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How to stay away from Viruses
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How to stay away from Viruses
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Contents:
Viruses are tiny programs created by unscrupulous people across the world that cause your PC to malfunction. Some of the most diabolical Viruses access your personal information with the objective of using your Credit Card, Bank or Paypal Account balance! Viruses (and Spyware) are DEFINITELY NO LAUGHING MATTER, despite the above image of a green worm eating a Desktop PC, with yet another happy green worm laughing from inside the monitor! What is the difference between Viruses and Spyware? Do I need different solutions to tackle them? Viruses were the first man-made pests to affect the world of computing and first appeared in the mid 1980s. Spyware is a much more recent phenomenon, having appeared on the scene in the late 1990s. Viruses and Spyware are similar in many respects, yet quite different in others. Hence, they are considered as different threats by Computer professionals. Let us look at the similarities first: Similarities between Viruses and Spyware:
Differences between Viruses and Spyware: Method of distribution and infectionViruses: Today, Viruses are mostly transmitted over e-Mail. One common method is to send them as e-Mail attachments - if you open them, the malicious code gets deployed on your Computer. The other common method is to send you links in your e-Mail: if you click on the link, you are taken to a website that affects your Computer. Spyware: On the other hand, Spyware is rarely distributed as e-Mail attachments. More common methods of distributing Spyware are as links in e-Mail you receive, as well as through Junk Software Programs. These junk software promise wonderful things, however, in reality, they are merely a ruse to get you to download their spyware! Therefore, if you are in the habit of downloading software programs from various kinds of sites, you are a prime candidate for Spyware! |
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Differences between Viruses and Spyware: Types of damage causedViruses: Typically, Viruses send out thousands of e-Mail over your Internet connection, using the tiny SMTP (mail-sending) engines built into them. They pick up e-Mail addresses randomly from your e-Mail client (Outlook/ Outlook Express/ Eudora. etc.) and shoot off a randomly-worded mail. This slows down your Computer and may even cause your e-Mail service provider to suspend your e-Mail domain! Other types of Virus actions include deleting one or all files on your Hard Disk, repeatedly causing your Computer to reboot, etc. Spyware: Spyware could cause you much more grief, in comparison with Viruses. What would you feel if someone had access to your Bank Account details, Credit Card information and other financial stuff? What if the person used YOUR money for his/ her needs? All this without you suspecting anything at all! Well, this is precisely what some of the more dangerous Spyware do... They ferret out your personal information, plus your address, mobile phone number, e-Mail address and whatever else you may have stored on your Computer. This information is then streamed out to the developers of the Spyware, right under your nose! Spyware rarely cause system slow-downs or crashes as they are not targeted to attack your Computer or your system files - they are targeted to attack YOU by tricking you to part with your sensitive financial information! Differences between Viruses and Spyware: Types of SolutionsViruses: Viruses are checked by Antivirus solutions. Some of the most prominent Antivirus solutions are;
Spyware: Spyware are checked by AntiSpyware solutions. Some of the prominent AntiSpyware solutions are;
A few products like Norton 360 offer protection against both Viruses and Spyware. However most solutions developers develop separate solutions for Viruses and Spyware. Why do people create Viruses?Virus creators are motivated by the great profits in stealing your information and identity. The gains are huge and this drives them into creating Viruses. Other Virus creators feel a sense of satisfaction in bringing down an entire network of PCs. Still other Virus creators do so to vent their anger (real or imagined) against organizations, people, races, political issues, societies and other stuff. How do Viruses cripple PCs?Unfortunately, Viruses have become more and more sophisticated. Today's Viruses utilize a variety of stealth technologies to access your information in ways that are completely new - and a lot more difficult to detect by most PC users. Today’s Viruses usually spread by means of e-Mail. Once you open an e-Mail containing a Virus as attachment, it spreads into your machine and through your machine, to other PCs on the same network or through the Shared folders on the PCs in the same network. Once they infect a machine, Viruses are capable of sending out thousands of mail from the affected machine, using the e-Mail address book on the affected machine. The Virus picks up a name from the affected PC’s address book at random, creates a random e-Mail and sends it out to other addresses it finds in the address book. Thus, if you receive a Virus that has the name of your colleague sitting in the next cabin, it does not mean that he has sent you the Virus. Equally important, it does not mean that his PC is compromised either. The only fact that can be established is that the affected PC that has sent out the mail (and the PC could be just about anywhere in the world!) has your colleague’s name (perhaps yours as well!) in its address book! How do I know when my PC is infected by Viruses?
