Securing Your Computer

After some recent conversations with a few friends, I realised that a lot of people do not know the ways in which they can secure their computers from Viruses and other maladies due to using the computer over the Internet. Hence I felt a tutorial was in order.

You have come here probably for the same reason. Do not panic! It is quite easy to protect your computer from most of the problems you will encounter on the web.

Firstly let me lay my cards on the table. Most of use pirated versions of Microsoft’s Operating Systems, Windows 98 or Xp. If you are one of the lucky few who has a Mac, hats off to you, this tutorial will be of no useless. I also assume that you have an internet connection; otherwise you will be safe from most of these problems.

Step 1
Firstly install a good anti-virus programme and regularly update it. An Anti-virus is your first line of defence. It runs in the background all the time and prevents viruses from running in the first place.
Computer Viruses not only reduce system performance but they can potentially destroy data and allow a third party complete control over your computer.
No PC today should be running without an updated Antivirus program. Updated means that the Antivirus program should have a current virus pattern, reference or definition file from within the last seven days. E-mailing, file sharing, disk sharing, and simply browsing the Internet can all potentially cause a computer virus infection.

Most of us still use the anti-virus programme which the Computer guy had installed. It probably will be a Norton or a McAfee, and its subscriptions usually end in a year. What this means is that the software cannot be updated after a particular date, which will render it impotent against viruses found after that date. Getting an Anti-virus need not make a hole in your pocket. There are several free antiviruses any of which you can download and install.
I would suggest AVG Antivirus 7.0 Free Edition. This product has been continuously refined since it was first released in 1991 and now offers very impressive protection capabilities. Additionally, it's relatively small, light on resources, has regular automatic updates and handles email scanning. There is a free and a pro version, the only difference being that the free version has a few non-critical features disabled and has no direct technical support. Even so, it's an impressive package and offers the financially challenged a real alternative to the major anti-virus suites.
Download it at http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/ (15.8MB)


Step 2
Now that viruses have been tackled, let us look at the second group of irritants, Spyware
Spyware - "Hidden software that gathers information about a computer user without the user's knowledge or informed consent, and then transmits this information to an external entity. This also includes Malware products which perform the delivery of unrequested advertising (Pop-ups in particular), re-routing page requests to illegally claim commercial site referral fees, and installing stealth phone diallers.”
So now how do you protect yourself? Which are the softwares that you need?

If you have a genuine Windows Xp [i.e. a non pirated version] then Microsoft has got an excellent product for you; Microsoft' has just-released Windows Defender program [1] which is currently available as a free beta. Defender is the latest re-incarnation of the excellent Giant Antispyware product that Microsoft purchased late in 2004. It's a notch or two better than its immediate predecessor Microsoft Antispyware, itself a very capable performer. Importantly, it appears to have the best protective capability of any of the free anti-Spyware products.

Now if you belong to the majority and have a pirated version of Windows, don’t worry; I suggest two free products: Ad-Aware SE V1.6 [2] and SpyBot Search and Destroy V1.4 [3]. Both work well together and between them you'll get excellent protection. If you have a relatively fast PC, I suggest you turn on the TeaTimer option when you install SpyBot. It will give you reasonable active protection but at the cost of eating up some of your processing power.

Download them at:
[1]Windows Defender ( 6.4MB)
[2] http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (2.7MB)
[3] http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html(4.8MB)
Step 3
Within the last year and a half, a new type of irritant has become stronger, the Trojans. They are programs that appear legitimate but do something illicit when run. Just like the wooden horse the Greeks gave Troy as a "gift", users mistake the Trojan for a useful or interesting program that they choose to download. Once installed and run, Trojans can secretly open remote access channels to hackers, relay passwords and credit card data or destroy user files. It's similar to a virus but generally does not replicate itself.
Ewido is the best of a new crop of anti-Trojan programs. It emerged as was one of the few products that could reliably detect polymorphic and process injecting Trojans that were totally missed by anti-virus products like Norton and AVG. Unfortunately the free version of Ewido doesn't have a memory monitor and this omission significantly reduces the level of active protection provided. However the on-demand scanner is excellent. I recommend that all average PC users who don't have an anti-trojan scanner download Ewido and scan their PCs weekly. I suspect you may be surprised at what you will find. Ewido is also pretty good at removing some Spyware infections so bear that in mind next time you encounter a Spyware product you can't remove with normal anti-Spyware products like Ad-Aware. Note that Ewido only works with Windows 2000 and later so Win 9X users should consider the free version of a2 (a-squared) anti-trojan as an alternative. It's not quite as effective as Ewido but is still an excellent product. High risk PC users such as P2P file sharers and frequenters of hack sites should however consider the industrial strength protection of Trojan Hunter or the full version of Ewido both of which offer the active protection they need. Note: The free version of Ewido is actually the same as the paid version but after 14 days the active protection (i.e. memory monitor) becomes non-functional.
Download it at http://www.ewido.net/en/ (2.2MB)


