This issue of SunbeltSecurityNews contains:

VIPRE and AVG Resource Usage Shoot-Out Many of you asked how VIPRE compares to the popular AVG. Well, we ran the tests and posted the results. The numbers tell the story. VIPRE deep scan time is 3.5 times faster in minutes. VIPRE takes only 38% of the CPU compared to AVG, and AVG takes up to 159% of the Memory compared to VIPRE. In short: both AVG "Free" and "Paid" use A LOT more resources to do the job, which can slow down your PC dramatically. Here are the details and the graphs: http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-Compare

Editor's Dossier

Greetings Sunbelt Customers,

We welcome you to December and hope that despite the general level of insanity in the world at this time that you are finding ways to maintain and even prosper. We know times are difficult yet at the same time, there is much opportunity. It has been said that what does not kill you makes you stronger. I am a firm believer of such.

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt aka FUD is used by governments, politicians, marketers and yes even security people to create panic and thus guide you to some "solution or cure" often worse than the problem to begin with.

We see this with the plethora of prescription drugs advertised on television that incite physical fear and worry and provide a chemical solution with side effects often worse than the original malady. Never once do they attempt to find the problem and only treat the symptom.

This is often the case as well in the security industry. We have an operating system that has holes and hackers attempt to exploit such opportunities and security programs attempt to thwart the attackers. Gloom and doom are pushed in headlines while a few stalwart members of the community rise up to the challenge and provide you with tools to defeat this malicious enemy.

We do not like to sell with FUD; we like to explain to you what is going on in plain English and how our products can provide a solid foundation of protection. Sunbelt was built on this premise, and we continue to provide you with best of breed software.

As for the recession we were recently told we are in (thanks guys, never would have known a thing about it if you had not announced it), Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart once said, "I was asked what I thought about the recession. I thought about it and decided not to participate."

Here's another fine thought from Gerald Ford who said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."

Enjoy the latest issue of SunbeltSecurityNews, and remember stay safe out there!

Best,

Larry Jaffe.
Editor SunbeltSecurityNews

P.S. 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 at feedback@SunbeltSecurityNews.com

New: Sunbelt Personal Firewall Now Supports Vista The Windows Firewall is worse than useless, it gives you a false sense of security. Why is the Windows Firewall not cutting it? It only filters INCOMING traffic. That means if malware has compromised your PC, it is able to SEND OUT your credit card data, and all other personal info. That's right; the Windows "firewall" does not stop that! The Sunbelt Personal Firewall (SPF) now supports Windows XP and 32-bit Windows Vista, and it DOES filter both in - AND outgoing traffic. Of course it works great with CounterSpy. The SPF two-way firewall keeps hackers out and your private info inside. Believe us, with the crime rates on the Internet skyrocketing, you really want to get the full version of SPF. http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-SPF

Eyes Only - Your Viewpoint on Security Issues

I just bought licenses for VIPRE and SPF, but have been reading Sunbelt's Windows newsletter for years. I'm a 30+ computing career person who retired two years ago. I thought your "Why Routers aren't good enough as Firewalls" piece a bit weak, or maybe just not clear enough. I'm no network guru, but I have written over 200 published technical articles. Here is how I would do it:

Hardware routers/firewalls are the ideal place to prevent direct access to your entire network, even if it is just one computer connected to a broadband modem. Routers are placed at the entrance of your network and the key piece of technology inside them is called Network Address Translation (NAT). NAT prevents direct access from the Internet to any computer or other device on your network. Without NAT, every device on your network has a unique IP address that is accessible directly from the Internet. With NAT, every device has a private IP address, accessible only from inside your network. Only the NAT device (router or other hardware firewall) has an IP address accessible from the Internet, and is the only entry point from the Internet to your network.

Because NAT is so common, Hackers have turned their attentions to other, less direct techniques to access your computer(s). That is where software firewalls like Sunbelt Personal Firewall (SPF) come in. Because SPF is software, not hardware, updates to deal with new threats occur hours, not weeks or months, after a threat outbreak anywhere in the world.

