Handy Tools in the fight against Nasties

[VamPvixen]

online scan to check for vunribilities also obtain their free firewall
http://scan.sygate.com/
online probes and scans to check all your system Highly recomended
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

online virus scans
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://www.encompasscreations.com/
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/co...n_principal.htm (http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm)
http://www3.ca.com/threatinfo/virusinfo/scan.aspx

Free AVG antivirus software:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

Free AntiVir personal
http://www.free-av.com/
*edited on 7 Sep to ad above link*


Free Avast antivirus software:
http://www.avast.com/eng/download/index.html

Online spyware/Adware scanner (Recomended)
http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_onlinescan.html


Download Adaware and spy bot search and destroy free: Must have programes
http://www.encompasscreations.com/removal.php


Edited to add the folowing:

Download Bazooka free:
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/

spyware blaster A must Have
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

spyware guard A must have
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html

Online Trojan scan
Trojan horses are a huge security threat. A Trojan is a program that enters your computer

undetected, giving the attacker who planted the Trojan unrestricted access to the data

stored on your computer. Trojans can transmit credit card information and other

confidential data in the background. Trojans are often not caught by virus scanning

engines, because these are focused on viruses, not Trojans. Catching such threats would

require the use of a Trojan scanner (a.k.a Trojan cleaner, Trojan remover, anti-Trojan).


http://www.trojanscan.com/



Norton AntiVirus:

==> http://www.symantec.com/nav/

McAfee VirusScan:

==> http://www.mcafee.com/myapps/antivirus.asp

Virex for Macintosh: (free with a .Mac subscription)

==> http://www.mcafeeb2b.com/products/virex/default.asp

RAV Anti-Virus (Linux):

==> http://www.ravantivirus.com/



McAfee's FreeScan (requires Microsoft Windows and IE 5.0 or later):

==> http://www.mcafee.com/myapps/mfs/default.asp


Other security Highly recomended site
packed with utilities and information
get UnPlug n' Pray,DCOMbobulator,and Shoot The Messenger from here (I have used them and recomend them
http://grc.com/default.htm

IE ands OE settings
http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=14537

XPdite
safe alternative to security patch in Service pack 1 for XP
If you do not have service pack 1 installed or do not want to install it this programe is a MUST!
http://grc.com/xpdite/xpdite.htm

Now that you have all the tools and implicated them
test your system here:
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

How good is that firewall really??
Test it here:
http://grc.com/lt/leaktest.htm
Please ensure you read this carefully so you get an acurate result (involves a TINY tiny download so its very fast)

Other XP related
WIN XP setup for security and saftey
make XP user-friendlier, secure, and a little faster. This list deals with adjustments, tweaks, and setting changes to try to make XP work better, safer, and, maybe, a little faster.

http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=18045

[Lene]

Thanks for sharing ;)

The best medicine would be to quit PTR. I have never had so much **** on my computer as after I joined those 'redeem for ads' sites.

[VamPvixen]

LMAO! Lene :lol: :lol:

oh yup that would help all right hehe

Sinse I obviously have no life and all the time in the world to get hopelessly addicted to them (haha) I have way to much money waiting to land in my hands so Ill settle for the medicines that cover up the symptoms for now :)

If anyone has any handy tools they can recomend fellow members here post away!

[antinomy]

I can't find any of the posts which set out all the tools that you might want to put in place to protect yourself - but I'll do my best to remember and edit the list later for anything I forgot.

Virus protection is not to be "pooh-poohed" - I had to redownload thousands of emails yesterday and got hit by more than a dozen of the worst worms to hit the desktop - thank goodness the virus scanner I use gives and option to delete ALL files which pick up a particular virus rather than having to go through them one by one.

The other tools I recommend can be found at http://www.download.com or http://www.javacoolsoftware.com. I don't make a penny from any of them, but if you can support these guys who are helping make working on line safe for all of us, please do!

