Virus, Spam, Spyware, & Adware Survey/Discussion

[Mike Labbe]

This is a survey to see how many of us have been plagued by these parasites, and to compare what programs we use for protection. When compiling the results, I was shocked at how many products are out there.

Some terms in this poll:

Virus: A program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. The program can be written to erase important files or make the computer unusable. Most viruses replicate themselves and spread to other computers, through network connections or by emailing themselves to everyone in your contact list. All computer viruses are man made. Antivirus programs periodically check your computer system for the best-known types of viruses. There are approximately 15 new virus threats released every day, and the antivirus programs are constantly updated to look for the newest threats.

Adware: Software that may have been installed on your computer by a remote site. Many free utilities and games that you download from the internet will install hidden software that sends details of the websites you visit and other information from your computer (which can include your email address) to advertisers so they can target you with popup ads and email spam.

Spyware: Hidden software that tracks usage and reports it to others, such as advertisers. Usually the tracking is concealed from the user of the software. This software usually makes the computer run slower.

Spam: Spam is an inappropriate attempt to use an e-mail address, mailing list, newsgroup or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn’t ask for it. You may get Spam on free e-mail systems, offering free Diplomas, free Credit evaluation, prescription medications, sexual content, or other services.

Firewall: A method of protecting one network from another network. A firewall blocks unwanted access to the protected network while giving the protected network access to networks outside of the firewall. A company will typically install a firewall to give users access to the internet while protecting their internal information.

Pop Up Stopper: A program that installs on your web browser to minimize the amount of pop up advertisements. (google toolbar, stopzilla, popswatter, panicware, etc)

Comments, discussion, questions welcomed!

Mike

 

[David Waldmann]

Several of the questions, in my opinion, should allow multiple answers - such as #1. There could be as many as three valid answers:
Not recently scanned
Yes, intercepted
Yes, infected.

Same answers possible for #4

And the firewall question could also have three answers.

Yes, router
Yes, built-in
Yes, 3rd party

I realize, however, that the Grumble survey format is not very sophisticated, and that compromises must be made.

 

[JFeig]

Nothing works better than turning off my machine during non-working hours as a firewall. During the day, I use XP's firewall as well as Zone Alarm.

The same idea goes for junk faxes since my computer receives all my faxes. During the day I receive 3-4 junk faxes. I review them - delete and no longer use expensive thermal paper.

 

[Maryann]

off topic...
how do I set my computer to receive the faxes rather than having them all print out? We receive way too many junk faxes. Only about 5% are wanted.

 

[Ron Eggers]

Most of the fax programs, including XP's native fax software, have a 'receive' setting where you can specify whether you want incoming faxes to be printed, displayed or saved.

Specify 'display' and, if it's something you want, you can print it. If not, close it (though it will still be in your log if you want to review it later.)

 

[John Ranes II CPF GCF]

Originally posted by David N Waldmann:
Several of the questions, in my opinion, should allow multiple answers..........And the firewall question could also have three answers.

Yes, router
Yes, built-in
Yes, 3rd party

I agree, and like David and Jerry I use multiple levels of firewall. A router and BlackICE Defender, now sold/supported by Internet Security Systems.

John

 

[JFeig]

And since Murphy's Law applies here, I also have a complete hard drive "ghost" duplicate at home.

A month ago I needed it. My 6 year old hard drive went and I was up and going in 2 hours. All I did was to go home, replace the drive and update the data files. I use CD-RW's everyday to back up my data. Yes, I have a new 40mb "ghost" drive. Cost $49.00.

 

[Mike Labbe]

Perhaps I should have been clearer. (god, I cant get any of these polls right!)

I didn't expect anyone to have such an advanced setup

On the firewall question, if you have multiple redundant firewalls as well as a NAT router - pick the ROUTER as the option - as it stops incoming attacks from ever reaching the pc's. (unless the attacks originated within your home or office) I don't care for software firewalls because they're not incredibly effective and will slow down the computer. The one thing I like about the software based solutions is that they'll tell you what your computer is trying to SEND OUT.

Thanks for all the great input. The results have been interesting so far. This is the first poll in the tech forum, and just a test to see if there's any interest in others.

Mike

 

[John Ranes II CPF GCF]

Originally posted by Mike-L@GTP:
......The one thing I like about the software based solutions is that they'll tell you what your computer is trying to SEND OUT....

