How to protect yourself!

[S_R_S5]

Hello,
My name is S_R_S and i'v been spending a  lot of time around hackers to understand how they think..
I'm giving you guy's a quick few things to think about to protect yourselves.

Part 1:

What type of hackers are there?
There are 2 main types of hackers.  The first kind is the kind we are all afraid of. We think and talk of these people as "Script kiddies" they use programs programmers make and use them to hurt people. Most of the computer crimes are happening by these people. Most of them are young and trouble makers.

The second type are true hackers.  Most of these people are older, intelligent, and they want to see what they can do.
These people are normally programmers and web designers as well.  This group of people are not harmful (not that I think hacking is ok) they just get a thrill out of hacking and they want to push themself to the limit.

this thread is how to protect yourselves from both types.

Part 2:

staying safe from Viruses and worms..
This part is mostly from protecting yourself from the first kind of hacker.

Here  are some programs I use and like to protect myself:

Symantec antivirus, (Virus protection)
Macafee, (virus protection)
Norton, (virus protection, not many people here like it ;p)
Zone-Alarm,(Firewall)
Ad-aware,(spyware/add remover)
Spybot search and destroy,(spyware/add/trojan & more remover)
Spyware terminator, (Key logger killer/deleter)
Spyware sweeper, (spyware remover)
and almost any pop up blocker to block pop ups.
There are many more these are just some.  You can download most of these at download.com.


these guy's use programs to ruin your computer. and most of them are smart enough to hide evidence of it being a virus.

You need to know what kind of programs should come in what extension.

Photos should come in these extensions.  (There are tons of extensions so i'll only name the main ones.)

.gif
.jpg

If someone sends a file on the email named "mypic.jpg.exe" that is not a good file. This could and probably does hold a virus.

Documents

.doc
.txt

executable files.

.exe
.bat

be careful about what .exe files you open.  If you download a lot of programs make sure to download from sites that are trusted.  for example download.com

If you don't know what the extension is you can look it up on google. There is a lot more I could talk about on this but it would be too long.

Part 3:

This is on the second kind of hacker.  These guy's target websites and PCs.
What they do is they ping their victim to see if their prey is alive. (if it is a website this is how they get the ip.)
Once they have the ip and know their victim alive they use a port scanner to scan ports on the computer.
After they know the open ports they use a program built in our computer called "telnet" to telnet into the ports to find the servers running them.
Now they get on a forum or google and search for exploits for that program.
After that they can do a wide range of things.

How do you protect yourself?  You do the same thing i'm writing this for.  You understand what they do and use to break in.  You need to be up to date with the exploits they use so you can block it.

Search your computer for exploits like a hacker does.
There will always be an opening on any computer, but you can minimize the risk by closing and patching exploits that come out.

I hope I don't offend anyone by writing this. This is for educational purposes to protect yourself and should not be used to harm someone.
I believe if you know how hackers think you have a better chance to protect yourself.

If you have any questions feel free to message me.
S_R_S

[Broni]

This is decent post, except for:

I recommend Zone-alarm as the firewall and Norton as the Virus protection.

Especially for Norton, there is a big NO from me.

[dairyman]

If anyone plans on installing Norton I strongly recommend a glass of water and soluble aspirin nearby. It really would help.

[Broni]

...and a nuke while uninstalling...

[S_R_S5]

I take it you guy's don't like Norton. lol
I agree Norton is hard to uninstall but it has worked for me for years.

[Broni]

Well, it's not about like, or not.
It's simply BAD application.

[TheEmperor]

I give this post a 3/10. Some useful info, but bad advice with Norton and generally fails to satisfy.
My 3 part article over at Tech Empire is far better.

http://www.techemperor.com/2008/01/30/how-to-protect-yourself-from-spyware-and-viruses-part-1/
http://www.techemperor.com/2008/01/30/how-to-protect-yourself-from-spyware-and-viruses-part-2/
http://www.techemperor.com/2008/01/31/how-to-protect-yourself-from-spyware-and-viruses-part-3/

For more comprehensive, recommends better tools and discusses safe browsing and email habits.

