Home PC
Security Requires Vigilance
©
2008 All Rights Reserved
For years,
I and many others have been writing about
Internet
viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware and assorted
other
threats, and how to defend against them. But
instead of
getting better, the security situation
seems to be
getting worse. Malware is becoming more
sophisticated and more devious, yet simpler too,
as it
tries to
trick you into doing something you know you
really
shouldn't.
Clickjacking recently emerged as a threat to all
major
browsers.
In this attack, malware installs itself on
your
computer, and creates an invisible button which
hovers
under your mouse pointer. When you click on a
legitimate
link, you are also clicking on that
invisible
button. So your click is essentially
hijacked.
The button, of course, leads you to a
malicious
or phishing site, or performs an unwanted
action.
Simple
tricks can ensnare unwary users. If you get an
email with
your name in the subject line, that does
not make it
safe or legitimate. If you do not
recognize
the sender, do not open it. Just delete it,
no matter
how enticing, intriguing or alarming that
subject
line may be.
Here are
some numbers from a recent survey that
security
company Symantec did. Over 90% of users
surveyed
had an up to date antivirus program, and
almost as
many had antispyware protection. That's
really
good, although I shudder to think of that 10%
of
unprotected surfers. Overall, however, only 21%
thought
their machines were very safe against hackers.
That's
really bad.
To stay
safe online, you should adopt safer surfing
practices.
To begin with, that means you need defense
in depth.
And that means having four or five layers
of
protection on your computer, including an
antivirus
program, at
least two antispyware programs and a
spyware
blocker, a firewall, and updating Windows
along with
everything else. The reason for this is that if
one
layer or program is attacked or compromised, the
other
layers should protect you until
the
publisher issues an update.
Other steps
you can take are getting a HOSTS file,
using the
Firefox browser instead of Internet
Explorer,
following good email practices as well as
changing
your passwords every few months. Also, back
up your
important files regularly.
Be careful
and alert when doing your online banking.
Make sure
you are really on your own, secure banking
site. These
sites use 128 bit SSL encryption which
has never
been broken, in spite of occasional
breathless
reports to the contrary. But that does not
mean you
are safe. The hackers have found ways around
that
encryption, and I am not talking about phishing
sca ms. The
latest such sneaky method is a Trojan
called
Limbo, which creates additional data fields on
the site.
When you fill these fields with your
confidential info, it goes straight to the
hacker.
Soon, your
bank balance could be deflated
considerably. So get to know your bank site, and
be
alert for
any changes. Stay alert for those
ever-present phishing s cams, of course.
We, and
especially our kids, are spending more and
more of our
lives on the Web. Make sure you are
knowledgeable enough to protect yourself, your
family
and your
PC. Learn what to do if disaster strikes,
and how to
recover from it. A good place to start
might be my
article here:
