Category: Part

Internet Security Companies Warn about Patch Tuesday and Valentines Day.

Paul

With Tomorrow being released some very highly rated Remote Code Execution to become Zero day in very short time. Some researchers are speculating about more viruses will be released in conjunction to Valentines day. According to this one post it will be likely to be E-cards being sent to try to lure you into downloading Malware.
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Various security vendors, including CA Inc, MX Logic Inc., Trend Micro Inc., and Panda Security, have issued alerts about new Valentine’s Day-themed spam campaigns that try to dupe users into installing the Waledec bot.

Researchers note that many websites which are affiliated to Waledac e-card scam have been recently updated with content based on the Valentine’s Day theme.

Web sites distribute Trojan files which are commonly named love.exe; onlyyou.exe; you.exe; youandme.exe; and meandyou.exe and the list is not exhaustive.
[Via Express Buzz]

So which ones will likely be the exploits they will use? I have a few theories on that and One of them is the INTERNET EXPLORER vulnerability that will be patched and will try to get you to launch the link and will most likely try to launch it in Internet explorer, That would be my guess.    It seems to be Internet Explorer 7 and Below which will be patched so if you want to try out the IE 8 Beta,  You should be safe on that.  Although the best bet is to prevent users from clicking links in emails and also warning them not to open any attachments they are not expecting.    I’d also have the AutoPatcher ready to install the lastest patches for this Tuesday and schedule a time this week to update all the possible systems involved with the Databases.  Although this isn’t one that tries to steal your data it is however a chance the writers to look at what you have and you know how that can be call a data breach.   So if your the IT for the department I’d suggest sending out warnings so they can keep from being caught with their pants down.   I’d also suggest having Anti-Virus and free Firewall installed on all the major systems and it wouldn’t hurt to have the installed on minor systems if at all possible.

Tools for Virus Removal : The ones I like to use!

Paul

In this post I want to talk about virus removal tools that I like to use when I need to remove a virus.   Some thing to consider when using these tools are:

Each of these have to be dealt with differently because each requires something different.  Like rootkits if you have one installed and know that it is a rootkit you only options are to download some rootkit removers like:

  • Sopho’s Anti-rootkit remover —  This is good for those more known viruses and can remove several types of rootkits.   This isn’t the only one I use, but it is a part of group that does the rootkit removing for me.

  • Microsoft Rootkit Revealer —  This is good for proving there is a rootkit.  I’ve not seen it not detect a rootkit.  Most of the time when I find a rootkit from the other rootkit revealers this one actually dos better with information.

  • Panda Anti-Rootkit Remover — This one is another one I use when the other ones can’t remove it.  Each one does remove certain rootkit differently and works better than the other.

  • Aries Rootkit Remover from Lavasoft — This is good for those really tough rootkits but have some great benefits for removing some of the really tough rootkits.

These are the ones that work well with me when it comes to removing the rootkits.  I’ve not had one of these to remove a rootkit but that depends on how you deal with the virus in the first place.  Now for Anti-spyware and Anti-Virus software here are some of the tools that I suggest:

  • Hijackthis — Run it, and when you get the LOG file you will want to go to HijackThis Log Analysis Site 1 and HijackThis Log Analysis Site 2, and see what it says.  This is the best software because it will scan all of the registry and tells you like a wiki what might it be.

  • MSCONFIG — Sometimes it is hidden but if you check through the MSCONFIG for any files that might not need to load. Also check the services tab and see if there is any services that may not be needed.

  • Pctools Antivirus Free Software — This is a free software so what can I say.

  • AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 7.5.503 — This is another free one that can remove viruses really easily. Download this and you don’t have to worry to much.

  • Avast Home Edition — AVG does better than this one but people seem to like this so I have to add this for people who like this better than the others.

  • Clamwin Free Anti-virus — This is a good one because this is open sourced and easily can help detect so many viruses. This is good for those people who like open sourced.

These are just  the ones that I like to recommend that does pretty good on removing the viruses but there are others that I recommend on my Malware Resources that people have recommend to me but I haven’t tried them out yet.    Some of the Spyware and Adware removal and here are some of my favorites:

  • SuperAntispyware — Easily remove pests such as WinFixer, SpyAxe, SpyFalcon, and thousands more! Repair broken Internet Connections, Desktops, Registry Editing and more with our unique Repair System.

  • Malwarebytes — can provide the needed assistance to remove the infection and restore the machine back to optimum performance.

  • Ad-Aware — This is a very good tool to get rid of some of the most annoying little viruses that try to fool you that you have a virus.

  • Windows Security Trojan Scanner — a Free online scanner to let you see if you might have a Trojan.

  • SmitFraudFix — A great little program to get rid of those Desktop hijacks, those programs that take over your browser or other file system.

If your current antimalware software let an infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of SUPERAntiSpyware or Malwarebytes License to protect your computer in the future. SUPERAntiSpyware Professional or Malwarebytes License features highly advanced Real-Time Protection to ensure protection from installation or re-installation of potential threats as you surf the Internet (Both are trusted Vendors by CCSS Forums).

These are just a few that I like to use when it comes to fighting those virus programs and the people behind the virus programs.   If you consider how hard it is sometimes to recognize a virus, you can see the problem with some of the programs they can sometimes  say a file is a virus and delete it and the next thing you know it won’t boot into Windows.  This is what needs to be considered whenever you see a warning on your system so you must be careful when you remove files.  You should always have backups that is what I always recommend because the likely hood of something terrible happening to your data.  You should come up with a way to back up your system every week like a sunday back or even a Monday while your at work backup.

Is this Hardcore PC Falcon Northwest Mach V Extreme or not?

Paul

[ad#ad2-right]Just saw this on PcWorld Reviews and thought I’d talk about the specs. I would love to get one of these for my self. It comes with:

All these are links are for those who would like to make this computer yourself.   The links are where you could go to buy the parts. The price after you buy the parts are estimated at $7395 price and I think you could get that down to 5000$ if you look for rebates and other incentives.   I wouldn’t mind having this computer for gaming myself.   It sure would be nice to give for someone on the holidays.  This would be good for people wh o are looking to computer game developers or people who are into 3D rendering.  Just though I share this little  review with you.   They really did a fantastic review of this product on there site.

You asked for it, Now it’s real — Vista SP2 Dec 4,2008

Paul

Beginning Thursday Dec. 4th, we will be making the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Beta available to everyone through a Customer Preview Program (CPP). The CPP will launch on TechNet and be available to anyone interested in trying out this service pack. The CPP is intended for technology enthusiasts, developers, and IT Pros who would like to test Service Pack 2 in their environments and with their applications prior to final release. For most customers, our best advice would be to wait until the final release prior to installing this service pack.

[Via Technet]

[ad#ad2-right]Yes you heard right, you can get into the Beta of Vista SP2 and not have to wait till April.  Some things to remember:

  • It is a Beta

  • It will Have Bugs

  • It is for people who want to test it out

  • It should only be installed for people who need to test it out

Some of the changes that they are going to incorporate into Sp2 are support for new types of hardware and emerging standards that will grow in importance in the coming months.  The complete list of changes can be found here.   I will be testing this out sometime this weekend to give it a full thorough check out.   I will give a report later on this month possibly first part on January I would like to give it a complete test.   To test it out yourself, check out this link for directions on how to download it.