[tags] norton,macafee,avast,avg,protection,virus scan,trojan,worm,hack,security,spyware,adware,file protection,service[/tags]
See like a year ago I wrote a short story about what I think a hacker is, and how to protect yourself from them/one.
Well today I went back and read my story again. God the typos. Wtf was up with my firefox spell check that day ? Well while reading it I scrolled down and started reading what everyone else said…. These freaking people are saying stuff like “crackers aka black hat hackers” … Ok just thinking that line makes my nose bleed.
For the record, a cracker is a dude that cracks programs to circumvent copyright… don’t believe me? go to google and type this in “Torrent: Microsoft+Crack” and you will find some sort of executable file that allows you to use some sort of microslob product without authentication and or verification of purchase. In those results, take the time and count how many links you find with that result that are legit to what you searched… no go back to google and search “crack+network” you will not find squat. why? not because it’s uber top secret, it’s just misguided kids using a phrase improperly.
Now on to defense, set your router to stun, set email to text only, use mvps hosts file, run spybot search and destroy and the other two like. do not give your password to third party. update any virus scanner you have. If you don’t have one, well really it’s useless any, most virus writers attack the virus scanner right off these days anyway. That is why I use online scanners! Sounds cheap, only to the unwise.
Stay away from dirty sites, do not download from places you do not know, if you do for god knows what reason have to download from a strange place, google “jotti’s virus scan” and scan that single file with 20+ virus scanners at one time… Save yourself some heart ache.
I do not use avg or avast or nod32 because avg sucks from the get go, avast is nice and well enough but after a month it bloats your machine into oblivion. Nod32, if some newb tells you to use that junk it’s because he heard some dude on his favorite podcast recommend it, unknowing that the podcaster just got paid for that plug. again, when you go to jotti’s site, scroll to the bottom and look at the current virus finds, sit there and hit refresh for as long as it takes you to be satisfied with what you see, nod32 almost never finds anything.
People lay to much faith in software. If it’s your stupid mistake, it’s yours … own it.
Well, according to Shields Up, https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 , my computer is completely “stealth” while online. Basically, that means I don’t exist. The site explains it better than I can, but most computers will “respond” with some sort of answer to hacker software, but mine offers no response at all, hence, like it’s not even there. Mostly my router firewall’s doing I suspect… Other than that, I use super anti spyware and couldn’t be more happy with it. It’s free, and does as good a job as anything else (yes, it does all viruses, not just spyware), if you keep it updated. I hadn’t realized that online scanners were any good. Thanks for the info.
Just curious…. um why the bash on AVG? I have used it for the last 5 or 7 years and it has caught a high number of things and I have never caught anything… and my system remain free… it seems quiet, unobtrusive (save for occasionally having to kill outlook for an update) and seems not to put any strain on my machine (I will say that I have both a hardware and software firewall, and don’t do anything TOO stupid, and scan my machine regularly… ) Definitions are updated regularly…
I will add that… a)I run as admin all the time (development software insits on on… and I admit, lazy)… b) I have been in this game a long time, so all unneeded services are shut down, system locked and mirrored, ports open only when I need them to be and c) NO one else has admin rights on my puter…
In any case… Just curious, I have dubious and mixed feelings on AV stuff anyway, as they, in general can only protect against the known, which means they are quite limited, but … I have no issues with the software and neither have any of my friends or customers… I made the switch after I got heartily fed up with Norton (which used to be an excellent product but now is … painful to install, and even harder to live with) and have had no cause to regret it. (No.. I did NOT make the mistake of going with some of the other big names, had already recovered too many boxes they had bolluxed up… )
If you have time, I would enjoy hearing your thoughts…
Happy New Year
Bill
***Editor’s Response****
That was a an excellent response man.
I mean so good it makes my stubborn self want to rethink my opinion.
My opinion is a bit dated, atleast two years, but it holds firm only because of what I have witnessed at jotti’s site by watching real-time catches.
I am pretty sure that by now they have cleared up the resource issues I used to face every time I installed avg, but their scanner isn’t very impressive
anymore. I in no way am calling you a liar, I just simply have had a different experience with avg from what you have, and this is on many machines.
I am a resource troll, I do not like to see any delay in any program I want to run due to some form of “protection”. The last I saw, avg was getting up there
in bloat with norton.I will keep watching and keep your response in mind, you might have just sold me into a retry.
TruXter
***END Editor’s Response***
Hi Truxter,
Nice post but I don’t think Nod32 should have been put down the was it was , I have been using Nod32 fro the past year and it has been my savior multiple times , people bring their computers over to my place for a gaming session and they are running antivirus programs amongst the big names (Norton , MacAfee and trend micro) and as soon as they hook up to my network Nod has alerted me to virus’s trying to infest my computer , No antivirus is going to be 100% fool prove but i believe Nod32 has been doing great stuff the past year and so do the AV comparison reports , http://www.av-comparatives.org , I went back to version 2 from version 3 as I don’t hold as much trust in their new software , mainly because it doesn’t load my routers firewall properly but it should still be amongst the best. I will switch back to version 3 if they fix that bug (or will switch to whichever is the best at the time). From the comparison reports run in February 71% of unknown virus’s were detected no false positives and the program had very low memory and CPU usage. It also detects Spyware and adware , a great addition meaning I don’t have to run spyware search and distroy regularly anymore.
And no i have not been payed or am not affiliated with Eset in anyway.
***********editor’s comment*
Dude just go to jotti’s site and see for yourself that nod32 is not worth the download. I am not even reading this post man.
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Forgot to mention thanks for the info on “jotti’s virus scan” I will definatly be using if i suspect a virus but get no errors from my installed antivirus (whichever it may be at the time) but keep in mind false possitives are bound to show up a bit. I loaded VNCviewer.exe up to them to scan just out of curiosity and 4 scanners come up saying it was a win32 remote control virus , it is remote control software but not infected with any virus’s
cheers
Mortifer
***********editor’s comment*
I have been using nothing but online scanners every now and again for quite a few years.
and have not had but one virus like two or three years ago… it does not say much for
installed software.
***********editor’s comment*