Contrary to some of the stories circulating in the more excitable sections of the media millions of PCs didn’t suddenly blow up following the much-anticipated reactivation of the Conflicker C virus on April 1st. In fact, at the time of writing nothing much seemed to have happened and the world moved on to more important matters. Nevertheless, this virus, and its ilk do present an ongoing threat, especially for PC owners who do not keep their security software and Windows Updates current. By the way, if you have any concerns about Conflicker C and malware in general and you think your PC may be infected I wouldn’t ask Google. I typed in ‘Conflicker C Removal’ a couple of days ago and the first three hits all led to websites carrying the virus!
If you have been lax with your security updates then your best bet is to download the free Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, which scans your PC for Conflicker and a raft of other nasties, but in the end the best way to avoid becoming infected is to install a decent anti-virus program and regularly sweep your PC with cleaners like AdAware, A-Squared and Spybot.
Posted in Software | 1 Comment »
October 22, 2008 by
Jason A new, or rather a newly revised threat may be coming to a browser near you. It’s called Clickjacking and it can affect all browsers. It first appeared a few years ago but little was heard of it after the first warnings. It looks like it might be back though the threat level is still quite low at the moment but these things can quickly spiral out of control. Here’s how it works. If a hacker can get access to a website they can fiddle with buttons and graphics so that if you click on what appears to be a legitimate link what actually happens is you are directed to a phoney or fake site where you unwittingly enter personal details, or in a worse case scenario, clicking the link downloads malicious software onto your PC. Of course the same kind of thing can be found on less reputable websites.
Microsoft and Mozilla have released fixes in the past but there is a way to stop clickjacking in its tracks, on Firefox at least, and that’s to install an add-on called No-Script. This creates a white list of trusted sites by blocking any attempt to run an unapproved or suspicious script within a web page. Read More»
Posted in Firefox, Software | 1 Comment »
At the beginning of May, security company PC Tools revealed that Windows Vista “is not so immune.” And in this attempt to wrap the obvious together with statistics from a limited pool of users and serve the result as a revelation, the security outfit went on to claim that “Windows Vista is more susceptible to malware than the eight year old Windows 2000 operating system, and only 37% more secure than Windows XP”. Apparently, PC Tolls had detected 639 unique threats per 1,000 Vista machines, in comparison to just 586 for Windows 2000, 478 for Windows Server 2003, and 1,021 for XP. The conclusion is, of course, nothing short of obvious and was stated as clear as possible, with a challenge to Vista’s malware immunity.
Now, the fact is that citing data from over 450 million computers, in respect to PC Tools’ just 1.4 million machines, Microsoft disputed the findings, and continued to claim that Windows Vista is the safest Windows operating system on the market. Microsoft has repeated this refrain since Vista was launched, and provided ample proof, from the data collected through the Malicious Software Removal Tool to vulnerability counting games involving the main platforms. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
An update version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is now available for download and it’s a perfect fit for the latest service packs for Windows Vista and Windows XP. The Redmond company releases new versions of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool on the second Tuesday of each month, accompanying the availability of the Security Bulletins dropped as part of the monthly patch cycle. The updated version of MSRT is distributed via Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services and is also up for grabs on the Download Center.
Microsoft has failed to emphasize the fact that MSRT integrates seamless with both Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3. However, tests reveal that the tool plays well with the latest releases of the two operating systems. Vista SP1, RTM’d on February 4, 2008, was released to the general public on March 18, and XP SP3 is accessible to end users since May 6, having been released to manufacturing on April 21. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows Vista, Windows XP | 1 Comment »
How would you like to completely protect your PC from viruses, malware and the myriad of nasties floating around the Internet? Of course you would, but even with the best security software available there’s always the chance something will get through, but maybe there is a solution…
What we have here is a freeware program called Returnil Virtual System that creates a sacrificial ‘mirror’ or clone of your system on a virtual partition on your hard drive. Your PC boots into the virtual system, so your original system remains isolated and protected. If something does make it through your defences no harm is done, you just reboot and any changes the malicious software has made are automatically erased and you reboot into a newly created system. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Software | 1 Comment »
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