Safe Internet Blog

In 2010 Internet will be accessed by more people than ever from more different devices than ever.

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and others continue to grow. The Swedish teachers union has actually suggested to make “Social Network Knowledge” a subject for the national curriculum. A more important subject is probably the inherent risks associated with social networks.

Social networks being targeted by hackers was already happening in 2009 and it will certainly grow even more in 2010. More and more networks allow 3rd party applications to run on their platforms. The open approach to 3rd party application creates potential opportunities to distribute malware, which has already been illustrated by several Facebook account hackings in 2009.

Some applications in social networks might not harm your computer, but still be very annoying. A good example of this are games on social networks that attract a lot of players and then require players to purchase things to be able to progress in the game. Even though this does not force you do anything, it could still become very addictive for some users.

Social networks’ use as distribution points for malware, spam and other rogue software are all examples of security risks associated with social networks.

Other forms of social networks will most certainly be affected by malware and spam in 2010.Instant messaging (IM:ing) is also a kind of of social network and is suffering from unsolicited contacts made to existing users. This is called SPIMMING for short.

Malware in social networks can be more than an annoyance, with more and more people posting sensitive information online this data can be harvested, sold or abused.

To summarize the growing use of online social networks will also increase the risk of being infected or at least affected by malware and SPAM. The staff at digital defender recommends all users of social networks to not open emails by unknown users, be very careful with which applications you sign up to and never ever give away your password.

Installing a good antivirus and a good firewall will also help to keep your computer safe. If you have need for more ideas or recommendations about security software please contact us at info@digital-defender.com or go to our website http://www.digital-defender.com to read more.

Stay safe online in 2010

Best Regards,

Kerry Reid

digital defender

Safe Internet Blog antispyware, antivirus, facebook, malware, security risks, social networks

The shopping season is over and the new year has begun. But keeping safe online is more important than ever. Internet is still something very scary for many users and experts believe that 2010 will be the year of the cyber criminal. The staff at digital defender would like to share some simple tips that anyone can use and that we use in our daily work and private lives to stay safer online.

1. Better be safe than sorry

If something looks too good to be true it probably is. Emails offering to enhance body parts, make you lose weight or offering you the chance to untold riches are 99,99% untrue. Do not answer these emails, just remove them or add them to your spamfilter’s blacklist.

2. Always protect your identity online

Create an email account at gmail, hotmail or whichever free email provider you prefer that you can use when you need to sign up to a services you are not 100% percent sure about. If the site owner starts to spam you or send a lot of unnecessary information then it will intrude in your daily life. You should be very careful whom you share your personal mail address with.

3. Google it before you try it

If you have found a new software that sounds really interesting or a website for that matter and you would really like to try it out, then Google it before you try it. If there are no negative reviews then you are a little bit more safe then before.

4. Https is your friend

When you are paying for something online and it says https and a padlock in the browser line then you are using an encrypted connection. This will make sure that you send the information to the right party and only the people you want to send it to.

5. Never, ever open attached files if you are not 100% sure of what they contain

I remember once I worked at an IT-company where the boss for some reason opened an attached file that was called openme.exe, which was obviously not good. The attached virus destroyed his computer more or less.

6. Create good passwords

Typically most people have one password that they try to use whenever they can, since it is easier to remember that way. But imagine that you would have just one key that would open anything that you owned or worked with. I would not be comfortable with that. There is a lot of good software out there that will help you store multiple passwords and you only need to remember one to access the rest.

7. Keep a backup

When disaster strikes, it’s good to be able to get your valuable pictures, music and other things back. Backup systems today can be used by anyone without any special knowledge and they are getting cheaper by the minute. Online and offline backups have their advantages and disadvantages. Choose one that you like and stick with it.

8. Update your drivers and software

There is no such thing as a 100% secure software. Software is always updated to ensure that any discovered security holes are patched. Having the latest version of your software and drivers also ensures that your computer runs smoothly. If you think this is a lot of work, there are various kinds of software that can handle this for you.

9. Use a good antivirus and antispyware software

This is a hard one. There are a ton of software out there. There are free versions and paid versions, some are included with your computer and some are not. Our recommendations from digital defender is that you should run a software that you feel comfortable with. It should also as a minimum have: a real-time element that always monitors your computer, frequent update and an easy to use interface. Our experience is that if you do not understand your software then you will not use it.