1. Firewall - get one which allows you to stop certain protocals (UDP, ICMP) and block individual ip address (useful when you know a particular site is trying to give you an unwanted present).
2. Spybot - to immunize against adware
3. Spywareblaster - prevents most if not all spyware from installing on your machine and blocks sites which are know to collect information.... please donate if you think it's worthwhile. (javacoolsite)
4. MRUBlaster - cleans all the memory resident info, your IE cache index files, cookies and index file... (javacoolsite) I have it running in the background to help minimize the drain on resources.
5. Memory cleaner - windows leaks memory every where - I haven't found a favourite yet, but I do use one regularly to regain all the memory chewed up by those opened apps which don't really close all the way when you exit
6. HiJackThis - be very careful with this tool, and make backups so if you do delete something you shouldn't have, you can get back. This is the tool you'll need if someone has reset your start page and you no longer have permission to change it in IE.
7. Windows Manager - again be careful - this is the tool you can use to set your start page and STOP anyone from changing it ever again!

BTW, I use MyIE2 instead of IE.. I've tried over a dozen multi-tabbed browsers for real surfing requirements and I've found it's the most stable browser base and has features you won't find in any of the others.

[antinomy]

Glad to see you like SpyWareBlaster.... I discovered recently that it doesn't cover 100% of the keyloggers out there, so you should probably run something like SpyBot as well.

For known ip addresses, you can log into your firewall to stop all protocols and traffic to an from the account.

Also, if you're using MyIE2, you have the option of not downloading graphics which will help with dial up lines.

[pug240]

Here is a link for a really good spywarescanner that I got from an IT friend of mine...this is the only one he uses and it finds everything

http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/

I have found it very useful and quick.....it found 3 things that none of the others found and gives you detailed instructions on how to get rid of it safely

[Lene]

Tnx pug240,

I'm going to try it right now :D

[VamPvixen]

Thanks pug!! Gonna try it now

[D.Koenemann]

Here is a link to a site set up by my good friend Joshua Ditty.
It lists a lot of the tools you can use to clean and protect your system! (-good-)

Go here: http://spyware.fopo.net/

Joshua is also a member here, his member name is cgroup. :)

Joshua is some one who's work you can trust. (-good-)

D.Koenemann

[VamPvixen]

Thanks for the link D!
I am going to explore that in depth over my morning coffee tomorow :)



Also must ad: re: the link provided above by Pug240 to Bazokka
I have been using it sinse then every day and so far I like it :) Thanks!

[Gnida_M]

I think it's useful 2 ;)

Ad-ware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/)

[VamPvixen]

glad you found it helpful Andrew :)
I was actually refering to Bazooka..a diferent programe..its like adaware...i use both


Also remember that they are "fix it" tools..meaning they will find and fix a problen AFTER it has infected your computer

Use spywareguard and spywareblaster to PREVENT getting infected int he first place :)

basically they with a firewall combined and a good antivirus programe is a condom for the computer LOL

Once infected the others will heal it

[Gnida_M]

basically they with a firewall combined and a good antivirus programe is a condom for the computer LOL

nice joke ;)

[antinomy]

And Remember to update the definitions!! - whatever you use.

[VamPvixen]

Another one I found thru The Tech Guys and they recomend it when AVG does not find the problem is this one:

AntiVir personal
http://www.free-av.com/

I have tested it the last week and this was my outcome:

past few months history: (sinse I got hacked and changed to using Mozillia and not IE) I have had clean logs on ad-aware and spybot, spyware sweeper and pest control,and bazooka aswell
also had NO virus at all detected on AVG and Avast
And my firewall continually goes off alerting me so at least it works
so an absolute clean system! I have been a happy camper compared to months ago

I installed AntiVir personal, disable my other ones while I ran a scan and it found a worm :(
so I was not as clean as it thought
its full scan takes 16 mins on my system (my D/D is 40 gig)

NOTE: If you do d/l and install it and you are running another AV programe in the install options uncheck the guard option
It is NOT safe to run 2 guards/resident shileds at the same time.

I have AVG as my main AV and I now just use this one for scan every 72 hrs as a double check.