BINGO!....that's why the second level is nice. This added security was made part of Black Ice Defender's latest version update: v3.6.ccg

John

 

[Rebecca]

What popup stoppers have you all found to work well? We tried one once but it intefered with how the computer ran (can't remember which one it was).

Same question re anti-spam software - any favorites?

Thanks.

Rebecca

 

[Mike Labbe]

I'm really fond of the free pop up stopper provided by GOOGLE. http://toolbar.google.com/

It has blocked over 10,000 popups for me this year and doesn't slow the system down. Once in a GREAT while you'll find a poorly written page that will get stopped by the pop up stopper, but you can just hold down the CONTROL key on the keyboard to disable it.

I don't currently use anti-spam software on the computer. I run a program called "Spam Assassin" on the mail server/web page which identifies about 80% of them, which go to the trash can automatically. I tried Norton but it was too slow. I'm curious what others use.

Mike

 

[Rebecca]

Thanks!

Rebecca

 

[Rebecca]

Well, you think you have your bases covered and zowie, a virus sneaks in. We got one last Wednesday, it snuck in between Norton automatic updates. Then the virus disabled Norton (unbeknownst to us) and 3 more got in.

Thank heavens for computer repair guys who make house calls!

We're clean, have our pop-ups blocked (Google) and an anti-spam program (from our internet service provider). Ah bliss.

Rebecca

 

[CharlesL]

Strangely enough, I downloaded software just this morning to convert Professional Write files, with a suffix of .file, to Word Perfect. Actually, the company that did it, did it on line...

YAY!!! I now have the ability to read and print all 165 columns I wrote for the paper back in 93~96.

Then, this afternoon, I got a red-outlined alert from NORTON saying they had detected and deleted a Trojan virus...

And, as usual, I want to know if it could have come in with the file converter, and also, what in the h ell is a TROJAN virus???


EDIT: The outfit that did the conversion did a bang-up job. The name of the company is 'Advanced Computer Innovations, Inc'. So, if they did good, kudos to them. But if they did bad, beware!
Any input, Mike?

 

[Ron Eggers]

Charles, Norton's Internet Security is blocking 2 or 3 Trojan Horses on my system every day. The most popular flavors seem to be the NetBus Trojan Horse, the Backdoor/Subseven Trojan Horse and the Netspy Trojan Horse.

Here is some information from Norton's help file about Trojan Horses and other nasties:

With so many computers connected by networks and the Internet, viruses can spread more rapidly than they could in the days when files were transferred from computer to computer on disks. Additionally, the risk has broadened from viruses to Trojan horses, worms, and zombies.

A virus is a program or code that replicates by attaching itself to another program, a boot sector, a partition sector, or a document that supports macros. Many viruses just replicate, but others do damage. A virus can arrive in a document that you receive by email.

A Trojan horse is a program that does not replicate, but damages or compromises the security of the computer. Typically, it relies on someone emailing it to you; it does not email itself. A Trojan horse may arrive disguised as useful software. Some Trojan horses perform malicious actions on the computer on which they are run, while others, such as Back Orifice, provide remote control capabilities for hackers.

A worm is a program that makes copies of itself, for example, from one disk drive to another, or by sending itself through email. It may do damage or compromise the security of the computer. A worm can arrive as an attachment to an email that has a subject that tempts you to open it.

A zombie program is a dormant program secretly installed on a computer. It can later be run remotely to aid in a collective attack on another computer. Zombie programs don't normally damage the computer on which they reside, but are used to attack other computers. A zombie program can arrive as an email attachment.

Norton AntiVirus protects you from receiving and executing viruses, Trojan horses, worms, and zombies. Norton AntiVirus scans email as you receive it and also checks files when you open them, providing two levels of protection.

Norton Internet Security ensures that Trojan horses do not communicate over the Internet. This means that you are protected from hackers who use Trojan horses.

 

[Mike Labbe]

Very interesting stuff. Thanks to all that participated. Would you like to see more computer related polls in this forum in the future? This one was an experiment.

The basic results:

VIRUS:
79% have had a virus in the past
95% use a virus scanner
17% have an expired/non functional virus scanner
76% use Norton/Symantec / 14% use McAfee

ADWARE/SPYWARE/SCUMWARE:
81% have had an infection in the past
90% use a spyware scanner
55% use Ad-Aware / 26% use Spybot

SPAM:
Spam is a problem for more than 75% of us

POP UP BLOCKERS:
62% use a pop-up blocker program.

FIREWALL:
31% have NO firewall
33% have a router
19% use the firewall that comes with their operating system
17% use a third party (software based) firewall


Mike