News

Could you tell the difference between your anti-virus program and malicious website attempting to install viruses into your computer?

Real (Windows Security Center)

Fake (Antivirus 2008)

Studies show that cybercrooks have a 3.4% success-rate infecting users’ computers. Chances are high that you will eventually come across an infected website. It would definitely be a good idea to make sure that you can spot the good security suites from the rogues.

Tip #1

The first thing you should do is find out which antivirus you are actually using. Remember the name of the program and what the application windows and interface look like. You should do the same for your antispyware and firewall applications as well. You will therefore be able recognize when a hacked site is attempting to lure you into a trap using scare tactics. Here’s an example of a rogue antivirus program using the scare tactic, “found infections, now buy me or else!”

Fake “Virus Detection”

Tip #2

Use Firefox and the Web of Trust addon. The main reason we recommend Firefox to our clients is because of the wide variety of addons available for it. When setting up a new computer, one of the first things I install is Firefox and the Web of Trust (WOT) addon. WOT shows you ratings for websites before you even click on them.

Let’s say you do a Google search for an anti-virus program. From my experience using WOT, I have found that at least one of the links on the page will receive a bad rating from WOT. Here’s one of the links WOT shows as having a poor reputation when searching for “anti-virus” in Google.

Notice the red warning circle next to the link.

What this means is that other WOT users have checked the site out and have found it to be unsafe. WOT even allows you to see other peoples’ comments about the site. You can rate sites and comment as well. In fact, the WOT community relies on users like you and I.

Here’s what you will see if you enter a site that WOT users have deemed as having a poor reputation.

Of course, websites are constantly being infected so there may be some newly infected sites that have not yet been detected by the WOT community. In these cases, you will need another layer of protection.

Tip #3

Malwarebytes, The Best Free Anti-Malware Program That You Really Should Buy.

Malwarebytes is a free program that has excellent detection rates. It is able to find and remove viruses, spyware and malware that many security suites cannot. It is maintained by a small group that regularly browses forums looking for infection trends and stopping them early. Like I said, the program does an excellent job of removing viruses, but for $24.95 for a lifetime subscription, the full version can actually prevent threats from infecting your computer. Prevention is really the key to safe browsing. (Buy Full Malwarebytes by Clicking Here.)

So lets just suppose you visit a website that was just infected a few hours ago. Since it has just been newly infected, the WOT community has not yet rated the site negatively in order to warn you. So you go to the site and a window comes up saying that your computer is being scanned for viruses and that it is infected with numerous trojan viruses. Assuming you didn’t follow Tip # 1 and cannot differentiate between the rogue anti-virus and your real anti-virus, you download the “fix”. Many times, I have found that Malwarebytes will actually block the download based on the IP address of the website. If it doesn’t, it will detect that the file you’ve downloaded is malicious once you try to install it. Malwarebytes will block these attempts by the virus to infect your computer.

Malwarebytes detecting and removing infections.

Summary

1) Familiarize yourself with your security programs and what they actually look like.

2) Use WOT, Web of Trust addon for Firefox so that you know whether links are safe or not.

3) Use Malwarebytes to prevent malware from infecting your PC.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “What is the best software for protecting my computer?” I am assuming that they mean to ask what the best security apps are at that given time.

Viruses change all of the time and the security apps that we use to protect against viruses, spyware, rogue anti-viruses, malware etc., needs to change as well. Keep in mind that it is a human who is creating these programs. If their goal is to infect as many computers as possible. If they are somewhat intelligent, they will make sure that their program will not be detected my the most common security suites and applications.

Currently, our team is using a combination of Malwarebytes, Super Anti-Spyware, Threatfire and Avast. We also make sure that our clients’ computers are up-to-date. In a few months, it’s likely that we will be using a new set of security apps depending on the current threats.

Thousands of new threats are created weekly and need to be monitored consistently. We suggest that you scan the forums for new security notices. If you do not have the time to do that, we offer Monthly Maintenance Plans that allow you to delegate that task to E-Geniuses.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

Eliminates destructive viruses, malware, spyware and adware that can damage your system, corrupt valuable data and spread to other computers. Removes applications that spy on your Internet usage, slow your system down and cause annoying pop-ups. Security for online banking. Includes a free anti-virus, anti-spyware and software firewall.

