Computer Security – It’s Bigger than Spyware and Viruses

Computer security, in basic terms means keeping your computer and the data that’s in it safe and secure.  More of our personal data is stored in or accessed from our computer, now more than ever before.  Yet most people lack even the basic understanding of how to keep their computers safe and secure.  By following just a few simple rules you can dramatically improve the overall security of your computer.

Computer security, in basic terms means keeping your computer and the data that’s in it safe and secure.  More of our personal data is stored in or accessed from our computer, now more than ever before.  Yet most people lack even the basic understanding of how to keep their computers safe and secure.  By following just a few simple rules you can dramatically improve the overall security of your computer.

The first thing to understand is what exactly it means to be connected to the internet.  Your computer connected to the internet is similar to your house in many ways.  There are many ways into your house.  Windows, doors, etc.  The more windows and doors you have, the more ways someone has into your house.  An open door doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be robbed, but it does improve the chances.  Complicating matters, the ones that you think are locked, may not be because the lock is faulty or even the door itself may have an as of yet undiscovered flaw that would allow an intruder easy access to your home.

Your computer has many windows and doors, not all of which are locked. New flaws are being found everyday, often with the fix not coming until days after.  Just like you wouldn’t leave your front door unlocked, you shouldn’t leave your computer wide open either.  The first two things we will discuss to help with this task are installation of a quality firewall and regularly updating your installed software.

Updating your software is becoming easier these days, especially your Operating System.  We don’t have the time here to go into detail about the many ways to update the many software packages you may have or use, but generally speaking the software manufacturer will provide you a way to do this automatically via the internet.  A good example of this is the Microsoft Windows Update feature.  Be sure to get the updates for everything installed on your computer, nothing is too trivial.

There are two basic types of firewalls and both perform the same functions.  One is hardware the other is software.  A hardware firewall is probably included in your router if you are using one, while you may or may not have a software firewall installed.  To continue our house analogy, a firewall is like building a wall and gate around your home and giving the guard at the gate instructions on who to let in and out.  While this does give a great deal of protection, it is not all that is required.  Someone may know a way around or under your wall, or even be able to coerce the guard into letting them in. 

You yourself may unwittingly allow someone in.  This could happen by simply opening an email or even simply surfing the net.  Spyware, viruses, trojans and the like are ever more adept in their methods of fooling you and your guards.  Emails may come from a trusted friend containing a dangerous virus without them even knowing it.  This is where the next layer of protection comes in, anti-virus software.

Anti-virus software is a large category these days.  Often these packages come as “suites” including a firewall and Spyware scanner.  While most of these programs are very effective in their promised tasks, it is not wise to be lulled into a false sense of security by them.  They are simply one layer in what should be a multi tiered protection plan for you and your computer.  One last important note about anti virus software is to be sure that it updates on a regular basis.  New threats come out daily so check its updates manually to be sure they have happened.

Back to our house analogy, we now have all of our windows, doors and other entry ways locked and fully updated.  We have a wall around our house with a guard at the gate and we have software scanning everything that comes in past the gate.  Sounds pretty good, but there’s one last security hole we need to address, you.

A large percentage of infections are caused by the computer user themselves.  The internet is an ever changing place that requires it’s users to be educated about its use.  I’m not suggesting that you need to be a computer expert to simply read your email.  I am however suggesting that you take some time to educate yourself on some of the dangers that pop up everyday, and the precautions to take in order to avoid them.

In summary, your computer is a powerful machine connected to one of the greatest things ever invented, the internet.  This vast resource can be a dangerous place if you are not properly prepared and informed.  Regular software updates, a good firewall, anti virus software and a little education are the basics in computer security.  Having and understanding these basics will make your computer safer, more secure and more enjoyable.

READ MORE - Computer Security – It’s Bigger than Spyware and Viruses

Securing Your Computer System

Today, more and more people are using their computers for everything from communication to online banking and investing to shopping. As we do these things on a more regular basis, we open ourselves up to potential hackers, attackers and crackers. While some may be looking to phish your personal information and identity for resale, others simply just want to use your computer as a platform from which to attack other unknowing targets. Below are a few easy, cost-effective steps...

