Install Antivirus to Make PC Secure

In today's scenario, security of your computer system from intruders has become a difficult task. Intruders can access your important data and may harm your computer system. Your computer system becomes more vulnerable to malicious programs in case an updated antivirus is not installed on it. The reason behind this is the fact that any malicious program like virus, worm can enter into your system from many ways.

Malicious programs get installed on your computer system when you browse infected websites on the internet, when you download any infected software, when you open an infected e-mail message and so. If you want to protect your computer system from these malicious programs, then you have to install updated antivirus software on your computer system.
Why you should install antivirus?

Antivirus software offers computer security and protection from malicious programs like virus, worm, Trojan horse and other harmful things. The role of an antivirus is to check all the files for presence of viruses or any malicious program. In case it detects any viruses, it will suggest suitable action to remove them from your computers.

After installation of antivirus software, you should update it whenever anew update is available. If you have the latest antivirus program installed in your PC you will be able to identify newly discovered viruses and security threats. You should select an antivirus program depending upon your usage of computer and Internet.

If you are downloading any antivirus software from Internet, then you should investigate about the source of antivirus. In case the source is not legitimate you might end up installing some viruses along with the software causing harm for the health of your computer.

Antivirus software make use of many methods for identifying viruses. Some of the most common methods are signature based detection, heuristic based detection, and many more. In the signature based detection, antivirus software compares the content of files with virus signature. Heuristic based approach is used to identify unknown viruses.

Source: http://goo.gl/j53Lm

New fake antivirus accepts SMS payments

There's a new twist with some fake antivirus scareware that has cropped up. It accepts payment via SMS, according to antivirus firm CyberDefender.

Typical rogue security programs infect the system first, then display pop ups warning that the computer is infected, and request payment to clean it up. The new programs are seemingly more genteel, asking for the money before the program is installed and infects the system, said Achal Khetarpal, threat research director at CyberDefender. Of course, a payment does nothing to "fix" a system and means criminals now have your money and possibly your credit card information.

When a potential victim happens upon a Web site hosting the malware, a dialog box pops up that looks very much like an installer window for a legitimate antivirus product, according to screenshots from CyberDefender. It says "Welcome to" and names a popular antivirus software and suggests closing other applications. If the victim falls for the ruse, it then displays a message that says "To complete installation, you must go through activation" and offers several ways to pay, including SMS (Short Message Service), WebMoney, and credit card.

If you click "cancel", the program won't install, compared with typical fake antivirus programs that have already infected the system by the time the victim realizes what is happening and keep displaying the annoying pop-up messages, even after reboot, Khetarpal said.

The company has seen five versions of the rogue security programs masquerading as software from Avast, Norton, McAfee, BitDefender, and RootKitBuster, and they, as usual, target Windows systems.

Khetarpal could not say how widespread the malware is but said he has seen it in a "lot of Web sites" and in relation to search results for popular and trending topics.

Fake AV scammers aren't the only ones to hop on the SMS payment bandwagon. Scammers were found to be seeking payment by SMS for fake browser updates earlier this year, according to GFI Labs.

Virus Attacks. Facebook of South Africa Endangered!

It's over the corner. Millions of Facebook users should take all the possible precautions, especially South Africans. Why? It was recently announced that extremely dangerous viruses have started to spread worldwide. However, at this point, the primary source of attack is South Africa.

According to the CEO of ESET Sounthern Africa, Carey van Vlaanderen there are two types of viruses which are most dangerous. One of them is Yimfoca.AA which attacks through Facebook chats, while Fbphotofake uses Facebook spam messages in order to distribute all kinds of malware.

According to the research done, people started not to trust in emails send from unknown sources. However, a vast majority of Facebook users still consider messages sent from friends to be reliable and secure. Of course, you should always keep in mind what message you receive, what it states and only then open it. You should be more suspicious about all your friends cause, in most cases, when a Facebook profile gets infected, even your friend is unaware that he is sending spam messages with malicious data in it.

Therefore, we advise you to take extreme caution and be suspicious about everything, about every single message you receive even from your best friend.

Although the viruses Yimfoca.AA and Fbphotofake have started to spread in Southern Africa, it won't take long till they reach not only Europe but America as well. Surf safe!

Kaspersky Mobile Security 9 for Android and Blackberry: antivirus for the smartphone

The smartphone needs antivirus as well, at least that’s what Kaspersky is claiming and charging $30 per year for the use of the application that purports to be an all inclusive security solution for the mobile OS.

The rise of the smartphones also has disadvantages: in recent years, smartphones, their applications, browsers and processors become no less powerful than our PC’s, and are used for tasks and assignments. If there’s one thing PC’s are characterized with (especially those running Windows) its security breaches. Viruses, malware and Trojan horses are terms that still bring fear into users hearts and force them to use an effective antivirus, like Kaspersky – a veteran in the arena of PC antivirus.

Kaspersky Mobile Security is the company’s product that purports to provide a collection of tools to maintain privacy and security on our smartphone. This is not just an antivirus but an entire package that contains firewall, tools to fight theft of loss of the device, call filter and more. Version 9 that was issued in the beginning of the year with support to Windows Mobile and Symbian received a significant update that added support to Android (versions 1.6 to 2.2) and Blackberry (versions 4.5 to 6.0) but not the new Windows Phone 7 by Microsoft.

Unlike other solutions for the Blackberry and Android that exist on the market, Kaspersky doesn’t have a free version for the application and the application is offered at a license limited to one device at a relatively higher price than common in the smartphones market. In order to gain access to the application in any of the four supported OS you’ll have to part with $29.95 per year. A trial period of one week is available after which you’ll have to decide whether you want to continue.

The application’s installation is a little complicated because it is not done through the Android Market or Blackberry application store but by entering Kaspersky’s website and downloading an outside file. On the Android you’ll have to enable the download of an application from an unknown origin and then follow the instructions. On the Blackberry you’ll have to authorize a series of authorizations for the application during the installation.

New way removing virus from a computer

STEP 1:what I did is that i created a secondary account on my computer for backup plan if my main account is infected badly were the antivirus program wont come up and get rid of the virus.
STEP 2:hold the power button on your computer until it turns off. let it sit for a minute or two. turn it back on and log in when the log in screen comes up. click on the antivirus program that you bought. if your antivirus program doesnt come up and you tried everything. then log off or shutdown your computer and use your secondary
account you created.
STEP 3: go to the control panel on your seconary account and click on USER ACCOUNTS AND FAMILY SAFETY. then go to ADD OR REMOVE USER ACCOUNTS after that then click on the user account and then click on delete user account. it will get rid of the account. ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE TOO.

Malware ads hit London Stock Exchange Web site

Visitors to the London Stock Exchange's Web site were hit with malicious ads over the weekend, designed to pop up fake security messages on their computers.

The culprit was an online advertisement that was somehow placed on the Unanimis ad network, which is used by the the Web site, a London Stock Exchange spokeswoman said Monday. "We had an advert on the site that linked through to a third-party website that was hosting this malware," she said. She did not know how many people had been served the malicious ad.

The Stock Exchange's Web site itself was not compromised, and the ad was removed as soon as it was discovered on Sunday, she said.

Nevertheless, visitors to the site early Monday were greeted with browser warnings saying that londonstockexchange.com had been reported as an attack page. The warnings showed up in the Firefox, Chrome and Safari browsers, but were removed later in the day.

"The malware was a classic spoof antivirus program which used a software vulnerability to download and install native executable code," said Paul Mutton, a researcher with Web analytics firm Netcraft, who reported the issue on his personal blog.

The malware pops up a message on the victim's computer that reads "Warning! You're in danger! Your computer is infected with spyware." This is a common type of malicious program, called "rogue antivirus," which is designed to trick the user into paying for useless antivirus software. Typically the victim ends up handing money over to the scammers, but the malicious software doesn't really go away.

In an online chat, Mutton said he did not know what bug the hackers used to install their malware. He also said he couldn't discuss the incident further.

In a brief statement, Unanimis said it had found malware "which affected some advertisements on our network." Unanimis is owned by European telecommunications giant Orange France Telecom Group.

Security experts say that criminals have become adept at sneaking onto online ad networks in recent years. In December, Google's ad network was hit with a similar type of malware. That attack lasted for about five days, according to security vendor Armorize.

Windows 7 Security: 5 Simple Ways to Stay Safer

Is your Windows 7 PC as secure as it could be?

It's often too easy for you busy laptop warriors to assume your Windows PCs are safe. A computer virus? That's not going to happen to me ... until it does.

So in addition to running a full antivirus software suite, either free and good enough (Avast, Microsoft Security Essentials) or paid and Teflon strong (Symantec Norton, Kaspersky), you should also take advantage of Windows 7's built-in security settings and updates.

