[StBernard] Cybersecurity 101

[Westley Annis]

Jim,

The number one tool for staying safe in the online world is the same as the
non-digital world, be smart.  Don't click blindly on any link, don't view
email in HTML format until you have verified the source, if you are not
expecting an attachment from someone, verify they sent it before you open
it.

After that, you need some proper fences, so to be speak, anti-virus software
and anti-spyware software.

Although a most users would tend to regard the two as the same, there is a
basic difference between the two.  A virus attempts to destroy your data
and/or PC.  Spyware watches what you do to either offer targeted ads or,
much worse, still personal information.

In answer to Gaby's question, a key logger does exactly what it sounds like,
it records your keystrokes in the hopes of grabbing any usernames,
passwords, credit card numbers, etc.

How to protect yourself from these?  Maintain a properly upgraded anti-virus
software.  You don't have to go with the big names like McAfee or Norton's.
Personally, I can't stand Norton's and only tolerate McAfee.  I recommend
AVG by Grisoft to all of my clients (I am a reseller for both AVG and
McAfee).

If you are in a business environment, Grisoft cost about $15-20 per year.
For personal use, there is a free version.

For anti-spyware, you need several programs.
1) Download and install Microsoft's Windows Defender.  It's free, will run
in the background, and does a good job.
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads>

2) Download and install Lavasoft's AdAware free version (for personal use).
Again, you can't beat the price, but it will not run in the background.  You
have to manually run it yourself.
<http://tinyurl.com/2leclr>

3) Download and install Spybot Search-and-Destroy.  Again, it is free,
donations accepted.  It has a component that will run in the background, but
it seems to have a few glitches so I tend to not install that portion
(TeaTimer).
<http://tinyurl.com/37t9f>

The important thing is to keep all program updated.  Run the AdAware and
Spybot scans on a regular basis (once a week is best, once a month at
least).

If you think you have been infected, reboot your computer into safe mode
with networking (so you can check for the latest updates) and do a full scan
with all programs.  If they do not detect anything or cannot clean it for
any reason, call a computer tech for help.  There are other tools available,
but if not used properly, they can render your system unbootable.

If you are infected, it becomes a cost-analysis question.  How much is your
data worth?  

If you have maintained proper backups, you could wipe your system clean by
reinstalling Windows and all of your programs, then restoring your data and
doing a full scan on all of your data files.

If you don't have proper backups, you could spend the time trying to clean
the infection manually or with other tools or you could try copying your
data to another location and then wiping  your system as above.

I have had some systems infected such that it took three days to clean them,
and I mean, literally three days.  Start a system scan and walk away, since
it would be several hours before the scan would finish.

Westley

-----Original Message-----
Westley,

I did some quick searching...what's a good way to detect if you've had a key
logging application placed on your machine?  If it's been put there via a
Trojan virus or something, will the normal anti-virus programs detect it
upon scanning the drive?  From what I read, there are a number of ways of
getting one of these things placed on your machine and it seems they can be
difficult to detect and remove.  Any suggestions?

I think I've got my machine fairly secure, no one else uses it, I don't open
unknown emails, etc., but this might be a good instance for you to give us a
lesson in cybersecurity 101.

Jim