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Tools & Links

There are many tools and services on the net that respond to concerns about security. Rather than flood this page with more tools and links than anyone could ever use, I will try to give those that many of the "gurus" in the anti-virus and security community look upon favorably. The October 1, 2003 issue of PC Magazine had a comprehensive cover story on security and many products dealing with staying secure. Then many-paged article can be found by clicking here.

Tools for combatting virus intrusions-
One of the easiest methods of finding and fixing viruses are through online scanners available from several of the best anit-virus companies in the world. Going to the site, you will be asked to load a small program onto your computer which will then be used to actually look at your hard drive, scan it, and tell you if viruses are present. It's safe and if you have a firewall installed, the firewall software will ask for "permission" to allow your drive to be searched. The firewall is protecting you. Of course, you will have to "ok" your firewall to allow the hard drive to be searched.
Many scanners will be able to remotely fix and destroy any viruses. 
A very helpful page has been put together by the alt.comp.virus newsgroup. It can be found by clicking here.
Note: often the virus has already done it's dirty deed and although the scanner can disinfect the virus, you will still have to deal with what the virus has damaged, if anything, on your computer. Online scanners are NOT substitutes for a good anti-virus program that is in your computer constantly monitoring for viruses trying to get in. The scanner only finds the virus AFTER it is in your system. The ideal scenario is not allowing it on your computer in the first place. More on anit-virus programs below.

Online scanners-
Programs that companies make available to scan your machine while you are online, without anything other than a small program loaded on your computer by that scanner,are safe and effective. A few are outlined below.

  • CentralCommand.com has a very good scanner called CentralCommand.com. They also have a VERY effective newsletter that is usually on of the first, if not THE first, to alert of new viruses. You can subscribe to it online for free. Great source.
  • Trend-Micro has a very good scanner called Housecall. You can register with an e-mail address or you can "scan without registering." A few bits of info and a quick download on Housecall and you're ready to scan. Remember, the "C" drive is the hard drive, which you should always scan. The "A" drive will be your small floppies. Many now have a zip drive which can be the "D," "E," or sometimes "S" drive as well as a tape backup which you may be able to scan also. Check your machine. Many of these scanners will scan all your drives. You just need to tell it which ones.
  • McAfee is also a well-respected company that offers online scanning with their web page at McAfee.com. Again, having the virus program on your computer is always best.
  • Norton at Symantecs software has a new scanner for viruses, trojan horses, and a security check to see how much "at risk" your computer is.
  • AVX and Central Command offer a free online scanner also.
Anti-Virus programs-
There are many programs providing excellent protection for your computer. Listed below are some notables.
  • Antiviral Toolkit Pro by a Swiss company,Kaspersky, is considered one of the best. You can download one of the several programs they offer and try it for 30 days before deciding. Several levels meet the needs of home and/or professional user. The Gold level is considered one of the best home use. There is excellent support, daily updates as well as weekly, and the usual virus descriptions and information. One advantage mentioned with this product is that it is not a huge program while other products may take a lot of space on your hard drive. It will also sit and monitor what is happening continuously, giving instant warnings if a virus is incoming. You can even sign up for a free e-mail newsletter giving current virus information. Excellent product and if you decide to buy, inexpensive.
  • InoculateIT PE (for Personal Edition) is a good product and free. It is found at the Computer Associates' site where you can download a copy and use it free. It includes an easy way to update. One drawback is that it will not scan e-mail files easily and many viruses come via e-mail attachments (which you should never open anyway.) They also offer a newsletter as well as a virus info center and should you want a more robust version of the Personal Edition, they have several options you can buy.
  • Central Command and the AVX anti-virus software make a good virus program. They offer updates, news and an online scanner.
  • F-Prot from Frisk Software is another leader in virus protection and recovery disks. Sometimes a virus makes it impossilbe to boot your computer without the use of a "startup or recovery disk." F-Prot has an excellent free virus program scanner for DOS along with equally free updates and also a pay program for use with Windows. They have a virus info page and directions for making recovery disks for use if the hard drive is unbootable. They also have tools for cleaning Macro viruses along with their DOS-based program.
  • F-Secure has many of the same types of programs and resources and is considered excellent in the field. Their site also has a "hoax warning" area where you can see the latest phoney virus scares.
  • Of course, McAfee and Symantec's Norton products are always good companies and many people swear by their products. Both offer excellent information, newsletters, real-time virus tracking all over the world.
  • Trend-Micro has a product called PC-cillin which is another excellent anti-virus program which can be purchased and downloaded like the others. They also have a fine selection of information and resources to use.
  • Grisoft offers AVG Antivirus for free. It's considered a reputable product. It includes free updates, e-mail scans, etc. A good free alternative.
  • There is even a site where you can go to TEST your virus protection. It is called EICAR and you can download several "non-fatal" test files to see if your virus program protects against certain virus types. 


