the ports of your computer. Better products also monitor outbound traffic from your computer to the internet. As per above the best bet here is buy a firewall application as part of a security package which most vendors offer as standard. If a hardware firewall is included as part of your router package then you do not need anything else. A company called Zone Labs offer a great free firewall product called Zone Alarm which should be used as a minimum. Windows XP & Seven does ship with a free firewall but the product does not monitor outbound communication and therefore does not offer adequate protection.

Also see ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall 2010 Review & how it can protect your pc.

6) Anti Spyware Tool - this software is the last piece in your basic internet security set up. Antispyware helps combat spyware and adware. There is a good mixture of free and paid versions on offer. Good free software include Microsoft's Windows Defender, Spybot Search & Destroy, MalwareBytes Antimalware etc. Free tools though are effective, they are certainly not effective as their paid counterparts.
Be careful if you decide to purchase a solution. There are a number of rogue vendors out there which aggressively push products which offer you little value. Stick to trusted names like Webroot's Spy Sweeper or PC Tool's Spyware Doctor. These products always come out well on independent tests. Spyware Doctor is a top-rated malware & spyware removal utility that detects, removes and protects your PC from thousands of potential spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, spybots and tracking threats. Download Spyware Doctor here.

buy antivirus

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 07:32:04 -0600

If I buy the software from a third party. Or an authorized seller. It's the same as the company's official site? Official site very expensive prices ...

Increase PC performance in 6 easy steps

Mon, 31 May 2010 14:15:29 -0600

I always have a knack for doing things in the most efficient ways. When it comes to Technology and computers, it is pertinent to say that I always find smarter & faster ways to finish tasks. If performance is in your attitude, shouldn't your pc be performing optimally? Here are few steps you can implement to increase your pc performance & make it work optimally.

Now, if you're pc is one of those older age under-performing machines, the first and foremost step would be to upgrade it to increase performance, and that's so obvious. However, most of the older hardware is not so easy to upgrade barring computer memory.

Step 1: Increase computer memory
Adding more RAM can really speed up your dying system since it gives more headroom for the applications to run. The more memory you can add, the better it is. However, older memory modules tend to be costlier, so upgrade wisely. Speed up your computer instantly with a RAM upgrade

The other steps will allow you to speed up your computer, free of charge since they are just tweaks to applications already installed on your computer.

Step 2: Uninstall unnecessary software
Majority of people have a horde of programs install that they are never going to use. How many do you have installed in your system? What utility are they serving? Nothing. Remove and uninstall all the unneeded software & you'll free up some precious space for all those applications that need it.
Download Revo uninstaller http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_unin...nload.html

The free version does a great job too. Get rid of the software that got installed with your freeware, file-sharing programs or toolbars etc.

Step 3: Keep tab on your system tray and start up entries
Let's take a look at what is starting at boot up. Remove all those messenger programs Yahoo, MSN, AOL, gtalk etc. from start up. You can always start them in case needed. Remove Winzip's tray icon, Winamp tray icons, file sharing downloaders and all other that's taking your precious memory. Watch out you don't accidentally remove your antivirus real time scanner or anyting important.
How do you do all this?
In windows, start, run, type "msconfig" without quotes & go to startup tab. Uncheck all that is not needed.

Step 4: Clean up system
Apart from removing software, there are still many junk files laying around doing nothing but consuming space. Get rid of all this. Run Ccleaner http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

& carefully remove everything that is scans and finds unusable.

Now is the time to give system a restart.

Step 5: Optimize & defrag registry
Registry optimization is important. We'll run a good, reliable registry optimizer now to scan & fix registry errors, look for orphaned objects & references and remove them. There are a bunch of registry cleaners available in market and many of them are even free. We'll use one of the best & free registry cleaner. Download Eusing Free Registry Cleaner here
http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_clea...leaner.htm

After cleaning registry. We'll also do a registry defragmentation. So many people overlook it. It is crucial for your windows performance. Free registry defrag does a nice job of defragging registry. Download here http://www.registry-clean.net/free-registry-defrag.htm

Make sure to stop most of your running processes, browser sessions, downloads, active icons in system tray before defragging registry.

Now it is time to restart the system.

Step 6: Defrag your hard drive
Although with the above five steps, you should notice a performance boost already. We are not finished yet until we do a disk defragmentation. If you have plenty of free time you can invest in other activities, I suggest you run disk deframentation and go check out other things. Disk Defragmenter will take some time up to properly optimize your disk. You can use the the built in disk defragmenter that microsoft ships with Windows or try this one http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/

Once you are done with the steps above, your pc would be performing faster than ever. And, you can spare a little bit of your time to say thanks here or buy me a drink.

