Computer Security, Viruses
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Simi Sunrise Rotary Speaker - Dennis Atherton How to exist
successfully in today’s connected environment. There exists a basic – inexpensive - two pronged attack that every computer user needs to practice. Anti-Virus Protection and Internet Firewall Protection · Virus Safety – Unprotected – you and your information is at risk 1) There are 3 basic effects that viruses can have on your computer: a) Some viruses are benign – they just want to spread the news and copy themselves to as many computers as possible. These can take up resources and cause e-mail failures, just by taking time away from the tasks that need to be done. b) Some viruses are destructive – they want to erase, corrupt, or change your information in some way. They can erase all contents on your hard drive, they can infect files so that they can’t be opened without spreading the virus to more people c) Some are even more insidious – they can change data in a file or spreadsheet so that you might not know that they were infected. 2) There are many different types of viruses – the most prevalent are: a) Macro Viruses – Mini Programs that run inside another program – and infect the data itself. Word, Excel, and Outlook Macro Viruses are the most prevalent. b) E-Mail Viruses – they come in and are spread by e-mail, most prevalent in computers running Outlook or Outlook Express. c) Traditional Viruses – these are files that are executable – programs – that attach them selves to other programs, and try to infect other computers. These can make their way across a network from a single computer – spread to others by network shares. They can have all of the payload types, and can rapidly destroy information. d) Trojan Horses – these programs run in the background, and send information to someone else about what you are doing. They can send passwords, credit card info, and can allow someone at a distance to run software of their choice on your computer. They can run remote control software and completely take over your computer. 3) Protection – an ongoing challenge a) #1!!!!! – Patch all computers i) Network Operating System Patches – if a network server is in place ii) Operating System Patches for desktop computers iii) Security patches for the ALL Operating Systems, the e-mail program, Internet Browser, and the anti-virus software b) Install and keep updated Anti-Virus Software i) Download and update Virus Definition Files ii) Run Scheduled Scans on hard drives iii) Make sure desktop computers have the Anti-Virus Software running ALL THE TIME, and are set to scan files on opening. 4) Checking for Viruses on a computer without anti-virus software installed. a) On-Line Virus Checking i) Housecall Virus Scanning on Demand - FREE ii) Accessible at www.antivirus.com provided by Trend Software. iii) Will run a virus scan – at no charge – at a single point in time. This will not protect you long-term, but it will allow you to see if there are viruses already infecting your computer, and give you the opportunity to remove them. b) Install Anti-Virus Software i) Power-On Boot from Install Anti- virus floppy disks with latest virus signature files, and run standard virus check. ii) Restart computer, and let operating system load. Install Inti-Virus Software according to instructions. iii) Before running virus check normally, update both the program and virus definitions from Internet Connection. iv) Set options to scan files as opened, scan e-mail, and download program and definition updates automatically. 5) Anti-Virus software – preferred choices a) Desktop Solutions i) #1 – Symantec – Norton Anti-Virus 2002 ( or Norton System Works 2002 professional – includes this NAV 2002) (1) Compatible with Windows 95/98/ME and WIN NT4, NT2000, XP (2) Includes 1 year virus updates (3) Costs approx. $10-$15 at computer shows (4) Licensed per computer ii) #2 – Trend PC-Cillin 2000 or Office Scan 2000 b) McAfee
/ Network Associates Virus Scan 6 i)
(1) Runs on Novell, NT4 and NT2000 (2) File Scanning (3) Exchange e-mail scanning (4) SMTP Gateway Scanning and File Blocking (5) Central Solution – push to client computers updates (6) Centralized Management / reporting ii) Trend Virus Control iii) McAfee
Active Virus Defense and McAfee Active Virus Scan Suite ·
Firewall
Protection – Prevent outside users from accessing your computer 1) Firewall Protection a) Internet Connection Type i) Dial-Up Connection (1) Risk is lower, since system is not always connected to Internet (2) Risk is still there, because some Trojan horse programs “Phone Home” when you are on-line. ii) Always ON Connection (1) Examples (a) DSL (b) Cable Modem (c) Satellite Connection (d) Fractional or Full T-1 (2) Greater risk, because system is connected for a longer time (3) Higher speed access – many users won’t notice loss of bandwidth to snooping b) Firewall Type i) Hardware (1) Most often used with Network in place (2) Connects in series with high speed access device (3) Most secure – keeps assets hidden (4) Most reliable – needs little maintenance ii) Software (1) Updated similar to Anti-Virus Software (2) Can protect programs from your computer from accessing the internet (inside out protection) (3) Needs setup and maintenance regularly 2) Spyware – a new trick a) What is it????? i) Software that has been installed, that reports back to “momma” the surfing or other activities taking place on that computer ii) Sometimes installed as a part of a software program that you download iii) Sometimes it is installed as a “trojan”, and has not asked permission. b) How to get rid of it i) Ad-Aware software – www.lavasoftusa.com ii) Updated similarly to Anti-Virus Software iii) Free
for use ·
Contact
Information – Resources c) Norton
/ Symantec www.symantec.com/ d) Trend www.antivirus.com/ e) McAfee
/ Network Associates www.mcafee.com/ f) Linksys Hardware Firewall http://www.linksys.com/Products/product.asp?grid=23&prid=20 g) Netgear Hardware Firewall www.netgear.com h) Zone
Alarm / Zone Labs www.zonelabs.com i) Ad-Aware Ad Blocking Software www.lavasoftusa.com Dennis Atherton 2718 Kadota Street mailto:datherton@affinitygroup.com Contact me for assistance or advice with any computer or networking problem. |
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