This issue of SunbeltSecurityNews contains:
1. Editor's Dossier
- Your Best Security Practices
2. Eyes Only: Your Viewpoint on Security Issues
- Terry in California Asks
- Cybersecurity Responsibility
3. Operations: What You Need To Know
- This Week's Top 10 Spyware Threats
4. Dirty Tricks
- More about Trojans
- Trojan Downloader
- How Does This Stuff Get on Your Computer?
- Trojan Prevention
- Michael Jackson Spam Spreads, Malware Attacks Likely
- VIPRE Works Effectively and Unobtrusively
- UK Crave Diggin on VIPRE
5. Zone - Cool Products & Other Stuff
- Japan to Generate Solar Power from Outer Space
- Mexican Jumping Beans Are Not Really Beans
- MyDeskFriend robot penguin Links to Facebook
- Car Factory
- Two Geeks and a Blonde
- Internet Musical
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Kiss Your Antivirus Bloatware Goodbye
We asked users of antivirus products what they didn't like about
their AV software. They told us they are resource hogs and slowed
their computer down. They told us that scan times took way too long,
and that the AV software nagged them. In short, old-style AV software
takes too much Memory and CPU. Time to switch to VIPRE! It gives you
malware protection that combines antivirus, antispyware, anti-rootkit
and other technologies into a seamless, tightly-integrated product.
Even if you run "free" antivirus software, it hijacks 20% of your PC,
so it's really not free at all! Find out how fast your PC can be:
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-VIPRE
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Editor's Dossier
Your Best Security Practices
Greeting SSNers,
Wow what an incredible year. Here is the end of June, and the beginning
of summer. It is quite wonderful to be writing to you every week, now that
SSN is coming out weekly. As usual, your emails keep me in touch with any
problems you may be running into along with your concerns regarding
protecting your computers and information. Keep those emails coming!
The term 'best practice' has been around for a while. As I am doing the
research for my book, the meaning of the term has much significance.
I have seen many definitions but this is what works for me: "Practices
that have proven successful in particular circumstances. Knowledge about
effective practices is used to demonstrate what works and what does not
and to accumulate and apply knowledge about how and why they work in
different situations and contexts."
Best practices can also be defined as the most efficient (least amount
of effort) and effective (best results) way of accomplishing a task,
based on repeatable procedures that have proven themselves over time
for large numbers of people. This is pretty much what we do with
SunbeltSecurityNews - provide you with the best practices for keeping
your computers and information safe and sound.
This week we highlight Trojans, those mysterious artifacts that hide in
your computer and try to take over your world. Thankfully, you have VIPRE
(you do have VIPRE don't you?) to protect you.
Follow us on Twitter! We will be tweeting about various security issues
and tips.
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-SSN-Twitter
Enjoy the latest issue of SunbeltSecurityNews. And remember stay safe out there!
You can discuss malicious attachments at our new blog:
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-SSN-Blog
Best,
Larry Jaffe
Editor SunbeltSecurityNews
PS: You can write to me at any time, I want to know how you feel about
Internet security and if you have any ideas for articles or subjects you
would like us to cover. Email me
feedback@SunbeltSecurityNews.com
PPS: If you like the weekly security hints and tips, you can tell your
friends to subscribe to SunbeltSecurityNews here:
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-Subscribe
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http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-VIPRE-Upgrade
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Eyes Only: Your Viewpoint on Security Issues
Terry in California Asks
Why can't a company like yours come up with a computer management system for
the novice home computer user? Without the knowledge to properly tune or set
up my computer, I need to rely on someone else to make even the simplest
changes / corrections. I've gotten some great help from the Sunbelt Customer
Service Team, and I trust them. Why couldn't you provide a service that would
scan my computer for optimum settings for at-home use? Advising me on programs
that conflict with one another, are not used or needed, are needed but missing,
etc... Most of all, I like the reassurance I get by talking with a tech. simply
because it is so easy to get lost and screw up something. There could be
different levels of management to suit the needs of people like me who know
nothing, to the more advanced users who consider themselves geeks.
Example: I have a laptop, but don't know enough about computers to set it up
to share a printer. There are many good software programs out there, but I
don't have enough knowledge to even know what I need or should have on my
computer. I need to find a company that is willing to act as an Administrator
for me.
Having a great security program mean nothing if you have an idiot user that
doesn't even know what settings he should use. I don't think I'm the only
idiot out here, so please look into this as a possible new resource for your
company.
Editor's Note: You might want to check out the Qresolve online technical
support service.
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-QResolve
Cybersecurity Responsibility
In response to this subject, I think we all have an obligation to fulfill.
In reality, we are only responsible for our own cybersecurity. However, I
believe we have a moral responsibility to travel the information superhighway
with caution. For our own safety as well as everyone else surfing the net.
Compare this to driving your car on the road. If we practice safe driving
habits we are not only safer ourselves but so are the other motorists around
us. You can think of the speed-demons and drunk drivers as the cyber
criminals wreaking havoc. We all need to have good security software on
our computers needless to say but that alone is not enough. We need to
promote safer surfing habits and educate people on a mass scale. There
are tons of people on the Internet and reading email hap-hazard thinking
just because they have antivirus or antispyware software they are
invincible. They are sadly mistaken, as you are well aware. I think a
"Safer Surfing" section in one or all of the newsletters would be great.
P.S. - On registry tools - Registry Mechanic is pretty good and actually
does do good. Also the registry tools in Tune-up Utilities and System
Mechanic work exceptionally well and for the price you are better going
with one of those cause you get a lot of other useful tools with it.
I can say that VIPRE consumer and Enterprise plays well with all 3 of
them. All of the free registry fixers are about useless and really do
nothing beneficial. At least not enough to bother installing them. Kind
of like the free AV and here again is where educating people comes to
play. Fixing and/or cleaning your registry is not going to fix all of
your problems and keep your computer from crashing. That's just a bogus
selling angle. -- Tim Gardner, ODI Consulting, Inc.
Operations: What You Need To Know
This Week's Top 10 Spyware Threats
Week to week when you look at our malicious top 10, you will notice that
the majority of the top threats fall under the category of Trojan. We
categorize Trojan as a type of malware that is installed under false or
deceptive pretenses or is installed without the user's full knowledge
and consent. Most Trojans exhibit some form of malicious, hostile, or
harmful functionality or behavior. You can read more about Trojans
below in our Dirty Tricks Sector.
This week we are taking a look at INF.Autorun, a generic family of
threats that use Autorun.inf files to automatically launch backdoors,
Trojans, and Trojan Downloaders when certain files or folders are
accessed by the user (autorun.inf tells Windows how to deal with
the contents of a CD). After execution, these malicious files will
usually download additional malware to the compromised box.
- Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen: Trojan
- Adware.IEToolbar.TJ.2: Toolbar
- Trojan.1: Trojan
- Trojan-Downloader.Zlob.Media-Codec: Trojan Downloader
- Trojan.DNSChanger.Gen: Trojan
- Favorit Network: Adware (General)
- Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen (v): Exploit
- PersonalAntivirus: Rogue Security Program
- INF.Autorun (v): Trojan
- Plus18Point: Hijacker
Stay on top of all the real-time threats:
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-SunbeltSecurity
Dirty Tricks
More about Trojans
Trojans are severe risks. A severe risk is usually installed without user
interaction through security exploits, and may allow an attacker to
remotely control the infected machine. These risks can allow the attacker
to install additional malware and use the compromised machine to participate
in denial of service attacks, spamming, and botnets, or to transmit sensitive
data to a remote server. The malware might also be cloaked and not visible
to the user. These risks severely compromise the system by lowering security
settings, installing 'backdoors,' infecting system files, or spreading to
other networked machines.
Trojan Downloader
Along with Trojans, there are Trojan Downloaders that do just as the
name suggests. Throw in some Adware creating pop up after pop up and a
rogue security program throwing up false security warnings to scare you
into buying their program which does little more than stop itself, and
you end up with a computer that is more of a paper weight than a helpful tool.
How Does This Stuff Get on Your Computer?
Most malware is downloaded along with webpage code. Most often this code
comes down when clicking a link on the web or in an email, be weary of
ads as well. Another word of caution, beware of fake "Codec"
installations. A codec is a device or computer program capable of
encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word
codec is a combination of 'compressor-decompressor' or, most commonly,
'coder-decoder'. If you get a message stating that "a new Codec needs
to be installed to view this." Be absolutely sure that it is valid
prior to installing it.
Trojan Prevention
Here are some easy to implement tips, i.e., best practices to prevent
a Trojan invasion. There are three types of security programs we
recommend that every computer have installed - antispyware, antivirus,
personal firewall. Sunbelt does offer all three of the very important
security programs: CounterSpy - for spyware, VIPRE - for both viruses
and spyware and the Sunbelt Personal Firewall.
Another important point is for you to use an alternate Internet browser.
There are four alternatives that I think you should check out:
Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari. It is important to note that no
browser is 100% safe, but most malware is designed around the Windows
Internet Explorer because it is installed on every Window's based
computer.
Michael Jackson Spam Spreads, Malware Attacks Likely
"ComputerWorld - Within hours of the death of pop star Michael Jackson,
spam trading on his demise hit in-boxes, a security firm said today as
it warned that more junk mail was in the offing." It is difficult to
believe there exists such "people" that take advantage of disaster
and grief but they do. Be extra wary about what you download and
click on this week!
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-MJ-Scams
VIPRE Works Effectively and Unobtrusively
Nice words from famous geek Chris Pirillo: "There is misconception that
an anti-virus program has to hog computer resources in order to scan
and protect a computer effectively. This may have been the case with
some security programs in the past - but it does not hold true for
Sunbelt Software's VIPRE."
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-VIPRE-is-Effective
UK Crave Diggin on VIPRE
VIPRE's solid performance might have been understandable if the software
wasn't actually doing anything, but it managed to find malware too,
which is always a bonus. We also like the fact it lets you list all
the processes running on your PC at any given time and identifies
which are safe, which are unknown and which are busy doing nasty things.
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/090701-Hands-on-VIPRE
Zone - Cool Products & Other Stuff
