Network Security

Computer security remains a serious issue for both professionals and the casual enthusiast. Whether one seeks to protect a corporate server, a valuable workstation with sensitive data, a home computer used for personal accounting and taxes, or the kid’s laptop used for social networking and game playing, there are several common security threats. Nefarious hackers have used different approaches to try to penetrate computer defenses and circumvent firewalls. These include computer viruses, piggyback applications related to Trojan horses, and other pieces of undetectable malware. This article reviews the phenomenon and discusses some ideas you can use to protect yourself.

Piggyback applications are similar to Trojan horses in that they are packaged with a desired program and are often, but not always, designed to be undetectable. Sometimes the programs are openly disclosed on installation with the user explicitly granting them access, and sometimes they are covertly included and surreptitiously install themselves alongside the desired application, but without user permission. The programs can be used for different tasks, including keyboard logging, password scanning and upload, providing a base for denial of service attacks, or anchor nodes for spam delivery. Fortunately, many security programs can detect such applications and allow a user to remove them or quarantine them.

A computer virus is a very small piece of code that is often embedded in an executable program, such as an .EXE or .COM file. However, the design of the computer virus has evolved to the point that they can now manifest in many other file types, including word processing and spreadsheet documents, dll and similar libraries, and even archives. The goal of these programs much like the infectious bugs that we associate with colds and sickness. They can spread through social engineering approaches, such as packaging them with a widely disseminated email, perhaps in the current times – a news bulletin about the Haiti situation, or by technical engineering in which case they would spread as a function of their programming and by exploiting holes in network security. As with other types of malware, the programs can be used for various nefarious purposes or sometimes are just exercises to see what the hacker can do or to feed the hacker’s ego, but without any clear instrumental goal.

Here are some things you can do to protect yourself from nefarious applications. Never install a program you obtain from a user or website that you do not trust. Be sure to read every word of the installation process as you install applications that you like; do not be afraid to uncheck boxes that say they will be installing a companion program. Keep your security and malware software up to date with the latest updates. Scan your task manager report for unfamiliar programs, comparing process names with google searches of the process name. And finally, run programs that can detect and log code that is installed into memory on startup. Good luck staying safe out there!

Are you concerned about the number of ads on your computer, which pop up while surfing? Well, you probably should be. The good news is there is protection available for your computer. There are a number of adware remover software packages out there, for both Mac and PC, to help keep you ad-free!

One thing to watch out for is performance degradation. If you buy your software from an unknown company, it is possible it will be written in an inefficient way, causing your computer to become very slow. This can be very aggravating! So you probably want to stick with the famous software vendors.

There are a number of scary things out there, besides adware. Worms, trojan horses, and spyware are all forms of programs that can hurt your computer. Fortunately, most of the professional software can detect these things and remove them from your computer. This software will keep your computer running smoothly.

In this day and age, most malware is passed from computer to computer by the Internet. However, it is also possible to become infected by sharing memory media. Disks, flash drives, zip drives, and CDs can pass the bugs from PC to PC. So it is important to run your software on these devices as well as running it while you are on the Internet.

One thing to be careful of are macros, used in many popular programs. Sometimes the creators of the bugs embed them into the macros, and the macros can be attached to the documents used in the software. Therefore, the bugs (and the ads) can be passed from PC to PC by simply exchanging the documents. This is a simpler way to pass the infections back and forth. The good news is many defense programs are able to detect this type of bug.

Another thing to beware of is email. There are ways for ad-creators to embed the ads into emails or attachments, so that simply opening the email will cause the infection to happen. If you receive an email from someone you don’t know, with a suspicious subject line, do not open it! If you delete it without opening it, you should be alright.

One thing to beware of, when buying commercial software, is automatic renewal fees. Sometimes the vendor will charge your credit card every six months. Of course, it is stated in the fine print, but it is easy to overlook if you are not careful. Let the buyer beware!

Another trap to watch out for is running more than one program at the same time. This can cause system problems, causing the computer to slow down dramatically, and also cause conflicts of other kinds. So make sure your computer only has one program on it. Then you should be safe.

