Practicing safe hex (Antivirus)

No, it doesn’t involve witches’ incantations (though some people see hexadecimal code as magic). It’s just a geeky way of saying that you need to use your computer safely and responsibly, even if you already have some defensive capabilities such as antivirus programs. As it happens, some safe-hex practices can also help you differentiate a Trojan horse from a legitimate message. Here’s a checklist of basic pointers:

The Origins of Antivirus Tools

In 1991, Symantec released the first version of Norton AntiVirus. Norton was a popular brand name among computer technophiles from the well-known and successful Norton Utilities program. Programs like Norton AntiVirus are designed to find and eliminate viruses from a computer, usually with three goals in mind:

_ Make the virus stop doing harm to the computer it has infected

_ Stop the spread of the virus

_ Limit any further harm the virus can do

The People Who Write Viruses

Sometimes I think that it helps to understand a little bit more about the people who perpetrate crimes, in order to be able to avoid being a victim of those crimes. Others of you may just have a morbid curiosity about those who like to hurt other people. Either way, you’ll learn a little more about the people who construct the malicious programs that cause billions of dollars of damage each year.

Why they write ’em

The actual crime of writing and distributing viruses is a crime of anonymity: The perpetrators usually carry out their crimes anonymously, from the safety of their rooms. They expect never to meet their victims face to face — in fact, they rarely know who their victims are.

How Early Viruses Spread from Computer to Computer

In the mid-to-late 1980s, data was most often transferred from computer to computer by using floppy disks and so-called bulletin board systems (BBSs), managed online locations that were the forerunners of today’s Web sites.

Stowing away on floppy disks

Even without using the Internet, people in offices where PCs were used traded and circulated programs, documents, and spreadsheets — not to mention jokes, games, filthy pictures, and so forth. The standard method was sneaker net — walking up to another person and handing over a floppy disk.

Invasion of the Computer Viruses

Simply stated, a computer virus is a computer program written by a person (not always, but usually, a jerk) who designed it to spread to as many computers as possible.

This definition seems simple enough, but indulges me. I’d like to zero in a bit further, to clarify some issues and to dispel some misunderstandings:

Computer program: A virus is nothing more than a set of instructions, written in a high-level programming language, such as Visual Basic, C, C++, or Java, translated into “native” instructions (a long list of ones and zeros) that are used by the computer’s CPU.

First Computer Virus (Brain, the first virus)

In Pakistan, Basit Farooq Alvi and Amjad Farooq Alvi ran a computer store called Brain Computer Services.

They soon discovered that a floppy disk contained computer instructions that were executed when the computer was first turned on. Basit and Amjad used this knowledge for their own purposes and created computer instructions that would change the label of floppy disks in the computer to (C) Brain. The instructions would make a copy of themselves onto other floppy disks that were inserted into the floppy-disk drive.

How to Use Public Computers? How to safe account Information from Public Computers?

Public libraries, Internet cafes, and other customer-serving establishments have their own computers that customers may use to access the Internet. Are these computers safe for you to use?

Tales abound of public-access computers infected with viruses, spyware, and even key loggers, many deliberately planted there in order to elicit information from unsuspecting users. I recall specifically in 2004 a case where a person was arrested for installing a key logger program on a computer in a well-known copy services store in order to record users’ bank account numbers and passwords. This is technology gone awry.

How to Protect Your PDAs and Mobile Phone in Other Ways

There are plenty of things besides antivirus programs that you can do to help protect your PDA and its data. Get ready for several digital hygiene tips — PDA style! As with your PC, the motto “trust no one” will keep your PDA and your information safe.

Turning off wireless auto-connect

Many PDAs are configured to automatically accept any incoming connection request, whether it’s

Why Antivirus Software Is Needed for PDAs and Mobiles

Most big-name PDAs presently available (HP, Sony, Toshiba, Dell, iPhone and Blackberry) have operating systems as complex as those found only in personal computers not so many years ago. History has shown us that complexity in computing systems is one factor that leads to exploitation by those whose moral values are (ahem) different from most persons’.