10. USB drives

We move, more and more data around with USB drives and their storage capacity is growing exponentially while prices drop at the same rate. What many people forget is that if you use your drive at a couple of different computers it is a very good change that you have picked up what ever was on that machine (good or bad). Different computers, with different users pick up different sorts of bugs. If move or share information with your USB drive frequently then ensure you scan it.

Cybersecurity is an enormous are and it is impossible to become an expert overnight. We would like to share these simple things to help you surf safer. We hope that you make use of them and wish you a safe online experience in 2010.

Greetings from the digital defender team

http://www.digital-defender.com

Safe Internet Blog antispyware, antivirus, computer protection, cybercrime, cybercriminals, internet, internet security, online, online security, viruses

The shopping season is over and the new year has begun. But keeping safe online is more important than ever. Many experts believe that 2010 will be the year of the cyber criminal and Internet is still something very “scary” for many users out there. The staff at digital defender would like to share some simple tips that anyone can use and that we use in our daily work and private lives to stay safer online.

1. Better be safe than sorry

If something looks too good to be true it probably is. Emails offering to enhance body parts, make you lose weight or offering you the chance to untold riches are 99,99% untrue. Do not answer these emails, just remove them or add them to your spamfilter’s blacklist.

2. Always protect your identity online

Create an email account at gmail, hotmail or whichever free email provider you prefer that you can use when you need to sign up to a services you are not 100% percent sure about. If the site owner starts to spam you or send a lot of unnecessary information then it will intrude in your daily life. You should be very careful whom you share your personal mail address with.

3. Google it before you try it

If you have found a new software that sounds really interesting or a website for that matter and you would really like to try it out, then Google it before you try it. If there are no negative reviews then you are a little bit more safe then before.

4. Https is your friend

When you are paying for something online and it says https and a padlock in the browser line then you are using an encrypted connection. This will ensure that your information is only sent to the party you are trying to send it to.

5. Never, ever open attached files if you are not 100% sure of what they contain

I remember once I worked at an IT-company where the boss for some reason opened an attached file that was called openme.exe, which was obviously not good. The attached virus destroyed his computer more or less.

6. Create good passwords

Typically most people have one password that they try to use whenever they can, since it is easier to remember that way. But imagine that you would have just one key that would open anything that you owned or worked with. I would not be comfortable with that. There is a lot of good software out there that will help you store multiple passwords and you only need to remember one to access the rest.

7. Keep a backup

When disaster strikes, it’s good to be able to get your valuable pictures, music and other things back. Backup systems today can be used by anyone without any special knowledge and they are getting cheaper by the minute. Online and offline backups have their advantages and disadvantages. Choose one that you like and stick with it.

8. Update your drivers and software

There is no such thing as a 100% secure software. Software is always updated to ensure that any discovered security holes are patched. Having the latest version of your software and drivers also ensures that your computer runs smoothly. If you think this is a lot of work, there are various kinds of software that can handle this for you.

9. Use a good antivirus and antispyware software

This is a hard one. There are a ton of software out there. There are free versions and paid versions, some are included with your computer and some are not. Our recommendations from digital defender is that you should run a software that you feel comfortable with. It should also as a minimum have: a real-time element that always monitors your computer, frequent update and an easy to use interface. Our experience is that if you do not understand your software then you will not use it.

10. USB drives

We move, more and more data around with USB drives and their storage capacity is growing exponentially while prices drop at the same rate. What many people forget is that if you use your drive at a couple of different computers it is a very good change that you have picked up what ever was on that machine (good or bad). Different computers, with different users pick up different sorts of bugs. If move or share information with your USB drive frequently then ensure you scan it.

Cybersecurity is an enormous are and it is impossible to become an expert overnight. We would like to share these simple things to help you surf safer. We hope that you make use of them and wish you a safe online experience in 2010.

Greetings from the digital defender team

http://www.digital-defender.com

Safe Internet Blog antispyware, antivirus, computer protection, cybercrime, cybercriminals, internet, internet security, online, online security, viruses

All of us are interested in owning a PC clean of viruses and try to protect it as good as we may. Horrible viruses are a constant threat to PCs and if they manage to infect our machines they could cause untold damage.

Some computer users find that they lose all their important information that is stored on the computer. A lot of valuable information may disappear but there are some simple and easy things you may follow in order to keep your computer safe.

You should not open e-mail enclosures if you do not recognise the source they’ve come from. It is a known way for viruses to make contact your PC because when you open the enclosure, the virus gets active. (Handy Tip:There are many free anti-virus download programs that are just as good as the paid for versions.)