Hopefully, all of this information has not scared you too much! It is still very rewarding to surf the Internet, even if there are a few ads. If you take the proper precautions, you should be just fine. So have a good time, and happy computing!

A virus is an enemy of your computer. It is a collective term that includes all kinds of malicious software like worm, virus or Trojan. While internet is very useful and inevitable for modern man, these varied dangers of internet can be striking. A virus is often concealed or hidden in other programs. For e.g., the installation programs that you may receive through your email. When you run this program the virus gets into your system and can do a lot of devastation to all the programs in your computer. A Trojan can corrupt files and keep track of keystrokes.

A worm is much like virus and is self-copying. Worms are capable of reproducing multitudes without much human assistance like through sending emails. They also do not need any executable program for passing them along. When a computer is affected by a worm, it lags behind in data transfer and can infect all the systems on that network.

While considering the subject worm virus, we can know that it is typical malicious software that is capable of spreading through email attachments. It can also be executed when you download an infected file into your computer. It is highly recommended to scan your system regularly or once a week at least if you are a web fanatic. A worm virus can enter your system even if you use an anti-virus program and it’s very tiring and strenuous to remove once it has been executed.

Usually a worm virus that enters your system tends to destroy all the information in the hard disc that is stored in your files, documents and folders. It can install itself in your system and you won’t have even the faintest idea until you have lost all your valuable information and eventually your hard disc itself. When you doubt an illegal entry, backup all the essential files as quickly as possible.

The two major customs to get rid of worm virus is to make use of a removal software or to reformat the whole hard disc. The former is found to be more convenient and safe as it perceives virus signatures in files and solves virus infection.

The removal software will first try to confirm if a worm is running and then terminate the program if necessary. It will then move on to scanning the hard disc for any known worm files. If found, the registry entries to these files will be removed and the files will be eventually deleted. Then finally the computer will to restarted to delete any worm file that is in use.

Here is some general information for getting rid of worm virus attack.

Run your anti-virus and follow the steps with conformity. Then choose the “clean –up” button to delete the files manually or by a mouse click. Run your removal program once again to make sure of the termination. Double check to verify that the worm is gone and go on until your computer is clean.

Computers are tools to help us become more productive. Unfortunately, some evil computer programmers use computers for bad purposes and have created bits of code that hinder computer use and damage your personal property, clog network traffic or even lead to identity theft. They propagate little computer programs, often hidden or deceptively packaged, that are malware, viruses or trojans and commandeer our computers to do things that we otherwise would not do. Some of the bad things these programs can do include being used for spamming other sites, for breaking password protection, for denial of service attacks by flooding a victim server, or for capturing keystrokes on a user’s computer to steal their personal information and passwords. There are steps you can do to protect yourself, however, and we will provide you with some of these below.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is to invest in software to detect these snippets of code. There are versions of software that both scan your computer and also versions that scan ongoing code in real-time. Both types of protection are recommended to protect yourself. You can also store checksums and have your computer alert you if a file is trying to change or infect one of your own files without permission. Most of these programs will scan all your files and store the checksum, being vigilant and alerting you to any attempts to change the files so that you can approve or disapprove as appropriate.
Another strategy is to use programs that scan for adware. Often, adware will try to steal personal information, and it is important to protect yourself against this. Be careful clicking on any ads, especially ads associated with dating sites or pornographic content. Ad clicking might install something or place a cookie on your computer that can later be used by nefarious users to access information about you, potentially leading to identity theft.

Do not accept files from unfamiliar sources. If you do not know or trust the website or individual that has sent you the file, then decline the transmission. Many people that propagate these files use “social engineering” to try to trick you into receiving it – perhaps saying the file is related to a charity, a friend (referring to a common name), or a free gift that you have won. Sometimes they even claim to be celebrities.

A final piece of advice is to be cautious with your email. Many of the evil computer users will use “phishing” techniques to try to get you to disclose your personal information or to click through to a site that may place an undesired program on your computer. Do not fall for attempts to get you to disclose your username and password to other sites. Also do not accept any files that end in EXE or COM extensions as they may execute themselves immediately with negative results. Good luck protecting yourself!