Unfortunately, there is no way of correctly identifying whether a mail contains a Virus or not, merely by inspecting it. However, there are a few basic precautions you can and must take, to safeguard your PC and yourself. Note, if you use free e-Mail services (Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo, AOL, Indiatimes, Rediffmail, etc.) alone, the chances of Viruses getting into your mail are much lesser: these organizations are huge and they take a lot of care to ensure that their member’s mails are safe. If you use your organization’s e-Mail address (and your organization isn’t large like an IBM or hp), you need to be careful about the mail you open. If you receive mails where the message says stuff like “Here are your Bank Documents” or “Good Day” or “Here is your password”, do not open the attachment. Usually, these mails contain a compressed attachment of the ZIP format, which when expanded, would reveal a PIF format file. DO NOT open such attachments, for these are Viruses! PIF files are executable files – no one has any reason to send you executable files over mail! When you receive such mail, what you need to do immediately is to get in touch with your organization’s Systems department and forward a copy of the suspect mail to them, for their analysis and action. Just remember: whatever you do, DO NOT open such mail! Is the problem of Viruses getting better or worse?Unfortunately, both the number and intelligence of Viruses has been increasing exponentially over the years. While there are Laws and Virus creators continue to be awarded strict penalties, the creation of Viruses have continued unabated: stiff penalties haven't stopped murders/ bank robberies, have they? In fact, Virus creators have been forced to stay one-up ahead of the authorities. As a consequence, the current crop of Viruses is capable of doing much more damage than those that were around, say even 5 years ago.
Ten years ago, Viruses merely infected files. Today though, a single Virus can bring down an entire corporate Network and keep it down until it is properly fixed - which could take weeks, yet leave permanent scars (lost data, lost time, lost orders, etc.) on the affected organization's fortunes! Today's Viruses launch full-scale attacks against both individual PCs as well as entire networks consisting of thousands of networked PCs. And since the stakes are much more: an increased bankroll, wholesale destruction of a much-hated organization's web presence, far-more stiff sentences, malicious attackers are constantly 'innovating', to invent new ways of avoiding detection. What are the methods by means of which Viruses avoid detection?Two methods that Virus creators currently favor to avoid detection are Rootkits and Polymorphic Viruses. You need to give your PC that extra muscle to fight off these attacks - after all, your PC holds private information about you that you have probably forgotten long ago! To give you an example, if you keep the softcopies of your Credit Card statements (like I do too), anyone with access to your mail could access it!
Let us look at each of these stealth technologies that Viruses currently use:
1. Rootkits
So what do Rootkits do? Just about anything they want to! Once they become
invisible to your PC (by gaining control of your PC, modifying system
information about itself, hiding its system processes, etc.,) they would take
over your identity and pilfer your confidential, personal data or wreck the data
on your machine or do both - whatever they are programmed to do! Now now, don't
think of selling off your Desktop and Notebook and living the rest of your life
as far removed from PCs as possible! Fortunately for you and me, there are a few
basic precautions we need to take, to keep Viruses out of our machines. These
are discussed in the next FAQ (Frequently-asked Question)
2. Polymorphic Viruses Polymorphic Viruses are written in a way that enables them to rewrite their code every time they replicate and infect a new file, even on the same PC! Thus, they are able to pass undetected, even when its first 'avatar' has been detected and deleted! Imagine PC Viruses capable of putting on a false moustache, beard or wig... that's precisely what Polymorphic Viruses are capable of!
If you think Polymorphic Viruses are cute because they can change the color of
their hair (figuratively speaking), think again! With their ability to run
alongside the operating system (thanks to being undetected), they are in a
position to do whatever its maker programmed it to do! They could be programmed
to commit an online crime - and YOU would be hard-pressed defending yourself,
when the evidence, indicating that the crime was committed using your machine,
is presented!
Don't work yourself into a sweat though - check out the safeguards mentioned
under the FAQ titled "How do I minimize the chances of Virus infection?" and
follow them, to be reasonably secure from Virus attacks - protect yourself from
being hauled off for crimes that you did not commit! Although the tips for home PCs and office PCs is very similar, we will explain the steps separately, for your convenience. For your Home Desktop or Notebook, you must follow the steps detailed below, to minimize the risk of Virus infection:
You must also follow the following precautions/ recommendations, when using your
office PC, to minimize the risks of losing your data or even, bringing the
corporate network down!