Most notorious computer virus, worms of all time

Sun, 30 May 2010 13:23:41 -0600

Computer viruses have come a long way since the days of 'Elk Cloner', the first computer virus which started circulating in 1982. Some of the early viruses clogged networks, later ones corrupted or wiped documents or had other destructive properties.

A virus can aptly be called a virtual disease which affects a computer system and makes it sick, forcing to act in a manner undesired by the user. No good deed goes unpunished, and with the joys and leisure that were brought by the computer, along came the viruses to ruin all the fun. There are billions of viruses out there, big and small. But there were some that stood out and ruined things for us in a spectacular fashion. Below is a list of 10 of the deadliest virus which create havoc in the virtual as well as the real world.

More recently, viruses have been created to steal personal data such as passwords or to create relay stations for making junk e-mail more difficult to trace. While the earliest viruses spread through floppy disks, the growth of the Internet gave a new way to spread viruses: e-mail.

Today, viruses have found several platforms: instant-messaging, file-sharing software, rogue web sites; images etc. As these malicious programmes go more sophisticated and their numbers increase on a daily basis.

Lets' move to the list of most notorious computer virus & worms of all time.

Special mention
Brain Virus (1986)

Brain was the first virus to hit computers running Microsoft’s then popular operating system MS-DOS. The virus was written by two Pakistani brothers, Basit Farooq Alvi and his brother Amjad Farooq Alvi and left the phone number of their computer repair shop. A boot-sector virus, Brain infected the boot records of 360K floppy disks. The virus would fill unused space on the floppy disk so that it could not be used. The first “stealth” virus, it hid itself from any detection by disguising the infected space on the disk. Due to its partial non-destructiveness, Brain often went undetected as many times users paid little attention to the slow speed of floppy disk access. BusinessWeek magazine called the virus the Pakistani flu.

Iloveyou or Loveletter worm

The three words that can at most motivate you to cross the seven seas - or at least tempt you to open en email. This very temptation was the downfall of many computer users when this multipurpose- multi skilled virus hit the web. It had the ability to replicate itself via IRC chat and email, transfer and hide itself in different files and folders, and infect the registry keys once you opened an email in you inbox declaring “I Love You”. The virus thought to be originated somewhere in the Philippines, caused damage which was estimated to be around $8-10 billion.

Melissa

The creator of this virus received a 20 month jail sentence and a $5000 fine. Generated over a decade ago, this clever piece of virtual disease operated through Microsoft Outlook. This is how it worked: you receive an email titled “Here is the Document you asked for” from an unknown sender, you got infected as soon as you opened the email, and the virus would replicate and delivers itself to the top 50 people on your list without you getting a hint of it. Some major US government departments were hit and the damage is thought to be around $1 billion at least. A 20 month jail sentence well deserved.

MyDoom

MyDoom was instigated somewhere in mid 2004 and it actually prompted US senator to propose the creation of a “National Virus Response Centre”. The virus attacked in two phases; the first phase infected different Operating Systems, creating inroads and backdoors and making them vulnerable to external users. Once this problem was sorted out, the MyDoom struck again after few months, this time targeting the Search Engines like Google, slowing them down considerably, and crashing a few.

Code Red

Damages of almost $200 million a day, and affecting the computers inside the White House are the degree of achievements of this virus. It subjugated the Windows by acting as a buffer overflow, sending humongous amount of information to the computer so that it spilt over, eventually forcing a shut down by overlapping the memory of the computers. The problem wasn’t solved until Microsoft issued a revival
package to cater for this virus.

Nimda

How could we forget our dear Nimda in notoriety.
Spell it backwards and you will understand its prime targets: yes, the ‘Admin’ and servers. It was basically a worm and has the record of being the fastest ever virus to spread; it took only 22 minutes to break into the list of top ten most deadly viruses of all times. It basically targeted internet servers and websites, creating a mass crater through which thousands of computers were affected at the same time. Once infected, the systems became exposed to open attacks by the outsiders.

SQL Slammer/Saphire worm

The SQL Slammer/Sapphire worm was the biggest security event in IT since the Code Red/Nimda infections of 2001.
Another swiftly spreading worm, it hit 75,000 computers in the first 10 minutes of its inception, taking down and severely damaging numerous American Banks, Security systems and organizations, and Airline networks. And the virus wasn’t just privy to the US; it ruthlessly damaged the internet capacity of South Korea for at least half a day. The damage was estimated around at least a billion dollars.