[S_R_S5]

What can I do to make this more helpful and still short?

[evilfantasy]

You did fine from what I can see, only when suggesting security programs I will try to give at least two different options for each type of program. Three is better, and even more so if they are free choices.

At least you are adding to the content of Computer Hope rather then trying to draw people away from here like TheEmperor is so I give you kudos for that alone.

[TheEmperor]

Oh cry me a river. In my short time here I've contributed plenty of assistance. But when I've already written a guide, or already done an article that contains a solution I see no reason to rewrite it in a post here.
I'll be crosslinking back to Computer Hope soon, so don't get your panties in a bunch.

[evilfantasy]

Straight to insults....how amusing

Justify it however you wish. Nobody asked you to rewrite anything.

You Hijacked S_R_S5's thread with your links. Pretty sad.

[Calum]

This is going nowhere.
Please people, try to give constructive criticism, don't just say "my guide is better".
S_R_S, that's not a bad guide IMHO.  I have to agree with the comments about ZoneAlarm and Norton though, I find both to be useless and invasive bloatware.  but everyone has a different opinion, I used to like ZA too.

TheEmperor, your site is hard to read, most people will find light text on a dark background to be a strain on the eyes.
Your guide should recommend alternatives for software, and explain what a sandbox is.  Also, you don't mention any spyware protection or immunization, which is a critical part of security, nor do you mention Windows security settings.
That is constructive criticism - I've explained what I don't like, and how I think it could be made better.
Oh, and some people would construe your links as spam, especially combined with your arrogant attitude.
I suggest you focus on trying to help people rather than do them down.

[WillyW]

...
bat files are illegal to send online ...

Code: [Select]

rem   Copy and paste this into a text editor, then save it as bat_file.bat
@echo off
cls
echo.
echo   I hope I don't get arrested now.
echo.
echo    :)
echo.



 

[TheEmperor]

This is going nowhere.
Please people, try to give constructive criticism, don't just say "my guide is better".
S_R_S, that's not a bad guide IMHO.  I have to agree with the comments about ZoneAlarm and Norton though, I find both to be useless and invasive bloatware.  but everyone has a different opinion, I used to like ZA too.

TheEmperor, your site is hard to read, most people will find light text on a dark background to be a strain on the eyes.
Your guide should recommend alternatives for software, and explain what a sandbox is.  Also, you don't mention any spyware protection or immunization, which is a critical part of security, nor do you mention Windows security settings.
That is constructive criticism - I've explained what I don't like, and how I think it could be made better.
Oh, and some people would construe your links as spam, especially combined with your arrogant attitude.
I suggest you focus on trying to help people rather than do them down.

So far none of my readers have complained about the readability of the site. You are correct about the missed anti-spyware section. It is supposed to be in the same paragraph as AVG and was there in the draft. I shall have to put it back there.
I've never felt the need to adjust the windows security settings when the other appropriate measures are being taken.
And while I suppose you could construe my attitude as arrogant I am more correctly described as busy. What arrogance I do have I've earned by being very very good at what I do.

[Calum]

So many programs use IE's engine that it's foolish not to adjust the settings for higher security.
What about Windows updates too?  An unpatched system is a vulnerable system.
I've never seen one guide that's been complete, there's always at least one thing left out.  Why?  Because if a guide included everything it would be infinitely long.  No guide can hope to cover absolutely everything on even one topic, and that's part of what I'm trying to point out.
S_R_S's guide does not cover everything, and neither does yours.

[evilfantasy]

I've never seen one guide that's been complete, there's always at least one thing left out.

So true. I adjust mine constantly in an effort to keep it current.
It's also a struggle to keep it thorough yet not too large so it won't turn people away from using it.

I have put alot effort into helping at Computer Hope yet have not once linked to any of my articles from here. If you are here to help then help here. That's my view.

