[Styxx]

Only 10 % of all home users are protected by firewalls. Get one now.

You can print this out for future reference or copy and paste it to a Wordpad document you rename.

Today, a worm or virus can arrive on anyone's machine through e-mail. Before you lose a day's work to the latest malicious virus, follow these precautions.

There are about three (4) free Anti-virus Programs, downloads off the Internet. AVG, F-Prot, AntiVir and Aladdin. Most all are for Win98 and NT. The best I feel are one (1), AVG Antivirus and (2) AntiVir - http://www.free-av.com/. AVG has e-mail scanning for Outlook Express and a Virus Vault Area (much like Norton AntiVirus) and is for Win9x users. AVG is not 'Tech' supported without a fee.

Virus Protection
Virus protection is a big issue in Windows. There are currently approximately 60,000 viruses in circulation and you need two things to protect yourself:
Antivirus Software - A good antivirus program will protect you against any known viruses if installed correctly and updated on a regular basis. Ideally it is constantly running in the background, scanning any files you try to open, as well as automatically monitoring incoming and outgoing e-mail for malicious attachments. An excellent freeware (for personal use) solution that does a great job, is user friendly, and includes automatic updating is Grisoft's AVG. You can download this software from Grisoft's web site at http://www.grisoft.com/.
Common Sense - To protect yourself against new viruses that are still unknown to your antivirus software only common sense can protect you. This means that you practice safe e-mail with every e-mail attachment that you receive.
DON'T OPEN ATTACHMENTS FROM UNKNOWN SOURCES! We can't emphasize this enough.
If you get an e-mail with an attachment from a person you don't know - DO NOT OPEN IT - DELETE IT!
If you get an e-mail with an attachment from a person you know but you didn't ask for it and didn't expect it - DO NOT OPEN IT - DELETE IT!
If it really was legit, the person will follow up with you or send it again and no harm is done. If it was malicious and you deleted it - you're safe. viruses can only spread if they are activated. As long as the e-mail is not opened and the attachment is not activated, you're safe. For more information about virus protection please take a few minutes to read the article about virus protection at http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/antivirus.html

You are strongly encouraged to install the antivirus software and practice the rules explained in the article. It can save you from a world of trouble!

Firewall Protection
Anytime you're connected to the Internet your PC is exposed to the whole world. If it is not protected properly, crackers can detect the PC, probe it for vulnerabilities, exploit them to gain access to your machine and either openly wreak havoc by stealing and/or deleting data, or secretly plant malicious code that turns your PC into a zombie to be part of an attack on somebody's server or network. This issue is especially important for PCs with a highspeed connection to the Internet via DSL or cable modems because they are prime targets for crackers.

To find out how vulnerable your machine is, visit this excellent web site that offers some online tools to test your machine's security. Open your browser, go to http://grc.com/default.htm and click on Shield's UP!. Read the information on this page, then click Test My Shields! and Probe My Ports!. These tests check for obvious vulnerabilities of your PC and you might be surprised at the results. Chances are you have a number of open and/or visible ports that can make your machine a target for crackers.

You can protect your machine by closing these security holes with the help of a program called a firewall. Firewall software monitors your Internet connection and filters all traffic to keep undesired traffic out and only allow legitimate traffic through. There are a number of software firewalls available on the Internet and in stores. The one we recommend is ZoneLab's Zone Alarm, we'll get a little more into detail why this is our favorite in a moment. You can download a free version (for personal use) from ZoneLab's web site at http://www.zonelabs.com.
After installing Zone Alarm, go back and perform another Shields UP! test and Port Probe. You should see a big difference and find that all tested ports are now closed and in stealth mode.

Be sure to create and test the DOS Rescue/Reference Disk set that every anti-virus scanner is capable of generating. All anti-virus makers recommend each user create these sets. It can be 1-5 floppies depending on the company. These sets act like a second virus scanner as a backup in case you can't boot to Windows or your Windows scanner becomes inoperable.

Symantec offers Customer support through 'e-mail' and a forum where your answers will be responded to by a Technical Support representative at:

http://servicenews.symantec.com/cgi-...l&submit=Post&

As with all AntiVirus scanners, you need to make sure that they are scanning All Files and not Program Files only, as many virus scanners default to.

Don't open attachments One of the best ways to prevent virus infections is not to open attachments (click on paperclip icons (the lower larger one) or double-click the subject lines and choose 'Open'), especially when dangerous viruses are being actively circulated. Even if the e-mail is from a known source, be careful. A few viruses take the mailing lists from an infected computer and send out new messages with its destructive payload attached. Always scan the attached files first for viruses. Unless it's a file or an image you are expecting, delete it twice.

The Right-Click Scan Method

Always click the lower paperclip icon of any e-mail with a small or large paperclip icon indicating an attachment is present; choose 'save to disk'; Navigate to where the attachment was saved; Right-click the attachment and choose 'Scan with' (your anti-virus). If the attachment is infected right-click it and choose Delete. Delete the asssociated e-mail from the Inbox and then the Deleted Items folder.

