2009...A Banner Year for Malware

It is the number one reason computer users call me for Tech Support. Their computer has been infiltrated by Malware, and naturally, no one in the household knows how it happened. Well, there is actually good reason for that.

The Bad News…

A recent report released by Panda Security (http://tinyurl.com/panda2009report) states that their research identified 25 million new strains of malware in 2009, compared to a combined total of 15 million throughout the company’s 20 year history.

Let me repeat that...

25 Million NEW strains of malware in just ONE YEAR, compared to 15 million over the previous 20 year period combined.

Folks, that is an average of over 68,000 new malicious files identified EVERY DAY.

The report estimates that 66% of malicious activity were of the Banker Trojan variety, followed by fake antivirus programs (an example shown at left), also referred to as Rogueware or Scareware.Let me repeat that…

Another shocking statistic reported was with regards to email spam. Some 92% of all email traffic was identified as spam or junk email. This means that 8 out of every 100 emails you may receive is valid email you would actually want to read.

Spam email is often the way malicious activity starts on a users computer. Phishing attacks (emails that lead a user to false log-in pages for banks and other services for the purpose of stealing your log-in credentials), malicious embedded links and malicious email attachments are the most threatening types of spam.

Other malware distribution channels include social networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Myspace) Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing sites (Limewire, Frostwire, Kazaa, Cabos, Bit Torrent) and SEO attacks (changing search engine result links to re-direct users to malware laden sites)

Not surprisingly, the report predicts the amount of malicious software in circulation to increase in 2010, including designing new attacks for Windows 7, Macintosh and even cell phones.

The Good News…

Believe it or not, it is actually very easy to keep your computer safe from these attacks. It just requires some light regular maintenance and some common sense internet use. Follow these steps easy steps and you will likely never need to call me with a virus infection.

Keep Your Software Up To Date – Enable Windows Updates and set it to update automatically. Microsoft sends out updates for Windows on the second Tuesday of every month, and will send out critical security patches out of cycle if they feel it is important enough. These updates patch security vulnerabilities within the operating system that malware writers try to exploit. Every day that your computer goes on to the internet without these updates makes your system more vulnerable to malicious attack.

This also goes for any other software that runs on your computer, the most important being those titles that are found on just about every computer on the internet. These include Adobe’s Reader and Flash Player (http://www.adobe.com/) and Sun’s Java (http://www.java.com/). To check your entire computer for vulnerable software that needs to be updated, download and run the Secunia Personal Software Inspector (http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/). When your computer tells you there are updates ready to be installed, take five to ten minutes to download and install the updates. This is the most important thing you can do to help keep yourself safe on the internet.

Put up your Firewall – Every computer connected to the internet via a Broadband Service (Cable Modem, DSL, Fios, Satellite) should be connected through a router, even if you only have one computer. A router has a built in hardware firewall which blocks wandering internet worms. Operating systems (Windows, Macintosh, Linux) also have a built in software firewall which should always be turned on. Many Security Suites available today include a built in firewall as well which would take the place of the Windows built in firewall. A computer connected to the internet that does not have any kind of active firewall will be infected by a worm within a matter of minutes, even if you are not activley surfing the internet.

Use Antivirus/Antispyware Software – There are many available antivirus products on the market today, many of which are free for home users. While I agree a free product is better than not having anything at all, the products that charge an annual fee have more features and are, in my opinion, far superior protection.As mentioned earlier, there is an estimated 68,000 new malware threats every day. Make sure your antivirus database is updated at least daily, if not multiple times a day, and that you download the latest version of the software when it becomes available.

Limit Yourself – Windows Vista and Windows 7 users should do their daily computing as a ‘Standard User’, instead of 'Administrator'. The ‘User Account Control (UAC)' feature was the main reason for all of the complaints surrounding Windows Vista when it was first released, mainly because it was a new way of using your computer that was not understood by the general home computer user.

The first account created on your new computer will be the Administrator, for which you should set a password and should not be used for general everyday use. Then everyone else who uses the computer should do so under a separate ‘Standard User’ account. You can password protect these accounts to restrict access by other users.With this feature put in place, if you double-click an ‘MP3’ file expecting to hear music, and the UAC pops up prompting for the administrator password, you have likely just stopped a virus from being installed on your system.This is an extremely powerful tool that prevents any software from being installed without the administrator password being entered to authorize the installation.

Just Say NO to Clicking – The most common method for malware to open the door to your computer is by getting you to click a malicious link that takes you somewhere other than where you thought you would be going. NEVER click on unsolicited attachments or links in email, in a chat session or on social networking sites, unless you know exactly what the link is for, who it came from and were expecting it. Even if the link came in a message (email or instant message) from ‘someone you know’, if you were not expecting it, DO NOT CLICK IT. It is a trivial process to hide the real destination behind a seemingly innocuous web link.

Do not use Peer to Peer Sharing Services – Downloading ‘Free’ (pirated) software, music, videos and other files through programs such as Limewire, Frostwire, Kazaa, Cabos, and Bit Torrent clients is one of the fastest methods to infecting your computer. You may think you are downloading your favorite song, when in fact, you may be downloading a virus that has been disguised with the title of the song. Download your favorite media files through legitimate sites such as Apple iTunes (http://www.itunes.com/), Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/).

When it comes right down to it, a little common sense will take you a long way. You can be the safest driver in the world, drive the safest car on the road, and have the best auto insurance available, yet none of these will stop you from driving your car into that tree in front of you if you decide to steer your car directly at it. If you practice these important internet safety tips, your computer will run virus free for many years.