Ever wonder what’s really going on under all of that operating system? Under all the glossy veneer of Windows and the internet, a true battle is being waged: a battle for your computer. Every day you pass through a cloud of worms, viruses, and spyware as you surf the internet and do your daily tasks. Much of the time, you avoid contracting something terrible, but occasionally, you let something in.
In several parts, we will explain the steps necessary to protect your computer. We will use layman’s terms, and spell out for you both the best methods to take, and the ones to avoid….
(Photo: Maulleigh)
This installment deals with antivirus protection. Antivirus protection is sort of the first line of defense. Decades old, and known by almost every computer user, shockingly antivirus protection is lacking in as many as 80% of home PCs. Imagine that. 80%! That’s a huge number of unprotected PCs, even at the most basic level.
Here are some steps you can take to make sure that your antivirus protection is installed, working properly, and protecting you from harm.
1. Many new computers come with antivirus protection already installed. Relying on this is a huge, and potentially costly, mistake.
The protection ranges from 30 days to a year, on average. But most people don’t realize that antivirus protection is not as simple as buying a package and installing it; you are paying for a SUBSCRIPTION, not the SOFTWARE.
It is essential that you renew the subscription when it expires, or purchase alternative software more to your liking. Failing to do so leaves you more unprotected than if you had no protection at all, since you will think you are safe, when you’re really not.
2. If one is good, two are better, right? Wrong.
Antivirus programs often act in similar ways as viruses, writing to system files, moving about the computer, etc. Norton Antivirus could potentially pick up AVG Free Edition as a virus, for example, or parts of it. As a general rule, installing two antivirus programs negates the benefits of either one. So buy one and stick to it.
3. Which antivirus is best? There is much debate on this subject. For our personal opinion, we like NOD32 because it involves what is known as heuristics. Essentially, it looks at computer code, not just with the standard definitions, but for similarities to known
viruses.
A better way of explaining this is our own human process of identifying new words. When we are reading a book, and come across a new word, we don’t already have a definition for it. This is similar to an antivirus coming across a new virus. In both cases, we (or the antivirus) don’t understand what it is that we just found. Norton Antivirus will simply ignore the new code since it doesn’t know what it is. This is bad.
Heuristics, on the other hand, is similar to us as humans applying our knowledge of the language, as well as the context of the sentence, to identifying the new word (without using a dictionary). NOD32 looks at its existing definitions as well as similarities in the code to known viruses, and tries to identify variants that it does not know yet for sure. This leads to better identification and helps to stop viruses that were previously unknown before they spread and infect our systems.
Note that NOD32 is not perfect. But it is tons better than Norton, AVG, or McAfee.
4. But what about AVG Free Edition? Isn’t that just as good?
Nope. We wouldn’t put AVG Free Edition on a Windows Millennium PC. It’s not that it is bad (though it is). It’s that it gives you a false sense of security and doesn’t catch everything (or close to everything). AVG Free Edition is designed to show you that AVG is able to protect you, thereby encouraging you to buy the full version, which offers more protection. Remember that you get what you pay for.
5. The antivirus scanner should be run once, if not twice, a week.
We know, this is a pain since we have to stop whatever we’re doing while it runs. Schedule it for 3 AM, then, and leave the computer on those nights. Even though the antivirus is always scanning, it’s better to make it scan everything at once. For one, it will scan more than its routine every-day scanning. Also, it will scan every file, while the “routine” scanner doesn’t do that every day.
6. Avoid “security suites.”
We know it’s tempting to buy Norton Security XYZ Hyperactive Edition. But first, your local tech guy will hate you (Norton tends to take over your system). And second, remember that niche products tend to perform better. That is, an antivirus company is probably best at antivirus, and not so great at firewall. Combining a variety of products is just as effective (if not more so) than the previously mentioned security package. Plus, many of the things in the security package you won’t need (like the firewall, but we’ll get to that in another edition).
Following these tips will help protect your system from harm caused by viruses.
