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Got a virus/trojan or adware/spyware?
by Dean C 03 Jul 2004
What are these grotesque things?
  • Virus - A computer program that can reproduce by changing other programs to include a copy of itself. It is a parasite program, needing another program to survive.
  • Trojan - A trojan is a program that does something undocumented that the programmer intended, but that some users would not approve of if they knew about it. According to some people, a virus is a particular case of a Trojan, namely one which is able to spread to other programs. According to others, a virus that does not do any deliberate damage is not a Trojan. Finally, despite the definitions, many people use the term "Trojan" to refer only to *non-replicating* malware, so that the set of Trojans and the set of viruses are disjoint.
  • Spyware - any software that covertly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet and transmits the information to an individual or company that uses it for marketing or other purposes; also called adware

How do they get on to your system?
  • You may have opened an attachment from someone you don't know or even someone you do know which contains some executable code within it.
  • There are flaws in one of the most major browsers out there known as Internet Explorer which hackers regularly exploit. It's vital to keep this up to date.
  • You may have gone onto a P2P file sharing program and downloaded a file which looked legitimate but in fact contained executable code as well as music for example.

Viruses/Trojans - How to keep clean
  • Don't open email attachments! This is the most common way that viruses and trojans are getting into users systems. If you don't know who the email is from it's simple. Do NOT open it. Also if you're not expecting an email off a friend especially with an attachment chances are they have got a virus and the virus has forwarded itself to you within the email from your friend.
  • Be careful what you download and where it's from! Many of the large P2P networks are now full of viruses and trojans. If you're stupid enough to download stuff off there, then chances are you're stupid enough to get the virus trojan too. It's simple and easy. Just go out and buy your music,software,games, movies You'll be much safer in the long run! (Note to RIAA: you can pay me later )
  • You should have a virus checker on your system at ALL times and keep it up to date and regularly scan There are now so many trojans and viruses out there it was inevitable that the software makers would have a huge market of innocent users to cash in on. There are lots and lots of virus scanners and trojan removers out there but which one is for you. That is not for me to decided and I won't sit down here and give my (possibly biased) personal opinion on each and every one of them but there is one virus scanner which stands out from the rest. Simply because it's a good free solution for those that don't want to spend the money on protecting themselves. This virus canner is http://www.grisoft.com/. The definitions are updated on a daily basis and it's a good tool for helping you get rid of those nasty evil viruses
  • Get a firewall There's no excuse if you don't have one of these. Don't believe all this hype about microsofts firewall as I guarentee things will still manage to slip throug your system. You need a custom-built solution that is regularly updated. Again like anti-virus programs there are loads of firewalls out there and it's up to you and do the research, read the reviews on the best out there. Again I'm just going to offer you the most popular free solution which is http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?lid=staticcomp_za. It's free and whilst the pro version is far better it'll again provide a first line of defence of things trying to get in. And also things that are are already in trying to get out.
  • Just use your common sense You don't have to be a computer genius when browsing online. Don't go on silly sites which host warez, porn and other stuff as chances are they have viruses on their sites too. Just keep mainstream, enjoy the internet and have fun !

Spyware/Adware/Browser Hijackers
Now with spyware you need to take a different approach. You can follow the tips above but we also need to outline some other tips to keep yourself clean. The main way that these pesty things get into your system is via vulnrabilities in your browser. Their aim is to take your credit card details, log your keystrokes, take over your homepage, bombar you with popups.

Now a lot of people claim the cause of the huge rise in spyware is due to the flaws and vulnrabilities in internet explorer (IE). I myself have been using internet explorer for quite some time until about 6 months ago when I decided to migrate to another browser. The main reason for this was due to it's failure to follow standards and keep itself up to date. I wanted something new, fresh with new features and plugins. My answer was a great product released by the Mozilla foundation called http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox. For me this is my favorite browser out right now. I just can't heap enough praise on it but I'm not going to bore you going on about it. I'm going to explain the security reasons why you should move away from IE and to an alternative browser and if you insist on carrying on to use IE then how to make it a little more secure.

The great browser war
Do you want to carry on using IE but make it a little more secure?
http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=14537 and take a look at the great tutorial on how to beef up IEs security settings. The problem with IE is most of the security settings are disable by default and your average joe bloggs who knows little about computers is not going to know anything about tweaking software settings, let alone care about it. So what we need to do is heighten the security of it. Follow the instructions in the tutorial and you should be just a little bit more secure. However due to the regular exploits being discovered in IE and windows almost every month, unless Microsoft starts upgrading its software and adding functionality and more security then you're just going to be at constant risk if you don't update your security settings.

Also another important point to tweaking your security settings is to update your windows as often as possible. There's an option to enable auto-updated but I do it manually every day when I get on just to be safe. To go to windows update navigate to your start menu and go to 'Programs > Windows Update'. (It's in the first, far left column almost right at the top)

Want to move away from IE and step into the light?
The alternative browsers that are around right now are superb. We have new features, plugins, skins and lots more. There's several right now but two which stand out for me are:
  • http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox - This browser is my favorite. Yes I'm biased, yes I love it and yes I will stand by it besides anybody elses genuine arguements against it It follows web standards, is upgraded regularly, has plugins, skins and renders pages much quickly compared to IE. Oh hold on. I forgot. It's FREE!
  • http://www.opera.com - Another great browser. I've used it once and it worked quite nicely. A lot of people rave about this browser also just like they do about firefox. I'll leave that one up to you

You've got spyware already huh?
Ok well there are literaly hundreds of spyware/adware removers out there. Some are free, some are paid. Just be careful of what you're using and if you're reading reviews of them make sure they are coming from an unbiased source.

Freebies:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com - Probably the most popular free one out. They update their definitions on a regular basis and have an active community base for trying to resolve problems.
https://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download - Another hugely popular free one. I will warn you now though I've been using it for about 2 months and they haven't updated the definitions once. It's good and will clean up quite a lot of the clutter on your system and also prevent it from ever getting on your system but unless it keeps up to date with the latest spyware technologies it'll be of little use in the next year or so.

Paid or Free Trial:
http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php - This one only recently came into my light but boy oh boy it does the job. It can run in the background, protect your memory and monitor cookies. Also it regularly updates its definitions and the scan finds a lot of stuff which the others will not.
http://www.pestpatrol.com - This one's great too. Ignore the horrific interface and navigation. It does the trick and finds so much horrible things on your PC. I've found all sorts from decompilers to tracking cookies. It's a great tool to have.

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