How far behind are virus and 'bot checkers?

[Oldfeller]

You knew spybot checkers and anti-virus programs are always "behind the reality wave" so to speak. I just got me an example of how far behind the wave they really are.

I had bought a new laptop for my wife to use at school running powerpoint presentations. I had loaded it with the necessary functions, put all the anti spy ware programs in place with "inbound protection" and then charged it up and put it in the case for her to use. Of course she hadn't touched it since then, school being out and such.

Now, today, I take it out of the case and turn it on which auto updates the virus checkers and the anti spy bot stuff (note: it was off and sealed the whole time for 2 plus months).

Whammo, I got 16 security hits and four of them were critical class errors, two of which required immediate purging of files and such like drastic stuff. I manually ran three of the anti-malware softwares and between them they turned in 24 small instances of tracking cookies and adwares and other such silent stuff.

Now, since the computer was off for the 2 months, all them malwares were already there on the hard drive while it sat idle for the 2 months. They either came with the machine or got in there during a relatively short period of use while I was loading the machine up.

Point is, your finding/killing stuff is letting bad stuff get on and STAY on your computer for MONTHS before it actually gets caught and purged.

I think the people programming the bad **** are way way ahead of the good guys who try to get it off your machine after the fact. I think the bad guys get whatever info they wanted off your machine and have used it or sold it long before somebody even trips on the fact somebody has found yet another way to get through Bill Gates sorry assed operating system yet again.

I am surprised we don't have more nasty issues with identity theft, etc. etc. than we currently do have.

Or perhaps we do, we just haven't figured it out yet.

************************************************** **

Take heart, everybody -- VISTA is coming, VISTA with whole new vistas of security holes and troubles for you and your machine. You will pay hundreds and hundreds of brand new dollars for old Bill to make all your old hardware & equipment obsolete and him and his Vista will also give you lots of jucy new bug holes for your virus checkers and spyware/malware programs not to find until a few critical months have passed and somebody has stuffed them full of tracking cookies, malwares and viruses.

[MacGregor]

http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V5.0.1CD-2006-06-01-EN.iso

get that file... it's a CD image.. burn a CD with that image, then reboot your computer off that CD.. a fairly secure, full featured operating system will load, will have email clients, web browsers, office applications, will likely even detect and install your printers..

nothing on your hard drive will be touched, you can take the CD out of the drive and reboot back into Winblows.. i mean Windows at any time.

take it for a spin, keep in mind it will be a bit different than what you're used to, but we're all boolit casters here, we don't mind doing things for ourselves. This operating system is free, and maintained very well. Give it a whirl.

[Oldfeller]

I love it, a Knoppix man comes through & responds correctly to a pissed off winderfeller's bug rant. Notice how he doesn't come right out and say it is Linux, he lets you get your feet wet and then lets you figure out that you kinda like it on your own.

Did I mention that this is my wife's laptop I was ranting about -- my PC dual boots both Xandros and XP and the XP side of my main box doesn't have MS Explorer on it any more -- I use Firefox instead. Still, if you use XP at all you still have to keep your spyware & virus protections up and running at all times and you can't trust them to be totally effective even then.

MacGregor -- I'd dump Windows XP in a heart beat if I didn't need it to earn a living using job required MS products. I will dump it some day when I finally retire. By then Unbuntu/Kunbuntu will be popular enough and supported well enough to take care of all my computing needs. But until then I need to read & write pure native MS OFFICE products for all work related things (and that means Xandros with its built in Caldera/Crossover Office emulator is as close to pure Linux as I can afford to get).

Oldfeller

[MacGregor]

i write windows software for a living..


if you must run winblows www.avast.com is good stuff, and free for home users.. updates faster than norton and is less obtrusive..

[454PB]

All those on dial up may wanna pass on that download....it's about 700 MB!

In today's computing world, you can't let down the shield for a second. All my protection is free.....antivirus from AVG, Zone Alarm, Spybot. I've been using them for years and never a problem. However, I'm well aware that if a hacker decides to target me and works at it, he can get me.