Klez Worm

With the mix characteristics of a virus, worm and a Trojan horse, Klez gave the antivirus programs a real headache by simply disabling them and making them look like a joke. However this is only the beginning of its trickery; after it was thought it be defeated, it was taken over, decoded and customized by black hat hackers (hackers who specialize in unauthorized penetration) . Its ability was enhanced by providing it with the capability to "spoof" from the user's address book and make it look like that an email came from them, increasing the chances of the receiver opening the email and becoming the next casualty.

Sasser worm

Damaging the computer through network ports, Sasser mostly targeted Windows 2000 and XP. It’s main casualties were the news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) which had all its satellite communications jammed for hours , U.S. Airlines which had to reschedule its flights because of the worm had depleted their computers, a Finnish insurance company which was forced to close down 130 of its offices on emergency basis, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Post were all badly affected as well. However its unique feature was that it did not spread through emails, but rather observed computers and kept a look out for their vulnerabilities. On the basis of its knowledge, it would scan random IP addresses from the database and send itself to the next victim.

Autorun or Autorun.inf virus

Autorun may not be called an individual virus itself. It has a number of variants all targeting removable media like pen drives. This virus primarily targeted USBs and flash drives and established them as its major source of movement and propagation. It affected networks and all the computers present on them. Once affected, the folder options would be disabled, the task manager too would be unavailable and the virus itself would become the system administrator. The virus would replicate itself in all the folders, therefore eating up useful space on the hard disk and making it eventually extremely slow. The loss was in terms of useful data on millions of computers across the world.

Worth reading: Timeline of notable computer viruses and worms

Prevent the bypassing of administrator password

Sun, 30 May 2010 09:51:35 -0600

Hello, everyone;
I have set up parental control on my cousin's computer, but now he skips or erases the administrator password with the help of some software. On the other hand he has created another administrator account which I cannot modify at all. Now I want to delete the administrator account he has created, what approach should I take to do this? From some forums, I know that computer users are able to bypass administrator passwords by cracking the hash file, is this the common way that password cracking softwares use to erase/crack passwords? If I want to prevent him from doing it again, what should I do? Is increasing the password length and complexity helpful if one can bypass the password?
Thank you very much!

Why remove Spyware threats?

Sat, 29 May 2010 03:14:42 -0600

Is your computer been running slower than normal? Are you worried someone may be able to access your computer and steal your private information and use it against you? Spyware infections are sometimes the primary culprit behind such things. They cripple your computer down & make it extremely slow. Not only pc, your internet connection & speed suffers too.

Few years back back, my 4-year old computer was running so slow that I had to buy a new computer. Or at least I thought I needed a new computer. Then within a matter of weeks of surfing on the Internet, my new computer was also running so slowly. In addition, some programs did not run well on my computer, and I did not recognize some of the programs that were running on my computer. That scared me most. Were these programs that were tracking my keystrokes on my computer or programs I just not remember installing? I knew I had to find a answer and solution fast.

The truth is, we can all put up with a slow computer, but very few of us would want others to have access to the information on our computers, but that is exactly what can happen when spyware or malware is loaded on our computers without our knowledge.

Spyware and adware applications are programs and files that hide on your PC's hard drive without your direct knowledge. These programs allow hackers and advertising companies to track your every move, both online and even when you work offline. They can track the websites you visit, the items that you buy online, the emails you send and receive, your Instant Message dialog, and worst of all they can even record your credit card number, personal identification numbers, and all of your passwords. If you use dial-up to connect to the Internet then spyware can be used to bill 900 numbers to your phone bill. This is just a short list of the harm that spyware can cause and these are sufficient reasons that such things shouldn't stay in your pc.

It is very easy for your computer to become infected with spyware as "The majority of all downloadable games, music, screensavers, etc., can infect your computer with SpyWare or AdWare. Most people do not know that after simply clicking on a random "pop up" ad, their computers may have been infected with SpyWare or AdWare."

No matter how we get spyware, here are 10 very real reasons you don’t want spyware on your computer.

1. Your computer may start running slower
2. Some programs on your computer will not run correctly
3. You may not recognize programs that are now on your computer because they may have been installed there by a spyware related web site or program you loaded on your computer.

