John: Protected, yes. Anonymous, only if you never use them.
People get spyware through their browsers and viruses through their email. It doesn't matter if you are behind a firewall or not, since you ASK for email and web pages. Someone will send a cute screensaver through the email and BAM--virus. Someone will click on a "FREE gift" link and get hit with spyware.
Citigroup's ads are rather sensationalized and humorous, ("Firewall? Like that could stop ME...") but the truth is that hackers simply cannot get to a port on your computer unless they can see it. Shields Up tells you all your ports are Stealthed? Relax. No one's going to bust in and steal anything.
UNLESS...
You just happen to DL a program that contains malicious code. That cute stock market ticker might contain a keylogger that sends everything you type back to the hacker's server. This includes passwords, credit card numbers, letters to your mistress (just kidding, Hope) everything. How does the program get it through the firewall? Simple. It just sends the data out in a normal HTTP web page request. Since firewalls have to pass that stuff through, out it goes.
That's why you should NEVER, EVER install ANY program you see on the Web until you've checked it out. If you Google up, say, "Kazaa", you'd find out that it contains spyware. Anything that's ad-supported has a high risk of having embedded spyware.
So if you never ASK for strange programs, you run less risk of having a bad one sneak in. Don't click on ANY popup window, regardless of how unbelievably FREE the offer is, since malicious ActiveX controls or scripts can do things like change your homepage to sex-with-underage-donkeys.com. If you don't trust the site, DO NOT VISIT THE SITE.
NEVER OPEN EMAIL FROM ANYONE YOU DO NOT KNOW.
NEVER, EVER RUN A PROGRAM OR SCREENSAVER THAT COMES IN AN EMAIL, EVEN IF YOU KNOW THE PERSON. That cute little Flash animation that has been forwarded a hundred times might just open a back door into your computer.
Other than what YOU do by letting email in or clicking on the wrong web site or downloading the wrong program, a firewall is as secure as you're going to get.
I also have a question along these lines. I have norton anti virus and it is suppose to run every day and also catch virus's when they come in. Every once in a while I will run it and find out I have stuff to get rid of. I'm rather surprised becuase I thought it was suppose to get rid of it on its own.
And, sometimes it won't let me get rid of it...does anyone know why?
And I have lots of pop-ups that is freezing my computer nowadays. I do run something that does get rid of it but still am having a problem.
Sometimes Norton can't fix a problem it identifies, but in my experience it let's you quarantine it - not the same thing but it does keep it from infecting your machine.
Norton is anti-VIRUS software. Not all obnoxious computer things are viruses. Pop-ups for example.
Also many more problems come through Internet Explorer because so many people use it, it's a target for so many hackers. You might consider another like those that can be found here:
Some people are under the impression that a firewall protects them from all evils. Not so in my opinion!
In one study most SPAM (and its related evils) came from email addresses that people posted on their own web sites (more than from opt-in lists and on-line purchases).
What can you do if you have a site, and want to let people know of your email? Check out this article
Now to beat a dead horse some more, here's what I tell everyone when they call me over to fix their "broken" computers.
Security rule #1 for Windows users: Don't use IE. I absolutely do NOT recommend just switching to MYIE or Avant or the other IE shell programs. Those are subject to all the same problems that vanilla IE is. All they do is try to emulate the functions that Opera pioneered and Mozilla has copied (very well, I might add). They may block popups but popups are only the tip of the iceberg for IE problems. Only use IE if a site you need absolutely will not work in Opera or Mozilla.
Rule #2: Firewall it. Routers are beautiful at keeping attackers out, but these days you have to have a software "firewall" to keep any accidental infections from getting out as well. Sygate is my favorite but it takes a bit more tweaking than some. I see no reason not to recommend ZoneAlarm and it's amazingly easy to set up. I know I'm preaching to the choir on these things but just in case someone needs to know... I use Sygate to keep programs like Real Player (If only those news sites would stop using the crappy Real format) and Windows Media Player from connecting to the internet every five seconds to look for "updates" that I don't need. If you get a trojan or virus, they can't call out from your machine unless you tell the firewall to let them.
GRC and IP addresses: Unless you're using a proxy, your IP has to be visible - otherwise, the website wouldn't have a place to send the information. No problem there if you're using a modern browser - nothing bad can happen without you initiating it and if for some reason you don't want someone getting to where you've been you can clear your history and cookies with a couple clicks.
RUle #3: Antivirus. Norton, McAfee and PC-Cillin are my favorites - I use PC-Cillin because it's a bit lighter on resources and is nuts about updating. Good free ones are at http://www.grisoft.com and http://www.avast.com - geeks seem to swear by AVG from Grisoft and it's good but Avast is a bit less annoying and quirky and is easier for the beginner.
Rule #4: As has already been said over and over again, Spybot and Adaware, and run them once a week or so whether or not you think you need to - and pretty much ignore the other programs that say they find spyware as those two will do the job safely. I haven't caught any spooks in a couple years or so but I'm a bit fussy and anal about how I use my computer on the 'net (oh, you noticed?). I STILL run those two, just in case... Most other people I know pick up something at least once a month or so because they violate one or more of the above rules (especially the IE one, which is getting to be the worst one to violate from what I've read in recent weeks).
There are other things you can do to tighten up a machine, but those few basics will cover almost anything anyone ever really needs. You could play with GhostSurf or Proxomitron or a few other things like that to get a bit more of a semblance of anonymity but I don't use those myself because I don't care if the New York Times or CNET knows my IP address... if you're interested in those kind of things Google knows more than I do.
How to get spyware:
1. Use IE regularly, especially if you surf porn or gambling or other sites your mom wouldn't approve of.
2. Use warez (pirate) software. If you don't know what I'm talking about or where to get it, good. Don't bother unless you like reformatting your computer.
3. Use Kazaa or Morpheus or any of a number of other filesharing apps. The only "clean" ones I know of for sure are WinMX and Soulseek, if you insist on doing the P2P thing. Oh, but if you're sharing stuff you shouldn't be, you are NOT anonymous on ANY of those programs. Simply put, whoever's uploading or downloading has your IP address and can track you down if they want to.
4. Installing "free" software from the Web. Read what Zix said again. Most of the "free" stuff out there adds functionality you can probably live without or can get in a safer manner. Pricelessware is a fantastic site for finding free software that IS safe. http://www.download.com is pretty good about warning you when a program adds third party stuff - which is generally shorthand for spyware and/or adware - but be careful there anyway. As Zixar said, Google is a nice quick resource for getting information about a program you feel funny about.
Anything beyond that is diminishing returns for the casual home user so I'll stop now.
Jason - some of the things you said can be taken care of without too much problem Like having Real Player go out and check the internet for things every 5 minutes. I find that most programs these days can be prevented from invading our privacy by certain tweaks and unchecking things. Problem is it takes a lot of digging to do this. These vendors, I believe, purposely make it difficult to find out how to turn off their "features". But it can be done. Even with crappy Real.
Kazaa Lite is ok, not Kazaa. And you just have to turn off file sharing.
I am surprised no one has yet mentioned the Free Spy Sites program. I am not even in the industry and I know about this gem!
Listen up. Spyware is ruining computers all over America. It comes from all over. But imagine if your browser was configured such that you COULD NOT get spyware even if you tried. Why eliminate spyware when you can avoid getting it in the first place?
Enter Spy Sites. This little program puts thousands of KNOWN spyware sites into your Restricted Sites Zones in your browser. Awesome.
Now every time I run AdAware or Spybot they are like the Maytag Repairman. It comes back clean not only on mine but on a variety of others I have tested over a period of many months. This little guy seems to do the trick.
What I know so far. If you use the free version of Spy Sites, you can get the same protection as Spy Sites plus that you pay for but they are both installed in two different directories. Don't get the two confused.
Once you get Spy Sites installed be sure to also install their latest updated database of new spyware sites. Then open Spy Sites and install the sites in your browser by following the instructions given. It is a little tricky and not an intuitive interface. Be sure to go to the help menu.
When done you will now have 6,701 known offenders that are blocked. Goodbye spyware!
Install it on your friends and family and help in the battle against a problem that is a worse problem that viruses.
Oh, and PS... disable the stupid Messenger Service or you are in for more trouble than you scan shake a stick at.
I agree with most of the advice people have given here. The software I think everyone should use on Windows would be:
Mozilla Firefox for the web
Mozilla Thunderbird for email (not webmail, but if you have a pop3 mailbox)
ZoneAlarm, Sygate, or Norton Personal Firewall. They all sort of suck when it comes to resources, but not as bad as spyware and adware would. They're all much better than the default XP firewall as well.
AdAware or one of the other programs mentioned to search for these things.
If you combine those with a NAT router/firewall thing like most people get from Linksys or Dlink, you will be safer than the vast majority of people out there. There are also very definite changes in you as a person that have to be made as well, such as Zixar mentioned, such as not opening files that you don't know what they are.
It's also true that a lot of the free software out there that is "good" has adware and such in it, so you have to be careful. If you can stick to open source software you will be much safer. That's why I reccomended Mozilla products, for example. Unfortunately there's not a lot of easy to use software for novices that is open source at this time, but hopefully that list will grow. There are also alternatives to file sharing programs like KaZaA, such as KaZaA Lite. I use that, and it's basically a version of KaZaA with all the bad stuff removed. However, it's easy for that to change so you have to be very careful. I think there is software out there that can tell when stuff edits your registry, so that may be a good thing to have. If not, I'm considering writing a program to do that anyway.
Another alternative that I'm looking into is Linux. I haven't had a chance to download a newer version (e.g. one newer than 4 years ago) but I plan to perhaps over the weekend. An even better alternative would be getting a Mac, but those are too expensive right now for me. Those operating systems are not fool proof, but they are less a target of spammers and others that want to infect your computer with their crap.
Keep in mind that a lot of spam seems to be sent via computers infected with viruses/adware these days, and that the people who do this are bad, some even include members of the Russian mafia. Protecting your computer not only helps you, but it helps make life better for others that would end up getting the spam from your infected computer.
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Zixar
John: Protected, yes. Anonymous, only if you never use them.
People get spyware through their browsers and viruses through their email. It doesn't matter if you are behind a firewall or not, since you ASK for email and web pages. Someone will send a cute screensaver through the email and BAM--virus. Someone will click on a "FREE gift" link and get hit with spyware.
Citigroup's ads are rather sensationalized and humorous, ("Firewall? Like that could stop ME...") but the truth is that hackers simply cannot get to a port on your computer unless they can see it. Shields Up tells you all your ports are Stealthed? Relax. No one's going to bust in and steal anything.
UNLESS...
You just happen to DL a program that contains malicious code. That cute stock market ticker might contain a keylogger that sends everything you type back to the hacker's server. This includes passwords, credit card numbers, letters to your mistress (just kidding, Hope) everything. How does the program get it through the firewall? Simple. It just sends the data out in a normal HTTP web page request. Since firewalls have to pass that stuff through, out it goes.
That's why you should NEVER, EVER install ANY program you see on the Web until you've checked it out. If you Google up, say, "Kazaa", you'd find out that it contains spyware. Anything that's ad-supported has a high risk of having embedded spyware.
So if you never ASK for strange programs, you run less risk of having a bad one sneak in. Don't click on ANY popup window, regardless of how unbelievably FREE the offer is, since malicious ActiveX controls or scripts can do things like change your homepage to sex-with-underage-donkeys.com. If you don't trust the site, DO NOT VISIT THE SITE.
NEVER OPEN EMAIL FROM ANYONE YOU DO NOT KNOW.
NEVER, EVER RUN A PROGRAM OR SCREENSAVER THAT COMES IN AN EMAIL, EVEN IF YOU KNOW THE PERSON. That cute little Flash animation that has been forwarded a hundred times might just open a back door into your computer.
Other than what YOU do by letting email in or clicking on the wrong web site or downloading the wrong program, a firewall is as secure as you're going to get.
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WordWolf
I agree with everything except Zixar's last sentence.
Certain other programs will increase the security of your computer, and many of them are
free for the downloading.
Spybot Search and Destroy has an immunizing function as well as its spyware scanner.
It will protect you before certain programs hit the machine.
Antivirus programs have a "guard" or "shield" that will catch some viruses as they attempt
to download to you.
Other programs eliminate specific security flaws in programs.
Plus, various programs (including the aforementioned) can be used to do an active scan and
remove malicious programs, data-miners, keyloggers, trojans, etc that somehow made it past
your main protection.
I'd say an updated firewall, an O/S other than Windows, a browser other than IE,
an antivirus and the other programs, and the external router are probably the MOST secure
you can get. However, you can have an amazing level of security purely thru free
programs of each type.
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herbiejuan
Good points gentlemen
I've heard that certain spyware programs cam load stuff on yer puter too, is this true?
Mikey
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WordWolf
YES.
That goes back to Zixar's point about "never install ANY program until
you've checked it out." "Anything that's ad-supported has a high risk
of having embedded spyware."
