Hello STW, can anyone give me any advice on computer security?

After having gotten a trojan and a virus on my computer on thursday I’ve gone off and bought a new computer.

Can anyone reading this who has any knowledge of security in relation to computers advise me on the best security to use,firewall anti virus / malware. I don’t mind paying if it’s the most viable option to keep my computer and the data it contains as safe as it can be.

Any advise very much appreciated,
K.

After running out of petrol last week, I bought a new car.

I’ll post a proper reply in a bit.

I use mse and keep it updated, but then again I can live without looking at “10 SHOCKING PICTURES OF BRITNEY” and i really don’t need to download a barbie that dances along to my music choice….

😀

I have heard MSE is good but as i have had no problems with using Avast free i have not has a reason to look round for something better. Avast does seem to slow the start up on my computer a bit but no where near as much as Norten used to. My computer is quite old now so if you have something new you would possibly not notice it.

Don’t pay for anything.

All I use is Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) – free and works very well. You can also install spyware programs but I’ve found MSE good enough on its own.

avast is good, mse is good, fast, free and doesn’t require any messing around with.

always install all the windows updates
browse using chrome
don’t have children

that should do it

Microsoft Essentials as your every day AV.
Run Malwarebytes scan ever week or so.
Make sure all your updates are done.
Don’t click on dodgy pictures.

Ok.

As others have said, MSE[/url] is about the best of the free AV solutions at the moment. Whilst you can pay for AV, there’s little point when MSE does everything you’ll realistically need. Paid-for AV tends to be in the “Total Internet Security” vein, which IMHO is overkill. They’re unnecessary, and more trouble that they’re worth. You don’t need a third party ‘personal firewall’ as you’ve got a hardware firewall on your router.

A new PC will probably come with a trial version of Norton or McAfee or some such. You’ll need to uninstall this before installing anything else, as multiple AV solutions will conflict.

Keep your software up to date. Set Windows Update to automatically update, and make sure that third party apps are updated too. Old Java, Flash, Shockwave plugins are common attack vectors and it’s critical that you keep them current. You can automate this with Secunia PSI[/url] – it’s a bit melodramatic in its “ZOMG you have security issues” language, but if you ignore that it’s a pretty decent third-party patch management tool.

As Emsz says, possibly the most important measure of all is your own common sense. Don’t go opening attachments on strange-looking emails, treat the seedier side of the Internet with suspicion, and don’t go clicking on pop-ups that say “you have a virus, click here to enter your credit card details” and you’ll be fine.

PCs are a lot more secure than people in my experience; all the security applications in the world won’t help you if you’re going to bypass it all manually by being a wally.

Cheers for that
my computer is from 2006 and needed upgraded anyway!

I would very much like to rescue my photo’s music and video clips, can I simply remove them and then put them onto my new computer, or do I need to isolate them and scan them.

The trojans I have are trojan.agent/gen-bot and trojan.agent/gen-iefake

what’s the best way to get rid of them, i can’t go into safe mode and I have tried malwarebytes and super antispyware once already?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Kael.

I would very much like to rescue my photo’s music and video clips, can I simply remove them and then put them onto my new computer, or do I need to isolate them and scan them.

It’s unlikely that music etc is infected, but you risk spreading the infection if you connect a clean machine to an infected one.

The trojans I have are trojan.agent/gen-bot and trojan.agent/gen-iefake

These are what SUPER reports when it’s found something it can’t identify exactly (the ‘gen’ means ‘generic’), so it’s not much to go on.

what’s the best way to get rid of them,

I’d transplant the old drive as a slave into the new machine, then you can access the data without running the infected copy of Windows.

i can’t go into safe mode

Why not?

Wise cougar speaks much truth. Flash is a regular vector for malware, and Adobe have been notoriously slow in filling in the security holes. Don’t open attachments on emails that you don’t recognise as they’re more often than not a disease vector. And penicillin is useless in this context. Many forms of malware now rely on dumb humans, because security in most OS is very much better than it used to be. Macs are a good example; they’ve been largely free of the usual sort of viruses, but there are examples around now that masquerade as legit subjects, like anti-virus ‘ware and rely on the user giving permission for the malware to execute a seemingly innocuous process. It’s nearly always down to permissions now.

What about if you’re an adult and actually want to look at filth and grot all the time now and then?

How d’you protect your computer?

Semi thread hi jack but my laptop fails to install the latest set of Windows updates-says fail to configure after it has rebooted and reverts. Vista home premium BT isp had Norton now got McAfee as part of the package and lose count of number of failed updates.

my laptop fails to install

Any other symptoms?

had Norton now got McAfee

Instead or as well?

What about if you’re an adult and actually want to look at filth

You’ll be ok, everyone knows that Macs don’t get viruses.

Pictures and movies don’t carry infections, generally. Hostile websites do, but are usually easily avoided with a bit of common sense (see previous email); drive-by attacks from random websites are less common these days but do happen even when your browsing is reasonably innocent. If you get a pop-up of the “Run Anti-virus 2012 [yes] [no]” variety, safest bet can be just to shut down the PC; clicking ‘no’ is still a click in a hostile dialogue and best avoided.

SpywareBlaster is a nifty bit of passive protection which blacklists known hostile sites and plays nicely with others. Worth a look.

If you’re torrenting grot (or anything else for that matter), anything that hides its file type or otherwise plays silly buggers (“xxxporn.exe” – yeah right) is best avoided.

Finally Elfin, I expect it can be difficult to click accurately if you’re on the vinegar stroke so forward planning might be beneficial (though the Mac mouse’s lack of buttons was designed to help with that).

On all the PCs I am responsible for, I run Microsoft Security Essentials and Comodo Antivirus and Spybot. I also run AdAware, Spybot and SpywareBlaster scanners regularly. Belts and braces and all that.

Not had one PC go down yet, despite having kids with questionable browsing habits, a clueless mum, and equally clueless mum-in-law.

my laptop fails to install

Any other symptoms?

nothing obvious. Every time I’ve used it for the last 2 months it prompts for updates. I reboot for the update and at the final stage it says fail to configure, reverting.

had Norton now got McAfee

Instead or as well?

instead. Uninstalled the standard Mcafee after Munqe Chick somehow got a virus (constant “you have a virus click here..” warnings which I was able to get rid of by doing a restore point, but was miffed Mcafee had missed it). Ironically it may have been from an attachment or link sent to us deliberately and in good faith by a Mac user friend.

Had a free copy of Norton on disc so used that ’til the free subscription ended, have uninstalled it and re-installed BT Mcafee. Has failed to install updates under both almost every time the puter’s been used for the last couple of months.

Might be worth a scan with MBAM[/url] to be on the safe side. I’d suggest a second opinion from an online AV scanner such as ESET too; if your McAfee has been compromised(*) then it can’t be trusted.

(* – or arguably, perhaps if it hasn’t)

CountZero – Member

Many forms of malware now rely on dumb humans, because security in most OS is very much better than it used to be.

There in lies the problem

emsz has it right – the best (and, really, the openly properly effective) defence against malware is you and your online behaviour.

Setup an account that is not an administrator of the computer and only use that unless you need to perform administrative duties. Don’t install stupid junk from the Internet. PAY for software from reputable suppliers or use legitimate open source alternatives. DON’T download ‘broken’ copies of applications.

Rachel

Interesting stuff. My approach to this kind of thing has a few tidbits you guys might find interesting:

-Use any OS other than windows (Linux, Mac OSX etc). This is the most reliable way of preventing viruses etc, but either expensive (Mac) or a PITA (Linux). However, if you really must use windows:

-Use a decent bit of free anti-virus software (I like AVG-free). Keep this updated daily, and be sure to update windows at least weekly, otherwise anti-virus software is pointless.

-If all else fails, format the HDD and re-install everything (not just a repair install or something). This is a real PITA, but if you know what you’re doing is only an evenings worth of work. Doing this regularly also ensures you don’t have masses of redundant software on your machine or a heavily fragmented HDD. This can be most easily done if you are either disciplined with backing up your data, or simply have two HDD in your machine: one for system, software etc and a second for data, media, downloaded filth etc.

With respect, you’re several years out of date.

Don’t browse to ropey Pr0n sites my friend. Use a good AV – MSE works well, keep windows update alive, exercise commen sense, use private browsing to sandbox stuff, only archive fwapping material if nobody else uses the machine etc etc.
I don;t buy this ‘i was just browsing along’, those durty video sites are rife with malware.

Can I make a recommendation?

Get sandboxie.
http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?DownloadSandboxie

Once you set it up you can run your browser in a sandbox. No dodgy stuff can get into the normal environment on your computer. Everything lives in the virtual environment that sandboxie runs in. You just clear the cache out if it gets some malware in there but it’s never able to infect your main computer. It’s easy to set up and if you pay it’s entirely seamless, you simply forget you’re using it.

If you need to move files onto your PC you have to take a few special steps but for normal browsing it’s spot on.

I initially installed VMWARE and an XP image to avoid malware (I visit a lot of hacking sites that are also rife with malware) and my son is always bringing dodgy stuff onto the computer but it’s a bit slow to start so sandboxie turned out to be the next best thing.

Hahaha!

more insults than advice 😯

My friends computer got infected and I was emailed a link, this behaviour seemed very similar to his behaviour on facebook.

However when I clicked on the link while a little tipsy and tired it took me to a web site with viagra and other useless crap that sex gods like me do not require.

So I contacted him via facebook and told him about it, he got back in touch and asked if everything was OK, I simply responded by saying that I and my penis are fine!

People make mistakes however the smart ones learn from them, should they be shamed into never trying anything differently or surfing the net ever again ❓

Gotta go stuff to do that concerns bikes and
is a lot more important than being right or insulting people.

I have a scan v15 standard but with a 159.99 graphics card upgrade
http://www.scan.co.uk/value-systems

what version of mse do I need?

One that cuts off your Internet access, ideally.

Yes, well that would save me having to deal with dumb ass’s that are deluded enough to believe they are smart.

Fanny’s everywhere are bad enough, noisy fanny’s are more than I can be bother with at this hour 😀

Kaspersky.

Sorted.