Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
I don't think there is any one thing that will stop cyber thieves. Using all the resources that we have is better than depending on one piece of software. Firewalls, DNS providers, strong passwords, encryption and common sense have to work together. It's not an absolute defense but until better ideas come out, it is what it is.
I still use 2 different malware killers. I couldn't say which one is better. I alternate them. Malwarebytes and SuperAntispyware. Both free. And AVG for viruses. The cyber-thugs are just like the pigs hired by companies to find ways AROUND the system, so they can skip conforming to regulations and paying taxes. Like having an updated cyber-scum version of Oliver North....But, Maurice: this is scary--- the performance gaps! That website reports about deep stuff I'd never have thought EXISTED.
Actually, I don't know what the best solution to malware would be, but it is something I continue to put off and probably shouldn't...because of a story I heard early last year.
My brother is a prof in the Florida university system who, in addition to teaching, took on the role of dept chair, as well as continuing with university-wide committee work. Needless to say, he gets a lot of "stuff" from diverse sources (undergrad, grad students, faculty, univ administrators, hiring consultants, touchy HR matters); some is pre-filtered/scanned thru univ computer systems, some is not, and A LOT is veryconfidential. Consequently, he uses multiple anti-virus and anti-malware programs on everything. Last year, he noticed his high-speed connection would slow down to DSL-like speed for about 30 minutes (1) at the same time, on the same day, and (2) when he was using a particular finance program, for 3 wks in a row. It was odd enough, and important enough, that he fired off a letter to one of the malware software companies (Kapersky, I think) with a detailed description of what he'd noted.
Well, he didn't receive a generic note reply from a customer rep--- he was contacted by the head of Kapersky's forensic team! The guy was 90% sure of infection, and 90% sure he knew what it was, but puzzled that K's software hadn't detected and shredded it. Would you be willing to work with me for several days, he asked, and do exactly what I tell you to do? Of course, my brother said yes (yes, yes!). And so began the adventure; every a.m., there would be an e-mail, do a-b-c, then next day, after evaluating results would be, now do d-e-f, etc. and after each execution save all raw code generated to a file and attach to reply e-mail. This went for 4 days. Finally, on a Friday afternoon came the final e-mail: "you are infected with ____, a new variant of ___ that evades our program; the mother ship is located in a dead Windows folder that was left behind from a prior uninstall operation. Do not delete the folder, because we know there are pieces of her elsewhere on your hard drive that may be able to "reconstitute her" and put her somewhere else. Wait until Monday before using your computer if you can. My team will have a "cure" by then. Do an update of K, then immediately run a scan, then go to the folder and look for 3 files named ___ ; if they're not there, you are cured." Attached was a letter of instruction my brother was to send to the university IT people, on how to scan their servers for the malware that may have escaped from my brother's computer into their system.
As for what the malware was, it was something that collected certain types of information, then sent it off at specific intervals to an unknown destination. Yeah, creepy and stealthy. How far need regular users like us go? I dunno. But maybe trying something would be better than not trying anything.
@Crash This is where you collapse from overwhelming customer service envy.
You can also achieve the same thing by using a free DNS service like OpenDNS. While they do sell products, all you need is to change your DNS settings.
Comments
My brother is a prof in the Florida university system who, in addition to teaching, took on the role of dept chair, as well as continuing with university-wide committee work. Needless to say, he gets a lot of "stuff" from diverse sources (undergrad, grad students, faculty, univ administrators, hiring consultants, touchy HR matters); some is pre-filtered/scanned thru univ computer systems, some is not, and A LOT is veryconfidential. Consequently, he uses multiple anti-virus and anti-malware programs on everything. Last year, he noticed his high-speed connection would slow down to DSL-like speed for about 30 minutes (1) at the same time, on the same day, and (2) when he was using a particular finance program, for 3 wks in a row. It was odd enough, and important enough, that he fired off a letter to one of the malware software companies (Kapersky, I think) with a detailed description of what he'd noted.
Well, he didn't receive a generic note reply from a customer rep--- he was contacted by the head of Kapersky's forensic team! The guy was 90% sure of infection, and 90% sure he knew what it was, but puzzled that K's software hadn't detected and shredded it. Would you be willing to work with me for several days, he asked, and do exactly what I tell you to do? Of course, my brother said yes (yes, yes!). And so began the adventure; every a.m., there would be an e-mail, do a-b-c, then next day, after evaluating results would be, now do d-e-f, etc. and after each execution save all raw code generated to a file and attach to reply e-mail. This went for 4 days. Finally, on a Friday afternoon came the final e-mail: "you are infected with ____, a new variant of ___ that evades our program; the mother ship is located in a dead Windows folder that was left behind from a prior uninstall operation. Do not delete the folder, because we know there are pieces of her elsewhere on your hard drive that may be able to "reconstitute her" and put her somewhere else. Wait until Monday before using your computer if you can. My team will have a "cure" by then. Do an update of K, then immediately run a scan, then go to the folder and look for 3 files named ___ ; if they're not there, you are cured." Attached was a letter of instruction my brother was to send to the university IT people, on how to scan their servers for the malware that may have escaped from my brother's computer into their system.
As for what the malware was, it was something that collected certain types of information, then sent it off at specific intervals to an unknown destination. Yeah, creepy and stealthy. How far need regular users like us go? I dunno. But maybe trying something would be better than not trying anything.
@Crash This is where you collapse from overwhelming customer service envy.
Absolutely right! What a story!
https://www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/
http://use.opendns.com