To start out, a trojan horse can be described as a type of malware that fools the user into thinking it is performing a desirable function when in reality is doing damage to your system. The trojan can access all of your network connections and delete necessary registry files, which are necessary to make your computer run properly. This type of virus can completely destroy your operating system if you are not careful of what you are doing on your system. If infected you may have to completely reinstall your operating system and much, if not all, of the data on your hard drive could be destroyed beyond repair.

Now, let’s discuss how a trojan can really make its way into your operating system. There are several ways this can happen such as: downloaders (like those to download music and movies), email attachments, and websites with Activex control. It really isn’t a good idea to install any kind of unknown downloader onto your system and peer to peer networks are well known for causing trojans; If you don’t know where it’s coming from, don’t download it. Email attachments are a touchy subject as well, but a good rule of thumb is to only open attachments from people you know. I cannot stress this enough, if you don’t know what it is, don’t open it. Now, Activex controls on websites are everywhere so my suggestion would only to allow Activex on reputable websites. If you don’t, you may be sorry in the long run.

Your best method of preventing a trojan is internet security. These can range from relatively inexpensive to the highest end you can find. Sometimes the best isn’t always the most expensive, so do your research to find the best security for your specific system. By purchasing internet security, which includes antivirus software, you can prevent yourself from having to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to repair your system or even purchase a new one. However, to make sure that your antivirus and Internet security service is running efficiently, you must keep it updated on a regular basis to have the most up to date list of viruses and malware.

Being a victim of this devastating virus can be both the common user and to a business. So please be aware and use caution on the internet. There really is nothing worse than losing your livelihood just because you weren’t cautious.

Spyware is software installed without a user’s knowledge to monitor his or her computer and Internet usage. It falls under the larger category of “malware” meaning “malicious software.” Spyware is often disguised as or included with other software, which is usually how it gets on to a user’s computer. Once there, it can perform a variety of undesirable actions. These can range from recording and transmitting personal information to a third party to redirecting Internet traffic and search engine results.

If you’ve ever seen a strange-looking toolbar in your browser, or found that searching the web doesn’t work the way it used to, you may have spyware. By redirecting the flow of data between a personal computer and the website it is trying to access, spyware can download additional programs or even use a user’s computer to connect to other sites without that user’s knowledge. This often results in a noticeable slow-down in Internet traffic, as the invisible downloads will take up valuable bandwidth. You may also have trouble visiting sites that you haven’t had trouble with in the past.

Luckily, eradicating spyware is almost as easy as getting it. There are a number of powerful and free spyware scanners that quickly find and delete spyware on person computers using a database of known spyware. But be careful; sometimes clever spyware creators make their programs look like spyware or virus scanners. Educate yourself about the program you choose to download before you run it.

Whatever program you eventually choose to use, it is important to restart your computer before running it. At any given point, multiple spyware programs could be running in the background, and rebooting your PC will quit them and give the spyware scanner a chance to find and delete them. You may have to run it more than once, just to be sure—but if it works, you should see a noticeable increase in your internet speed.

To avoid spyware, it is important to pay careful attention to what you download. Avoid downloading and installing .exe (executable) program files unless you completely understand what it is you are installing. Be wary of “free” offers that seem too good to be true but require you to download something onto your computer; these are often digital trojan horses that aren’t as free as they seem.

It is also important to maintain and update the “definition” files for your spyware scanner. Scammers are constantly looking for new ways to take advantage of unwary Internet users, and by keeping up with the spyware definitions, you can be sure to eliminate any new threats as they come. Run the spyware scanner just as often as you would a virus scanner—once a week is a good idea.

Take these important steps to protect your personal information online. Educate yourself about malware and the shady side of the Web, and you won’t have any trouble.

As the internet expands its horizons and getting the world to shrink inversely to its proportion, the other side of the coin has been defaced. The buzzword, SPAM has struck. This very agency, the SPAM has started to be a global phenomenon by the amount of effect that it has on the range of people using the internet from a novice user to a professional or power user. The SPAM has been a cause of concern for every internet user and organization. Also, the impact of spam on the computer industry in its advanced stages which also includes the spreading of viruses through it has spelled disaster on the IT industry numerous of times.