The logic is simple: keep the Solution as close as possible to the Source of the Problem. At the entrance to your network, a NAT-based router or other hardware firewall is there to prevent entry. On each computer, SPF's software firewall is there to stop the indirect threats that each computer could potentially react. ~~ Jon Pearkins, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada After reading your latest news, I remembered what happened to me when I tried to run Vipre while another Antivirus program was installed on the computer I was trying to get cleaned. This was a lesson quickly learned and it should be noted, you should either remove or disable the Antivirus on a computer when you are trying to remove rogue malware. Also, most other Antivirus software must be removed with 'removal' software that has to come from the manufacturer. When a customer brings a computer to me, the first software I install is WinPatrol so I can accomplish the disable of unnecessary software from loading. This allows the computer to run faster and Vipre can clean the computer of malware faster. Even with a fast broadband connection, having more than one anti-virus makes it slower for the computer system. After the last update I now have a computer that actually runs faster than when I first started using it. ~~ Virgil Wolter I just wanted to let you know, I love the software! Both loaded up flawless on Vista 64-bit and Windows XP Home. The memory utilization is unbelievable. I have previously used Norton, McAfee and Windows OneCare. The latter two were offered free with my ISP. OneCare wasn't that bad, but the other two were certainly resource hogs. Overall, excellent software! I will be letting my friends know about this one. Thanks again! ~~ Curt

Operations: What You Need To Know

A Browser Plug-in is a software module that is attached to the browser, usually Internet Explorer, and that works within the browser to provide additional functionality. Browser Plug-ins may be installed with adware and used to display advertising as well as redirect the browser to alternate sites and alternate search results. Many Browser Plug-ins also monitor user web surfing and search data to facilitate targeted, contextual advertising. A toolbar is one type of Browser Plug-in.

BHO.e404.Hijacker is a browser hijacker that installs a BHO or browser helper object (see above). BHO.e404.Hijacker changes the Internet Explorer start page to a pay per click search site. Nice if you want to help someone rake in some income.

Many BHOs install toolbars in Internet Explorer, but others don't produce any visible effect. Therefore, it is possible that a PC contains BHOs which the owner is unaware. The security risk here is that the BHO doesn't need any kind of permission to install malicious components and thus spyware may be spread without the user's knowledge.

1. Trojan-Downloader.Zlob.Media-Codec: Trojan Downloader
2. Virtumonde: Adware (General)
3. Rootkit.TDss.Gen: Rootkit
4. Explorer32.Hijacker: Hijacker
5. Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen: Trojan
6. Trojan.Win32.Monder.gen: Trojan
7. BHO.e404.Hijacker: Browser Plug-in
8. INF.Autorun (v): Trojan
9. Trojan.NewMediaCodec: Trojan Downloader
10. Trojan.FakeAlert: Trojan

Stay on top of all the real-time threats:
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-Research

VIPRE Cookbook - Solutions for the Novice

In a recent, guest editorial on ZD Net, by Roel Schouwenberg, emphatically stated "We're currently facing a problem of epidemic proportions in malware that is spreading via removable devices." The culprits are auto-run executables on removable devices that end up infecting computers and networks. One of the readers asked this simple question - "I would like to know why supposedly reliable antivirus programs (such as Norton) can't kill the AutoRun viruses."

Our CTO Eric Sites put it very simply. "We handle all Autorun malware using a generic detection." Nuff Said! Sometimes, I find things in this life to be rather incredulous. I warn you this is one of those times. There's a DIY malware kit on the web that is so easy to use; it is frightening. Panda Security found it.
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-Bad-Things

Spyware vs. VIPRE

We have seen a couple of emails from customers asking if the pop-up balloons can be turned off in Vipre, and would we please add this feature to Vipre. Actually, this feature already exists in Vipre! If you right-click on the Vipre icon in the lower right corner of the screen, a little menu opens. One of the selections is "Show Balloons." If this option has a check-mark in front of it, a balloon (small message) appears when Vipre does something. Checking "Show Balloons" will uncheck this feature and the pop-ups will no longer appear. Originally, FUD was used by various computer hardware competitors to instill concern about a competitive product. Today it is simply an appeal to the Fear Factor. FUD is a strategic attempt to influence public perception by disseminating negative information designed to undermine credibility. It is used in used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics and propaganda.

Tradecraft - True Tales of VIPRE in Action!