Today, more and more people are using their computers for everything from communication to online banking and investing to shopping. As we do these things on a more regular basis, we open ourselves up to potential hackers, attackers and crackers. While some may be looking to phish your personal information and identity for resale, others simply just want to use your computer as a platform from which to attack other unknowing targets. Below are a few easy, cost-effective steps you can take to make your computer more secure.

1. Always make backups of important information and store in a safe place separate from your computer.

2. Update and patch your operating system, web browser and software frequently. If you have a Windows operating system, start by going to www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com and running the update wizard. This program will help you find the latest patches for your Windows computer. Also go to www.officeupdate.microsoft.com to locate possible patches for your Office programs.

3. Install a firewall. Without a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the Internet. Consideration should be given to the benefits and differences between hardware and software based firewall programs.

4. Review your browser and email settings for optimum security. Why should you do this? Active-X and JavaScript are often used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computers. While cookies are relatively harmless in terms of security concerns, they do still track your movements on the Internet to build a profile of you. At a minimum set your security setting for the “internet zone” to High, and your “trusted sites zone” to Medium Low.

5. Install antivirus software and set for automatic updates so that you receive the most current versions.

6. Do not open unknown email attachments. It is simply not enough that you may recognize the address from which it originates because many viruses can spread from a familiar address.

7. Do not run programs from unknown origins. Also, do not send these types of programs to friends and coworkers because they contain funny or amusing stories or jokes. They may contain a Trojans horse waiting to infect a computer.

8. Disable hidden filename extensions. By default, the Windows operating system is set to “hide file extensions for known file types”. Disable this option so that file extensions display in Windows. Some file extensions will, by default, continue to remain hidden, but you are more likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not belong.

9. Turn off your computer and disconnect from the network when not using the computer. A hacker can not attack your computer when you are disconnected from the network or the computer is off.

10. Consider making a boot disk on a floppy disk in case your computer is damaged or compromised by a malicious program. Obviously, you need to take this step before you experience a hostile breach of your system.

READ MORE - Securing Your Computer System

Some Computer Viruses In History

Computer viruses generally trick hosts or other types of computers into reproducing copies of the invading organism. They spread from computer to computer through electronic bulletin boards, telecommunication systems and shared floppy disks. Viruses are created by human programmers, for fun or malice, but once they begin to spread they take on a life of their own, creating disruption, dismay and paranoia in their wake.

If the virus is found in any of the PC's that PC shoul...


Computer viruses generally trick hosts or other types of computers into reproducing copies of the invading organism. They spread from computer to computer through electronic bulletin boards, telecommunication systems and shared floppy disks. Viruses are created by human programmers, for fun or malice, but once they begin to spread they take on a life of their own, creating disruption, dismay and paranoia in their wake.

If the virus is found in any of the PC's that PC should immediately be isolated. The virus can be removed by giving an antidote by studying the virus. The machine should be put into use only after the virus is eliminated.
Viruses and such

A Virus is defined as a program inserted into another program. It gets activated by its host program. It replicates itself and spreads to others through floppy transfer. A virus infects data or program every time the user runs the infected program and the virus takes advantages and replicates itself.

There are two types of computer viruses 'parasitic' and 'boot' virus.

A Parasitic virus attaches itself to other programs and is activated when the host program is executed. It tries to get attached to more programs so that chances of getting activated is more. It spreads to other computers when the affected programs are copied. 'Jerusalem' and 'Datacrime' are parasitic viruses.

