Keep on top of Updates!
Almost as important as Anti-Virus software is keeping your other programs
up to date. Microsoft offers online updates for all of their products.
As we all know, love and hate, there are a vast number of security holes
in all of Microsoft's products. It is critical that you visit the Windows
Update website. This website will inform you of security updates
that are available for your operating system. Many of these updates
are very large files, if you are using a 56K modem, while I feel your
pain, these updates are critical and you should spend the time to download
them all. It is also important to visit Microsoft's
Download Center for other software updates like to Internet Explorer.
Restricted Zones
A critical step to protecting your computer from e-mil threats is to
configure your Internet settings and e-mail programs by disabling potentially
harmful activity using the Internet Zones feature of Windows. From the
Internet Explorer window, select "Tools>Options" to open the Options
dialog box. Select the "Security" tag. The most important aspect of
it is the zone called "Restricted Zone". With this you can set a very
high level of security for your machine when it is appropriate to do
so. Be sure that this zone is set to a High Security Level. Doing this
will disable features like ActiveX Controls, Java Applets, JavaScript
and VBScript. Don't worry, these settings will not effect your normal
Internet browsing, only those instances, websites or otherwise you set
as a Restricted Zone. If you are using any of the Microsoft E-mail programs
(Outlook, Outlook Express) they can be set to use this Restricted Zone
for all e-mail. Making this change alone will stop nearly all incoming
auto-run e-mail attachment viruses. This setting can be found in Outlook
and Outlook Express by selecting "Tools>Option" and selecting the Security
tab.
Disable the Windows Scripting Host
If you don't know what it is you don't need it running. The easiest
way to disable Windows Scripting is to delete or rename the files WSCRIPT.EXE
and CSCRIPT.EXE located in the Windows directory. This will completely
eliminate the threat of an entire cross-section of viruses with the
.vbs file extension. An alternative to disabling or removing the Windows
Scripting Host is to unregister the .vbs file extension from the registered
file types. If a viral .vbs file is attempting to run (or any other
.vbs file), you would be prompted for a program to open the file with,
alerting to the possibility of infection. This can be done by accessing
the Folder Options dialog box. Click on the File Extensions tab and
locate the .vbs and .vbe file extensions in the list. You can either
delete the the .vbs and .vbe filetypes or associate them with Notepad
to view the scripts instead of running them. To delete them select them
and click "Remove".
General E-mail Security
General best practices for e-mail attachments should be followed. There
are a handful of file types that should never be opened, saved from
an e-mail or sent to others via e-mail. These files will all end
in one of the following file extensions:
.exe
.pif
.com
.bat
.scr
.reg
.vbs
If you wish to send a file with one of these file extensions, put it
in an archive format first, like WinZip, and send that file with an
explanation of what the file is you are sending including the complete
name of the file. It is more likely to be well received this way rather
than deleted. Be aware that new viruses coming out are becoming more
adept at "Social Engineering" or faking you out. Some newer
viruses appear to be useful files like a program patch in an attempt
to lure you into running them. Some may even claim to be an virus detection
tool!
Often viruses will masquerade as an e-mail from a person you know or
have received e-mail from in the past. They do this by accessing an
infected computer's address book to get contact information to spread
itself to the largest number of victims. Some send a random file from
the person's computer and attach themselves to it, but even these will
almost always end in one of the file extensions listed above. If you
are not certain what a file attachment is, you are much safer if you
do not open it. If you receive a file from someone you know when you
weren't expecting it, you can always e-mail them back and ask them what
it is before opening it. When you forward an e-mail it is better not
to send it as an attachment as it increases your chances of the e-mail
being deleted by a wary recipient. I hate getting e-mails that I have
to open four different attachments to get to the forwarded message or
file.
Remember that many e-mail programs place deleted e-mails in a "Deleted"
folder without actually deleting them from your computer. You should
purge these folders and change the program settings so that it is done
automatically when the program is closed.
Personal Firewalls
If you have a high speed Internet connection that is "always on"
I highly recommend the installation of a firewall device. Hardware firewalls
are the best but can be difficult to setup. Software firewalls, often
called "personal firewalls" are not nearly as effective as
hardware, but can offer a basic protection from viruses and a novice
active hacker. As a side note, no experienced hackers will have any
interest in getting into your home computer system. Personal firewalls
are a good idea for those using 56K over a dial-up connection. The best
personal firewalls are Norton's Internet Security and the free ZoneAlarm
from Zone labs. For more information on these check out their websites
at
Norton
ZoneLabs
Norton also provides a software package called Norton Internet Security
that contains both Norton Anti-Virus and Norton Personal Firewall.
Be sure to stay on top of the latest viral threats as they are becoming
increasingly more sophisticated, infections are on the rise and the
number of viruses is increasing rapidly. Stay in touch by monitoring
these sites for new threats:
Symantec Anti-Virus
Research Center (SARC)
F-Secure Security
Information Center
TrendMicro Virus Information
Center
McAffee Virus
Info
For more information on Securing A Windows Computer, check out this
article
by Resolution at neworder.box.sk.
The NewOrder Site is an excellent resource for Security related issues.