I've heard of programs that "detected spyware", then you download the
free program to remove it, which adds new spyware in the process.
Check reputations with TRUSTWORTHY sources.
AdAware and Spybot:Search and Destroy are VERY reliable, and free for the
downloading. (Spybot is technically shareware and does deserve some
money donated in exchange for the valuable service.) I like to run them
both daily, and again after ANY download of ANY kind. Ditto an antivirus
program.
In short, most advertised anti-spyware programs ADD spyware.
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vickles
I also have a question along these lines. I have norton anti virus and it is suppose to run every day and also catch virus's when they come in. Every once in a while I will run it and find out I have stuff to get rid of. I'm rather surprised becuase I thought it was suppose to get rid of it on its own.
And, sometimes it won't let me get rid of it...does anyone know why?
And I have lots of pop-ups that is freezing my computer nowadays. I do run something that does get rid of it but still am having a problem.
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My3Cents
Vickles,
Sometimes Norton can't fix a problem it identifies, but in my experience it let's you quarantine it - not the same thing but it does keep it from infecting your machine.
Norton is anti-VIRUS software. Not all obnoxious computer things are viruses. Pop-ups for example.
Also many more problems come through Internet Explorer because so many people use it, it's a target for so many hackers. You might consider another like those that can be found here:
http://www.myie2.com/ (I think it uses IE but it blocks some pop-ups)
http://www.opera.com/ (highly recommended unless you use roboform)
http://www.mozilla.org (never used it but hear good things about it)
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My3Cents
In one study most SPAM (and its related evils) came from email addresses that people posted on their own web sites (more than from opt-in lists and on-line purchases).
What can you do if you have a site, and want to let people know of your email? Check out this article
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Jason P
Another of five million reasons to just not use Internet Explorer unless you absolutely have to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Jun25.html
Now to beat a dead horse some more, here's what I tell everyone when they call me over to fix their "broken" computers.
Security rule #1 for Windows users: Don't use IE. I absolutely do NOT recommend just switching to MYIE or Avant or the other IE shell programs. Those are subject to all the same problems that vanilla IE is. All they do is try to emulate the functions that Opera pioneered and Mozilla has copied (very well, I might add). They may block popups but popups are only the tip of the iceberg for IE problems. Only use IE if a site you need absolutely will not work in Opera or Mozilla.
Rule #2: Firewall it. Routers are beautiful at keeping attackers out, but these days you have to have a software "firewall" to keep any accidental infections from getting out as well. Sygate is my favorite but it takes a bit more tweaking than some. I see no reason not to recommend ZoneAlarm and it's amazingly easy to set up. I know I'm preaching to the choir on these things but just in case someone needs to know... I use Sygate to keep programs like Real Player (If only those news sites would stop using the crappy Real format) and Windows Media Player from connecting to the internet every five seconds to look for "updates" that I don't need. If you get a trojan or virus, they can't call out from your machine unless you tell the firewall to let them.
GRC and IP addresses: Unless you're using a proxy, your IP has to be visible - otherwise, the website wouldn't have a place to send the information. No problem there if you're using a modern browser - nothing bad can happen without you initiating it and if for some reason you don't want someone getting to where you've been you can clear your history and cookies with a couple clicks.
RUle #3: Antivirus. Norton, McAfee and PC-Cillin are my favorites - I use PC-Cillin because it's a bit lighter on resources and is nuts about updating. Good free ones are at http://www.grisoft.com and http://www.avast.com - geeks seem to swear by AVG from Grisoft and it's good but Avast is a bit less annoying and quirky and is easier for the beginner.
Rule #4: As has already been said over and over again, Spybot and Adaware, and run them once a week or so whether or not you think you need to - and pretty much ignore the other programs that say they find spyware as those two will do the job safely. I haven't caught any spooks in a couple years or so but I'm a bit fussy and anal about how I use my computer on the 'net (oh, you noticed?). I STILL run those two, just in case... Most other people I know pick up something at least once a month or so because they violate one or more of the above rules (especially the IE one, which is getting to be the worst one to violate from what I've read in recent weeks).
There are other things you can do to tighten up a machine, but those few basics will cover almost anything anyone ever really needs. You could play with GhostSurf or Proxomitron or a few other things like that to get a bit more of a semblance of anonymity but I don't use those myself because I don't care if the New York Times or CNET knows my IP address... if you're interested in those kind of things Google knows more than I do.