How to Protect Your Computer with a Firewall

Windows computers can be attacked in many ways — and not just with viruses, worms, or Trojan horses. Another popular way to attack a Windows computer is to attempt to communicate to it over any of the network “ports” found on Windows computers. These ports are kind of like TV channels or radio frequencies. Computers are set up to listen for messages that may arrive from other computers — this is how they communicate with one another.

How firewalls work

Firewalls monitor all the communication between your computer and the Internet. Firewalls know what kinds of communication are allowed to flow in and out. They know this because they have something called an “access control list” — a list of rules that specify precisely what kinds of communications are allowed and what kinds

Deciding How Often to Get Antivirus Updates

Some questions crop up often — “Does my computer have a virus?” “How do I scan for a virus?” “Does Dick Clark wear a toupee?” — But the most-often-asked question about antivirus programs is, “How often should I get updates?” If I was more of a blarney artist, I would attempt to impress you (or bore you) with statistics that would tell you precisely how often to update your virus-signature files. Instead, I’ll provide a shortcut, a simple answer that lays out some practical approaches and why it’s reasonable to use them:

Always-on, broadband Internet connection: If your computer is connected to the Internet all the time, update your signature files at least once or twice each day. If you work with sensitive data that you can’t afford to lose, updating up to six times a day would be better. On a slow news day, this might be construed as overkill, and any more than six times a day would be overkill. But sometimes a really nasty virus is on the loose and multiple variants are popping up every day. If you have to continue your work on a day like this, hunker down and update your signatures every hour or two until the crisis passes.

Understanding the Antivirus Software

Before I explain what antivirus software is, it’s worth reviewing the nature of software in general. Understanding software doesn’t mean you have to write computer programs or wear a hat with a propeller on top. The fact is that the word software is at the heart of viruses and the defenses against them. Knowing some basics about software will help you to understand viruses and how to stop them in their tracks.

These days, the term software is roughly synonymous with computer program. A program used to be a set of instructions individually written for every task a computer did. Software began as a package of programs designed to handle a range of specific tasks consistently. These days it’s a packaged product that tells the computer what to do consistently. There’s the rub: A computer is, after all, a machine that’s no smarter than its creators; software is still a set of instructions that makes the computer do everything. If a hacker can figure out how it does that, then the computer is ripe for a sneaky takeover.

Yep, viruses are software: Nasty, illicit software. As such, they can only be effectively fought with Antivirus software is specifically designed to rid your computer of viruses and to keep them at bay, usually by three methods:

·         By identifying viruses and arresting them when they try to invade

·         By identifying viruses already present in the computer

·         By removing viruses and making simple repairs to the computer

So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to figure out whether you already have antivirus software on your computer and, if so, whether it’s working.

Why does scanning take so long?

Scanning your entire hard drive could take an hour or longer. This depends upon many factors, including:

·         The speed of your computer’s processor

·         The size of your hard drive

·         The speed of your hard drive

·         The number of files on your hard drive

·         The extent of fragmentation on your hard drive

·         Your patience

So it’s hard to say how long it should take, but here’s why it takes so long. . . .

There are over 60,000 known viruses today, and your antivirus program has “signatures” on each one of them in your computer’s virus definition file.

When your antivirus program scans for viruses, it opens each of the over ten thousand files on your computer, and examines each one for the presence of all of these viruses.

Can online scan programs be trusted?

How can one be sure that the online virus scanning tool is doing what it’s supposed to, and nothing else?

Personally, I put more trust in an antivirus program that I buy at the local computer retailer than I do in an online virus-scanning program. But only a tiny bit more.

High-risk activities and Places

The types of activities performed on your PC also contribute to your risk, whether high or low. Each of these activities is related to how social you permit your computer to be. Do you often take it out in public where it can exchange information with other computers? In the analogy between biological viruses and computer viruses, a high degree of socialization (mingling with others) increases risk. The following sections look at some examples.

