On Thursday, December 11, 2008, Microsoft reported a “Limited Exploitation” of Internet Explorer. All versions of IE were vulnerable to attacks and exploits. The current threat infects the users computer, then attempts to steal passwords from the compromised computer.

Vulnerability Increases

It was reported by Microsoft Malware Protection Center, roughly only 0.2% of users in the world could be exposed to any type of website involving exploits that contain any vulnerability. However, as of Saturday, December 13, 2008, only two days later - the increase had escalated to over 50% in reports.

Where It All Began

The attacks were started from legitimate web sites to include exploits. In Taiwan, a popular search engine was unfortunately hosting the exploit. Later in Hong Kong, Microsoft discovered a website which contained the exploit. The site contained various content, including adult entertainment. Visitors of these sites were exploited with trojans detected as “Trojan:Win32/VB.IQ.dr” and “Trojan:Win32/VB.IQ.”

Symantec reports a heavy targeting in china. Generally, an overwhelming amount of attacks are threatening Asian countries. Vulnerability is due to many users whom are working with pirated versions of Microsoft software, and cannot access any security updates.

If you are currently using Internet Explorer, please be aware it is highly vulnerable to attacks. Please follow the link provided, in order to update your current versions security.

IE Security Update

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-078 - Critical Internet Explorer Security Update (960714)

Removal - If Infected

Symantec recommends “Disabling System Restore” on versions Windows Me/XP temporarily. If your computer has been comprimised, the virus, worm, or Trojan can reinfect your computer with the backed up “System Restore.”  Windows does not allow any antivirus program to modify System Restore, therefore threats will continue to infect your files again, even after you have cleaned your computer.

Tags: Blogging, Computing, Network Security, Operating System, PC, Virus by Chris Hebert
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I am sure other PC users have fallen into my footsteps before. Late one evening I decided to clean up unused programs on my PC. I hastily decided to cancel my “uninstall” choice before it was finished. Bad move!

Programs installed on a PC contain  ”.dll” files (dynamically linked library; a library linked to an executable program). Without getting to geeky, lets just say they can be unfriendly if uninstalled incorrectly.

Incomplete “Uninstall”

After I cancelled the “uninstall” program choice, I noticed the selected program no longer existed within my “Add/Remove” program listing. Therefore I was 100% positive my selected program had been successfully uninstalled, even though I cancelled the process before it was complete. I then decided to call it a night and shut off my computer (something I don’t usually do).

When I started my computer the next morning, I received the following error message:

Windows cannot find ‘C:\Program’ make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again

I quickly returned to my “Add/Remove Programs” listing to verify my uninstall from the prior evening. Sure enough, the program was not listed. This meant the program did not exist any longer on my PC. Well, this is partially true. Unfortunately for me there were some little buggers lurking around somewhere which Windows did not like.

How to Fix PC Error and Clean Registry

After much research on my error message, I ran across a wonderful program. “CCleaner” is a freeware program which removes unused files from your system. It contains a registry cleaner and will remove tracks from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera. In addition, this wonderful free program can create a registry back-up before cleaning it.

During my online research, I ran across an individual making reference to the product name. The “Crap Cleaner.” I am unsure if this is the name intended for the product, but I can swear by its performance.

The product takes less than a minute to complete. CCleaner contains NO SPYWARE or ADWARE!

CCleaner Saves the Day!

Another feature of CCleaner is its ability to be used as a privacy tool because, CCleaner erases all Internet History from your machine. Although this is a wonderful feature, and deleting our Internet History should be a common practice; do not forget, any passwords which were saved in your history will no longer be available to you once this program is used. You will have to re-enter previously saved passwords, and/or login information to websites which you may have chosen to “Remember Me” from previous login’s. This is a small price to pay when your computer is spitting error messages at you. Trust me.

PC Runs Faster

After installing and running the program, I rebooted my computer (a common practice after an install/uninstall). Upon restarting my computer, the error message had been corrected and has never reappeared.

www.cnet.com

www.cnet.com is one of my favorite secure download sites. If you wish to try this product, search “CCleaner” on your own, and enjoy a faster running PC. Quite possibly an error free one as well.

Tags: Computing, Network Security, Operating System, PC by Chris Hebert
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• Have you ever had a virus?
• Afraid of having your credit card compromised?
• Do you leave financial information on your computer?
• Do you save your passwords on your computer?

 

 

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, this information is for you. If you DO NOT want to answer “Yes” to any of these questions, this information is for you too.

Network security is always a buzz in the media. A network administrator in California held a password hostage, millions of credit card numbers have been compromised, a MySpace/FaceBook has just been attacked by a virus. These are all common current events, which could have been prevented, but how do they relate to you?

K.I.S.S.

Using the first rule in computing will make all the difference for any platform computer user. “K.I.S.S.” = Keep It Simple Stupid. What does this mean, you ask. The first plan of attack for your protection should be to have an updated antivirus program running at all times on your computer. Yes, updated! Everyday there are millions of new viruses being created, and if your computer is not up to date on its current shots, then it can become sick and possibly die. Now we wouldn’t want that would we?

What is an Antivirus?

An antivirus program helps defend your computer against common viruses. My favorite FREE antivirus protection is AVG. Their free version will surely do the trick. However, they offer a Pro version of the product which I would highly recommend with a few more bells and whistles. Either version is very easy to install, and needs no further attention. The product automatically connects to AVG in order to obtain the latest database of viruses, in order to protect your computer fully. This AVG image is a link to the FREE CNET download site for your convenience.

Want to Protect Your Finances?

By simply making it a habit to empty your browser cache, can not only make surfing faster, it can protect your finances. Internet browsers save (or “cache”) information in order to remember information from your surfing experience to make subsequent surfing faster. Such caching of visited web pages can save your login IDs, banking information, passwords, and other sensitive information. Although the ease of remembering a password of any type on a computer seems tempting, clearing the browser cache should become a common practice to ensure that any individuals using a browser session after you on the same machine will not see your private information. In addition, if someone has falsely entered your computer through a vulnerability to exploit stored information, your passwords can then easily be obtained if you have not cleared your cache.

I’ve Got Your Password!

For those of you who travel a great deal and use a laptop, or share a computer with others, I thought I would mention how simple it would be for someone to gain access to your passwords. Try this in Firefox: Tools->Options->Security->Show Passwords (or “Saved Passwords”). FireFox will display all of your saved passwords to a predator, in your password cache without much work.
In the most recent version of FireFox, the security option now allows your passwords to be protected with the ability to “Use a master password.” This feature safeguards your individual passwords with a master password in case such a theft would occur.

These techniques are not to give the user a false sense of security. Using preventative measures cannot be practiced enough. Backing up your information should always maintain priority in your computer usage, in order to ensure your important data will not be damaged or lost. Nothing is more heart wrenching than having your data live in cyber space.

What common practices have you stumbled upon which ensures a constant preventative maintenance regiment for your computer? This would include anything from your favorite antivirus, spyware, malware, password protector, etc. Lets help each other by sharing ideas on how to protect our hard work, shall we…
Thank you!

Tags: Blogging, Computing, Mac, Network Security, PC by Chris Hebert
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