Next up we will delve into the world of malware, a.k.a. spyware, adware, etc. — BRANDON SAVAGE
Brandon Savage has worked as a technician for University of the Pacific fixing student machines and now runs his own tech service, Savage Support.
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Also, for spyware Spybot Search & Destroy is probably the best free tool out there.
http://www.safer-networking.org/
First I have heard about Free AVG not working!! It has constantly preformed without error for some time. Also, if you are using Windows Millennium PC that is a sign that you are in the dark. Windows Millennium was a mistake.
I recommend:
Free AVG
Spyblaster
Adaware
Spybot Search and Destroy
and a firewall like ZoneAlarm or PC Tools Firewall
I agree, that’s an awfully harsh hit on AVG Free Edition. It’s been stellar for me, far less of a system hog than Norton or McAfee ever were, and the price is definitely right.
We use NOD32 in a school environment and love it. I have to admit, it is great, and it is low on the resource use as well, you wont even notice it running.
Right, so I guess I get to be the first one to say it:
Thank god I use Macs!
Just to clarify…this war is only being waged under the hood of our computer if you are working on a Windows PC. Macs do not typically have these problems or require these types of computer-slowing, performance reducing, system draining web-condoms. This isn’t hype, it is just the truth.
– MDT
I’ll second the statement that AVG Free doesn’t catch everything- i’ve already had a really nasty virus slip one past the goalie.
So far, Avast! has been pretty solid, catching many things after I switched that AVG missed
Been using AVG on several computers for years and never had a single thing slip through…
Mike and MDT. Good points both of you. Lets write our own tutorial.
Step 1:
Buy a mac
Step 2:
Oh, wait, there is no step 2.
This isn’t meant to be arrogant, but it is the truth. I installed antivirus software on my mac about 5 years ago. The only thing it ever did for me was bug me every 6 months to update it. That took exactly 1 year for me to delete from my system and I have never looked back.
Another thing that one should do to protect one’s computer is avoid using Internet Explorer for anything other than eCommerce sites and sites that you absolutely trust not to screw you. Even sites that you trust can sometimes accidentally allow banner ads that can mess with your computer. Switch to Firefox or Opera and you’ll be much less susceptible to a lot of the nasty stuff out there on the web.
Nothing catches everything. “You get what you pay for.” Not true when talking about anti-viruses. You can pay out the ass for crappy anti-virus. AVG is good, I’m not sure where Brandon gets his data from. Avast is good too.
What do you guys think about ClamWin Anti Virus? I use it because it’s free and open source. Am I putting false hope into it?
“You get what you pay for”: Buy a Mac.
People just can’t stand it when they hear this…but it’s the truth:
Buy a Macintosh. Problem solved.
It really is that easy.
Free AVG not working??? Windows Millennium??? Where in the world do you get this stuff.
No Anti-Virus software will provide 100% protection from viruses. I got tired of paying for virus protection, so I started using AVG. Is it necessarily the best? No, but it’s better than a lot of the options out there, and I’ve never had a problem.
And for you Mac users who keep claiming that you don’t need to worry about viruses, grow up. I remember working with Macs in schools as long as 15 years ago and even back then they used virus scanners because viruses existed for Macs.
I’ve heard good things about NOD32, but I have to disagree with some statements like, “3. Which antivirus is best? There is much debate on this subject. For our personal opinion, we like NOD32 because it involves what is known as heuristics.”
Every Anti virus program I’ve come across uses Heuristic scanning. So this is silly. Then there’s this doosy: “We wouldn’t put AVG Free Edition on our Windows Millennium PC. It’s not that it is bad (though it is). It’s that it gives you a false sense of security and doesn’t catch everything (or close to everything).”
I’d say on AVERAGE, most anti-virus programs catch about 80% of all viruses that get executed on your system. Now when I say executed, I mean that you downloaded a virus from say “Limewire” for example, you run the file, it’s a virus, 8 out of 10 times, your anti-virus program will catch and stop it. Why it may not catch it, I think the main reason is because the virus is “new” or has never been caught in the wild.
While Heuristic scanning does help catch unknown viruses, it’s pretty much hit or miss.
