Virus/Spyware and Protection

Well, this is one hot topic if I don't say so myself! Just to clarify, I am writting about computer and peripheral viruses and not illnesses. However, the computer virus can be thought of much like an illness virus. They spread fast and some are more malicious than others. Below you will find the most common questions and answers.

What is a virus?

Defintion of a computer virus: "A computer virus is defined as a program that is designed to replicate and copy itself into other computer programs of which it may be benign or have an adverse effect of which the programs will respond in a negative manner or can cause the memory to have corrupted data are such examples". (The Heritage Dictionary of the English Language copyright 2000 Houghton Mifflin Co. Update 2009, freedictionary.com, Febuary 19, 2010.

How am I getting viruses?

Originally, John and I had estimated that 1:100 websites had a virus. Interestingly enough, we had received an email from BitDefender on quite a surprising update (naturally, there was an offer to repurchase BitDefender (we do use BitDefender and CA Antivirus on our business and personal machines). Anyhow, here it is: "Did you know that everytime you visit a website, open an email or download files from the Internet, your computer is exposed to more than 3,300,000 PC viruses that exist today!

• A victim of identity theft can spend an average of 165 hours recovering losses
• 1:10 websites could infect your PC
• Cybercrime has surpassed illegal drug trafficking as a criminal money maker
• The average cost to repair identity theft is over $1800.00

Source:bitdefender email Febuary 19, 2010

Yes, Facebook and those social networking websites, in addition to peer to peer sites i.e. Limewire have viruses as well.

As a matter of fact, it was reported in the Grand Forks Herald of parking tickets with the web address horribleparking.com (dont go there heh) that were distributed at UND and Hugos to name a few. The most interesting thing about this is the crossing from the virtual world to the physical world. If you missed the article here is the second part of it that was in the news. www.allbusiness.com/technology/software-services-applications-online/12026351-1.html

Cybercrime is an exploding and lucrative business, if you will, because a person collecting the information can be anywhere in the world and might I remind you we really have no "internet police" nor any solid laws pertaining to cybercrime.

What is the best antivirus/I have antivirus?

First Part: This is a very arbituary question. In the nearly 4 years of operating Raptor PCS, we have learned two main things. The first one is that the people's choice on antivirus is a very perferential thing. One person may just love one program to death, while another client will hate it and the reasons vary greatly. It can be simple as how pretty the UI (user interface) looks and feels to one client and the client may feel it does an awesome job, while another client may be feeling that the program is not performing well.
Second Part: I have a Jinx shirt that reads "Not Even Norton Can Protect You". Anything software based can be comprimised. We estimated that antivirus catches about 70% of the viruses, but is not 100%.

Tips on purchasing antivirus?

• When I buy a program I look at the Perferred Hardware Req. and then I usually add more resources so that when I am using my machine and the antivirus program kicks on to scan email or what have you and I am doing 10 other things on my machine (which I often am), I can keep working and my machine and it is still reponding nicely to everything that I am doing. Don't forget to uninstall the old expired program
• Antivirus is licensed software, I buy so I have a tangible product. Getting your software via a download and an email containing your code is very riskey
• Purchased antivirus has more security features than Free

How do I get rid of a virus?

John and I have discussed this and we have decided to take the time at some point and post the "old school way" of getting rid of viruses. when we do I will not be accepting any responsiblity, I will not not accept phones calls on what does this mean, how do I do that, where do I get this. All of that and more will be reiterated at that time. It is by no means "just pushing buttons" as one guy put it. Our method for virus cleaning was conceived and developed by John over several years. We call it SOVAC (State of the Art Virus Cleaning).

How can I not get viruses?
When I get this question the only 100% way not to get a virus would be to unplug from the internet! Otherwise, here are some tips:

• Use a router (see FAQ What is a router?)
• Keep an active copy of an antivirus on your machines
• Do the antivirus updates
• Do Windows updates
• Stay off of peer to peer sites (not to mention peer to peer sites are often regarded as places to get pirated music, movies and software... piracy is illegal cause it is stealing
• When you Google a query before you start clicking on the list that was populated you should look at where it is going to take you (look at the URL)
• NEVER enter your bank number in one of those antivirus popups (it is phishing for you money) On Febuary 18, 2010 I had a really good client of mine call up and say that he made a terrible mistake and had entered his cc in one of those popups. He goes to the bank and they agree to have his back and give him his money back. But the funny part is this: the bank asks him if he acn get the number so they can call them and so they can get their money back!!

What is spyware?

Definition of Spyware aka Malware: is defined as a program of which installs itself on an unsuspecting person's computer without the person's knowledge and then transmits information on the person's internet activities without the person's consent. (meriam-webster.com/dictionary/spyware, Febuary 20, 2010

Our personal story:

One day 4 years ago or so we had noticed a charge on our bank card and after much discussion we concluded that neither one of us had made the purchase. John had called the number next to the charge to find out who they were (they were a legitimate company) and what was purchased as well as what the email address was and the mailing address and we said that we had not made the purchase. So, we went to the bank and explained to them what had happened and gave them all of the information. In the end we were told that the credit card company had said that the CVV2 had made used and since that is the "security" for the card (another words nobody could ever get that number) that we would not be covered. At the time we knew that was the biggest crock, but what could we do. We did get new cards. While I do not know whether our information was compromised by a virus or not, the moral is that identity theft is Huge and there are more and more cases of it occurring in our communities.

In short, viruses should not be taken lightly. It is reported that there are keylogger viruses (logs login information), viruses that turn on webcams and streams the video, steals data to name a few.

Just for fun I have linked a website for a virus timeline www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872842.html Interestly enough, if the timeline is accurate, some of the first viruses were developed for the Apple II. Just some humor since I recently viewed a uTube video by Apple vs PC and it was about the Apples not having virus'. Moreover, it is noted that in 2005 was the time when a virus first appeared on a cell phone. hmmm

Sincerely,

Misty Sistad
Raptor PCS