A good email spam protection tool is recommended. These tools help reduce the constant onslaught of spam emails. Spam is a major problem for all PC users and may harbor nasty viruses.

It really makes good sense in downloading and installing a reputable anti virus software tool if you like to surf the web or email on a regular basis.

Make certain you have auto update feature switched on after installing anti virus software. You will not be protected to the full if you do not carry out this operation. Anything we may do to stop viruses we must do to protect our PCs. {All the updates are down-loadable from the internet or automatically from inside the application} Use the web to search for important updates for your software. The self updating database wizard is available in the better anti virus packages so look out for this feature.

Social network sites such as Bebo are a haven for virus eruptions so be careful when receiving files. These seemingly harmless files can be riddled with harmful viruses.
Make sure you scan the local hard drives on your PC on a regular basis. This helps to stave off computer viruses from being activated on your PC system.

Make certain you read up on the latest fix updates. Your software provider will release security fixes and upgrades. It is important to install them, as they are aimed at making up for security exposure. – when you install them the protection level rises to a maximum.

Safe Internet Blog ant virus, anti virus, antivirus, software

Disk Image is one method of storing group files on Mac. If you’re attempting to burn a Dmg file on a Windows PC, chances are you will only get frustrated since the file is practically alien to Windows. Some suggest that you could just rename the file extension to .iso and burn it using any type of software. Unfortunately, with double layered DVD’s, you can’t really perform this function.

So what happens now? The fact is there are a number of softwares that you can use for this particular task that include:

Transmac

Through Disk Utility, the program allows you to write or burn dmg files on Windows. It allows you to write on DVD’s, CD’s and DL DVD’s. A 15-day trial version is downloadable and if you find it to your liking, then you can easily purchase the program. The system requires any version of Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Server 2008 or 2003. To give you a full view of the program, Transmac is capable of:

Reading and burning high density floppies and disk images

Supporting HFS, HFS+ and HFSX volumes

Mac files from boot drive can be retrieved.

Allowing creation, reading and burning of Mac disk images

Reading and writing Mac format disks, DVD’s and CD’s

Enabling you to compress and expand dmg files

Permitting you to format disk for Mac

Reading hybrid CD’s and Mac multisession

PowerISO

This program is another software designed to burn dmg file on a Windows PC. The software is capable of extracting data in dmg files and burning the dmg file to a CD or DVD. It can also open, extract, edit, compress, encrypt and convert ISO files. PowerISO allows for the use of Unicode eliminating potential problems with international characters. The program can also process CD-ROM image files such as ISO, DAA, BIN and DMG. All in all, ISO files can be created, converted, extracted and burned using this program.

There are also other programs in the market that will allow you to write or burn Mac dmg image file on a Windows PC. If you are unsure yet of what to purchase, then it is best to first browse around and read different reviews of softwares. Trial versions are also available so that should make your search easier. You might also want to be careful when downloading files since some viruses are transported this way. To alert you in case of virus threats, make sure that your antivirus is constantly updated.

Safe Internet Blog antivirus, mac, microsoft windows xp, registry cleaner for xp, speed up vista, speed up windows

Starting your PC one day, you find yourself face to face with a new program –  Personal Antivirus – that you don’t remember installing. First of all, Personal Antivirus is not an antivirus software.

This software is actually dangerous for your computer, infecting your hard drive with a Vundo Trojan which is basically a rogue anti-spyware software. Symptoms of the virus include the constant pop-ups and threat alerts with the main purpose of getting you to buy a license for the Personal Antivirus.

This being said, don’t click any of the links featured by the program.

Time and patience are the primary requirements if you ever decide to remove the program on your own.

Your best bet would be to download a reliable anti-spyware program and running it in your computer to detect and get rid of the Trojan. As mentioned above, manual deletion is possible.

However, this option requires computer know-how; otherwise you will only be placing your files at further risk by attempting to handle vital system files. Keep in mind that deleting even one critical file could cause your computer to crash, and fixing a Vundo Trojan would require deletion of numerous registry files, hidden files and processes that it can even be confusing for a computer expert. However, if you really want to learn how to remove the software all on your own, then these are the most basic things you have to do:

First, you will have to block the Personal Antivirus domains, remove all the processes related to the Personal Antivirus software and delete all of the registries connected with the program. Some known registries include:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstallPersonal Antivirus_is1 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetEnumRootLEGACY_ITGRDENGINE 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesITGrdEngine

The list of files you will need to search and delete will be numerous and some of them may even take the form of genuine program files. This is the primary reason why manual removal is overlooked for a software removal tool.

