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2024-10-25 eBay Account Hijacked
The true story of a friend trying to answer questions for an item he was selling on eBay and became a victim of Cross Site Scripting. In this article we take a deeper look at this vulnerability and what you can do to prevent getting your cookies stolen. If you sell anything on eBay, you'll want to read this article.
2024-11-20 Does a home user need a router for added security?
I have read all of your reviews on
the virus software companies. My question is; does a home user need a
router for added security? I have been told by many who use computers
that it's a good idea. The only one who said that I should "take it
back to the store", was a tech support worker at my ISP. Well what is
your opinion?
Thank You, Mr. Ford
To Have or Not to Have... that is the question.
To
answer the question, should you install a router, we need to address
what functions the router adds, and which of these functions are
security related. Then, look if these services and functions are being
supplies elsewhere.
2024-10-09 Understanding Heuristics
The hot term in antivirus programs this year is 'heuristics'. In this article we take a deeper look at what it is, and how it can help protect you against viruses that haven't been identified and labeled yet.
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We were torn on how to properly and effectively test the slew of antispyware applications on the market. We checked other review sites to see how they performed their reviews, and it seems most of those sites are out of date (2004). We also checked up to date advisories from McAfee and Norton Symantec to find the spyware threats they have listed are also very old. There doesn't seem to be much new spyware that is actually threatening computers. Our thought is spyware has become deceased or developed... let us explain. The old Gator spyware has been gone for awhile, and download.com has really been policing the applications that can be downloaded from their site. This was the top spot for spyware programs a few years ago, and now we can find none from download.com. Great job on their part. And the rest of the spyware has developed and mutated in either viruses or root kits. We all understand what viruses are, if you don't visit HowStuffWorks. Root kits are the evilest of evils (I don't think evilest is actually a word, but it definitely fits the description so we'll keep it.) Root kits are embedding applications that install and change registry settings, process names, and the valid processes that are running on your computer to hide their identity. The professional and documented solution to removing a root kit... restore your computer form known good media. This means deleting the whole hard drive and starting over. Today, or should I say this year, products are claiming their antispyware solutions can detect and remove root kits. Alcatraz Security has decided, at its own expense, to use this as the spyware test of 2007. Let the fun begin. I first want to say that I contracted a spyware root kit last year after tentatively running an executable program I received from a P2P file sharing program. As soon as it began to run, I knew I had not received the program I hoped for. The pop-up windows began, that my pop-up blocker had no chance at stopping, the webpage’s starting opening, background processes started one by one, folders were being created, apps were being download from the Internet faster than could kill their associated processes.... trouble. At first I tried to change my attitude by thinking this to be a wonderful opportunity to test the antispyware applications on the market. Again, this was last year, and after trying five of the leading products nothing made a dent. They all claimed to find a couple things and remove them, but they all came back. Some returned immediately and others after a reboot. I ended up rebuilding the computer from known good media. I haven't run an unknown executable sense... until now. Below are the results of the reviews we performed as we launched root kits on the leading antispyware security software of 2007. |
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2007 Anti-Spyware Review