Protecting Yourself On The Internet

The internet can be a dangerous place and sharing personal information over social media and other internet facets can put you at risk!

So how can we stay protected in an age that feels like people already share too much? Is that Facebook status about being on vacation really going to make your home susceptible to unforeseen visitors? Maybe. Here’s a couple tips on how to protect yourself online.

1. Passwords

Use different passwords for all of your logins. While having one password can really be a breeze, it opens you up to having all of your accounts compromised, rather than just one. One account is much easier to manage than a full-blown security breach!

Also, make sure that your passwords are hard to guess and are strong. “Puppy1” isn’t cutting it anymore, so use a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols to make your password like a cryptic vault!

2. Social Media

Revealing too much about yourself on social media can be very dangerous. Reevaluate who you are friends with on these networks and be cautious sharing information that could be indicators of your password. It doesn’t take much for a hacker to get in, so stop them in their tracks and be wise in what you share.

But it's more than just a hacker that you have to worry about - it's the folks that don't post, don't share, just sort of lurk around... Are you a Facebook user - ? Are you a parent? Have you seen this site?
Take This Lollipop

Enough said.

3. Be aware

The most neglected protection tip is simply to be aware. Computers can get viruses. Cell phones can be stolen. Online accounts can be compromised. Pay attention to your online surroundings and protect yourself by being extra cautious before clicking on links or to install an internet filter or protection service.

And another thing - your computer could go kaput. Make regular backups. If you can't afford an expensive online backup program - buy an external hard drive and backup your precious family photos and files regularly - or save those special things to the cloud. (Dropbox, Google Drive - both FREE!)

The internet can be scary but don’t let it be! Just be aware and cautious and you’ll be able to enjoy it all without the worries.

New Virus Alert - "XP Police Antivirus"

So, you are trying to be careful with your internet browsing practices, you don't open 'mysterious emails', you've done the research - and you thought you had downloaded and were using the best browser for internet security (Mozilla, right?) - and POOF - now you've just installed XP Police Antivirus and you didn't even hit a button, confirm, ask for it, or know you were downloading it.

Made me feel like I was living in the Matrix. Like the computer totally had a mind of it's own. Thought to myself - "I'm GOOGLING this S.O.B. and getting it off my machine. Today."

So I Googled. And found what I needed to find. I tried a few things, and I'm sharing what I know with you. I accidentally downloaded, I Googled, and I fixed. All by my lonesome. :)

This one is easy enough, but it's still a bit ugly - one, because it installs itself even with the extra precaution of exclusively using Mozilla. Second, it disables your task manager, so you can not just go in and manually begin to remove by stopping processes.

It did definitely slow down my machine, as the VUNDO and ZLOB Trojans did that I had last year - but this one was much easier to remove.

For this little bugger, the best instructions I found for removal were on the Bleeping Computer website/blog. There was also a direct download for Malwarebytes.org Anti-Malware software. Download the free trial - and give it a test run. It'll remove your XP Police virus. Once you're sold on it, it's only 24.95.

Can't beat that with a stick. With last year's VUNDO and ZLOB trojans - I purchased SpyHunter 3 and XoftSpy - both of which I wasn't super-happy with. While I felt like they 'might be helping' - there were really problems all-around - with support, updates, even the basic operation of the software (can't even run SpyHunter anymore - it just shuts down). I don't work for Malwarebytes.org - but what I can say, as an affected user - it's the ONE PROGRAM that truly did what it said it would do - removed the virus. So it's the one I'm buyin'.

Next - we need to gain access to our Task Manager again.

Depending on which version of Windows you're on - you might need some instructions. I followed this post on Software Tips and Tricks Web Forum and was able to enable my Task Manager safely within about 5 mintues.

So that's it - cure XP Police:

1/ Get MalwareBytes.org Anti-Malware
2/ Enable your Task Manager again

Unless of course there's something ELSE lingering on your machine - which - we're all over here hoping there's NOTHING more on your machine - because those boogers sure are smart & sneaky. If we get another one, we'll find a way to remove and post our experiences.

Good luck and safe surfing!

