Posts Tagged ‘Computer Security’

Psychological Means That Computer Virus Uses to Spread

I guess you have been in a situation where you are convinced to buy certain goods but regretted later when you’ve got home. I have. I usually categorize that kind of marketing as high pressure psychological selling, because the salesman usually applies high level of psychological pressure on the prospect to finally succeed in selling the goods. Trojans and worms are more and more into these practices of iplementing psychological pressure in order to compromise a victim. Such techniques implements but not limited to the exploitation of human basic psychologies: Curiosity, Greed, and Fear. How do we tell that a trojan or a worm virus is trying to get into our system using a psychological pressure? These are things to beare of to help us tell just prior to their attempts to compromise our system: 1. Is it pressing us to download and run some program, in the fear of getting the computer worse due to some infection of trojan or computer virus? If it is while it’s not at all the active running antivirus software we have installed, we can say that it is definitely a virus, malware, or even a worm. 2. Is it offering some software solution that looks like it’s too good to be true and free at the same time? At times, it can be just a marketing hype, but it’s a best practice to beware about the urge to download or agreeing on something it is offering. Downloading a program or just opening a page containing java script or flash application would be enough to get our computer compromised by a computer virus, malware, or trojan. 3. Are we aware of the brands (if any)? Is it a rather famous antivirus brand, or just some very popular one, but not an antivirus? At times the viruses take advantage of well known brand names only to trick uncautious people. Do you remember the “XP Antivirus 2008″ virus disguising Antivirus Software Downloads? Its high success rate really was boosted by the “XP” brand, riding on Windows XP’s brand. Lately, a brand new release of the virus is already spreading, one that we know as “XP Antivirus 2009″. 4. It’s a good practice to always check and recheck if the URL we type is not a fake or phising site. You have to do this if you wish not to unwantingly enter a phishing site, in which case is a much worse scenario compared to contracting a virus. A rogue site is an latest psychological scam in that it tricked visitors into thinking that it’s the right site they’re searching to visit. Everything they have on the page would in turn then be taken for granted by unsuspecting visitors. 5. If you are not sure about those things mentioned above, consult someone you know who knows better about them. There should be at the very least something certain about it, like a popular brand name of antivirus or computer security software solution, the exact URL or at least domain name of the target site, what should be classified into being too good to be true and what not. The success rate this way of contagion has is surprisingly high, assuming the wide availability of legitimate computer security software and antivirus or Internet Security Software available in the market. Based on this fact, I always tell everyone who asked me about computer security to continuously learn about it, even for just a small bit of knowledge. Because with knowledge only although a tiny bit, that we can really sustain our safety against malware.

Is My Firewall Working Properly?

To prevent unintended intrusion from the network and internet by using a network firewall is basically very effective. By utilizing the list of blocked IP’s, applications, and data packets, break-in attempts will be prevented to over 80% of the time. However, this applies to only some situations.

When is a firewall effective?

Firewalls are different in settings for each unique environment in a network. It depends on the behavior of the data exchange between the users and the network or internet that is permitted by the administrator. I think this is the basic conditions a firewall should be installed upon, so as not to set the firewall to a “default-allow” rule, which will practically make the firewall useless.

To make the best of a firewall, it should be set to the “default-deny” rule, with exceptions for a list of IP’s, applications, access types and confirmations, only to the widest range that the company would really need in network and internet access. It’s best to apply the “default-deny” rule with exceptions that’s based only on a daily needs of the users of the network, although a dedicated technical support that’s responsible for intelligent-”allow-rule”-supervision should be available.

This setting may be the best security firewall system setting besides antivirus implementation.

Uh uh. No Good. It’s not working. Why?

It’s relieving to know that we’re really protected. It’s only that not every network owners really dedicate their small portion of investment to the “default-deny” set of rules implementation, because they refuse to have to add additional exceptions in the future upon someone complaining that he can’t use some internet resources.

They even don’t like more on the necessity of having to add exceptions each and every day. what they’re looking for is a practical procedure, without any later intervention needed to make it work.

This matter is not there because the system administrator has no idea regarding the case, but mostly because it is a common practice. Marketing and commercials sales pitch that don’t want their products to feel hard to be used effectively also takes the part.

How can we make it better on our own system?

To get number one firewall software installed is just cool. It’s just that it’s not only that. It needs us to have at least a bit more understanding about firewalls, networks, and how they work.

