Sunday, January 1, 2012

It's About To Get Real!

I'm about to snap into a slim jim! I had someone trying to attack my computer last night. Keyword: Trying. They didn't get far because of all of the protection I have up and running. Which brings the question: What protection do YOU have? I'm going to recommend a few pieces of software--ones I personally use, all based on my experience of using computers for you guys to consider using to keep your computer safe from attacks, malware, trojans, viruses, and the like.

The first thing that detected my attack last night was the firewall, when a certain program was requesting to use the internet. It's not so often that this happens... Usually it's just Adobe or Java trying to update. I had no idea what the program was, but it looked legit. I ran a scan on its location, and Malware Bytes said it was a Trojan seeking access to the internet from my computer. A Trojan is a piece of software designed with the intent of harming your computer. The difference between a Trojan and a Virus is that a Trojan can give a computer hacker remote access to your computer. When this program was trying to access the internet, the hacker could have been receiving very personal or valuable information from me, watching my keystrokes, watching my screen, monitoring my running processes, or even using my internet browser as a proxy to cloak themselves.

The first one is Malware Bytes--www.malwarebytes.org. This is an Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus piece of software that is FREE to use. It is HIGH performance, easy to use, and highly effective, able to eliminate the most powerful of viruses. It is useful to run one this program at minimum once per week, maximum once per month. Run it while you sleep. It's free and effective.

The next program that I use is Zone Alarm Pro Firewall--www.zonealarm.com. A firewall allows you to regulate what goes in, and what comes out of your computer. There is a FREE version of this, but the pro version, you have to pay for. Your firewall is one of your first lines of defense against attacks. It detects when programs are logging your keystrokes (which for the most part is okay when you are opening a file), but in other cases if you're entering in credit card information on your browser, and Zone Alarm freaks out... It's about to get real.

The final piece of software that I use to protect myself is PeerBlock--www.peerblock.com. PeerBlock is another FREE piece of software that blocks known "bad" computers from accessing your computer, and visa-verse. These "bad" computers are all regulated by the internet community, and the list gets updated frequently. This piece of software has its ups and downs though: Some of the security on websites is so thick, like banking websites, they need to BE SURE that YOU ARE YOU. Therefore, they're requesting too much information from your computer, that some of the lists restrict these types of sites, and you'll have to disable PeerBlock in order to be able to access them. Disabling PeerBlock is nothing more than the click of a mouse button.

Three small, but powerful programs to constantly keep running in the background should give enough protection against most attacks, PeerBlock being the most optional because of its limitations when browsing the internet. How well protected are you? What kind of software do you run?

25 comments:

  1. Nice programs, I will try them now, they all seem very useful!

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  2. I'm quite impressed to know that the firewall first detected it, i never use firewall and i feel guilty now D:

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  3. I don't use antivirus at all, but sometimes, its good to use an effective antispyware... going to check malwarebytes!

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  4. I use malware bytes too, altho rarely, its nice and free, i wonder where they live off.
    i should switch firewalls, mine has this nasty feature where it allows receiving connections on system processes untill i register it, i guess im save as long as all ports are blocked.
    This kinda sucks since virii like to inject themselves into these processes.

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  5. Nice tips, love malware bytes. It always seems to find whatever is messing with my computer.

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  6. I honestly think that if everyone had these things installed, it would be complete and utter overkill. I know from personal experience that Zonealarm picks up EVERY DAMN THING, and it gets annoying as hell.

    I haven't had a virus in years using Win7, Win Firewall, and Microsoft Security Essentials. (I used 3rd party software before MSE came out, and didn't have any problems then, either.)

    Happy new year!

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  7. Definitely will have a look at these, as mine is quite the mess as security goes. Not that I do much on it, but still should have it. Only virus I got in a while was that stupid windows repair thing, boy was that a pain to get rid of.

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  8. Thanks for the info, never really used my firewalls always kept em off. Now i know better.

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  9. I've been using Microsoft Security Essentials, and everything has been going smoothly so far. Pretty efficient, since it can scan in teh background, on a certain day or certain time.

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  10. I love these programs, they always help your system run optimally and never really fail to work. Good post!

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  11. Malware Bytes and PeerBlock ftw!!

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  12. Malwarebytes rocks! it got me out of a very sticky situation when my dad installed "Antivirus XP" a rouge malware in to my home computer.

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  13. well peerblock seems really nice :)

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  14. Very sound advice, nice one!

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  15. I don't think anyone wants anything on my comp :(

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  16. I as well do not use Zonealarm; I feel a combination of keeping your OS up-to-date with safe browsing habits offers the best security. Regardless, good advice for the ever-growing computer populace.

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  17. Older firewalls were bypassable too btw, if a certain program was set to always enable access, a virus could inject itself into that process and enjoy his freedom, although this isnt really a problem anymore these days where checksums on everything are normal practise.

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  18. I personally use Avast Internet Security, Malwarebytes, TOR for most my web browsing, Peerblock.

    Great blog. Following

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