A Boot virus is designed to enter the boot sector of a floppy disc. It works by replacing the first sector on the disc with part of itself. It hides the rest of itself elsewhere on the disc, with a copy of the first sector. The virus is loaded by the computers built-in start-up program when the machine is switched on. The virus loads, installs itself, hides the rest of itself and then loads the original program. On a hard disc, virus can occupy DOS boot sector or master boot sector.
Some Reported Viruses

C-Brain: Amjad and Basit, two pakistani brothers, developed this software in January 1986 to discourage people from buying illegal software at throwaway prices. This was the most famous virus ever found and has a record of damaging few millions of personal computers. This is designed to stay in the boot sector of the disc or near zero sector. The virus enters the machine memory once the PC is booted with the infected floppy.

Macmag: This virus attacked Apple Macintosh computers only. Not much damage is reported because of this virus. This was not noticed on any IBM compatible PCs. It displayed a message of peace on the monitor and killed itself.

Cascade: This virus attacked IBM PCs and compatibles. The letters on the screen could be seen dropping vertically down to the bottom of screen after the virus picked them off in alphabetical order. This is a sort of parasitic virus. It attaches itself to other programs and gets activated when the host program is executed. It gets copied to other PCs when the programs are copied.

Jerusalem: Found in 1987 at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, this virus was designed to activate only on Friday, January 13 and delete all the files executed on that day. This infects the COM and EXE files. This is similar to Cascade virus in that it is parasitic in nature. This virus attaches itself to COM and EXE files to damage the data.

Daracrime/Columbus or October the 13th virus: This virus is similar to Jerusalem and was programmed to attack on October 13, 1989. Track zero of computer hard disk is destroyed and the contents of discs are rendered unreadable. This virus enters COM and EXE files and damages the hard disk. An antidote called 'Vchecker' was developed by the American Computer Society. Fortunately the virus was located in March 1989 itself and the damage reported after October 13 was minimal.

Bomb: This is also know as 'Logic Bomb' and 'Time Bomb'. An event triggered routine in a program that causes a program to crash is defined as a 'bomb'. Generally, 'bomb' is a software inserted in a program by a person working in the company.

READ MORE - Some Computer Viruses In History

Several Common Ways That Viruses Spread

In addition to the common methods of spreading through email attachments, boot infections and program infectors, there are other ways by which viruses spread to your computer. These include:

Infection by Disk(Floppy, Zip, CD's, Tapes, etc.)

Floppy disks, though not as commonly used as in the past, are still a very common way viruses being spread from machine to machine. Anyone with an infected machine, using a floppy disk to copy and save files, can also copy and transf...


In addition to the common methods of spreading through email attachments, boot infections and program infectors, there are other ways by which viruses spread to your computer. These include:

Infection by Disk(Floppy, Zip, CD's, Tapes, etc.)

Floppy disks, though not as commonly used as in the past, are still a very common way viruses being spread from machine to machine. Anyone with an infected machine, using a floppy disk to copy and save files, can also copy and transfer the virus. Any use of that same removable disk, by any user, at any time in the future, will most likely contaminate, or re-contaminate the any computer it is used with. The only way to properly clean an infected floppy disk is to perform a low-level format. The normal Windows(tm) "format disk" is often not enough.

With CD's, all the above holds true with the exception that an infected CD can never be cleaned. To get rid of an infected CD, you need to put it in the trash and never use it again.

Infection from Networks

Peer-to-Peer network, Local Area Networks (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), Wireless Networks, and the Internet, are all computer networks. They all have the same basic purpose; to share software, and information resources between two or more computers. As with anything else that is shared between computers, networks let users share files, and wherever files are shared, viruses can be shared and spread.

Most network virus/worm/Trojan activity is like what we described earlier, although more and more examples of automatic mass mailing attacks, system resource attacks are being found.

Recently many attacks are designed to specifically target major corporate interests (Microsoft, eBay, Amazon, major Banks etc.) in an attempt to disrupt their online services. Very generally these are called DOS (denial of service) attacks. The way they most commonly work is by secretly infecting thousands of local user computers (like the one you are using right now), and then at a specific time, launching a combined attack from all the infected machines against the primary target.

