Many people think that security begins and ends with antivirus software. However, it is not enough. Yes you have to have an antivirus software, but there are cautions you have to take.
So let’s say that you’re running a well-supported, up-to-date security program—whether you use a PC or a Mac. What else do you need to do? Here I will share the steps I teach clients, friends and family members who want to avoid malware, phishing sites, and other online scams.
First of all, you should expect to be attacked if you download porn or pirated software. But just staying out of bad online neighborhoods isn’t sufficient anymore.
These days, threats can come from unexpected places: Google (and Bing) search results, compromised websites, deceptive ads, seemingly innocent downloads. You don’t have to be doing anything out of the ordinary to inadvertently stumble across one of these potential threats.
Their goal is to appear when you don’t expect them and convince you to act hastily. Online criminals often play on fear (your PC or Mac is infected with malware!) or simple social engineering (try these smiley’s! oh, and you need this codec—fake, of course—to play an enticing video clip).
When in doubt, stop. Think. Ask for help. If you’re truly worried, pull the plug on your Internet connection temporarily until you can call a knowledgeable friend or drag the machine in to a specialist for a thorough diagnosis.
You should, of course, have a regular backup routine. Mechanical failures (a crashed hard drive or a dropped notebook) can be even more devastating than a malware attack. With Windows 7, you can use the built-in backup program to save an image backup on an external hard drive; you can do the same thing on a Mac using Time Machine. Restoring a full backup is easy, especially if the alternative is spending hours trying to track down a well-hidden infection.
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A virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. Viruses can also replicate themselves. All computer viruses are manmade. A simple virus that can make a copy of itself over and over again is relatively easy to produce. Even such a simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring the system to a halt. An even more dangerous type of virus is one capable of transmitting itself across networks and bypassing security systems.
A worm is a program or algorithm that replicates itself over a computer network and usually performs malicious actions, such as using up the computer’s resources and possibly shutting the system down.
Also called adware, spyware is any software that covertly gathers user information through the user’s Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers.
Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse in that users unwittingly install the product when they install something else. A common way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file swapping products that are available today.
A Trojan horse is a destructive program that masquerades as a benign application. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. One of the most insidious types of Trojan horse is a program that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses onto your computer.
If you have a virus in your computer and need help to destroy it, you do not need to wipe out your computer, just call our specialists at VA Denver Computer Services and they will be happy to help you get rid off virus without deleting any important documents.
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HDD Low is a fake computer analysis and optimization program that displays fake information in order to scare you into believing that
there is an issue with your computer. HDD Low is installed via Trojans that display false error messages and security warnings
on the infected computer. These messages will state that there is something wrong with your computer’s hard drive and then
suggests that you download and install a program that can fix the problem. When you click on of these alerts, HDD Low will
automatically be downloaded and installed onto your computer.
Once installed, HDD Low will be configured to start automatically when you login to Windows. Once started, it will display
numerous error messages when you attempt to launch programs or delete files. HDD Low will then prompt you to scan your
computer, which will then find a variety of errors that it states it cannot fix until you purchase the program. When you use
the so-called defragment tool it will state that it needs to run in Safe Mode and then show a fake Safe Mode background that
pretends to defrag your computer. As this program is a scam do not be scared into purchasing the program when you see its alerts.
To further make it seem like your computer is not operating correctly, HDD Low will also make it so that certain folders on your computer display no contents. When opening these folders, such as C:\Windows\System32\ or various drive letters, instead of seeing the normal list of files it will instead display a different folder’s contents or make it appear as if the folder is empty. This is done to make it seem like there is corruption on your hard drive that is causing your files to not be displayed.
HDD Low also attempts to make it so you cannot run any programs on your computer. If you attempt to launch a program it will terminate it and state that the program or hard drive is corrupted. It does this to protect itself from anti-virus programs you may attempt to run and to make your computer unusable so that you will be further tempted to purchase the rogue. The messages that you will see when you attempt run a program are:
Windows detected a hard drive problem.
A hard drive error occurred while starting the application.
Or
Windows cannot find notepad. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search.
After you close this alert you will be presented with another alert that pretends to be for a program that will attempt to fix your hard drive.
Fix Disk
Windows Disk Diagnostics will scan the system to identify performance problems.
Start or Cancel
If you press the Start button, it will pretend to scan your computer and then state that there is something wrong with it. This message is:
Windows Disk Diagnostics
Windows detected a hard disk error.
A problem with the hard drive sectors has been detected. It is recommended to download the following sertified <sic> software to fix the detected hard drive problems. Do you want to download recommended software?
These are just further alerts trying to make you think your computer has a serious hard drive problem. It should be noted that if you attempt to run a program enough times it will eventually work.
When you perform the scan or use the fake HDD Low it will state that there are numerous problems on your computer, but that you first need to purchase it before it can fix any of them. Some examples of the fake problems it detects on your computer are:
Requested registry access is not allowed. Registry defragmentation required
Read time of hard drive clusters less than 500 ms
32% of HDD space is unreadable
Bad sectors on hard drive or damaged file allocation table
GPU RAM temperature is critically high. Urgent RAM memory optimization is required to prevent system crash
Drive C initializing error
Ram Temperature is 83 C. Optimization is required for normal operation.
Hard drive doesn’t respond to system commands
Data Safety Problem. System integrity is at risk.
Registry Error – Critical Error
While HDDLow is running it will also display fake alerts from your Windows taskbar. These alerts are designed to further scare you into thinking that your computer has an imminent hardware failure. The text of some of the alerts you may see include:
Critical Error!
Damaged hard drive clusters detected. Private data is at risk.
Critical Error
Hard Drive not found. Missing hard drive.
Critical Error
RAM memory usage is critically high. RAM memory failure.
Critical Error
Windows can’t find hard disk space. Hard drive error
Critical Error!
Windows was unable to save all the data for the file \System32\496A8300. The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware.
Critical Error
A critical error has occurred while indexing data stored on hard drive. System restart required.
System Restore
The system has been restored after a critical error. Data integrity and hard drive integrity verification required.
Just like the fake corruption messages and fake scan results, these alerts are only designed to scare you into purchasing the program.
As you can see, the warnings issued by this program are all fake, and once you realize that, the alerts become more of a nuisance rather than a concern. Therefore, do not purchase HDDLow for any reason, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and state that the program is a computer infection and a scam and that you would like to dispute the charge. To remove this infection and related malware, please call
our specialists and we will help you.
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One of the most well known stories is the Trojan War.
In the story, a giant horse was created that looked innocent to the Trojans, but was in fact hiding Greek warriors who took the city of Troy while its residents were asleep.
If we look at this in computer terms, a Trojan is designed in a similar manner. They are used to trick you into thinking you are installing a legitimate, and safe, application but you are in instead installing a piece of malware that will perform actions on your computer without your permission. So if we look at this in historical terms, the malware are the Greeks and your computer is Troy.
Detailed description:
As a more detailed description, Trojan Horses are programs that disguise themselves as harmless and beneficial programs but instead have a hidden purpose that you are unaware of. It is important to note, though, that though most of a Trojans actions are considered harmful, there are some actions that Trojans perform that actually annoying but harmless. Examples of the types of actions that a Trojan may perform are:
Delete files and data
Lock you out of your computer
Install backdoors so remote users can access your computer remotely.
Execute commands on your computer
Encrypt all of your data and then blackmail you in order to receive the key to decrypt them.
Download and install other malware
Log the keystrokes you make on the computer.
Steal passwords that you enter into certain types of sites.
Restart your computer
Turn off programs such as firewalls and anti-malware programs.
Take screen shots of what is running on your computer.
Take screen shots using attached web cams.
Apply security patches to your computer.
Make annoying sounds on your computer.
Display images on your computer
Eject your CD Tray.
Print documents on your printer.
As you can see from the above examples, not all of them are harmful, but they are all unwanted. Examples of how Trojans masquerade as beneficial programs are:
Fake Video Codecs
These Trojans masquerade as video codecs that you need to install in order to view certain, typically porn related, videos on the Internet. Once installed, these trojans will install a variety of malware including rogue anti-spyware programs.
Warez Key Generators and Cracks
Using programs on the Internet that state they provide serial numbers or cracks so that you can use protected and copyrighted software is not only illegal, but typically foolish. Most of these software are in fact Trojans that install backdoors, keyloggers, worms, and other malware. So, you may be saving a few dollars by not buying the software, but in the long run it may hurt much more when someone steals your information and performs identity theft.
Games and Game Updates
It is not uncommon for a malware writer to create a very sophisticated game that may actually be fun, but in reality is a shell to hide malware that it will install on your computer. For example, in 2001 a game was being distributed via email called Whack-a-mole that was a game where you tried to whack a mole that pops up out of the ground. What the unsuspecting player did not know is that when they played the game it installed a Trojan that allowed a hacker to get into your computer remotely and access all of your documents and files.
Screen Savers
Let’s face it, the screen savers that come with Windows are not the most awe inspiring. Due to this, it is not uncommon for people to search for screen savers on the Internet and install them on their computer. Unfortunately without the proper safeguards, this screen saver may actually be a Trojan Horse that while showing little dogs playing on your screen, is actually deleting all of your files.
Trojans are scary, and as you can see from the descriptions above, it can be very hard to determine what is a legitimate program and what is a Trojan hiding in disguise. We are not, though, saying that you should stay away from downloading interesting programs on the Internet, downloading new screen savers, installing audio or video codecs so you can view the latest formats, or just enjoying the Web to its fullest. We are saying that you should do so with caution and education. This includes, in no particular order:
Do not run programs from people you do not know.
Even if you do know the person, before using the program you should first scan it using your antivirus software or online tools such as VirusTotal or Jotti because not all of your friends are as smart as you.
Make sure you have an Anti-Virus program, an Anti-Spyware program, and a Firewall running on your computer.
Don’t look at porn on the web as the vast majority of these sites contain something you don’t want to catch. Sorry!
Dont use illegal cracks or key generators. The majority is not what you think they are.
Use sites like SiteAdvisor to determine if a site you are downloading or installing from is legitimate or a known malware distributor.
Do not open e-mail attachments that end with .exe, .bat, .pif, or .com as these are almost always bad.
Enjoy your computer and the Internet, just be safe doing so!
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