Wireless “Hot Spots”

Hoping to attract well-to-do customers, many public establishments such as coffee houses, restaurants, and other businesses have installed so-called Internet hot spots. These hot spots are Internet connections that a customer can use to connect to the Internet with a laptop computer, provided it’s equipped with a wireless networking (also called Wi-Fi or 802.11) capability. Some establishments charge a fee for the use of their hot spots; others permit use free of charge.

Developing Good Habits About Virus

People remember their firsts — the first time driving a car, first kiss, first surgery, and first computer virus. (Well, okay, some Firsts are better than others but most are memorable.) In the case of this first, here’s something to keep in mind. .

If you got a computer virus, human error was probably a factor. Somebody probably wasn’t doing something right.

That or you were extremely unlucky.

Nobody’s exempt from human error. You may have opened an infected attachment by Mistake, or missed out on the latest antivirus update. Or your friend who helped set up your computer may have skipped a step or left the wrong default in place. However it happened, you need to discover where the error came from. If you’re like most people, you may be able to safeguard your computer by changing some habits. Those changes take two forms:

Stopping virus-prone habits that put you at risk

Starting some virus-savvy habits that make you less of a target

Having good, up-to-date antivirus software is essential. But there are some other good defensive tools such as firewalls and antispyware. In addition to these nice defensive tools, you may still have some old habits to break and new habits to take up. The first good thing you did was to see my article. Now if you read carefully and take my advice to heart, you’ll be much safer in the long run.

Keeping antivirus software up to date

Antivirus software is of little value if it’s not kept up to date. One of those big-ego computer scientists once said that out of date antivirus software is as bad as having none at all. (Hey, sometimes the scientists are right.) The best antivirus program is next to useless if it’s not kept up to date.

Scan for viruses periodically

Looking at Common Virus Symptoms

Talking the wild computer virus starts with observation: There are a lot of ways that a computer can begin to act strangely for no apparent reason. These changes in behavior may be the result of a virus, but there are other possible explanations as well.

This section describes some typical virus-induced symptoms, as well as some ways to determine whether a virus is responsible for your computer’s symptoms.

Computer too slow

The first thing to check when your computer is slow is to make sure that your computer isn’t in a school zone. Seriously, a slowing in your computer can be the result of a number of circumstances — and a virus is definitely among them. The following list provides some considerations for making an educated guess as to why your computer is slowing down:

Have you made any changes to your computer lately? For instance, have you upgraded to Windows 2000 or Windows XP? These newer operating systems require a lot more memory than their predecessors.

Indications of a Trojan Attack

Indications of a Trojan Attack

Unusual system behavior is usually an indication of a Trojan attack. Actions such as programs starting and running without the user’s initiation; CD-ROM drawers opening or closing; wallpaper, background, or screen saver settings changing by themselves; the screen display flipping upside down; and a browser program opening strange or unexpected websites are all indications of a Trojan attack. Any action that is suspicious or not initiated by the user can be an Indication of a Trojan attack.

Countermeasure Techniques in Preventing Trojans

Most commercial antivirus program has anti-Trojan capabilities as well as spyware detection and removal functionality. These tools can automatically scan hard drives on startup to detect backdoor and Trojan programs before they can cause damage. Once a system is infected, it’s more difficult to clean,

Types of Trojans

Trojans can be created and used to perform different attacks. Some of the most common types of Trojans are:

·         Remote Access Trojans (RATs)—used to gain remote access to a system

·         Data-Sending Trojans—used to find data on a system and deliver data to a hacker

·         Destructive Trojans—used to delete or corrupt files on a system

·         Denial of Service Trojans—used to launch a denial or service attack

·         Proxy Trojans—used to tunnel traffic or launch hacking attacks via other system

·         FTP Trojans—used to create an FTP server in order to copy files onto a system

·         Security software disabler Trojans—used to stop antivirus software

What is Trojan and Bakdoors

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