OT - Calling PC security gurus

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 12:30 pm

yardbird wrote:wow... I stop lurking here for a while and come back to find a thread like this

Hi Yardbird! Good to see you posting again. I believe that it was one of your posts a while back that got me interested in trying Ubuntu. Glad to hear it's still working well for you.

DreamDiver · Post by **DreamDiver** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 12:39 pm

yardbird wrote: Probably WAAAaaay more info than you needed (or wanted) but there you have it. You can live virus free, trojan free, and not have to buy software because everything is free.

Nah, this is great stuff. Anything to put Windows in it's proper place is great. I'll have to look a little closer at VirtualBox.

I imagine it helps to have more than a meg of ram and a box faster than 2GHz. I'm curious if the guest machine runs very slowly when you only have one CPU.

My email runs through clamav on my mail server before I even get it. I haven't seen a virus in a very long while. They're bit-bucketed before I even see them. Knock wood. Just the same, I like having an antivirus on my laptop too.

roster · Post by **roster** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 12:58 pm

GumbyCT wrote:Gumby likes Oreo's or chocolate chips...mmmm

With a midsection that flat, eat any type of cookies you want to.

filbert · Post by **filbert** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:29 am

I may qualify as an expert since I retired from a job as a Computer Network Administrator.

I'm now a zealot for using Open Source and other free software. Windows came with my PC and my wife bought a Student-Teacher edition of MS Office with 3 licenses. Everything else on my PC - about 50 applications - is free.

If you haven't set your PC to get all of the Microsoft Updates automatically you're just asking for trouble.

This is a good source for information, reviews and recommendations about free software. Note that recommendations change from time to time.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46 ... lities.htm

I like AVG Anti-Virus. I believe having the Anti-Virus software active in background all the time (checking everything that's happening) is far more important than running scheduled scans.

Anti-Virus software is not enough; one must have Anti-Malware software as well. Ad-Aware is good. So is Windows Defender. I use them both.

Some of the commercial software is good and some of it - almost certainly anything that's advertised with a pop-up - is bad. Using any Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware software is FAR better than using none. However you must still be careful and aware of what's going on with your PC.

A Firewall is essential; the Windows one is almost useless. I recommend Comodo - it's free. Better yet, is a software Firewall AND a NAT Router - I like the Linksys routers that are on sale regularly for about $40 ($50 with a WiFi access point).

I recommend McAfee SiteAdvisor - a free add-in for Firefox (and Internet Explorer if you must). It does a good job warning you about suspicious web sites. http://www.siteadvisor.com/

The Secunia Software Inspector (online version) does a good job checking most of the software on your PC for necessary updates and I recommend it: http://secunia.com/software_inspector/

YMMV !

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:58 am

DreamDiver wrote:I'll have to look a little closer at VirtualBox.

I imagine it helps to have more than a meg of ram and a box faster than 2GHz. I'm curious if the guest machine runs very slowly when you only have one CPU.

The funny thing about virtualization software which makes it different from emulation software is that the virtual operating system can run at about the same speed as when running directly on the platform.

The system which "smoked" on me last week was not too different from the one you described, a 2.4 GHz Pentium with 1 Gbyte of RAM. I ran Windows XP inside VirtualBox and didn't notice any sluggishness at all. The programs I ran in it recently were Quicken and TurboTax, both of which are highly bloated. Any tendency toward sluggishness wasn't evident to me.

One other enjoyable difference is that Windows XP running in VirtualBox starts really quickly - much more so than when running alone on the PC. I can't begin to explain why, but that makes it easy to open only when needed instead of leaving it turned on all the time.

Just my experience, of course.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:48 am

Yardbird, I like your idea of getting a spare HD for my notebook to try out the Linux/VBox setup. I can afford a new HD now that I have pretty much found my ideal CPAP mask(s) and I no longer need to buy trial masks (I know some may be thinking ... must be nice ... yes it is ).

This forum is great ... great advice on everything! Once I get VBox loaded on a Linux system w/ XP running in virtual mode I'll come back and get some advice on how to build a space ship ... I need to send a wife off to Mars.

Thanks everyone!

roster · Post by **roster** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:38 pm

DreamStalker wrote:.... I have pretty much found my ideal CPAP mask(s) ......

I haven't kept up well with your journeys lately. Which masks are ideal for you?

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:52 am

In recent years the distinction between commercial software and malware has blurred considerably. End-User License Agreements are a case in point as exemplified by this interesting bit of news this morning:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20 ... -work.html

ars-technica wrote:Selling botnets for particular attacks, black markets for stolen identities, and malware construction kits are all now par for the course for the increasingly commercial malware industry. Discovering that malware authors have actually turned to End-User License Agreements (EULAs) in an attempt to protect their own intellectual property, however, most definitely qualifies as something new, different, and beautifully ironic.

Symantec security researcher Liam OMurchu has details on this latest development. The help section of the latest version of the Zeus malware states that the client has no right to distribute Zeus in any business or commercial purpose not connected to the initial sale, cannot examine the source code of the product, has no right to use the product to control other botnets, and cannot send the product to anti-virus companies. The client does agree to "give the seller a fee for any update to the product that is not connected with errors in the work, as well as for adding additional functionality." Modern license agreements take a great deal of (deserved) fire for being absurdly draconian, but even the likes of Adobe and Microsoft don't claim that purchasing a version of their respective products locks the user into buying future editions.