S_R_S is touching on security views to combat human intruders. No security setup can stop people from clicking their mouse. The mouse is the biggest piece of malware ever created.

[patio]

So far none of my readers have complained about the readability of the site.

I took a look that lasted 20 seconds...if i have to change browser settings to read things i don't stick around long.

[TheEmperor]

why would you have to change the browser settings? The only browser related issue I've had is with IE's noncompliant rendering messing up my sidebar sometimes. Everyone else using both firefox and IE report no problems and have been universally approving of the sites look and feel.

[dairyman]

why would you have to change the browser settings? The only browser related issue I've had is with IE's noncompliant rendering messing up my sidebar sometimes. Everyone else using both firefox and IE report no problems and have been universally approving of the sites look and feel.

This is not true. I've had problems with Firefox and IE. (ESPECIALLY Internet Explorer) I tried to download from a serial site and got hijacked. I installed the Yahoo! Toolbar and it crashed Internet Explorer. But the only problem I've had with Firefox is FF crashing while I had SiteHound enabled.

[TheEmperor]

No no, we were talking specifically about my website as the thread seems to have been mildly hijacked.
I've seen all kinds of insanity out of IE and firefox when you're indiscriminate about what you install and where you go...

[S_R_S5]

I changed some of it.
Any more suggestions let me know.

[TheEmperor]

I've never seen one guide that's been complete, there's always at least one thing left out.

So true. I adjust mine constantly in an effort to keep it current.
It's also a struggle to keep it thorough yet not too large so it won't turn people away from using it.

I have put alot effort into helping at Computer Hope yet have not once linked to any of my articles from here. If you are here to help then help here. That's my view.

S_R_S is touching on security views to combat human intruders. No security setup can stop people from clicking their mouse. The mouse is the biggest piece of malware ever created.

So you're saying that you have valuable, well written articles that you refuse to share with the community? To me that just seems counterproductive to the whole idea of writing the article in the first place. If it's helpful then get it out to the widest possible audience.

[evilfantasy]

If there were a situation that warranted it I would. So far I have been able to take care of everything in-house. This is a big site with a lot of information. Look around and you will see. http://www.computerhope.com/vlist.htm

[Deerpark]

There are 2 main types of hackers.  The first kind is the kind we are all afraid of. We think and talk of these people as "Script kiddies" they use programs programmers make and use them to hurt people. Most of the computer crimes are happening by these people. Most of them are young and trouble makers.

I've got a problem with this part. This is to be honest an outdated view on the malware community.
The ones who create and spread most of the malware today are not teenagers with more spare time than common sense. They are professionals who earn a living this way and trust me, malware is BIG business. You can actually buy hosting solutions specifically for the purpose of spamming or spreading malware. You can buy tools for spreading spam, setting up phising sites and so on. You can buy undetectable trojans (undetectable in the sense that at the time of puchase no AV solution will detect it).
So don't underestimate these people as mere troublemakers. Malware today is well organized crime.

[Calum]

why would you have to change the browser settings? The only browser related issue I've had is with IE's noncompliant rendering messing up my sidebar sometimes. Everyone else using both firefox and IE report no problems and have been universally approving of the sites look and feel.

I would change my browser settings if I had to look at more than a few pages on your site to change the background and text to white and black respectively.  That's the easiest to read, and it wouldn't give me a headache as white on black does.
It's nothing to do with incorrect display, just that I detest the look of the site.  Just my own personal opinion, I really don't like dark backgrounds on any site.

[evilfantasy]

Here  are some programs I use and like to protect myself:

Symantec antivirus, (Virus protection)
Macafee, (virus protection)
Norton, (virus protection, not many people here like it ;p)

Norton and Symantec are the same thing so no need to list it twice. Also you make it sound like you use all at the same time. There should be a line about only using one AV and one firewall at a time because it can cause conflicts. People like free programs so you should include a few of these also. AVG or Avast are among the best free AVs. You should also mention using Windows Defender or even better WinPatrol 2007.