Also, you must note that if removed incorrectly, the virus has the capability to reboot, meaning, restarting your computer will only bring Personal Antivirus back in your system. Worse, you might delete important files that could cause your PC to crash.

The program Spyware Doctor with Antivirus Software can prove useful when solving this problem.

Still, other softwares are available to serve the same purpose.

Once you’ve successfully removed Personal Antivirus from your system, upgrade your PC security by making sure that your antivirus is up-to-date. Regular scans are also necessary as well as being careful about what you download, whether it’s an mp3, a movie or some other type of file.

Safe Internet Blog anti-virus software, antivirus, microsoft antivirus, personal anti-virus, windows xp anti-virus

To have your computer infected with spyware and adware can be a nuisance at best and significantly reduce your computers performance at worst.

If spyware or adware manages to install itself on your computer, then symptoms of the infection will soon start to become apparent. You may find that your internet browser homepage keeps defaulting to an unwanted spammy page, you could find that pop up ads keep presenting themselves, and you might even find that your personal and financial details are being logged without your knowledge. These are just a few of the problems that result from having adware and spyware on your computer.

If you start to experience any such problems, or, indeed, any other problems on your computer that you can not otherwise account for, then you must find a way to check your computer for spyware and adware, and make the necessary removals should any be found.

First you might be wondering though, how this unwanted malware got on to your computer. Well, you may have visited unreputable websites, you could have downloaded infected files, or it is even possible that you have unwittingly agreed to their installation.

If you have antivirus protection software installed on your computer, you might be wondering how adware and spyware have managed to get around it. Well, the truth is that, most often, antivirus applications do not come equipped to protect against these types of malware.

If you have old antivirus protection software, then it is quite possible that you won’t have any of the required tools for spyware and adware removal. Some of the top end antivirus software packages do normally have some form of adware and spyware removal included but, as they are a just included as a bonus, they are far from comprehensive.

Worry not though, as specialist spyware and adware programs can be downloaded for free. You can use these to can your computer for unwanted adware and spyware. If it finds any then it will alert you to them and ask them what action you want to take, i.e. removal or quarantine. There are various company’s providing software such as this for free, but most computer experts agree that ‘Ad-Aware’ is currently the best one .

A pop up blocker is an additional measure that you should consider, as having one will lessen the likelihood of you accidentally installing more adware or spyware. These are also free to install, and are even built into certain internet toolbars, such as those provided by Google and MSN.

Finally, as a rule, always use secure web browsers such as Firefox or Opera when surfing the net. These popular web browsers are great at blocking pop ups, and spyware.

And that’s it! Not difficult, right? By following just a few simple steps then you can keep your computer totally free of adware and spyware. Don’t delay in implementing this advice as the longer you leave it to act, the higher the likelihood of some serious problem arising, if it hasn’t already that is.

Learn More : Spyware Adware Removal

Safe Internet Blog adware, adware removal, anti virus, antivirus, computers, malware, software, spyware, spyware removal

I always receive phone calls from friends, families and work colleagues, few minutes into the conversation, they pause and ask me this same questions I have had to answer 2000 times in my career “Why Is My Computer Running Slow?”.

The simplest way to deal with this question is to use a simple analogy, and my favorite analogy is a car. People are familiar with car services. If you service car on a regular basis, you won’t have to worry about problems with the car, and your car will performs more efficiently.

Same thing applies to our PC. Over a long period of usage people couldn’t care less about “servicing” their system. Some of my friends and family don’t even have anti spyware installed on their system.

It should be illegal not to have antivirus, anti spyware, or firewall installed on your computer in this day and age.Previously, these malicious software (spyware, adware, keyloggers, virus etc) were developed by smart kids. These people were bored, and most of them hated Microsoft (I don’t know why – but most likely because Microsoft sells lots of software).

Today these malicious programs are created by huge network of criminals for profit. They develop spyware software to spy on your browsing habit. They use adware to display advertisement to your browsing habit, the more adverts you see and click on, the more money they make. On the other hand if they corrupt your system with a malicious software, they can also sell you another program to remove the software, because only them know how to remove what they installed on your computer.

If you are still asking yourself “why is my computer running slow”, then do yourself a favor, remove all the malicious (rogue) software on your computer, delete all the junk files, fix the computer registry, remove the start up items and maximize the memory use on your computer. Sometimes none of this will work especially if you have a very old computer. In that case I suggest you buy a new computer.