It would indeed be wonderful if we could 'predict' Virus attacks... we would like to be able to predict Earthquakes, Tsunamis and other disasters too, besides predicting a lot of other things that could make us rich overnight, don’t we? Unfortunately, predicting Virus attacks is doomed to be yet another fixture - and a permanent one at that, in such a lengthy wish list…
Nobody – except the Virus creator of course, knows exactly when a Virus is first released. However, there are other kinds of people who try to take advantage of the general panic, that the mention of Viruses evokes. These are probably people who are incapable of writing a single line of software code or create even the simplest of Viruses, yet dream of their moment of notoriety! From time to time, such people send out e-Mail, with the claim that a new Virus is doing the rounds, that neither Microsoft nor Symantec (or other well-known companies) could withstand. Variations of this mail mention that Microsoft or Symantec have just released the solution for this Virus. Usually, such mail 'advises' you on what you need to do to prevent this virus from attacking your PC.
At least on one occasion I remember, the advise was to delete a Windows system
file... deleting it did not cause Windows to crash luckily, but it caused great
consternation amongst users, with people divided on whether to delete the said
file or let it remain! Three days later, Microsoft and a host of other vendors
declared that the said file should not be removed!
As a savvy user, you need to remember the following, so as not to fall prey to
such pranks:
Is there a list of 'Most Dangerous Websites'? Interestingly, the answer is Yes! Symantec have recently (August 2009) taken the initiative to bring out a list of 100 'Dirtiest' Websites, in terms of infections. The selection is based on number of threats detected by their top-notch Security product, Norton Safe Web. The Methodology used is briefly explained as; Here is a brief of the 'Filthy Facts': Here is a link to the page: http://safeweb.norton.com/dirtysites - DO NOT visit any of the sites listed therein! What is a Zero Day Strike?A Zero Day strike refers to the first day that a new Virus or Spyware strikes Computers, usually on a large scale. This is a much-feared attack, for, at such times, nobody (except the makers of the Virus/ Spyware) knows how to remove it! Traditionally, AntiVirus and AntiSpyware programs work by identifying and removing known threats, but a Zero Day strike is something that is not noticed by them! As a result, Zero Day strikes usually leave large numbers of Computers dead across large parts of the globe, travelling undetected across continents in the blink of an eye. Today’s fast Internet access speeds help such strikes proliferate at dizzying speeds, covering entire continents in their wake. Thus, even though your Operating System, AntiVirus, AntiSpyware and other programs are up-to-date, a zero day strike can leave your network crippled. There is worse to come: Security products manufacturers need time – usually a few days, sometimes as much as a whole week, before they are in a position to release an update to their products: an update that can remove the zero day virus and repair your Computer, restoring it to its former, healthy status! What can be done to minimize/ stop Zero Day Strike damages?Despite the outlook being gloomy, there are a couple of things you can do, so as to minimize the chances of catching a zero day virus. Here are the things you can do:
Your fight against Zero Day strikes should be in place before you are actually hit by one. It is important to not only have an IT Plan ready, the plan should be familiar to Business Unit Heads and other senior personnel. For example, if a Zero Day attack is suspected, the very first strp is to disconnect the suspected Computer(s) from the Internet as well as the Network. Now, if an important Server is suspected, there should be complete agreement between the senior personnel that stopping the spread of the virus is more important than continuing to let the server run. Even if the server hosts the company website or is the e-Commerce Webserver, it needs to be taken down! Getting senior personnel to agree on the above is one half of the agreement. The other half is the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the IT Department and the Business Units. The IT Department needs to lay down just how many days they will require to bring up all Computers, the Network and the Internet, during a Zero Day attack. Yes of course, it is difficult to do that, for patches will come from the Security Products vendor! However, the IT Department needs to ensure that alternative measures – spare Servers, Bandwidth, Desktops, Notebooks, etc. are pressed into service to replace those taken out of the Network, until such time that the affected systems are repaired and all data restored! Get in touch with your Security products vendor immediately. They are better placed to understand what's going on and their advice will augment your own Zero Day Strike Plan! Note that your Security products vendor will need detailed information about the symptoms. Maintaining detailed Logs is thus important! When they study your logs, their response will be one of the following two possibilities:
To check out best-of-breed Antivirus solutions, various kinds of Antivirus solutions, the pros and cons of each type, a comparison of Antivirus solutions and to purchase recommended Antivirus Solutions, click on the following link: http://www.welloiledpc.com/antivirus.htm.
WellOiledPC Recommendation on AntiVirus Solutions: Our choice is Norton AntiVirus, which is why it earns our Thumbs Up (the only one in its category). With the 2009 version, you have the speed of Heuristic AntiVirus Solutions, combined with the thoroughness of a Comprehensive AntiVirus Solution. To add to your joy, you have a competent AntiSpyware thrown in as well! At the next spot - and very closely following Norton AntiVirus - is Norton 360. If you are looking at managing the Passwords of sites you visit, etc., Norton 360 is for you! Click on the graphic link of your product selection to pay and download your copy of the Software immediately!
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