Computer
manufacturer's and
software companies cannot guarantee your PC's condition unless you lock it in
a box. Any program you install, any file you copy, or any setting you change
can alter or corrupt the Operating System. This document is designed to help
Internet users understand the unique threats they face when connecting their
computer to the rest of the world over this huge network. At BBV.Net, we want
to make the Internet safer and more useful. We don’t have time or enough
knowledge to explain everything over the phone, but we are happy to answer any
question we can by email to support@bbv.net.
Whenever you connect to the Internet, you have access to all the
world-wide resources that the Internet provides. Most legitimate business
websites provide safe and useful services. On the other hand, other people or
machines on the Internet could have access to your computer resources as well.
Several years ago, the greatest threats to your computer were viruses and worms created simply to see how widespread they could
become and boost the ego of their creators. These little programs were
designed to sneak into your computer when you inadvertently opened an email
attachment or program. Once secreted into your computer, they were designed to
send themselves to all of your friends, using your email, any software you
copied, or your network connections. The deranged geniuses who wrote these
programs did not receive anything except a feeling of power for these efforts.
Recently, these people learned to make money using these devious skills. They
would sell their services to often-unaware advertisers. Their sneaky programs
would be spread throughout the world and hide themselves inside every
unprotected computer. Then these hidden codes would spy on the user, watching
what he types or looks at, and then cause ads, web pages or hi-jacked search
results to pop up related to the user’s interests. This spying or
advertising software is now called spy-ware
or ad-ware.
Until the Internet comes under the control of some type of authority, a thing
that many believe would destroy the basic value of it, these pirates or
bandits operate with little obstruction other than a threat of legal action
when caught. With each new malicious program, some champion immediately
responds with a new or upgraded program to repel or remove the new threat.
Some of these rescuers do it for money, like Grisoft, Norton/Symantec, McAfee, and
others. Some do it for the pleasure of defeating the bad guys. Many work in
teams, offering their products for free and hoping for contributions to the Cause.
At BBV.Net and Central Computing, we spend most of our time repairing and
protecting computers affected by malicious software. Based on our experience,
the following are just our suggestions that may be helpful, still nowhere
near a complete guarantee you won't get scammed.
Disclaimer:
The
writer doesn’t know everything (or even half of everything) and anything you
do to your computer, including all of the tips listed here, may damage your
operating system causing loss of data or need to completely re-install
everything! Back-up and create restore points, then study each program and use
only at your own risk.
Securing
your Windows Computer for free, 7 Steps you can take now.
1. Always require a password
to logon to Windows 2000 or Windows XP. This can be changed in the Control
Panel under USERS.
2. Always install anti-virus
software. We now recommend Free AVG from free.grisoft.com
by clicking on Get AVG Free.
Until last January we recommended Symantec
Norton Anti-Virus from www.symantec.com.
Their website offers an on-line scan to identify most new viruses at www.securityresponse.symantec.com.
It also offers many removal tools.
3. Do
not install any program you are unsure of.
Do not click OK on any window you did not ask for. Internet sites will offer
all kinds of free gimmicks that spy on you or worse. Examples are file/music
sharing, weather bug, shopping assistants, gator, time or date managers,
almost any search tool, etc. Instant Messengers should only be used for
discussion, not file transfers. Set your firewall to block them. On the other
hand, the Google Toolbar from www.google.com
and set it to not send any information. It provides a handy search tool and a
decent POP-UP blocker.
4. Install anti-spyware
software. Microsoft now offers a beta (test) anti-spyware program and a
malicious software removal tool at www.microsoft.com/downloads.
It looks pretty good so far and we use only this program as a always-on
protector. We install these other tools just for
scanning or removal: Adaware is free from www.Lavasoft.de
or www.tucows.com. Tucows also has links to download Spybot
Search and Destroy with tea-timer, a utility that asks your permission
every time something tries to alter operating systems.
5.
www.spywareinfo.com
offers anti-parasite software, including Hijackthis,
to reveal every program being loaded when you start up, and CWShredder,
a program that removes a group of malicious programs called
Cool-Web Search. They also have a Kazaa removal tool.
6.
Keep all of your security software updated.
Most viruses get in your computer when you haven't paid for your subscription
to the latest virus definitions or kept your software updated, (or used it in
the case of manually run tools).
7. Use
www.windowsupdate.com
to keep your Operating
System patched and up to date. Microsoft
has Security information at www.microsoft.com/windows/security/.
Service Pack 2 for XP includes a variety of security features, including
automatic updates that may
outdate some of these suggestions.
For
Older Operating Systems (Not Windows XP Service Pack 2):
8. Set your Internet
Explorer security settings to
medium-high, Click Tools - Internet Options - Security - Internet - Security
level - Move slider to Med-High.
9. Set Outlook
Express to block external content,
(default in latest upgrades). Click Tools - Options - Security – Block
images and other external content in HTML email - OK. Or use mail from www.hotmail.com.
10. Install a personal
firewall, included in Microsoft Windows
XP Service Pack 2. For windows 98, ZoneAlarm
from www.zonelabs.com
is free for personal use.
11.
Even better, install a hardware
firewall. Routers, e.g. www.D-Link.com,
assign a different address than the address shown to the Internet, to all
computers behind them. Most new DSL modems include routers.
BBV.net
recommends the use of
a free hotmail account as a main address. Hotmail and Yahoo now do
quite a job blocking viruses and SPAM.
Windows 98 has networking components that let you share your files
and/or printers, which are unfortunately installed by default. If you do not
share files on a network, disable file sharing: If you have FrontPage
installed, you should disable the Personal Web Server that came with it, which
is again installed by default. Consult the FrontPage manual for information on
doing this.
Windows
XP restricts file sharing to a folder
called Shared Documents by default.
It is best to keep shared folders limited.
Finally, don't be surprised if you still get nailed. A
"clean" machine (one that has been repaired or scanned) can still be
infected, but the culprit may not be detected yet by your security software.
Whenever you encounter unusual activity on your computer, it is helpful to
read what others have to say at www.groups.google.com.
Bob
Pool – August
31, 2005
BBV.Net Internet Precautions