Virus Alert

*DISCLAIMER*
I'm no expert in viruses, spyware and malware,
this is simply a personal story of survival where these rude little irritants are concerned.

There's no doubt that computer viruses and spyware are a crippling time-waster for those of us who work on our computers, and also on the web. What sort of person creates this stuff? Honestly? Immature pre- teenage geniuses? Mr. Norton? Come on now. You know who you are. (AND - Just so you know, you totally blew me away this week - with your smart little 'rogue anti-spyware hijacker' programs.)

So here's what I had going on (and have a little of, still) Trojan Vundo and Trojan Zlob + an ugly little hijacker called "Storage Protector". (please notice - I did not put a link to their nasty little website and I do NOT recommend going to it or downloading any of their software!).

It all started with my computer running a little slow. Then, all of a sudden - I start getting crazy messages and system errors. And these look totally LEGIT, people!

Next thing you know, you've got two "Microsoft Windows" icons on your desktop: one for "Help and Support" and one other (I can't remember - and I don't want to bring it back just to post it here!).

Luckily, I didn't click on any of them - but viewed their properties (right click, view properties.) and saw that they DID NOT go to Microsoft, or to a system file on my machine, but rather a website called "Storage Protector". UGLY!

Here's how smart these uglies are: you can run anti-spyware programs (Adaware by Lavasoft, SpyHunter3 by Enigma - both good options) and these little malicious programs 'sense' or are triggered that they're being hunted.... So, they change their filenames often (to go under the radar of these programs and of known filenames that one might try and delete to manually remove the infection).

In addition, they embed themselves in Windows logon files, so they automatically renew themselves on startup/boot. So many times, the only way to get rid of them is to format or restore the entire hard drive, because trying to remove these files from the logon files can damage the logon process, making it impossible to boot up again. UGLY!

What did I do? I freaked out first. All my client files are on my machine, and my entire life in photos. I use the internet and FTP all the time.

For hope and inspiration, I then spoke to an Apple friend, who told me that the MacBook Pro I got for Christmas just wouldn't put up with these nasty little programs (the Operating System, OSX, does not support these programs, they are ahead of these hijackers! Hallelujah!) and that it was safe to transfer my client's files. I did so at once. Then, I moved on to the business of cleaning my Windows Laptop of these hateful little boogers.

Tips to remove and protect and learn:

First and foremost: Change browsers. If you're on Internet Explorer: change now to Mozilla Firefox. It's more secure, and less likely to allow browser hijacking and these back door viruses like Vundo and Zlob into your computer to open it up to other infections.

Then, look and learn: If you suspect malware or spyware, or virus infections on your computer, run an anti-spyware program and an anti-virus program. There's lots of good FREE Ones out there.

Spyware/Malware: SpyHunter3, Adaware
Both have good support, forums, and helpful people. You might have to also download and test some other programs or tools to remove the bugs (as requested or directed by security volunteers on the forum).

Typically, the people on these forums are volunteers - so you MUST have patience and manners when posting on these forums, and read the pre-posting instructions. You might figure out and clean your infection on your own just by the free info. They are helping others for a whole buncha nothin'! And if you can, please donate to their causes - because they are working hard to keep people safe. I actually purchased the paid versions of a couple of spyware programs and run them every day now. They didn't remove what I had - but support was good - and informative.

Virus Protection: Avast AntiVirus
So far so good - this little gem has cleaned up a bunch.

Overall support and GREAT info: Atribune
Atri - the developer and site owner - he's an INCREDIPEOPLE kind of guy. Seems that he came up with a little thing called VUNDOFIX, which I ran - it (in my case) actually got rid of the ZLOB, and the Storage Protector. (or a combination of Avast + VundoFix) so now I have 4 files left, that claim 'Vundo' that I'm having a hard time getting off my machine... BUT - I have, since finding Atribune, removed 10 files of Zlob + Vundo and the Storage Protector. So I am totally happy - being that progress has been made.

So there's my journey - and my links to great tools and websites that I think will help others. I've posted in the Atribune forums for some help on removing these last 4 files - so hopefully I'll get those off too. I'll keep you posted!

Cheers - and Good luck!!