Step 4
Now that you have followed the above steps, there is only one remaining step, between you and a secure PC. You need a firewall. A personal firewall is a software application which filters traffic entering or leaving your computer. When you're connected to the Internet, information is flowing to and from your PC in a near-constant stream through your PC's "ports". There are thousands of "ports" and they are like little gates that let information in and out. If you leave your PC's ports open and don't monitor them, you're at extreme risk.
No other single product class seems to cause as much angst to average users in their installation and day-to-day use as Firewalls. That's why my choice for "best" goes to Kerio Personal Firewall the product that seems to cause the fewest problems for users yet manages first rate protection as well. Kerio dropped the free version in late 2005 but thankfully Sunbelt Software, the makers of the excellent CounterSpy anti-spyware scanner, picked it up and will continue making it available [1] under the name of Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall. Note that the free and paid versions of Kerio are the same. If you don't buy the product some advanced features are automatically turned off after 30 days. The latest free version (V6) of the ZoneAlarm firewall [2] comes in as a good second choice though it can be a troublesome program on some PCs. It's also a very cut-down product; each new version of the free ZoneAlarm seems to have fewer features while its commercial big brother grows ever more bloated. More adventurous users might like to try the now discontinued Sygate Personal Firewall. It's still available from numerous download sites [3] and is an excellent and robust firewall though not the easiest to set up. Another tricky product to install is NetVeda Safety.Net firewall [3] however its performance is quite outstanding and it offers application control and content filtering as well. This highly capable product deserves to be better known and experienced users should definitely put it on their short list.
Download them at:
[1] http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm (7.3MB)
[2] Zone Alarm (9.0MB)
[3] http://www.snapfiles.com/get/sygatefw.html (9.1MB)
[4] http://www.netveda.com/consumer/safetynet.htm (6.3MB)



Final words on Safety.
If you are really interested in making your computer safer, I would recommend you changing your browser. Internet Explorer (IE) is a competent browser but it has become such a target for malicious exploits that it is now a major security risk. Quite separately, the browser itself is now looking dated with most alternative products offering tabbed browsing and other productivity enhancements.
There are several excellent alternatives with Mozilla Firefox [1] the stand-out pick. It's safer than IE, so safe in fact that many users have reported no Spyware infections since they started using the product. It's also browses faster than IE, is very stable and is fully standards compliant. It loads a little slower than IE but once running, it positively zips along. With tabbed browsing and over 600 free extensions that allow you to customize your experience, it provides most users with a major surfing upgrade. Firefox is now my everyday browser though I still leave IE on my PC for the occasional web site that's designed around IE's non-standard features. If you need any further convincing then check out this IE to Firefox migration guide [2].
If you don't like Firefox then you should check out Opera [3]. It's always been the fastest and a full featured browser but until recently was only available as shareware or in advertising-supported versions. Now though, it's free. There's much to like about Opera but I do miss all those Firefox extensions.
Users who don't want to drift too far from the Microsoft stable can get some of the advantages of Firefox and Opera by using one of the many customized shells for Internet Explorer. These offer tabbed browsing and many other features missing in IE. On the downside they share most of the same security problems as IE as they utilize the IE engine.
The IE shell that I like most is a freeware product called Maxthon [4]. After using Maxthon for a while, Internet Explorer seems totally out-of-date and painfully cumbersome. Don't expect a lot of documentation though but if you read the FAQ [5] you'll have no problems. Some folks prefer the free Avant browser [6] to Maxthon. It's a close call; Avant has a cleaner look while Maxthon has more features. In the last analysis it's Maxthon's ability to accept Internet Explorer plug-ins that put it a nose in front.
Last but not least is the K-Meleon browser [7], a slimmed down cousin of Firefox that's optimized for Windows. Of the four browsers I use regularly, K-Meleon is the quickest loading and along with Opera, the fastest for surfing. On the downside there are only a limited number of add-ons and plug-ins available so you are pretty well limited to the features available in the standard product. If you are the type of person who prefers performance to bells and whistles you should definitely try K-Meleon.
[1] http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ (5.0MB)
[2] http://www.techsupportalert.com/firefox.htm
[3] http://www.opera.com/ (3.6MB)
[4] http://www.maxthon.com/en/index.htm (2.0MB)
[5] http://maxthon.cafedeux.com/faq/
[6] http://www.avantbrowser.com/ (1.4MB)
[7] http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/ (6MB)

In case you have some problems or questions, either leave them as comments on this post or e-mail me. My address can be seen on the right hand side column under the 'About me' section.