Spyware Protection- Backup Software is the Best Defense Against Spyware and Computer Viruses
The Worst Case Scenario
Your subscriptions to your favorite anti-virus and spyware software expired 28 days ago. You have been meaning to pull out your credit card and renew. However, you just haven’t gotten to it.
Yesterday an e-mail, SPAM really, hit your inbox with an interesting by-line on the latest natural disaster. You click on the innocuous looking link. The next thing you know, Internet Explorer doesn’t quite work correctly, followed by a failure of Windows Explorer, followed by your PC running really slow. You have just been hit with spyware! Next thing you know, your PC will not boot and you are dead in the water.
This Whole Scenario is Preventable
In this example (which is played out dozens of times every day) the user did not keep his/her software counter measures up to date. There are some extremely top shelf software products available which do a simply wonderful job of keeping up with the latest spyware and virus threats. In fact, by employing several similar products you can often catch threats with one product which was not neutralized by another.
However, there are no guarantees here! A variety of circumstances may result in a threat to your PC. Depending solely on software counter measures (e.g. anti-spyware, anti-virus software) is only part of the story. You can actually take your destiny and digital protection in your own hands and add another layer of protection.
Software Backup- Your Own Version of Digital Time Travel
The two approaches available are:
Data Backup refers to making a copy of your valuable files, personal and business information on some other media that is physically separate from your computer. A myriad of products and services exist for storing this information including USB drives, DVDs, CDs, external disk drives, network drives, archiving services and even the humble diskette.
However, you must really think through all of the information contained on your computer that you want to save if your PC became unusable including:
Image Backup refers to a process where your computer environment is saved. The difference is that in the case of a data backup you may have saved ALL of your valuable information. This is the good news. The bad news is that you have now have to rebuild your personal computer’s software:
An image backup makes a snapshot of your entire personal computer. The ideal scenario is that you tweak and install all of your software. At the point where things are working just right, you take your snapshot which you store away in a safe place. At this point you also start to regularly make regular backups of your valuable data that has changed since the snapshot has changed.
If you have the misfortune to get nailed by malicious software that cripples your computer, you now have the ability to
You now can keep on trucking with a minimum of disruption. This approach does take a bit of discipline. However, it really does not take a whole lot of time. These backups can be started when you go to bed, and will be completed by the time that you wake in the morning.
The alternative is spending time trying to rebuild your system (if you can find all of the software) and IF you can get your valuable data off of your crippled PC. It’s a simple matter of time, money and aggravation. It’s your choice…
Eric Penfield is a 20 year veteran of the Information Systems industry. He has worked for several Fortune 10 companies and currently publishes the Naughty Software Blog.
Tags: anti spyware, anti virus, anti virus software, internet security, spyware removalCyber Crime - A Threat to Every Internet User
According to the Federal trade Commission (FTC), there are around 10 million reported cases of identity theft each year in the United States. A recent report by Eugene Kaspersky, founder and head analyst of Kaspersky Labs (a leading internet security company), indicates that the level of criminal activity on the internet has doubled in the past year, and there is reason to believe this trend will continue to grow exponentially in the future.
Cyber crime has become a serious problem for everyone who uses the internet. The biggest threats to all internet users are malicious software programs known as crimeware and social engineering schemes, often referred to as phishing and pharming scams.
Although computer viruses have always presented a big problem regarding potential loss of data or damage to our computers, spyware and phishing scams are where the real danger is. These forms of internet crime don’t hurt our computers - they cause personal damage.
Spyware
The most common form of crime-ware comes in the form of spyware, which is a small program or piece of code that is designed to “spy” on your online activity and/or personal information. There are many types and forms of spyware and new versions are introduced into the internet every day.
Although not all spyware is used for illegal purposes, much of it can be very dangerous due of its ability to record keystrokes, take snapshots of our PC screen, and monitor everything we do online. Spyware usually installs without anyone’s knowledge and runs silently in the background.
The information gathered by spyware is secretly transmitted to the person who planted it. It is sometimes sent out via email without our knowledge, but more often it is relayed to a hijacked “slave” computer, where it is picked up by the criminal who installed it. He/she will either use it to access bank accounts or credit cards, sell it to another thief, or perhaps steal our identity altogether.
Some spyware is used to “hijack” computers, turning them into “slaves” that are used to collect and store data that was obtained illegally. The computer’s owner rarely knows that his PC is being used to house illegal information. Many “slave” computers are also used to help social engineers collect data via Pharming scams.
Phishing Scams
One of the most popular criminal activities on the internet is Phishing. In fact, this type of scam is so prevalent that an estimated 99% of email users have seen at least one phishing scam in their inbox. Phishing is mostly done via email, and is usually performed in conjunction with Pharming. Social engineers often send email letters that appear to come from your bank or other financial institution. The message urges you to click the link, log in, and verify your credentials. These emails sound and look very legitimate, and this is why so many people follow through by clicking the link.
Pharming
Once a person has clicked a link in a fraudulent Phishing email, they are taken to a website that appears to be legitimate. This is because the social engineer has copied the home page of the financial institution. What most victims don’t realize is that the website they are on is really in some third world country, or on a “slave” computer that has been hijacked by spyware. The Pharming occurs when the person enters his/her credentials to “log on” to their account. This provides the Pharmer with all the information he needs to quickly wipe out the account or charge up a fortune on the associated credit card.
How to Protect Yourself Online
There are several things you can do to protect yourself from cyber-crime. The most obvious is to use good internet security products. At minimum, everyone who uses the internet should be using a good personal firewall, anti-spyware software, and anti-virus software.
The easiest, most effective way for most home computer users to stay protected is to purchase an internet security suite. A suite will include antivirus, anti-spyware/anti-adware, software firewall, and possibly some extras like a spam filter and password protection software. Suites are easy to use because everything is controlled via one interface.
There are many “free” things you can and should do to protect yourself from cyber-crime, such as keeping your computer’s operating system and all applications up-to-date. This combined with the implementation of cautious browsing and email habits will have a big impact on your safety.
Internet Security Suites
How to Protect Yourself Online
Computer Security for Everyone
Tags: anti spyware, computer security suite, internet security, kaspersky, pharming, phishing, spywareComputer Security Tips for Privacy and Identity Protection
Anti spyware software, anti virus software, and a good personal firewall provide the best protection against the majority of internet security threats that exist today. Although everyone using the internet should be using these products, I find that most casual internet users are only running an antivirus program. Without the added protection of a software firewall and anti spyware software, there are still some things you can do to help ensure your personal information doesn’t get stolen by malicious spyware and you don’t become the victim of identity theft due to a phishing scam.
Following are a list of computer security tips that will help protect you and/or minimize the damage if your personal information gets stolen:
- Never use the same user id you use for email or internet logon for anything else. Maintaining separate user id’s for important accounts will help minimize the security risk in the event someone gets hold of your ID.
- Never use your email password for anything else. This will prevent unauthorized access to your email account.
- Store passwords in an encrypted file or password manager program with encryption. This ensures that your passwords cannot be accessed in the event an intruder or spyware application gets hold of your password list.
- Never click on links in emails, particularly from banks. Manually go to the site and log in. This is a common phishing scam. Unscrupulous people send emails that look legitimate. The links they give you normally take you to a copy of a legitimate website. Inputting your account information onto these fraudulent websites will allow thieves to gain access to your real account.
- Unless absolutely necessary, never download and install freeware. If you do download free software, only download from developer’s site. Many copycat sites exist that are fraudulent. Downloading from them will most certainly install spyware on your system.
- Use parental control software if children use the computer. This will prevent access to questionable websites where spyware can secretly be installed.
- Browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) security setting should be set to high. This prevents many sites from installing certain types of spyware and adware on your PC.
- Never click on pop up ads as this can install spyware on your system. One click is all it takes to have spyware secretly installed.
- Avoid browsing to questionable websites. Sites that contain illegal, immoral or lewd content are often havens for spyware. Simply viewing some of these sites is all it takes to infest your computer with spyware.
- Excessive pop ups usually mean adware is installed on your system. Use an adware remover to detect and destroy. A good rule of thumb is to never click on a popup ad, as this could install spyware on your system.
- If computer appears to run very slowly, suspect spyware. Install a spyware remover and scan your PC.
These tips are by no means a replacement for anti-spyware software and a personal firewall, but should help ensure that you remain safe until you can get your computer properly protected.
DJ is a corporate IT Manager and author of the following sites covering information technology topics: Computer Security for Everyone, Save on Phone Service with VoIP, Internet Phone Service - The Future is Here!
Tags: anti spyware, antivirus, computer security, internet security, personal firewall, software firewall