See Other Services Offered by E-Geniuses
See Our Price List

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

One morning we received a call from a frantic homemaker.  She had explained that her computer system seems to slow down dramatically.  From experience, we suspected that it was computer virus related but we couldn’t be sure until we physically saw the computer.  Since she had to take care of her almost 2 years old daughter, there was no way for her to come into the office.  When I met her in person, the real story came out.  She had recently opened an email with an invitation in it.  When she realized what she had done, it was too late.  I was able to install our usual perferred antivirus programs but was not able to do any updates.  After several minutes of configuring, I was able to get all the programs updated and ran a scan of the computer.  One of the program found 38 viruses and malware while another found 17 more.  The computer had Norton Antivirus installed so the customer was confused as to how the virus slipped past the protection.  I had to explain to her that we use at least 3 different antivirus programs everytime we do a clean up because there is no one program that can catch them all.  After a couple of hours, we were able to remove all the viruses and the customer was happy that she doesn’t have to see the error pop-up messege every minute.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

Montebello Computer Repair.

I went to Montebello to visit a company that does bottling. They bottle soft drinks for various companies like Jones soda and have all the important formulations for those delectable flavors of cola, and to top it off they mostly use cane sugar. Regardless, something bad was brewing at this bottling company. Fake anti-virus infected one of their computers and the husband of Mariann (who maintains the business) tried desperately to remove the virus, but to no avail. This virus has cost people over 40 million dollars, because it scams them into thinking they need to pay $40 dollars for it to be removed, and 10 million people got infected so do the math. Anyway, this virus was brutal. It was paired with other viruses as well and the front USB ports would not work and the internet was cut off because when it was attempted by her husband to remove the virus, he removed the internet because they are tied together by a dll. I was able to partially eradicate the virus enough to fix the internet, then when I got the updated definitions the virus did not stand a chance. I also gave them a superior browser (Firefox) and WOT for their troubles. I also removed the inferior virus scanner they had and replaced it with our standard one.

Their main financial computer was also unknowingly infected with privacy-compromising spy-ware. They signed up for a maintenance plan on the computer along with new computer setup and I removed the spyware, although my speed was severely limited by the computer’s older processor. We can now connect to it remotely and monitor the health of the hard drive and check to see if the client got any new malware.

They also had network troubles, so I gave them a couple tips to show their DSL company who was the real boss; the customer. They are too far away from the DSL home office, so they are getting slow speeds of that of a $10 value package but are getting charged for premium service at $60 a month. I also moved one folder to another computer that they needed so they were extremely pleased. They were fun to be around too, and I admire people who aren’t too serious. We all had fun and accomplished great things…and so the world turns.

Brandon Lawrence, E-Geniuses Technician

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

Granada Hills Computer Repair

I went to the client, a previous client of ours, who had a Monthly Maintenance Plan that, unfortunately, had not been renewed. They had only been without the maintenance plan for about 3 months and already had many infections on their computer. The computer was setup at a flower shop, but the computer was also being used for personal use. Guests would come in and use the computer as well.

Because the computer was so heavily infected by various Vundo viruses as well as some rogue anti-spyware programs such as Antivirus 2009, the computer could not get online. The computer was being used for accounting purposes and the client did not want to risk inputting sensitive information without the computer being completely secured.

The normal means of virus and spyware removal weren’t working and the viruses had to be removed manually. There were several rootkits and malware that most antivirus suites cannot detect. It took longer than expected and I had to take the computer back to the office to get it online and running well, but it was worth it. I was very satisfied that I didn’t have to reinstall since the client had so much existing work on the system. All of their programs were already installed and customized to suit their specific needs. Reinstalling the operating system would have been a last resort since it requires reinstalling all of the software, reinstalling drivers, reconfiguring the settings and re-customizing the look and feel. This makes reinstallation less cost effective as well. Sometimes it is necessary, but it wasn’t in this case.

This client has referred many friends and family to E-Geniuses. They also make sure we are comfortable since we sometimes are working for long periods of times without breaks. We thank you and appreciate clients like you. You know who you are.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz