TeMerc Affiliate Security Software

Problem: Infected via known exploits in the OS. IE/Windows OS is not properly updated with current critical patches from MS.

Solution: Visit the Windows Update Page to ensure your completely up to date. You can also set up windows update to automatically run.

Problem: Infected by virus either by email or hacker because you have no AV or firewall installed.

Solution: See the Security Must Haves. Several options there, some free, some not. No excuse not to have both, even if your behind a router.

Problem: Infected because you have no Countermeasures protection.

Solution: See the Security Must Haves page for all your needs. Once again, most all are free with a couple of upgrades to pay for.

Problem: Infected because your IE security settings are improperly set.

Solution: For IE7 see this this page for security and privacy settings. And for IE 6 see here. Both pages contain recommended settings to keep most malwares at bay.

Problem: Infected by drive by download.

Solution: Firstly, read this article by Eric Howes. A fascinating look into the sneaky way things get installed via a simple process. Then see the above pages, for bothIE6 & IE7 tweaks.

Problem: After downloading a supposed anti-spyware tool or something off the Net, I have all sorts of unwanted applications running and I think I'm infected.

Solution: Never DL anything from the Net unless you check it out first. How? Google it, check security forums. For any anti-spyware tools you happen upon, be sure and check the Rogue\Suspect AntiSpyware list linked below. It's always up to date with the latest on bad vendors. Another layer of defense to add which gives some info about sites is to use SiteAdvisor which tests sites for spam and malicious downloads. Similar protection can be afforded by using Firetrusts SiteHound

Explaining a 'Layered Defense' in relation to PC protection.

What needs to be protected:
Your desktop or laptop which may contain all sorts of personal info.
In a perfect world, this shouldn't be necessary, but, the Internet is not by any stretch, perfect. You need to protect your self from virus, trojan, and worm attacks. They can come in various forms: email, attempts to access your pc directly, usually from a zombie. Or, they can come enclosed or bundled with freeware or P2P file sharing sites, which I strongly recommend you stay away from entirely. And all can steal your personal info.

Threats also come in the way of adware, spyware and malware. These, while usually less troublesome than viri, trojans and worms, present a threat none the less.

Privacy is another issue. Some of the websites you visit want to track your surfing habits. They claim its all to serve you, the consumer better, sure, whatever they say. You need to eliminate the potential for tracking cookies or data miners to be installed on your machine. In most cases they report to an advertisers server.

Threat: Adware, spyware and malware. These present a potential very real-time threat with virtually every site you visit on the web. From innocent looking sports pages to the more obvious p0rn related sites. Not to mentionP2P file sharing sites, crackz and warez sites. Stealth installs can be as innocent as a cookie, or as nasty as a hijacker. This will vary from site to site. The trick comes in knowing what types to stay away from.

Countermeasure Here we would want to start with apps such as SpywareGuard v2.2  &  SpywareBlaster v4.0. Both are preventative measures. These will prevent installation of known ActiveX, and prevent your homepage from being changed. Another good preventative app is WinPatrol v14.2007. Scotty the watch dog will prevent any programs from being added to your system.

Next you want an anti-spyware app. One of the most powerful and advanced scanners is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. It has 'RealTime' protection but this option requires purchase. You can download a trial version of MBAM from here. As MBAM has its 'RealTime' protection a couple of other anti spy apps have them as well. Spybot Search & Destroy v1.5 has Tea Timer. This app is free. Ad-Aware 2007 has Ad-Watch, which is part of Ad-Aware Plus, however this requires payment.

A great way to prevent things from installing on your pc, is to limit which sites you go to. There are hundreds of thousands of malicious site out there. Many are known threats. The best way to prevent accessing these sites, even when your unaware they may be malicious is to use both of the following items. IE-SPYAD inserts known malware installing sites into your 'Restricted Zone'. If you try to go to one of the sites in this zone, the page will not load, and nothing can be installed.

Another way to prevent pages from loading is installing a hosts file. We recommend either MVPS Hosts File or hpHosts File. You can manage you hosts file with HostsXpert. It's a freeware app and works well with all OSes from W98 to Vista.

You can help prevent yourself from getting tricked when bad sites load, by using the settings on the two following pages:

• IE6 Security Tweaks

• IE7 Security Tweaks

This way, even if you do hit a site which may be bad, at least you can minimize the potential damage done.

Threat: Trojans and worms and viruses are all very highly destructive. They can cripple your machine, or worse yet, allow an outside user to gain control over your pc, without you even knowing it. This would make your machine a zombie.

Countermeasure: Typically, all that's needed here is a good anti virus and firewall setup. The one thing you want to try to get, is an av app which will scan your incoming emails, and outgoing if possible as well. There are of course other desirable features, like auto updating, quarantining options and others. I won't delve to deeply into these tho, to keep things simplified. With firewalls, you can have and need an assortment of features. Things like Internet access control, which today all firewalls have, to decide which of your other apps installed on your machine get to access the web. Personal info blocking is a nice feature as well. My Norton firewall allows me this option. Another neat option to look for is alerts when an outside source is trying to access your machine. Typically, these attacks come from zombies, looking to increase their network for malicious intent.

There are several firewall options available, but most require payment. You can find three good choices on our firewall affiliate software page. Freeware firewalls which are very well received are COMODO Personal firewall and Zone alarm. However with the latest version of Zone Alarm, they have decided to include a toolbar which I don't feel is warranted. See a discussion about it and other vendors bundling software here. Thankfully there are still old versions of Zone Alarm available on sites such as Old Apps.com and Old Version.com.

As for anti-virus, we've got some great, dependable long trusted apps on our anti-virus affiliate page. Freeware apps which are very well accepted are avast! and AntiVir

See this link in our forum for a more detailed look at a 'layered defense' for your PC.

Related Links

• Rogue Anti-Spyware Apps

• TeMerc Security Prevention Testing