Protecting your computer against viruses and malware

If you own a computer, chances are someday

it will get infected with a virus or malware.  Even with a corporate style anti-virus software running on your system, you are not protected against all threats, because those threats are always changing.   However, there are some things you can do to help lessen  the chance of getting infected or help recover quickly from an attack.

(1) Make sure you are running an anti-virus software and that you update it regularly.   I have never found one anti-virus software that protects against all threats, so it is hard to recommend which one would be the best.   On my personal laptop, I am using Microsoft's Security Essentials, mainly because it is free but also because it does do a really good job of protecting my system.  I have also had some great success with Kaspersky recently.   Regardless of which anti-virus software you use, you must make sure that the virus definitions are up to date.   Most anti-virus software allows you customize how often the software searches for updated virus definitions.   Back in the day, we use to set it to update once a day.  However, today the threats emerge so quickly that I have taken to running the updates every hour on some networks.   You have to be careful to understand your bandwidth limitations and how performing frequent updates could have an adverse effect on your network.  Referring to our last blog: Don't be a bandwidth hog.   But keep your system protected.

(2) Make sure to disable auto-run on USB drives.  Many viruses get spread by infecting a memory stick or usb hard drive.  If your computer is set to enable auto-run for these devices, the infection can easily get transferred to your computer.  To learn more about the auto-run function and how to disable it, take a look at this article by Microsoft:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

(3) Make sure to be careful to interrogate hyperlinks in websites and emails.  It used to be common that viruses were distributed in email attachments.  And although this method of delivery still occurs, it is much less common than it use to be, mainly because anti-virus software has become really good at protecting against that kind of attack.  What is more common today is to get an email with a hyperlink that takes you to a location that contains the malicious software.  Usually, clicking on the hyperlink will allow the site to install the payload on your system.   Here is an example of how to interrogate a hyperlink.   Take a look at this link:  http://www.google.com

If you hover over this link without clicking, your browser should report to you where this link is being directed.   Although the text the link display says it is going to www.google.com, if you hover over it you will see that it is actually going to direct you to www.binkleyit.com.   Now, our website won't infect your computer with a virus, but if we were up to no good we could be redirecting you to a location that could install a virus or malware onto your system.

 

(4) Get in the habit of closing pop up windows using the "red X".   A common method of tricking a user into installing malicious software on their system is by displaying a pop-up window that appears to be a dialog box containing OK / CANCEL buttons.   In reality, these pop-ups are usually just a picture of dialog box that has an action mapped to it that installs the malicious software when the image is clicked.   Instead of clicking on the image's CANCEL button, close the entire window by clicking on the window's close icon, usually depicted as a red X.

 

(5) Make sure your software is up to date.   Most attacks occur because an exploit in the operating system or a specific software package has been found.  Software companies will frequently release updates to fix these exploits.   Make sure that you have updates enabled and are frequently verifying that the updates are being applied.

(6) Be aware of what is going on with your computer.   It is rare to be infected with a virus or malware without it showing some sort of sign that you are infected.    These signs could be a slowing of the system, extra icons on the desktop or new toolbars in your browser windows.   Pay attention to these changes and don't dismiss them.   They are usually a sign that someone other than you has installed software on your system.   The quicker you can detect the infection, the easier it usually is to recover.

(7) Make sure that your system restore software is enabled.   This won't protect you from getting viruses or malware, but it can be a useful tool for recovering from an infection.  In a lot of cases, if the infection is detected quickly enough, you can run a system restore from the previous day and have the system restore to a point before getting infected.

(8) Make sure that you are backing up all your data frequently.   Again, this won't protect you from getting a virus or malware, but it will ensure that if you are ever attacked by a serious infection, your data will not be at risk because you have copies of it somewhere else.  Programs such as Mozy and Carbonite make it very easy to ensure that your data is safe.  Both OSX and Windows have built in backup utilities that make backing up to external hard drives very simple.   There should be no reason to not have reliable backups.

 

As always, if you need any help learning more about protecting yourself from viruses and malware, or if you need help recovering from an attack, contact Binkley IT Consulting and we can help.