As you can see, your computer can be hijacked without your knowledge and then used in a major attack against an unsuspecting company. However with up-to-date virus/firewall protection, your computer will be immune to such hijacking.

Other ways by which virus spreads

Other sources of viruses have been found to be the result of software downloads available over the Internet. Software patches, drivers, demonstration software, from reputable companies, generally carries little risk. However, the Internet is also filled with "unofficial" software, pirated programs, and low-budget software from questionable sources that may be intentionally or unintentionally infected with viruses. Files downloaded directly from the Internet (either through file-sharing programs or direct download from websites), are among the fastest growing sources of computer virus infections.

Email, with its nearly universal availability and ease of use; chat rooms and messenger systems, not only make communication simple and quick, also make the transmission and re-transmission of infection simple and alarmingly fast. Creators of newer viruses, and internet worms specifically target these systems because they are widely used, and are often built right into the operating system and used with default settings making them much easier to attack and exploit.

As a point of reference, Internet Explorer, and Outlook/Outlook express email clients are two of the applications most targeted by Internet viruses and worms. Why? Because they are installed on more computers around the world than any other software, and they are installed 99% of the time with default settings (which means virus programmers have an easy blueprint to follow).

If you use an email system or instant message system that is installed automatically with your computer's operating system you need to install and use current antivirus software. You also need to learn how to turn off certain default settings that can leave your system open to very easy attack.

READ MORE - Several Common Ways That Viruses Spread

An Honest review of NoAdware

Spyware, adware, diallers, and web bugs can easily be installed onto a PC without the owner even realising. These infections can slow down or crash the computer, change a browser's home and search pages
Spyware, adware, diallers, and web bugs can easily be installed onto a PC without the owner even realising. These infections can slow down or crash the computer, change a browser's home and search pages, track surfing habits or even open up the PC to hackers ready to take passwords  and personal details if not traced and removed. That's where programs like NoAdware become invaluable.

NoAdware protects the computer with:

•    PC immunization – to block rogue installations

•    browser and PC shields – to prevent blacklisted URLS finding their way into Favorites or hijacking the browser

•    scheduling scans to remove infections

PC immunization protects against a regularly updated database of recognized programs known to be spyware, adware, unauthorized toolbars or similar. Requests by these programs to install themselves on the computer will be blocked, eliminating many popup ads, preventing surfing habits being reported and stopping passwords being sent to unscrupulous con men. If one of these programs does get so far as attempting to install itself, NoAdware will stop it from doing so.


Browser and PC shields provide real time protection against hijackers. A highjacker is not to be confused with a hacker. A hijacker changes the home or search page URL to what it wants them to be, sometimes even locking itself in and preventing the preferred URL being put back. NoAdware will prevent these hijack changes, as long as the appropriate filter is switched on. There is also a Favorites menu alert which makes an announcement when a URL is added to the Favorites. This ensures every one added is a genuine URL added by the PC owner.


The schedule function of NoAdware lets scans run on the PC without the need to remember to perform them. Scans can be run manually at any time, but if it always gets forgotten, the scheduler can be set for a time the PC will be always switched on and it will run itself. Regular scans are important. Despite the real time protection offered by NoAdware, new types of net nasty are being released all the time, so it is always possible a new one could slip through before the latest database has been downloaded.


Whilst it is a well-known fact that many of these parasite programs come from file sharing applications, anyone who uses the Internet is at risk.
Fake websites and sites programmed to pop up advertisements are prime examples of where adware and web bugs can be found.  As soon as, or preferably before, a new PC goes online, it should be protected with anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Since much of the software is available online free of charge, many people prefer to download rather than buy the software. If that is the case, the first sites visited on a new Internet connection should be to load up with anti-virus and anti-spyware.


NoAdware is one such product – free for download from the company website and highly effective against spyware. Available since 2002, No Adware comes well recommended. It runs on most versions of Windows: 95, 98, ME, NT 3.x, XP, 2000, 2003 and CE.

READ MORE - An Honest review of NoAdware