The Spam is basically the flooding of the Internet with multiple copies of a same piece of a message or a file with the intent of accomplishing a cheap way of commercial advertising which is often about products that are of dubious existence or are illegal to sell or the products that one would never care to look at if given a chance. The spam is a emitted by very sophisticated softwares and worms which scans the vulnerable computers and users over the internet and emites their way through them. Their is a very huge variety of spam blockers that are available off the internet which promises for a user to stay protected from SPAM but neither of them is so effective that keeps pace in sync with the propulsion of new spam which ranges from several thousands a day.

The spam that delivers virus to an email address is usually consisted in a piece of an executable file which might probably look like a funny game or a prank software at first but holds a lethal virus in itself. The virus file actually binds within itself a software that can put all the data on a hard drive exposed to an agency and putting the privacy of the user on a big risk. The virus file usually has an inbuilt mail server built into it which helps the creator of the virus to control the computer of the victim and also use it as a proxy to emit the virus furthermore into the internet through your email. Also if an internet user supposedly visits the ad-ridden websites, its very likely that he/she might click on the advertisements such as pop ups and ad banners which will lead them a step closer to the virii infection.

The business of spam has become very smart in terms of the techniques used to spread it. One technique of spreading SPAM is by configuring the software to send the spam across the random email IDs and when the email loads on the computer of the holder of an ID that was randomly generated by the software, the creator of the spam gets to know the IP address of the person that opened the email and thereby scanning that IP address for any vulnerable entry paths and thereby accomplishing the task of intrusion. This trick of spamming can also promote the use of target advertising by fetching all the private data such as interests, the websites visited, the pages opened or the transactions done on a computer and then sending out the emails to the victim’s ID that would appeal him and thereby luring him into a potential scam.

To combat spam, one must be aware of its workings. Also, for a novice user, if he/she is not very into the technological aspects of the computers, should install an anti-spam software and also should not click on the emails that come from the unknown sources. Only an awaken user can avoid spam and keep him/her secure from losing the data which to some is more important than their lives.

The advertisements appear in a new window, when a certain link or web page is visited. The window size can range from very small, to a full screen sized. Java script is the most standard web language that is used to create these web ads. These ads are very common and are intended to either attract web related traffic, or to collect email addresses for further spam and email distributions. A lot of these ads are genuine, but quite often are used for malicious purposes.

Another type of window used is the pop-under advertisement. This is very similar to the normal pop up window; however, the action opens a new browser window underneath the currently viewed web page. Since Pop-unders ads aren’t displayed on top of the currently viewed window, most users will only find them after they have closed their browser, which makes determining the source of the ad more difficult to locate.

Legitimately speaking, these ads can be used often for web site forms. For example, if you go to a page and complete a full web site form, sites will often pop out the form completion message or the next part of the form in a new window. Another common legitimate use of these pop windows is for image displays. In example, users click on a small ‘thumbnail’ image, and the full sized photo displays in a new popped up window.

To fight against some of the problems these ads can have, there are a lot of commonly integrated pop up blocker functions in modern web browser programs. For the most part, these browser protection features do an excellent job. There are also other solutions available via anti-spyware, spam and antivirus tools. You can usually adjust the levels of popping ad protection as needed. Over the years, these programs that help ease our online experiences have done a good job of eliminating the unwanted internet ads dilemma.

All in all, anyone that uses the internet will be aware of pop up ads and their effects on the end user. To the untrained eye, an end user can get easily scammed into clicking on something that could harm their computer or files. Luckily, proper use of anti ad software and a pop up blocker, help to reduce the threat of popping ads significantly. So the next time you see an interesting ad show up on your computer, be wary of the source it has come from.

The term Malware is widely being used but only a few people understand what it really stands for. It is used to denote all the malicious programs that the hackers use to control another user’s computer without their knowledge or consent for illegal purposes. It is not necessary that you must download something into your system to get infected with adware, spyware or a virus. Once infected with any of these, your computer will show several symptoms like slow running, a lot of pop up ads and crashes.

