Have You Been Hacked Today?

The web is abuzz (filthy? sated?) with new malware, spam and keyloggers… all out to find out what you do, where you go, and nab your logins and passwords.  I know of one person who has already had their login and password captured and sure enough, someone logged into her secure account and changed her password so she could not get in.  Luckily she caught it before any damage was done.

You never think it will happen to you, and yet it does happen.

Windows XP/Vista is the most common system attacked (purely because that’s the bulk of what’s out there.  That said, there are more and more attacks on the Apple/Mac platform every week, so don’t feel too safe you Apple users!)  For our Windows users, here are three programs that I recommend that are FREE for personal use. Let me restate: PERSONAL use; they are available for purchase to use commercially, but you should buy them to use them at your place of business.

ANTIVIRUS: AntiVir Personal. This program catches viruses and trojans that Norton/Symantec, McAfee, AVG and others miss. The only annoying thing is the daily full-screen banner which encourages you to buy it if you want to add additional protection. I use it on all my home computers. It doesn’t slow down your computer as badly as the big AV programs do… and it does a better job. http://www.free-av.com

MALWARE: MalwareBytes. Another great program to dig out deep infestations of malware. Basically update it and run it once or twice a week. It’s amazing (and sometimes scary) what it finds, ESPECIALLY that extra-nasty Antivirus 2008 trap. http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

SPYWARE: Spybot Search and Destroy. It isn’t pretty graphically, but it is probably the most comprehensive spyware/trojan/you-name-it out there. I’m all for function before form. In addition to just the program which you can run daily, it also has an ‘immunization’ process which will block your browser from even going to sites that are known to contain the stuff to begin with. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure (use your own folksy saying here). http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

In almost every case (I have to allow for some exceptions) I always say ‘yes, delete/erase/quarantine’ when these programs find something.  As always, if you need help or get stuck, I got your back: call me at 612-710-2617.