When I was still working for a living and on a system network, they used Norton and it was constant problem.

[mike in co]

THE BIG SIMPLE PROTECTION....DONT OPEN EMAIL YOU ARE NOT EXPECTING, DONT OPEN EMAIL THAT IS MULTIPLE FORWARDS. BOTH ARE MOST COMMON SOURCES OF CRAP/PROBLEMS/ VIRUSES ON COMPUTERS.......THIS IS WRITTEN FROM MY LOVELY WIN98 MACHINE.
i have a second pc with xp pro which sucks and my lap top for work has the same xp pro....the new and improved crap will not allow you to do certain task, cause the software "knows" better.....its my machine let be do what i want !

rant over.....

[MacGregor]

All those on dial up may wanna pass on that download....it's about 700 MB!

bah, most people have highers speed internet these days. if downloading isn't an option for you, you can pay $6 to get it on DVD or CD mailed to you.

http://on-disk.com/product_info.php/cPath/28_80/products_id/112

[StarMetal]

Some of my friends and I actually believe Norton and McAfee create viruses to stay in business.

Ever since I quit using Explorer for my browser my virus/spyware problem has dropped to about almost zero. As soon as someone competes with Windows that will change though. Windows is targeted because it the biggest used browser. Now if Linus was head to head with Windows, you watch the hackers work on that.

Emails, like mike from co said, are a problem, but so is surfacing the internet. Now you all should know this, but sex sites and music sites are really really bad. Stay away from them. My son also discovered that when you pull up a bunch of sites on say Google, that the ones that have alot of numbers in their address info alot of the times contain a virus. This had to do with games as that's what he searches info on. Also game forums are bad as chat inside the games themselves as these kids love passing viruses back and forth to one another.

Joe

[Goatlips]

i write windows software for a living..


if you must run winblows www.avast.com is good stuff, and free for home users.. updates faster than norton and is less obtrusive..

Thanks MacGregor, I uninstalled my Norton bag of worms and installed Avast. Will see how it goes.

Goatlips

[CSH]

The advice about not opening unknown email attachments and avoiding certain sites will all but eliminate virus / spyware problems. I run MS OS's and browsers exclusively using freeware for firewall and scans. I live out in the stix and have no access to cable modem or DSL, so I download updates and patches very infrequently, maybe 3 or 4 times a year using a dialup connection. I use the internet for email (most text and pictures), news, sports, weather, and of course shooting sites. I do not visit porn, game, and music websites, and do not download "free" goodies such as screensavers. The last time I had a virus on my machine was about 5 years ago. I occasionally work on some of my friends computers who have spyware and virus problems. Most of their problems are related to game or music software that their kids downloaded or some free piece of software that they installed. This almost always requires a HD reformat and complete reinstall of the OS. Spybot will tell you when a problem exists and can sometimes remove the offender, but it is always behind the curve. If you visit questionable sites, do it on someone else's computer, particularly if it's someone you don't like very much. :roll:

Even though I don't have much of a problem with MS's version of OS, I would consider switching to something else if it weren't too inconvenient. Problem is Windows is just about the only OS that peripheral software is compatible with, and the wife uses quite a bit of it (camera, printer, etc).

[MacGregor]

CSH, makea knoppix CD, fire i up, and see which peripherals it does detect... i think you might be surprised...

cost ya the 30 cents for the CD to find out...

[CSH]

Macgregor, the issue isn't recognizing the peripheral. The software application that ships with the digital camera, printer, etc, will only work on Windows. I realize there are workarounds with other OS's, but the better half prefers the plug n play route.

[felix]

Camera stuff works fine indeed with Knoppix, release 5x. ... felix

[MacGregor]

Macgregor, the issue isn't recognizing the peripheral. The software application that ships with the digital camera, printer, etc, will only work on Windows. I realize there are workarounds with other OS's, but the better half prefers the plug n play route.

that's fine.. i'm not saying switch, just try it and see if it works.. i bet it does