After a few days of use, (I purchased a site license for Vipre and Firewall on "Black Friday"), I can say without any hesitation that this is the FINEST combination of programs that I have ever used. After Trend-Micro, McAfee, Norton Suite, Kaspersky, AVG, MS's One Care, and more that I can't remember or most likely spell correctly - my apologies to the manufacturer's(; these programs ease of installation, "wizard-driven" menus, (I recommend that everybody, even advanced folks, try then first because your selections are "spot on"). Immediately upon rebooting my Dell 1530 notebook, Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 gig Ram DDR2 , 512 meg video card, Vista Home Premium, etc, I watched my "ball-hog" Trend-Micro program which usually creates a 5 to 8 minute delay as it has one particular file in Startup that just hammers the 100% level bootup in just over 2.5 minutes.

I need to have Word, Excel, Explorer 7, Outlook, (all are 2007 versions), Vonage Softphone, SKYPE, (which means adding Logitech's 9000 Pro webcam that doesn't play nice with SKYPE), Network Magic (to keep my 11 computers networked), and Smartdraw 8 for my graphics work running from the "get go." THESE ARE THE MINIMUM THAT I HAVE OPEN AT A TIME. Forget about the other Startup items (which I have trimmed down to only 11) and the Services, (hey, I am not going to use "BONJOUR" and "IPOD SERVICE" with ITUNES when I'm not using them.

Nevertheless, I use Task Manager, (oh yeah, another program that I run all day just to see how bad things are getting), usually jumping from 47% to 100%, locking up and often just hanging before I have to close the program. I started writing this email to you about 20 minutes ago, was interrupted by a phone call and a friend dropping by. All the while, I have been checking the Task Manager. As I close this email out, I can't believe that I have not seen it exceed 16% even though I have all programs running and being utilized. Even when the TM jumps up high, it doesn't appear to affect my ability to continue working. Thank you so much.

I know that many will scoff at this email, but I don't care. I'm an intermediate computer user, very comfortable working inside the Registry, etc. and I've "fine-tuned this machine as best I could and then went to Avast amongst other well-respected programs. NONE CAME CLOSE TO WHAT VIPRE HAS ACCOMPLISHED... ...oh, and I didn't even talk about how good the program is either. I just ranted about the low CPU usage.

However, the program(s) are just as great. I couldn't believe how much the Firewall was detecting in junk and how well VIPRE offers lots of choices without making you wonder if you really understand what they're talking about! It is really nice to finally have programs that explain your options. I don't believe that I've ever seen a program that identified cookies and then basically told the customers that "you can remove them if you want to" but generally, they're not that big a deal. AVG was screaming about cookies and I knew exactly that the cookies were coming from particular audio web sites that I visit almost every day. So, while I guess I could have typed the URL info in, it is sure nice to just let your Firewall offer to ignore it if you highlight the cookie. (In case some of your customers don't know, there are a few places that require a cookie for you to even get into your "user area.")

OK, I'm closing out now, (let's see, I'm at 12 %...), and THAT was the best $60 that I've ever spent. I hope that some people who have glanced over this letter recognize that Antivirus/Firewall programs are running all the time and as a V.P. of Sales of Marketing World-wide, I don't usually sit down and take the time to write a "song of praise" for a product unless it just really stuns me. Well it has. You may not see the exact results as me, but I guarantee that you will still get amazing results in terms of a better running machine, superior protection, and last but not least, the realization that there are still a few places left in the world where you can get you moneys' worth (or as in the case of "Black Friday", WAY MORE THAN YOUR MONEYS' WORTH!!!)

Thank you so much for the deal Sunbelt, but truthfully, I had started to purchase both products the day before Thanksgiving when I saw the promotion. (I'm now sorry that you lost money on it - but I'll be back buying more and I'm sending friends and associates to you over the next few weeks - That's a promise)! Have a wonderful weekend and THANK YOU FOR PRODUCING SOMETHING THAT CAN MAKE A COMPUTER GUY SO HAPPY! -- Glen Heffner

Hot Zone - Cool Products & Other Stuff

I am always looking for some hot stuff to share with our readers maybe you are too. Hit me back at feedback@counterspynews.com. We have some very interesting items for you this issue.
The interactive mirror features proximity sensors, gesturing, and both nearfield and farfield infrared:
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-Interactive-Mirror
C/Net did a roundup of web sites that pay for your old gadgets. They examined nine services that pay for your unwanted digital wares. These are among the newest options to help keep electronics waste out of landfills, while uncluttering your closets:
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-Directory
Boléro by Ravel:
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-Presidents
discovers a black hole. This one is fun!
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-Short-Film
players, soccer players and even bank robbers...
http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/081208-Lucky