None that I can remember of all vendors is providing that yet, because that is our part as users. A little priming is very important as soon as it is installed.

We can make use of a free firewall, Zone Alarm Free, install and prime it for the best. By watching the video guide, even begginers can use a firewall like a wizard.

When we take care of things nicely, and the firewall is effective, we only have to relax and enjoy the day. After all, you have worked on it and you deserve it, right?

Please do this one!

If we are to achieve something, in this case a security for our network, we need to ACT. So, what’s holding you back? Let’s do it, and relax when you have a secure networking and internet!

Protect Your Data and Computer System With These Easy 5 Steps

Do you find that you keep on getting compromised by virus, worms, or trojans although you have the best security tools installed? The following details is comprehensive and practical to the application to secure your system.

You can defend both the system and your computer from almost all threats to your privacy and security, if you have a similar policy or just implement these points.

1. Each and every patches to Windows security for your Windows OS must be updated. All you need is a working internet connection and you will have an always updated Windows OS without any cost.

2. Find a best antivirus to date and install it. Consult software review for the best antivirus ranking to date. Nowadays, antivirus software solutions are sold at very affordable price; some with limited capablities are even free. Provide internet connection to let the antivirus update itself anytime, and let it run automatically when the computer starts. This can be done automatically by default with most programs.

3. Have a firewall installed and configure it well. Either a software or a hardware firewall will do fine, you just need to make sure it is working properly. In case you are connecting through a router, a built-in firewall may have been included in it; You only have to fill the deny or allow list to make it work perfectly. Software version of firewalls are widely available, even the free ones!

4. Don't let yourself run or install any program without having it tested and declared safe in a different computer first. A virtual machine or a virtual computer can do this tricky job with no cost at all and act as a free virus protection.

5. Backup your files regularly, just in case. Best laid plans are those prepared for worst case. All you need is only a few DVDs. With a spare large size harddisk, the cost is reduced to zero!

It's clear that it cost very low and even free if you want to protect yourself from threats.

How Do We Use Online Scan?

This question arises as a new trend in online scan service provided by antivirus software and computer security solution vendors are trending. Are we supposed to use this thing? This question triggers many other questions along, such as:

- Do we need to make use of a free virus scan? At times you need to be sure that your system id free of malware whatsoever, or if a rogue antivirus that can fool you is actually hiding just behind the currently running antivirus. We can take advantage of the always-up-to-date state of an online free virus scan database, in case it can detect an otherwise undetectable virus, due to its state of update and possible different algorithm used.

- Is an online free virus scan really effective? Although this depends on the state of update of the database being used, chances are that an online scan tends to use the latest virus definition database. It also tends to utilize the recent algorithm in its scan engine. Regardless of that, not knowing the previous condition that the system is in can lead to uselessness of the scan, if for instance the system is already compromised by a virus.

What will it do? The usual procedure that an online free virus scan follows is: (1) download; (2) install; (3) update; (4) scan. The procedure sequence resembles a typical program installation steps of any regular free antivirus software. But it actually differs in that what it installs is only the scanner portion and not the whole antivirus program. After the scan is complete, should any infections be detected, some online scan service will try to disinfect right away, while some will only notify us about this findings and suggest on running a more comprehensive antivirus scan instead, to completely remove any existence of malware.

- In what circumstances should we implement an online virus scan? Right when it is time that we should take the risk of being compromised or let our system be infected by trojan, worm, or a virus. When our current antivirus system doesn’t give any alerts, there’s always the possibility that a third party scan can detect something missed.

- What’s in a free virus scan that’s not there in our regular antivirus software? It’s the ability to scan without having to be installed fully; many kinds of vendors’ services; and of course, free availability. Other than that, I think there is none.

- How effective is it? If we are to use this service as a preventive measure, the ineffectiveness is obvious. This is really a best choice for systems without any antivirus installed. Obviously, I admit that I’m one of that kind of users. Sometimes I need to run a check on my files, to see if there is a virus contracted if any.

Lastly, a conclusion should be made?

The judgement is completely up to you to decide. To me, for the readiness upon request and minimum installation requirements, an Online Free Virus Scan is rather effective, being a virtual system user as I am. Nevertheless, should I survive the computing world without virtual computer, I wold rather go with an antivirus. (I currently insist on using a clean system, without any antivirus software installed. It’s LIGHT , and preserves the world)