It's obviously difficult for the manufacturers of an illegal product to threaten legal sanctions against an infringer, but the Zeus authors give it their best shot. According to the EULA, "In cases of violations of the agreement and being detected, the client loses any technical support. Moreover, the binary code of your bot will be immediately sent to antivirus companies." Frankly, "We'll blow your kneecaps off and feed them to you," might be a bit more effective as a threat, but I suppose it's a bit hard to carry out that threat over the Internet.

If the folks behind Zeus are serious—and they seem to be—they've obviously got a rather warped sense of reality. Data thieves and malware authors aren't going to win any "Most Likely to Respect Intellectual Property" competitions, and they may not be particularly intimidated by a promise to turn their work into anti-virus companies, seeing as they can do the same thing to the original author of the malware in question. The prospect of a fully commercialized malware distribution system isn't an idea anyone in security IT relishes, but watching illegal businesses attacking each other over illegal modifications to illegal products could be downright hilarious.

... as if there were any doubt about the seriousness of the threat posed by malware.

Regards,
Bill

6PtStar · Post by **6PtStar** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:44 am

OK, Thanks DreamDiver, I was able to get Norton removed and now all the lost functions work again, Yea. I downloaded AVG Free Version 8.0.1 to try and have a question. It takes almost 2 hours to scan my C drive. It wants to do it every day or one option was to have it scan every hour? Any one know of a way to have it auto scan once a week or once a month. I could not find it If it is doing it's job why do I nead to scan that often? It is not an option in the menu.

Jerry

matt985 · Post by **matt985** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:16 pm

I use Kaspersky and I love it. The best anti virus spy ware i have used.

DreamDiver · Post by **DreamDiver** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:42 am

6PtStar wrote:OK, Thanks DreamDiver, I was able to get Norton removed and now all the lost functions work again, Yea. I downloaded AVG Free Version 8.0.1 to try and have a question. It takes almost 2 hours to scan my C drive. It wants to do it every day or one option was to have it scan every hour? Any one know of a way to have it auto scan once a week or once a month. I could not find it If it is doing it's job why do I nead to scan that often? It is not an option in the menu.

Jerry

Jerry, AVG may be free, but it's system intensive - unless you buy the non-free version. Then you're allowed to tweak it. The way the free version works, it wants to scan your entire hard drive every day, any time you're not on the machine. Either that, or you have to disable system scan and remember to do it manually once a week. Most people don't want to do that. I've heard IT professionals complain that daily virus scans wears out hard-drives. It's best to do it once a week or month, if you're scanning everying as it comes in or out of your box. Unless you're on a linux box, I'd suggest a paid solution.

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:35 am

DreamDiver wrote:Unless you're on a linux box, I'd suggest a paid solution.

LOL. Getting a Linux box is the better solution, IMHO. .

Regards,
Bill ( ... interjecting on topics which interest him)

6PtStar · Post by **6PtStar** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:27 am

Thanks folks! I may do a try on Panda before I buy if that is what it takes. I have considered Linux but I am not sure I am smart enough to set it up and make it work. I am not a big fan of Billy and would love to have nothing to do with his products. Really hate having it rammed down my throat whether it works or not.

I did finally figure out how to disable the auto scan. Will put it on my calendar and see how it goes.

Jerry

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:50 am

6PtStar wrote:I have considered Linux but I am not sure I am smart enough to set it up and make it work.

Jerry, some really stupid people have succeeded in getting Linux to work for them. (OK, maybe I'm talking about myself here ... )

You can find out for yourself by simply ordering a free CD (yes, entirely free - not even shipping charges) from http://www.ubuntu.com. Of course, simply downloading the "Live CD" is a heck of a lot quicker if you have a high-speed internet connection. Oh, what the heck, I'll even burn a CD for you and ship it out priority mail to you free of charge if you'll PM me.

Anyway, the "Live CD" from Ubuntu allows you to
1) test drive Linux from the CD without ever installing it
2) install Linux in Windows so that you can play around with it and never affect your existing Windows installation. (This should be great for avoiding viruses, btw.) You can later uninstall it at will.
3) install Linux as a full-blown operating system, either as a dual-boot configuration with Windows, or as the sole operating system for your PC

Just some things you may not have known about Ubuntu Linux, or considered before.

Regards,
Bill

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:12 am

rooster wrote:
DreamStalker wrote:.... I have pretty much found my ideal CPAP mask(s) ......
I haven't kept up well with your journeys lately. Which masks are ideal for you?

Looks like the new Opus 360 may unseat my previous favorite Breeze (w/customized headgear). I think the new 360 nasal pillow design fixed previous issues with maintaining a proper seal. I have had to slightly enhance the headgear just a little to help stabilize and keep it in place (I have been meaning to write up a review explaining the differences between old and new with pics of the revisions and my stabilizing enhancement ... maybe this weekend?) but it seems to be working wonderfully since I got it about 3 weeks ago.

I have a Liberty and Hybrid as backups for sinus congestion but I have not had to use a FF mask since starting my treatment almost two years ago ... PAP treatment and/or regular nasal saline rinses seem to have cured my allergies and innoculated me from cold/flu viruses (no flu shots neccessary for me)

OT - Calling PC security gurus

Yeah, we're way off topic here, but that's okay.

Re: Yeah, we're way off topic here, but that's okay.