These five simple security features in Windows 7 help keep the bad guys at bay.

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Action Center

Action Center, the home base for your PC's security, lists all information about security settings. The main role of Action Center is to consistently check on security items such as your network firewall and maintenance items including backup and restore, to make sure your machine is healthy.

The Action Center in Windows 7 gives you a view of all your PC's security and maintenance features.

Action Center shows up as a little white flag on the right-hand side of the Windows 7 toolbar, or it can be reached by the path Control Panel -- System and Security -- Action Center.

Inside Action Center, you can make sure your Windows Firewall is on, your antivirus software is up to date and that your PC is set to install updates automatically.

When the status of a monitored security item changes, such as your antivirus becoming out of date, Action Center notifies you with a message in the taskbar. Then when you open Action Center, the status of the item in question changes color to indicate the severity of the problem, and an action is requested.

[ For complete coverage on Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system -- including hands-on reviews, video tutorials and advice on enterprise rollouts -- see CIO.com's Windows 7 Bible. ]

Action Center is a helpful resource that warns you when there may be trouble. Be sure not to neglect those Action Center messages when they turn up.

Windows Defender

Windows Defender, antispyware software that's included with Windows 7, runs automatically when it is turned on.

Spyware is any unwanted or potentially harmful software that can be installed on your computer without your knowledge any time you connect to the Internet. It can also infect your computer when you install programs using a CD or DVD.

Windows Defender staves off spyware in two ways:

* Real-time protection. Windows Defender alerts you when spyware attempts to install itself or to run on your computer. It also alerts you when programs attempt to change important Windows settings.
* Scanning options. You can use Windows Defender to scan for spyware that might be installed on your computer, to schedule scans on a regular basis, and to automatically remove anything that's detected during a scan.

To open Windows Defender, click the Start button located in the far left of the task bar. In the search box, type Defender, and then, in the list of results, click Windows Defender.

User Account Control

UAC, the security feature that prompts you for permission to install or open programs, was despised by Windows Vista users, but it is much more customizable in Windows 7. The options are no longer "on or off"; there are four notification levels that a user can set.

The four settings in Windows 7 UAC's customizable slider range from Always notify to Never notify.

The improved Windows 7 UAC is essential in that it informs you when a program makes a change that could potentially harm your computer or make it susceptible to security threats.

If you are your computer's administrator (in most cases you are), you can click Yes to continue. If you are not an administrator, someone with an administrator account on the computer will have to enter their password for you to continue.

When your permission is needed to open a program or install software, UAC will notify you with one of four different types of dialog boxes:

* When a program or setting is part of Windows and needs your permission to start.
* When a program is not a part of Windows and needs your permission to start
* When a program with an unknown publisher needs your permission to start
* When you have been blocked by your system administrator from running a program because the program is known to be untrusted

To modify User Account Control Settings, click the Start button and then click Control Panel. In the search box, type uac, and then click Change User Account Control Settings.

Windows Update

Windows Update can be a pest, especially when updates pop up when you're in the middle of 10 things. But by installing the latest updates as they become available for your PC, you are continually improving the security, reliability and performance of your computer without too much of an inconvenience.

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You can set Windows to automatically install "important" and "recommended" updates or to install important updates only. Important updates are for more critical security and reliability issues and recommended updates address noncritical problems.

To turn on automatic Windows Updates:

* Click on the Start button. In the search box type Update, and then in the list of results click Windows Update.
* In the left pane, click Change Settings.
* Under Important updates, you can choose if you want to install new updates automatically, and the day and time you want the latest updates to take place (i.e. Every Day at 6 am).
* Under Recommended Updates select the "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates" check box, and then click OK.

Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall is an easy feature to turn on or off and can help prevent hackers and worms from slithering into your computer through a network or the Internet. A firewall can also help stop your computer from sending malicious software to other computers.

Unless you have another firewall enabled, such as a corporate network firewall, you should turn on Windows Firewall to protect your computer and network (if you have one).

To turn on Windows Firewall:

* Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel. In the search box, type firewall, and then click Windows Firewall.
* In the left pane, click "Turn Windows Firewall on or off." If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
* Click Turn on Windows Firewall under each network location that you want to help protect, and then click OK.

Note: If your computer is connected to a corporate network, your company's group policy settings might prevent you from turning on Windows Firewall.