File and Data Recovery-

    Often virus programs will delete usable data, files, programs if allowed to go undetected for too long. Several programs which are downloadable are available for recovering this data. Caution: it's always easier to keep your antivirus updated than to reconstruct or recover "lost" data.
    Directory Snoop can be used and found at Briggs Software as well as another data recovery program called, 
    Drive Rescue
Firewalls-
For more details, see the Firewall page but in the meantime, here are the four firewall programs that seem most effective and easiest to set up for the home user.
  • Zone Alarm from Zone Labs.com is excellent and free.
  • Norton and Symantecs software featuresInternet Security 2002
  • BlackICE Defender an intrusion device from Network ICE
  • Shields Up is from GRC
AntiTrojan Devices-
There are anti-trojan programs that will protect you.
  • While firewalls work, this anti-trojan software from TFAK is excellent for detecting and removing trojans from your system.
  • The grouping of tools above should give you adequate options and choices for protection. If you would like to see a larger collection of links for tools and services in addition to these, you might want to check Wilders.org for a raft of anti-virus, scanners, firewalls, cleaners, etc. The is also a program called "The Cleaner" found at moosoft.com that is extremely well respected for finding and cleaning trojans.
  • Many trojans enter through e-mail programs like Outlook and Outlook Express. Some set themselves up in an html format and activate even without you opening an attachment. The solution....always receive e-mail in plain text format. You won't be able to use little frills like boldface or backgrounds but you will be protected.
    Here's how:
    1.Go to your e-mail program and click on "Tools."
    2.Choose "Options" and then the "Read" tab.
    3.Be sure the box that says "read all messages in plain text" is checked. This will keep out any worms that are associated with html e-mail.
    4.Do the same with the "Send" tab and set Mail Sending to only "plain text." This will assure that whoever is getting your e-mail will not have to block out your html or "fancy" e-mails.
    If you still need to dress up your mail, do so with sending and receiving at your own risk.
Spyware-
The new trend in advertising is for spyware in conjunction with adware to have ads pop up on your browser. Sometimes these programs end up where you don't want them and they slow the computer and cause instability. They can turn up in a browser's history files for example, and will install components that will be loading advertisements. Even if one uninstalls such software, some components will continue to do their work. 
You can get Adaware, a spyware-checking cleaner by going to the LavasoftUSA.com website. 
You can get Spybot, another spyware-checking cleaner by going to the
Safer-Networking.org. website. 
You may also want to check a site called "Best Spywre Remover" by clicking
here.
A site to check for a spyware issue with your computer, see Spychecker.
Many of these "adwares" or "spyware" as they are now called, are hardly detectable, sending privacy-related information from your system elsewhere. This is not something we want. You can keep track of this on Adware, Spyware, and Trojans. You can also check Gibson Spyware Discussions.
For excellent details on removing spyware, spybots, etc, refer to this address:
http://www.pchell.com/support/spyware.shtml 

Privacy issues and tools-
Many are concerned, and rightly so, about issues of privacy and/or anonymity while on the net. This can be done if you are willing to install and setup a few programs. One way is navigating the net through proxies or another server that acts like yours.