Some of the best advice I’ve gotten from my IT buddies has been, MAKE BACKUPS OF YOUR DATA THAT YOU CARE ABOUT, and don’t open files you don’t know where they came from.
I run AVG because it’s a quiet program. It caught a virus for me once (I was sure it was a virus at the time) and it missed another which turned out to be one of the Sony AudioCD Rootkits, at the time it was a new thing and I don’t think any anti-virus would of caught it. (AVG will catch it now, I keep the audioCD for testing)
AVG is Free, and if you add knowledge + prevention = priceless.
Don’t give into the hype, do your own reasearch and decide for yourself. AVG works for me. It might not work for you, and the only GOOD thing about viruses now a days, is they aren’t as common as adware. Viruses try to destroy your system, and Adware tries to make you do stuff you don’t want too. I guess Malware would be viruses that try to keep your system running and steal your passwords, etc. I’m going to Wikipedia.
I’ll echo the sentiments of this article. Nod32 is by far the finest anti-virus program out there. In addition to awesome detection and prevention, it has a small footprint (that is, it doesn’t take up a lot of RAM or CPU), plays very well with other programs, and is not prone to corruption or uninstallation problems (like Norton and McAfee). I remove viruses and spyware as part of my living, and Nod32 is the program installed on my computers at home.
@mikeyrock: Spybot is a great tool as far as free anti-spyware goes, but the spyware market has come to a point where small development companies simply cannot keep up. People shouldn’t reply on free anti-spyware anymore.
@Tallanvor: I remember working with Macs in schools as long as 15 years ago and even back then they used virus scanners because viruses existed for Macs.
And we’re supposed to trust you because the last time you touched a Mac was 15 years ago?
There are no viruses, trojans, etc. in the wild for Mac OS X. Period. End of story. No extra software or subscriptions required.
@lazyazz: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,125772-page,8/article.ht…
I’ve used many antivirus apps including: AVG, Avast, Comodo, PC Tools, Norton, NOD 32, AntiVir, BitDefender, and others but my favorite seems to be Kaspersky. It has the best detection rate of viruses and is easy on system resources – plus is works well with Vista.
@oncewascool I know what WinME is, my point is that it is 7 years old, a piece of crap even in 2k, and unsupported. If this guy is comparing software that is 7 years old (or from 7 years ago) something is wrong.
@CACajun: haha, i’m all for Macs, but yer silly.
@Mike, MDT, & gundark: careful. i’m not a mac basher & i def. feel better cruising the net on my imac over my frankenstein xp machine. but don’t think you’re immune. there have already been worms written for os x (such as renapo: http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/shrenepoa.html ) & there is much concern that the “herd immunity” will disappear quickly if mac users aren’t a little more vigilant about protecting their systems.
as the sysadmin writes in this article, “We want to be ready for the first big Macintosh virus — because it will come. Some day, somebody will say ‘I am going to create a headline and write a virus for Mac’” – http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Mac-community-mu…
this is my favorite – mac users too smug over security – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4609968.stm
the articles are a bit old, but the message rings true. the idea is take precautions now so that when immunity disappears, it will not spread like wildfire like the old unix bugs & the windows bugs. there’s no harm in running a virus sweep – even if you are on arguably the safest os on the market.
Hey Mac people. Here’s a thought for you guys: Some of us use our computers for more than pretty graphics, spread sheets and iWhatevers. Some of us use them for programming (yes, I know you can develop on a mac — however, I’m going to assume that developing software for a M$ machine might be a little difficult, not to mention the pretty anemic Mac software market) and some of us like to game (and no, I’m not blowing more money on a crappy console or even a good one). Love to see you play the just released games on a Mac. I guess you can’t huh?
So please, get off your high horses.
For me? I use Windoze for gaming. Everything else? It’s Linux.
Oh yeah, and I can build a far more powerful computer and update my hardware when I want if I stick to the PC platform.
@lazyazz: The article is saying, AVG is so “Bad” I wouldn’t even bother to install it on Windows ME. Which we all know is the biggest piece of tripe that it’s just an insult.
It’s not a comparison, read the article again.
@lazyazz: Sorry, My bad! I misunderstood..
Norton has a well deserved but outdated reputation for hogging system resources. The latest version (Norton Internet Security 2007) and the new Norton 360 product (which includes online backup) are much, much leaner and faster than their predecessors. Symantec rewrote them from the ground up with performance in mind.
@Android8675 Huh? You might want to read it again.
@CaliforniaCajun: There are no viruses, trojans, etc. in the wild for Mac OS X. Period. E̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶.̶…yet.
One could buy a Mac, or one could just use the internet and know what they’re doing. In the last decade of owning a PC, I’ve had as many viruses, trojans, spyware, etc on this as I had on all of the G5s in the computer lab I managed…ZERO.
Legitimately, I don’t know how people can infect their computers so thoroughly. I could understand the odd spyware here and there, the stupid AIM link that the 14 year old clicked on from her friend, etc, but there really is no reason why so many MS users are infected. I don’t have any antivirus software and I don’t plan on it. I realize that when it comes to these thing I’m the “tech friend” and in all senses a power user, but the problem no one wants to talk about are users no educating themselves to make smart decisions.
Truthfully, there is no better way for a user to protect themself than to just know what to look for. I have not had an Anti-Virus program, nor spyware removal tool installed for years. In those several years I only got 1 virus. I do know of people that have had active subscriptions to Norton, or used AVG and would still call me to come clean the virus out of their system.
If the end-user doesn’t take precautions, and clicks every window they see, no program will keep them safe.
@enm4r
Wait till you have kids.
How does ClamAV for Windows stand up against AVG? I have it running on my Mom’s system, and she hasn’t had any issues, but she’s far from a power user. Also, another way of dealing with Viruses besides buying a Mac is not buying anything; install Linux. No, it’s not for everyone, but it’s for many more people than you think, especially now with distros like Ubuntu’s 7.04.
My Mom doesn’t know it, but she’s dual booting, and she can do everything she needs to do in Linux, while not having to worry about viruses, adware, etc. I plan on letting her try it out by teaching her how to start it (at the Grub menu press the down arrow and press enter), and then if she doesn’t like it she can just boot normally. If you don’t want to go to that trouble install Linux on a flashdrive or run it from a LiveCD – you may not have to worry about AVG working well or not.
fak3r
@trai_dep: …or don’t buy anything, just install Linux.
That Windows ME line was a joke.
(I hope)
Some clarification (I’m the one who wrote the article):
The reference to Millenium edition was meant as sarcasm. I haven’t run ME EVER in my life. I never would.
As for being a bit harsh on AVG, those comments are probably correct. My complaints with AVG is that it is a resource hog and that the company that writes AVG doesn’t seem to keep up very fast with the newest viruses. Having worked with people who do security-related work, and play with virus samples, in test after test, NOD32, followed by Symantec, were the fastest to detect and clean a newly discovered virus time after time. AVG was typically the slowest to adopt new definitions and in fact sometimes didn’t even catch new, dangerous viruses. That is why I recommend NOD32 or Symantec.
Next time instead of attacking a particular antivirus I’ll just recommend particular ones instead.
@lazyazz: You let a kid use an unsafe computer yet you don’t let your kid drive your car.
Don’t let kids get at anything that kids can destroy. If they want a computer, give them one that doesn’t have an Internet connection, or if it must, give them one that doesn’t allow IE to run or connect to the net.
@cynon: Hey, not everyone cares about games. But my recommendation is still to get a Mac; you can run most all the software you could need on it all day long — and then dualboot into windows to run a game.
Firefox browser has some VERY handy tools that make it so much more superior to IE. IE has tab browsing now, and some pop blockers in it, but the Firefox plugins are amazing.
1. Goto firefox.com. Download the browser and install it.
2. Open the program, goto the Tools menu and select Addons.
3. Click on the Get More Extensions link at the bottom of the little popup window.
4. At the Extension site, search for and install the following plugins : Adblock Plus, Adblock Filterset, NoScript.
Adblock will automagically understand when a site is pushing ads in your face and block them. You won’t even see the frame half the time… It is my favorite ever, and you can rightclick on the ads it misses to catch those as well. It even blocks those stupid Myspace ads! (not that I use Myspace…)
NoScript is far more powerful. It blocks all sorts of popups and javascripts in webpages. The default setting is that each time you go to a new site, you have to add it to your “whitelist” of approved sites; otherwise they don’t function properly. This is a good thing – when weird or phishing sites overlay themselves on the legit ones, you have to manually approve them. This is one of my favorite extensions as well.
Firefox helps you browse in a more safe manner than IE. It isn’t perfect, but it is much much better.
@Gundark
Actually,
Step 1
Buy a mac
Step 2
Get you identity stolen because your computer illiterate and dont know about SWF and Jar viruses, but especially SWF.[Flash animations]
Macs are great if your job doesnt require graphic design or a computer…..
If you just need a web appliance…or whatnot….
By the way, symantec makes antivirus software for mac….hmmm i wonder why…..
And as for graphic design….yea right….if you run photoshop or illustrator on a mac all it does is that it crashes left and right….a really poor work computer indeed…
And the worst part about mac os is that there is a thing called a soft crash, where the program crashes, but doesnt tell you anything about it…..so your actually second guessing yourself if you actually opened the program….
Its actually REALLY easy to break a mac
Here are some tips
1. Insert a mini-cd into the cd drive
2. Go to http://www.ebay.com….in safari
3. Go to sites with flash ads thinking its safe since you thing there are no mac viruses.
There even many funny programs to hack unprotected pcs….like my favorite is kill all apps, which kills the finder too, so you’ll by scratching your head, why are you starting at the blue screen with everything gone….if you get access to a machine, add it to the startup processes, and it will play havoc on most mac users since they are computer illiterate and never actually seen the terminal…
So as you can see, no computer is safe, even linux has an antivirus……
Also, routers stop most hackers dead in their tracks…
@Buy-A-Mac People: The only reason there are little to none viruses for Macs is BECAUSE most people and businesses don’t use them.
Therefore, encouraging everyone to buy a Mac for virus protect defeats the purpose.
@Buran
Okay Dr. Spock, Thanks for the parenting advice.
And who said I don’t let my kids drive? 6 yr olds have excellent response time.
My god, WHY WHY WHY do Mac people insist on telling everyone to buy a Mac?? Why do you care? It’s like a freaking cult. Stop it! “Buy a Mac”, “Macs don’t have these problems”, it’s like a dumb parrot. Get over it…not everyone wants a damned Mac. 90% of the world uses PCs. Why can’t you Mac people just be happy with your 10%, and let it be, instead of hooting and hollering every time a story like this comes around? WHOOO CAAAAARRRES.
@shdwsclan: “By the way, Symantec makes anti-virus software for mac….hmmm i wonder why…..”
Honestly, it’s so that you don’t get a PC virus from a user and then transfer it to another user. Look at the databases for mac anti-virus programs, and you’ll find that they’re primarily composed of definitions for Windows viruses.
tedyc03
If you want a resource hog try F Secure. Along with the system crashes and the 5 viruses/trojans (that Free AVG caught), have not had a problem since I switched.
Buying a Mac does not solve this problem.
If everyone bought a mac and the numbers switched to 90% mac 10% pc.. where do you think all the programers of virus’s trojens and spyware would spend their time and resources attacking?
Thats right.. a MAC and you can bet your ass that the MAC would be just as compromised and hole filled that Windows is and that Antivirus software and spyware / firewall software would quickly be put to good use.
So get off your high horses and talk to the people with the real numbers like its your OS saving you.. no its the lack of actually targets that saves you!
@The Nature Boy: My god, WHY WHY WHY do Mac people insist on telling everyone to buy a Mac??
Because honestly, we’re tired of having to come over to your desk and fix your computer after it got stuffed up with a virus again.
@shdwsclan: Also, routers stop most hackers dead in their tracks…uhh…watch out for port scans & the notorious port 113.