If severely infected,
4. Someone may read your e-mails
5. Someone may be able to access your e-mail list
6. Someone might be able to see you track the keystrokes you type
7. Someone might be able to access your credit card information on your pc
8. Someone might be able to access your passwords list on your computer
9. Someone might be able to steal your social security number
10. Someone might be able to track all the web sites you visit

As I mentioned, most of these programs get on your computer with out you even knowing, but another frustrating part is that they are not easily to uninstall. The normal uninstall through add remove programs may not work as they are persistent and always come back again.

A great way to find and remove spyware is to run SuperAntispyware & Spyware Terminator. Most spyware detection and removal software today offers a free scan to verify that you do or do not have spyware on your computer. The above programs fight spyware threats very well. Give them a try.

Increase Windows performance by disabling Indexing

Fri, 28 May 2010 16:35:07 -0600

If you’re using the NTFS partition on your system instead of FAT32, you can get a bit performance increase by disabling Windows Indexing service. Windows indexing keeps putting files in its cache or index, whatever you call it so when you look for it next time, it could display results faster. So, it just helps in faster searching.

The downside of disabling indexing is that searching your drive for a specific file might take a moment or two longer, but everything else should run faster.

How to disable indexing in Windows
To disable this feature open My Computer and then right click on the drive you wish to reset – usually C-drive. Now click on Properties and then uncheck “Allow Indexing Service.” It will take Windows a few moments to accomplish this task, based on your processor speed. If you have other hard drives, perform the same process for them. After this is done, it’s a good idea to empty the Recycle Bin and then Defragment your hard drive(s).

Alternately, To disable the Indexing service, open Computer Management from Administrative Tools (on the Start menu if you enabled this, or from the Control Panel), select Services and Applications, double click Services, and find the Indexing Service. Double click to bring up the Properties window, and click Stop to let Windows stop the service. Then from the Status type drop down box select Disabled.

What is Phishing & how to avoid it?

Fri, 28 May 2010 16:20:39 -0600

Do not ever reveal your username or password to anyone who e-mails you and asks for it. This information is frequently asked for by an Internet scheme called “phishing.”

In a common phishing scam, you receive an e-mail that looks quite official. It usually appears to come from a bank or credit card company. A common title for these e-mails is “We need to verify your account information.” Another is “Please logon to your account and verify your settings.” If you do click where instructed, you’ll end up on a site that appears to be the real one. If you fill in the username and password for of your on-line banking account, you can expect serious problems within twenty-four hours.

You must have dealt with or atleast seen such mails in your inboxes, I see them all the time. Email spoofing & phishing go hand in hand. Avoid these traps to safeguard your identity.

If you believe that a company or business that you do on-line business with really does require your information, then simply contact them. This way, you will know where you are sending your information, and what it will be used for.

Phishing is one of the main causes of identity thefts that results contributes to credit card frauds & other financial losses.

Know The Functionalities Of Memory Card Reader

Thu, 20 May 2010 23:24:04 -0600

Commonly, memory card reader is a device which can read flash memory cards and transfer the data to the computer. Important part is that you can connect to the USB port on a computer. Memory card reader has a vast varieties and types available, and also where users can have a removable access for any kind of digital equipments for example, Digital cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players etc. While buying purchaser should know that memory card reader comes in various format and size of handing data. There is single memory card reader as well as multiple memory card readers available in market. The latest memory card readers can read and support with variety of memory card formats where as multi-card readers can accept several different types of cards.

Know the Applicabilities of SD Card

Thu, 20 May 2010 23:22:37 -0600

The sd card is presently having more usage among conusmers in the market and sd's full form is secure digital. Consumers should know that the usage of sd card is mostly happens in mobile industries . But basically having the usage in GPS devices like digital audio players, Nintendo DS flashcards, portable media players with several digital cameras. Now consumers can increase the life of their mobile by having the usage of sd card in electrical devices. Such sd card aids in enhancing memory capacity of mobiles aiding in storing collections of movies, music, pictures, ring tone, and in several other things.

Importance of USB flash drive

Thu, 20 May 2010 23:20:36 -0600

There are lots of brands in the world who are dealing with the delivery of usb flash drive in the market such as Cruzer Micro who is shipping usb flash drive smart technology. Today these smart technology providing the ability to carry files and software on a secure USB flash drive in the market. These usb flash drive allows the user to have wallpaper, preferences, favorites, profiles and more, everything one required for a familiar computing experience on any PC throughout the day. The product of usb flash drive of Cruzer Micro allows the user to easily carry and transfer key documents, pictures, music and video clips from one computer to another in many countries. The new retractable USB port eliminates the requirement for caps and protects the USB connector while using usb flash drive bought from the market.