If you do not have a clue of how to fix all the computer problems I stated above, I suggest you watch my video tutorials that shows you step by step how to improve the efficiency of any computer system with point and click solutions.

Click here to download tools and resources to optimize your computer.

Safe Internet Blog adware, antispyware, antivirus, computer performance, fix slow computer, increase computer speed, slow computer, spyware, virus, windows optimization

Any idea of what the best antivirus software is? The fact of the matter is, whether you like it or not, there is no best antivirus software or program whatsoever. It all depends on your needs. There is one person who says that that program works perfectly for him but you can find somebody who will say it doesn’t work for him or the other way around. That’s why, to determine which anti virus program is really best for you, you can either compare antivirus software first and/or you can try to download and install free trial versions of some anti virus one at a time and try them out. If you think it’s not giving you what you want, you can uninstall it anytime and proceed to other programs until you can find what you are really looking for or what you really need.

Here are some of the antivirus programs that you might want to check out:

Trend Micro Antivirus

A lot of Trend Micro antivirus reviews have been made regarding this program. Some users will say that it is very convenient to use and it has an affordable price. Most antivirus programs require you a lot of memory and disk space to keep it up and running. Do you think Trend Micro is also like that?

Kaspersky Antivirus

My personal favorite and I think I’m going to make my own Kaspersky Antivirus review. When I bought my first computer just a few months ago, the antivirus program pre-installed was Kaspersky and of course, it was a limited trial version. I was really very impressed by how Kaspersky and guard your computer from various virus attacks and spy ware. It can automatically run in the background and the thing is, starting up your computer is not that slow. Kaspersky eats up little memory and it only requires minimal disk space. When my free trial version’s about to expire, I bought the full version from a store. I have been using some programs before but I find them too “bulky”, slow and some are great memory eaters. Kaspersky is not.

Safe Internet Blog anti viru, antivirus, compare antivirus software, disk space, kaspersky, Kaspersky Antivirus review, spy ware, spyware, trend micro, Trend Micro antivirus review

To prevent unintended intrusion from the network and internet by using a network firewall is basically very effective. By applying all of it’s list to block packets, programs, and IPs, unwanted intrusion can be lowered by over 80% of the time. But this is true only on certain conditions.

When is a firewall effective?

Firewalls should be tuned for each unique environment in a network. It depends on the behavior of the data exchange between the users and the network or internet that is permitted by the administrator. I think this is the basic conditions a firewall should be installed upon, so as not to set the firewall to a “default-allow” rule, which will practically make the firewall useless.

To make the best of a firewall, it should be set to the “default-deny” rule, with exceptions for a list of IP’s, applications, access types and confirmations, only to the widest range that the company would really need in network and internet access. It’s best to apply the “default-deny” rule with exceptions that’s based only on a daily needs of the users of the network, although a dedicated technical support that’s responsible for intelligent-”allow-rule”-supervision should be available.

This may be the best security firewall system setting besides antivirus implementation.

Why is it not effective?

It’s tempting to think that we’re really under protection. It’s only that not every network owners really dedicate their small portion of investment to the “default-deny” set of rules implementation, because they refuse to have to add additional exceptions in the future upon someone complaining that he can’t use some internet resources.

They even don’t like more on the necessity of having to update rules based on a daily basis. They aim for an easy to implement solution, without having to mess with it later to make it work.

This issue is not there because the system administrator has no idea regarding the case, but rather because it is a common practice. Commercials and marketing sales pitch that don’t want their products to feel hard to be used effectively also play the role.

How can we make it better on our own system?

To get number one firewall solution installed is fine. It’s just that it’s not only that. It demands us to have at least a little knowledge about firewalls, networks, and how they work.

None that I can remember of all vendors is providing that yet, as they leave that for us to do as users. A little priming is crucial once it is running.

We can make use of a free firewall, or you can find a nice and good antivirus firewall software, install and prime it for the best. By watching the video guide, even begginers can use a firewall like a wizard.

If everything’s taken care of well, and we have the fireawall tuned for the best, all we have to do is just relax and enjoy the day. All in all, it’s all what you have worked hard on and earned, I must say?

This is what really counts!

To achieve things that we want, (network computer security is one of it), the major thing to do is ACTION. Now, what are we waiting for? Let’s do it, and relax when you have a secure networking and internet!

Safe Internet Blog antivirus, aol mcafee, computer security, firewall, ranking, zone alarm