Tag Archives: against

Microsoft’s Spyware Fight, Learn How to Erase Hard drive Completely

Now that spyware has far exceeded the threats of viruses Microsoft has released their version of a beta spyware scanner, remover and blocker. Spyware infects users with Internet Explorer with an endless build up of threats that run on computers and gather personal and usage information. Consequences of spyware can be browser crashes and start page changes as well as constant freezing.

With Microsoft’s beta spyware tool users must verify through the site that they possess a true, non stolen version of Windows XP before being able to download the software. Upon approval computer users get the download free and it begins immediately protecting against spyware invasions. The software includes a scanner that will detect and remove or fix spyware infected files. The scan runs easily just by booting up the program and choosing the scan. It can take twenty minutes or more for the entire scan to complete and once done it gives you a list of detected spyware.

When you choose to delete the detected spyware files you have the option of creating a restore point so that if any problems occur from remove a particular file you may rejuvenate its functions later. Microsoft’s anti-spyware tool also restores original Internet Explorer settings that may have been altered by spyware infections. Without this feature it is difficult and sometimes impossible to get an Internet Explorer browser to return to its normal features after spyware has hindered them.

After Microsoft’s beta spyware software has done its work your computer should run more productively and your privacy will be safer from intruders as you surf the internet. If you have Microsoft software it is wise to try to the free beta software so you computer can be better armed against spyware invasions. You definitely need way to erase your hard drive completely.

Your hard drive is being used within your computer to record all the things that you are doing on the web? If you are worried about the websites that you have visited, the movies you have watched or the things that you have downloaded, you need an effective way to erase your hard drive completely.

But how?

Unfortunately, even reformatting your hard drive will not completely clean out your hard drive. You can still be at risk of this collection of data to be found and used against you. In fact, there are government agencies waiting for you to mess up so they can collect this data and use it against you. But, there are ways to erase your hard drive completely.

The program called Evidence Eliminator can help you by completely erasing everything that is located on that little black box inside of your computer. It will erase things so well that it can never be found again. No other method is available to do this type of work. If you are allowing yourself to be watched by your boss, government agencies or even your friends and family, then you are at risk of being put in jeopardy.

Even authorities with a microscope cannot recover files that were once on your computer once you use Evidence Eliminator.

With this easy to use bit of software, you will never have to worry again about your privacy and whatever you are doing on the web. Become safe again with the use of Evidence Eliminator.

Antivirus Malware and Software (Page 1 of 2)

Warning: most antivirus programs will not protect you against all forms of malignant software (often called “malware”) on their own. Find out how to protect yourself.

Sure, your antivirus software will protect you against viruses. It will probably even do a good job against worms. But what Trojans, exploits, backdoors, spyware and the dozen other nasty software parasites?

Malware and Antivirus Software: a History

The war on computer viruses has led to an arms race between the designers of antivirus software and the designers of viruses (you didn’t think viruses just created themselves did you?). Some years ago, virus designers responded to ever more successful antivirus software by creating the descendents of viruses, worms, which did not infect files but rather installed themselves directly on the hard drive, making them harder to detect.

The arms race has since led to a total of at least eleven distinct types of what is now called malware, a neologism meaning bad (as in malignant rather than shoddy) software. According to Wikipedia, these eleven types of malware are:

1. Virus 2. Worm 3. Wabbit 4. Trojan 5. Backdoor 6. Spyware 7. Exploit 8. Rootkit 9. Key Logger 10. Dialer 11. URL injection

There’s a twelfth kind of malware: adware, which Wikipedia considers simply to be a subset of spyware.

Why Antivirus Software Isn’t Enough for Malware

As you can see, makers of antivirus software have their work cut out for them if they’re going to keep every instance of malware off your system. As a result, antivirus software makers have often had to pick their battles. Adware, whose makers often claim they are doing nothing illegal or even questionable, often gets treated more lightly.

Even when antivirus software makers do come out with a product that fights all twelve or so kinds of malware, responding to each new instance of malware to come on the market isn’t easy. First the malware has to be identified, which means someone’s computer, and probably tens of thousands of computers, will be infected first. Then, the malware has to be dissected. Then a removal program and a filter must both be written. Then the removal program and filter must be tested to make sure they work, and that they don’t interfere with any other functions of the antivirus software or the computer itself. When a fix for the virus is out, it then has to be loaded into an antivirus software update and transmitted to every single computer worldwide that has the antivirus software installed.

The speed with which antivirus software makers are able to deliver updates for newly discovered malware would impress even Santa Claus. Yet there’s still a crucial window of one to a few days between when the new malware has reached a critical mass of thousands of computers, and when the update is released. If your antivirus software is not set to check for updates automatically every hour or so, that window opens even wider.

Antivirus Malware and Software (Page 1 of 2)

Warning: most antivirus programs will not protect you against all forms of malignant software (often called “malware”) on their own. Find out how to protect yourself.

Sure, your antivirus software will protect you against viruses. It will probably even do a good job against worms. But what Trojans, exploits, backdoors, spyware and the dozen other nasty software parasites?

Malware and Antivirus Software: a History

The war on computer viruses has led to an arms race between the designers of antivirus software and the designers of viruses (you didn’t think viruses just created themselves did you?). Some years ago, virus designers responded to ever more successful antivirus software by creating the descendents of viruses, worms, which did not infect files but rather installed themselves directly on the hard drive, making them harder to detect.

The arms race has since led to a total of at least eleven distinct types of what is now called malware, a neologism meaning bad (as in malignant rather than shoddy) software. According to Wikipedia, these eleven types of malware are:

1. Virus 2. Worm 3. Wabbit 4. Trojan 5. Backdoor 6. Spyware 7. Exploit 8. Rootkit 9. Key Logger 10. Dialer 11. URL injection

There’s a twelfth kind of malware: adware, which Wikipedia considers simply to be a subset of spyware.

Why Antivirus Software Isn’t Enough for Malware

As you can see, makers of antivirus software have their work cut out for them if they’re going to keep every instance of malware off your system. As a result, antivirus software makers have often had to pick their battles. Adware, whose makers often claim they are doing nothing illegal or even questionable, often gets treated more lightly.

Even when antivirus software makers do come out with a product that fights all twelve or so kinds of malware, responding to each new instance of malware to come on the market isn’t easy. First the malware has to be identified, which means someone’s computer, and probably tens of thousands of computers, will be infected first. Then, the malware has to be dissected. Then a removal program and a filter must both be written. Then the removal program and filter must be tested to make sure they work, and that they don’t interfere with any other functions of the antivirus software or the computer itself. When a fix for the virus is out, it then has to be loaded into an antivirus software update and transmitted to every single computer worldwide that has the antivirus software installed.

The speed with which antivirus software makers are able to deliver updates for newly discovered malware would impress even Santa Claus. Yet there’s still a crucial window of one to a few days between when the new malware has reached a critical mass of thousands of computers, and when the update is released. If your antivirus software is not set to check for updates automatically every hour or so, that window opens even wider.