Scan your system regularly If you're just loading antivirus software for the first time, it's a good idea to let it scan your entire system. It's better to start with your PC clean and free of virus problems. Often the antivirus program can be set to scan each time the computer is rebooted or on a periodic schedule. Some will scan in the background while you are connected to the Internet. Make it a regular habit to scan for viruses.

Turn off Windows Scripting Host Recent virus outbreaks have exploited known vulnerabilities in Visual Basic Scripting under Windows. To limit your risk of infection, you should.

http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/...568111,00.html

Get protected If you don't already have virus protection software on your machine, you should. If you're a home or individual user, it's as easy as downloading any of many top rated virus scanners then following the installation instructions. If you're on a network, check with your network administrator first.

Virus like the dreaded WScript.KAKWorm do not require activation like most viruses. If it's received, it activates itself.
Many viruses attach themselves, when activated as described above (they must be activated in most cases), to e-mail browsers' like Outlook Express' Address Book and send itself to all the contacts therein as soon as and every time you open your e-mail browser again or get on-line.

Many viruses are planted on people's systems by Hackers accessing your hard drive using Trojan horses, or so-called 'Server Robots', that the 'wrongful intruder' can use to access your hard drive anytime your on-line and modify, delete or add to your hard drive contents in anyway they want. Even to plant viruses without your knowledge making e-mail borne bad code transmission unnecessary. Without a hardware or software firewall, software firewalls are most common for home users, in place then and 'hacked' by a Trojan Horse the computer is not yours while your on-line and any information on your hard drive can be accessed by the hacker, even your most personal data.

Accept No Substitutes, handle your e-mail in this fashion and you will go a long way to stopping the unintelligent freaks of nature that start these Viruses, Trojans and Variants from being spread around by undeserving unknowing people who are unaware their outgoing e-mail is infected. Update your virus definitions weekly and get the free personal firewall Zone Alarm anti-hacker countermeasure for all internet uses and read why you need a firewall at http://www.grc.com. Test your ports and shields at the Shields Up site there. Hackers typically use both port scanning and other security vulnerability testing to find security weaknesses on a computer that a Firewall stops.

There are services that scan your computer for Malicious code (Viruses, Trojans and Variants). Usually viruses won't prevent you from going to the below listed URL at Trend-Micro.

Try using these links:

On-Line Scans for Viruses, Trojans, and Variants

1. Symantec (Norton Antivirus) Security Check - Free on-line scan
http://security1.norton.com/us/home....PPZHDHFQSGBXII
Click the 'Run Virus Check' or 'Run Security Check' button.

2. Trend Micro (PC-cillin) - Free on-line Scan
http://housecall.antivirus.com
A small Download Required

3. Panda's Active Scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com

4. Antivirus Expert - Online Virus Scanner
http://www.centralcommand.com/scan.html

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Free Antivirus Programs

5. Download a AV Program with free updates.
AVG Antivirus - http://www.grisoft.com
Technical Support Is Fee-Based

6. F-Prot AVP for DOS download page.
Experienced Users Only
http://www.complex.is/f-prot/

7. AntiVir - Free updates
http://www.free-av.com/

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Free Firewall(s)

8. Zone Alarm personal firewall - Anti-Hacker Countermeasure.
http://www.zonelabs.com

9. Learn about Internet security and why you need a firewall
at Steve Gibson's Shields UP site.
http://www.grc.com

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10. Update your antivirus definitions weekly/monthly as updates come out.

11. Scan your computer for malicious code each time after updating definitions.

12. Create, then update your Rescue Disks for each anti-virus program after each update.

http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/...248291,00.html

[Rollin' Rog]

Thanks Styxx, that's a very helpful post -- but it really should have permanent residence in the Security\Anti-virus forum.

I will also add a couple notes. An alternative firewall very well regaded by many:

http://www.tinysoftware.com/pwall.php

And a link to a site where InoculateIT can still be downloaded and manually updated:

http://cws.internet.com/utilities.html

[aa30mm]

Thanks for that post Styxx. Some very useful tips in there. I have a question though. I have Norton anti virus software on my PC that has not been updated since I bought it 10 months ago. I am keen to install AVG. Should I remove the Norton s/w before doing so and is AVG a robust and reliable product?

[TonyKlein]

WHY haven't your virus definitions not been updated??

You should do that on a weekly basis.

And why would you want to switch to another antivirus product? What's wrong with Norton?

Gtz.

[aa30mm]

Do you not have to pay for updates from Norton?

[TonyKlein]

A full year of free updates is included with your purchase of NAV.
After that you pay a nominal amount per year.

Why install an antivirus, if you subsequently don't update it?

You're as good as unprotected now.

Gtz.