How to get spyware:
1. Use IE regularly, especially if you surf porn or gambling or other sites your mom wouldn't approve of.
2. Use warez (pirate) software. If you don't know what I'm talking about or where to get it, good. Don't bother unless you like reformatting your computer.
3. Use Kazaa or Morpheus or any of a number of other filesharing apps. The only "clean" ones I know of for sure are WinMX and Soulseek, if you insist on doing the P2P thing. Oh, but if you're sharing stuff you shouldn't be, you are NOT anonymous on ANY of those programs. Simply put, whoever's uploading or downloading has your IP address and can track you down if they want to.
4. Installing "free" software from the Web. Read what Zix said again. Most of the "free" stuff out there adds functionality you can probably live without or can get in a safer manner. Pricelessware is a fantastic site for finding free software that IS safe. http://www.download.com is pretty good about warning you when a program adds third party stuff - which is generally shorthand for spyware and/or adware - but be careful there anyway. As Zixar said, Google is a nice quick resource for getting information about a program you feel funny about.
Anything beyond that is diminishing returns for the casual home user so I'll stop now.
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WordWolf
Vickles,
all my advice is already on the "Registry Keys" thread.
:)-->
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igotout
Jason - some of the things you said can be taken care of without too much problem Like having Real Player go out and check the internet for things every 5 minutes. I find that most programs these days can be prevented from invading our privacy by certain tweaks and unchecking things. Problem is it takes a lot of digging to do this. These vendors, I believe, purposely make it difficult to find out how to turn off their "features". But it can be done. Even with crappy Real.
Kazaa Lite is ok, not Kazaa. And you just have to turn off file sharing.
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igotout
I am surprised no one has yet mentioned the Free Spy Sites program. I am not even in the industry and I know about this gem!
Listen up. Spyware is ruining computers all over America. It comes from all over. But imagine if your browser was configured such that you COULD NOT get spyware even if you tried. Why eliminate spyware when you can avoid getting it in the first place?
Enter Spy Sites. This little program puts thousands of KNOWN spyware sites into your Restricted Sites Zones in your browser. Awesome.
Now every time I run AdAware or Spybot they are like the Maytag Repairman. It comes back clean not only on mine but on a variety of others I have tested over a period of many months. This little guy seems to do the trick.
What I know so far. If you use the free version of Spy Sites, you can get the same protection as Spy Sites plus that you pay for but they are both installed in two different directories. Don't get the two confused.
Once you get Spy Sites installed be sure to also install their latest updated database of new spyware sites. Then open Spy Sites and install the sites in your browser by following the instructions given. It is a little tricky and not an intuitive interface. Be sure to go to the help menu.
When done you will now have 6,701 known offenders that are blocked. Goodbye spyware!
Install it on your friends and family and help in the battle against a problem that is a worse problem that viruses.
Oh, and PS... disable the stupid Messenger Service or you are in for more trouble than you scan shake a stick at.
John R.
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Mister P-Mosh
I agree with most of the advice people have given here. The software I think everyone should use on Windows would be:
If you combine those with a NAT router/firewall thing like most people get from Linksys or Dlink, you will be safer than the vast majority of people out there. There are also very definite changes in you as a person that have to be made as well, such as Zixar mentioned, such as not opening files that you don't know what they are.
It's also true that a lot of the free software out there that is "good" has adware and such in it, so you have to be careful. If you can stick to open source software you will be much safer. That's why I reccomended Mozilla products, for example. Unfortunately there's not a lot of easy to use software for novices that is open source at this time, but hopefully that list will grow. There are also alternatives to file sharing programs like KaZaA, such as KaZaA Lite. I use that, and it's basically a version of KaZaA with all the bad stuff removed. However, it's easy for that to change so you have to be very careful. I think there is software out there that can tell when stuff edits your registry, so that may be a good thing to have. If not, I'm considering writing a program to do that anyway.
Another alternative that I'm looking into is Linux. I haven't had a chance to download a newer version (e.g. one newer than 4 years ago) but I plan to perhaps over the weekend. An even better alternative would be getting a Mac, but those are too expensive right now for me. Those operating systems are not fool proof, but they are less a target of spammers and others that want to infect your computer with their crap.
Keep in mind that a lot of spam seems to be sent via computers infected with viruses/adware these days, and that the people who do this are bad, some even include members of the Russian mafia. Protecting your computer not only helps you, but it helps make life better for others that would end up getting the spam from your infected computer.
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