Doctor Micro

While computers and the Internet have come to be essential tools and appliances that many of us would be hard-pressed to live without, criminals and other malicious persons have been working overtime to turn them to their nefarious needs, unfortunately at our (sometimes great) expense.  The news often contains items about the latest computer virus, worm or scam. 

In the early days, most viruses or worms were created by single individuals (hackers) who simply delighted in their ability to prove that they could infect or control your computer.  Nowadays, hacking has actually split into two camps: the so-called "white hat" hackers and "black hat" hackers. 

White hat hackers are often employed by corporations to explore and investigate computer and software vulnerabilities, which the companies can then fix to make their systems more secure.  White hat hackers are sometimes called "Ethical Hackers" and there is actually a certication process for them.

Black hat hackers, on the other hand, can be equally skilled, but their purposes are far from ethical.  This is the Dark Side of the web.  Darth Vader lives and the Evil Empire is organized criminal elements whose purpose in life is to steal as much money and information as they can.

Most computer owners are aware of this and know they should have some security on their PCs and Laptops.  Though Antivirus and Antispyware programs are commonly the first and most basic line of defense, most consumers know very little about whether the one they have is good enough or whether it is a good program or not.  Many consumers on a tight budget will scrimp on security software by downloading or installing one of the many free antivirus and/or antispyware programs available on the internet.  While it could be generally said that any security software is better than none at all, using a free or outdated security software can build a dangerously false sense of security.  Worse, having security software installed (even the best ones) can sometimes lead consumers to throw common sense out the window. 

A customer once siad to me, "Who cares where I go on the internet?  If I pick up some bug, my [anti]virus program will take care of it for me."  While this naiive belief may be good for a couple of laughs when PC Techs are sharing customer horror stories, it is unfortunately all too common.  Bottom line:  There never has been, nor will there ever be, a perfect antivirus/antispyware program that is 100% effective against 100% effective against current and future threats 100% of the time.  As much as the security software vendors try, sometimes the bad guys win, and they're always trying new tricks to separate people from their money.

Worse still are consumers who have no security software at all.  When I encounter customers with no security software, I always inquire as to their reasoning.  Answers include, "It slows down my PC", "It costs too much", "I don't have anything on my computer worth stealing", "I never buy anything online", "I don't do online banking", "I only go to safe places on the internet", or "I only use it for email to my family".

I have one thing to say to both types of consumers, and I don't mean any disrespect, "The bad guys love you, and it's consumers like you who keep them in business." 

Even legitimate and supposedly "safe" websites can be hacked and you can get a worm, trojan or virus just by visiting a website you trust and have been to hundreds of times before with no problem.  Hackers and spammers can send fake emails that look like they came from someone you know and trust.  Even your friends and families can be duped and they can unwittingly send you an email or instant message with a malicious payload.

If all of this scares you, it should.  You wouldn't park your car in public and leave it unlocked or running with the keys in it, nor would you go away for a weekend and leave your house unlocked, so why would you not apply the same basic security to your PC, your window to the internet world?  Some people have an extreme response and  say they're so afraid, they just don't use their PC at all anymore.  While I understand their fear and response, giving up the PC and the internet these days is somewhat akin to locking your door, selling your car and never leaving the house ever again.  Fear of what the criminals might do has then denied you your use of a valuable communication and information resource.

So, what should you do?  What do I recommend?  Here are what I consider (in order of importance) the most effective security defense measures you can employ:

1.  Common sense.  By far, the most effective weapon against computer and internet malware.  If it looks fishy or too good to be true, stay away!  Don't open email attachments or click on links in an email from anyone you don't know and trust.
2.  Antivirus Software.  Get some.  If you're on a tight budget, two decent free ones are AVG Free Antivirus and Avast! Home Edition.  Most free antivirus companies also make paid commercial products and if you use their free version, be prepared to be nagged periodically to buy their paid version.  For commercial antivirus, there are many available in computer stores, and many can be purchased and downloaded online.  I recommend doing a bit of research before you buy... don't just take my advice or the advice of the salesperson in the blue shirt by itself.  Popular doesn't necessarily mean the best.  There are several websites that offer reviews and comparisons of free and paid antivirus products.  Here are two:  av-comparitives.org and pcantivirusreviews.com.  Pay attention to overall effectiveness ratings, how often updates are downloaded, ease of installation and use, and how much of your computers resources the product uses.  Your mileage and opinion may vary, but in my own opinion, I would rate VIPRE, NOD32 and BitDefender as highly recommended.
3.  Antispyware Software.  Stand-alone antispyware software is highly recommended if the antivirus program you use or choose does not also include antispyware technology.  Many antivirus programs nowadays also include spyware and malicious software technologies, so if your software does (VIPRE, for example), you may decide to skip installing a separate program just for spyware.  As with antivirus software, there are both free and paid products available.  One of the best popular free antispyware products are SpyBot and AdAware.  Sunbelt Software, the makers of VIPRE, also make a stand-alone antispyware product called CounterSpy.  One last important note regarding antispyware programs:  some are active and work constantly in the background (such as CounterSpy), while others must be manually updated and run.  SpyBot and AdAware fall into the latter category.
4.  Firewall Software.  If you have a broadband (eg, cable or DSL) internet connection and use a router in addition to a modem, you may not need a separate firewall program.  Firewalls work by monitoring all traffic coming into (and sometimes out of your PC and "hiding" the actual internet address from outside prying eyes.  Windows XP and Windows Vista include a basic firewall as part of the operating system, but only monitor incoming traffic.  Commercial firewall software, on the other hand, monitors both incoming and outgoing traffic.  A good example of when you might want a firewall program is if you somehow manage to download or install some malicious software and it wants to "phone home" without your knowledge or permission.  A firewall program will alert you that such and such a program wants to access the internet and requests you, the user, to allow or deny permission.
5.  Anti-Spam Software.  Only you can determine whether you want or need anti-spam software.  Anti-spam software is designed to filter intercept junk email that comes into your email inbox.  Many spam messages include links to malware-infected websites where you can quickly get infected with a malware coctail as soon as you click on the link.  Emails advertising free samples (or just about anything free), prescription drugs, so-called "romance enhancers" are all 99.99% pure spam.  Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have anti-spam software of one sort or another to intercept spam before it even gets to your mailbox, but free email providers like Yahoo!, Hotmail, GMail and so forth, are often ripe targets for spammers.  If your inbox is being flooded with spam and you use an email program like Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Eudora, you may benefit from an anti-spam program.  If, on the other hand, you only get a few pieces of junk mail a day, don't worry... just hit the delete button and be happy.

Up to now, we've only talked about software security.  Other security measures include physical security.  These include software to track your laptop or PC if it is stolen, taking pictures of your computer and writing down any model and serial numbers, keeping receipts, backup copies of purchased software, monitoring what your kids are doing on the computer and where they are surfing, not letting friends or roommates borrow your laptop or have unrestricted access to your computer, encryption software to scramble sensitive data on your computer so only you can retrieve it with the appropriate password, encryption of your WiFi signal if you use a wireless router, strong, frequently changed and not easily guessed passwords for your computer and online accounts, external backups of your most important files and data, surge protectors and battery-backed uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). 

These, and the software categories mentioned above all constitute your overall computer security blanket.  How much you use or need is partly an individual choice.  Remember that all of these take a toll, either financially or in terms of computer performance.  It is possible to go overboard and have too much protection.  Assess your security environment, your surfing profile and what you know of the most common threats and adjust your security measures accordingly.  If you are a high-risk user (and you know who you are) or you have a lot of extremely valuable, irreplaceable and sensitive data on your computers, you might want to lean towards the heavily protected side.

Remember that the computer and the internet are great communication and information tools.  Strive for a good balance between security and usability.  I once had a client who complained that their computer was horribly slow and took forever to boot up or do anything, even though they had a very fast processor, broadband high-speed internet and a lot of installed memory (RAM).  What I discovered is that they had installed multiple firewalls, multiple antivirus, and multiple antispyware programs.  All of these programs take system resources, and with multiples of everything, all their security software programs were constantly fighting each other to take over and examine every email that came in, every program they wanted to open and use, and every bit of traffic in and out of the PC.  The client had taken the "if one is good, two or three must certainly be better" approach.  While I'm happy to report that their systems were completely clean of any kind of malware, their systems were so bogged down with security software as to be nearly un-usable.

That's it for now.  Happy computing!