  • AllNet Tools is a site that deals with privacy tools and proxies.
  • Proxies 4-All is a site that gives info on configuring your computer for anonymous "surfing."
  • Privacy Net addresses you privacy issues and allows a check on your computer and browser.
  • Leader.ru is a site that deals with many of the privacy issues with news, tools, etc.
Using your private e-mail address is one way of not watching out for your privacy. It's fine to have an e-mail address to which your friends can write. E-mail addresses have become the dumping ground for ads, spam, announcements, etc. In fact, at least one newsgroup had a virus stealing the addresses of those posting for use then, in sending viruses.  Many things like newsgroup posting, online registration, would be adequate reasons for using something other than your "personal e-mail address." You can get an e-mail address at: You may also want to use an anonymous mailer for posting or e-mailing. One excellent freeware program is Quicksilver. This page discusses anon mailing and needed software.

General security-

  • Your hard drive can tell a story, even about those files you THOUGHT you deleted. Actually, when you delete a file, you only delete the reference to it but the file itself can still be recovered. Two pieces of software that truly destroy those deleted files are Directory Snoop and FolderBurn
  • This site deals with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the security issues, and fixes. It's a good site even if the little cursor trick is annoying.
  • Another site is a good one for browser security and in making sure your browser is as free of "holes" as it can be. The page is called Active X Security Check Page
  • You may even want to take a look at a different internet browser from Opera which can be found at Opera.com. There is a free as well as a pay version. The benefit is that this software does not seem to be as prone to attack as others. It comes with a news and mail reader which can be used also.
  • Two newsgroups dealing with our topics are alt.comp.virus and alt.privacy anon-server.
  • Another site that includes a wealth of info, albeit a little confusing because of SO much glitz, is a site called, Secure CyberCommunications. The Text Files section could be very helpful for finding needed information.
Reporting a Suspected Virus-

Use the mail links below to submit a suspected virus to a company of your choice. They will analyze it. 

AVP: submit-virus@avp.ch
CAI: ipevirus@vet.com.au
Frisk: viruslab@f-prot.com
F-Secure: samples@f-secure.com
NAI: virus_research@nai.com
Sophos: support@sophos.com
Symantec: avsubmit@symantec.com
Trend: virus_doctor@trendmicro.com

Other resources-
As mentioned elsewhere, newsgroups are an excellent source of finding info. You can post questions, get replies, or just read. One of the best for security is alt.comp.virus on the USENET. You probably already have the capability of newsgroups with your Internet Explorer or Netscape browser. You can also use Google's Newsgroup Archive to search for info by using keywords without going into newsgroups. If you need help in setting up newsgroups, check these sites for help.
Netscape users or the Netscape web site
Internet Explorer users with Outlook Express as a newsreader.

Other links-
Infosyssec is a security portal that provides updated info on any security topic. 
A good resource site for security is Virus or Hoax?
Unfortunately, viruses sometimes make it necesssary to reformat our computers and begin again. Click here for a site that describes reinstalling Windows. 
Another site that gives results of virus program testing (that is they test the various anti-virus programs and report) is AV-Test.org
Tools for combatting several virus problems can be found at Netz Antiviral Utilities.

Virus-specific links-

Symantec's Security Response page
Test your browser for vulnerability of attack while online.
Symantec's Hoax Page. Dealings with certain chain letter hoaxes such as the !0000 fix to keep your address book away from worms doesn't work. Read more about it here, as well as the Vmyths Hoax page.
Virus Bulletin Homepage
McAfee Virus Library
Virus Alerts (changes daily)
Latest Viruses from Sohpos
F-Secure Updates
Test your software for virus catching
Computer Associates Virus Alerts
CA's Virus Encyclopedia
Trend Micro's Virus Database


Trojan-specific links-

Symantec's Virus/Trojan/Worm Search
Shields Up/Gibson Research (locating trojan attack tools)


Firewall-specific links-

Shields Up/Gibson Research (firewall effectiveness tool)
Personal Computer Firewalls
Firewall comparisons for pc's