It covers a wide range of destructive programs from the simple adware to the suspicious spyware that permits strangers to have access to your system and commit crimes under your internet name and online identity.

The dangers of this program begin when you unknowingly download it into your computer considering it as useful software. Well unfortunately most of them are in disguises to increase your rate of risk. Some of them come in the form of alluring offers like ‘download the fastest search engine for free’. An irony that you can find in such cases is the way in which they are presented to you. There are Malwares that are sold out as anti-malware programs and the creators of the same do websites just like the legitimate ones.

This malicious program may also find its way into a system through Active X controls that have the capacity to even change the system registry. It can also take the charge of several computer operations.

Even the most popularly used web browsers are not free of such programs when we come know that the toolbars and screen savers are some of the favorite places for those to hide. You can get infected with a malicious program from a video or an image from any website or link that is used or visited by millions of people over the world. Thus it’s a reality that millions of computers are getting infected day by day.

The dangers or risks of such a program cannot be predicted as the threat rate can differ with different programs. In a lower threat the risk is minimized to impediment in the computer performance. In a virus attack your system operations will suffer variously and in higher and much dangerous risks will put your name and fame into wrong hands.

Some of the major functions of this devastating program is as follows:

1. The transmission of personal and private information to an unknown server.
2. Undesirable advertising.
3. Redirection to a commercial website when you enter a wrong domain name by mistake.
4. Seizing the homepage of the user to make it a phishing site.
5. Making alterations in the security settings of the system and lastly,
6. Shrinking the system performance as a whole.

The program is unauthorized and works without your knowledge and consent. So to tackle a possible risk or threat it is desirable to do virus scan regularly or at least once in a week.

If you are a frequent surfer, then you must have experienced some these strange things like increased pop ups from unknown sites, unfamiliar buttons on the toolbar and entry into irrelevant or other commercial websites while browsing. All these point that your system has installed some particular programs which can be termed as Greyware. Most of the companies that release this software claim it to be legal. It can’t be ignored that it has useful functions but all the while it features unwanted functions too.

This program is not entitled to bring grave disaster to your computer but still it can lead to a lot of trouble and strenuous efforts. The various troublesome functions of this software finds place in a gray area in the legal and illegal aspects in law and it is rightfully called the Grayware. Sometimes it can cause a real threat to the system security and other times it can act as a secure ground for hackers. This program never exhibits uninstall options.

The key difference of this program and a malware is that while the malware is promulgated by a person, the latter is done by a company. The purpose of malware is nothing but creating disastrous effects to the user whereas that of this particular software is to gain business profits. The propagation of malware is very secretive but the latter can be downloaded by anyone publicly.

This program can be downloaded even from normal sites. When some particular programs are installed, this also gets installed with those. Some of the mesmerizing ads that can be found in adult site are examples. Some of this software has tie ups with shareware that transmit information without the user’s knowledge. It is difficult to uninstall these programs once installed. Some others can install strange programs automatically and considerably affect the performance of your computer.

There are several categories of this niggling software such as:

1. Adware that pops up advertisements.
2. Hijacker that can modify or alter browser settings and log files.
3. Toolbar that would present strange icons.
4. Dialers in adult websites.
5. Downloader that installs greyware with updates.
6. Spyware that pose a severe threat to users
7. Hackertool that hacks web system
8. Keylogger that traces keyboard operations

Though this software is less, malicious than its cousins, it hurts the users choice of circumstances. To prevent its high current the government authorities should necessary actions to regulate it by law. Anti-virus companies can also extend more services with this regard.

The software distributors should provide clear explanation of their distributed software and it must have the capacity to uninstall itself. The Security companies can be more alert and may inform the government bodies regarding the threat.

Above all the maximum consciousness must be maintained by the system users. They must clearly understand that browsing malicious sites and downloading unfamiliar programs can be a real threat. The installment agreement should be read carefully before installing a program. Proper and regular virus scan may be conducted to protect the computers from getting sick.