Essential Computer Security

If you have ever tried to copy and paste a URL from a web site to share with a friend in an email you may have noticed that some of those suckers are LONG! They’re filled with coded gibberish that only make sense or matters to the web server delivering the content to you. The explosion of Twitter– which limits messages to a maximum of 140 characters, URL included– has made the length of URL’s an even more relevant issue.

Fear not! Services like Bit.ly and TinyURL have sprung up to solve the problem. These services take whatever URL you throw at them and convert it to a much shorter alias URL. For example, I entered ‘http://www.tonybradley.com’ into Bit.ly and got the shortened URL ‘http://bit.ly/A5RCi‘.

That works great for fitting the URL into Twitter, but it poses an issue from a security perspective. One of the simplest deterrents to malicious websites and phishing attacks is to simply look at the URL you are clicking on and apply an ounce of common sense. You can’t do that when the URL you are clicking on is a shortened alias of gibberish that has nothing to do with the actual destination web site.

For instance, if you receive an email allegedly from Customer Service at Bank of America and you actually have an account at Bank of America you might actually be tempted for a second to click on the link. But, when you see that the link in the email goes to ‘http://www.bankofamerica.com.sadisticattacker.is/Iplantotakeyourmoney’ you realize that the request is not legitimate.

But, when I take that exact same URL and enter it into Bit.ly I get ‘http://bit.ly/3nR6gq’. With a shortened URL like this one there is no way to tell just by looking at it whether it is legitimate or malicious.

Twitter users who use Tweetdeck have a security control to help out. Tweetdeck has a setting to ’show preview information for short URL’s’. When you click on a short URL a pop-up window appears which displays the short URL, the real URL it leads to, and the title of the destination web page so you can make an informed decision about whether or not to follow through and visit the site.

That is great for Twitter users….at least those who use Tweetdeck. The rest of you on your own though. Make sure you keep your system patched and updated and that you are running some type of antimalware protection on your PC just in case you click on the wrong URL. Think twice about the source of shortended URL’s and always remember Step #1 of the 5 Steps to Protect Yourself From Phishing Scams: BE SKEPTICAL!

Tags: Blog by Tony Bradley
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I created a page on Facebook as a sort of clearinghouse for my writing.

Rather than following my personal blog, and my TechTarget blogs, and my PC World blog, and my various other web and print media contributions wherever they may be found, you can simply follow this one Facebook page and stay up to date with links to all of the other resources as well as announcements about radio/TV appearances, or upcoming speaking events like webcasts.

You can click on the button on the left side of the screen here to ‘Become a Fan’, or just click this link and join the page.

Tags: Blog by Tony Bradley
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What do you do if you’ve spotted an online scam or fraudulent activity, like a phishing message? Online security company, Lavasoft, has put together the list, below, of initial steps you can take to report the scam, in order to warn others and keep the unwary from getting duped. Take a look – your report might help someone else from becoming the next victim. 

• First, report phishing ploys to the companies or organizations that are being imitated. Many organizations have details on their website on how to report these kinds of problems.
• You have the option to report phishing to the Anti-Phishing Working Group by sending a message to reportphishing@antiphishing.org; it’s a global pan-industrial and law enforcement association which focuses on eliminating the fraud and identity theft that results from phishing, pharming, and e-mail spoofing. You can also report phishing to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team by sending a message to phishing-report@us-cert.gov; it works with state and local government in the U.S. as well as industry and international partners to address key cyber security issues and to distribute information to the public.
• If you believe a charity or business is fraudulent, you can file a complaint with local authorities and notify watchdog organizations, like the Better Business Bureau (BBB), of a potential scam. While the BBB does not have legal or policing powers, it does provide information about marketplace fraud through scam reports to the public, media releases and alerts.
•  You can report criminal issues to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, where complaints are reported, reviewed, and then referred to an appropriate federal, state, local or international law enforcement agency. More information is available on the IC3 website.
  
• If you’re located in the United States, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, the country’s consumer protection agency. If you think that the ploy that you’ve encountered is being distributed internationally, you can report it to eConsumer.gov, a portal for consumers to report cross-border scams and complaints of online transactions with foreign companies. If you’re located within the European Union, you can check the InSafe website, a network of national nodes that coordinates Internet safety awareness in Europe, for points of contact within your country.

Please keep in mind: depending on the part of the world that you are located in and the type of online crime involved, there are more specific methods available to you; just like real-world crime, cyber crimes should be reported to local, federal or international authorities, depending on the scope of the fraud or crime involved. Find out in advance where to report cyber crimes in your area or in your language so that you’re prepared for what you may encounter online. For example, U.S. citizens can find cyber crime reporting resources on the U.S. Department of Justice website and can find additional information on filing various Internet-related complaints on the OnGuardOnline website.

Contributed by Erin Earley at Lavasoft

Tags: Blog, Protect Against Malicious Software by Tony Bradley
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If you are the only one using your computer and your computer is not connected to any sort of network domain, then perhaps you don’t need to worry too much about configuring the Windows Password Policy settings. You can simply make sure you choose a secure password all on your own.

On the other hand, if you are sharing the computer with others, or you are administering security for Windows computers in a network domain, you will want to set the Password Policy configuration up to enforce secure passwords.

It would be nice if people knew enough not to use ‘password’ as their password, but history has shown that many users lack that basic common sense. Rather than trusting your Windows PC or network to faith or (non-existent) common sense, configure the Password Policy settings to make sure the passwords used are secure passwords.

Tags: Blog by Tony Bradley
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Have you ever had your computer infected by malware? In the best of cases its a pain in the ass. In some cases the malware can be quite tenacious and virtually impossible to extricate from the system.

What would be cool is if, instead of scanning and identifying and removing the threat the hard way, you could just go back in time to a point before the computer was compromised and either implement some form of protection against the threat or avoid the site or application that infected the computer. That would be awesome!

Good news! You have such a time machine. It is called System Restore. Windows saves restore points prior to events that could have an adverse affect on the system, like installing new applications. It also save restore points periodically- just.in.case.

Check out Undo Malware With System Restore for more details. Next time your system starts acting wonky- try going back in time before you spend hours banging your head against the wall doing things the hard way.

Tags: Blog by Tony Bradley
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I should say Vista users…and Windows 7 RC users. Apparently Microsoft resolved the issue in question somewhere between the release candidate (RC) and release to manufacturing (RTM) versions of Windows 7. But, I digress…

This past Tuesday was Patch Tuesday for September. Microsoft released 5 new Security Bulletins, all of them rated as Critical. Obviously, you should be aware of these Critical Security Bulletins and apply any patches or updates necessary to protect your PC. The bigger news though was the Security Advisory Microsoft released in the immediate wake of the Patch Tuesday Security Bulletins.

The Security Advisory warns of a serious security issue with the SMB protocol in Windows Vista (and the aforementioned Windows 7 RC). Initial reports suggested that attempts to exploit the flaw would only crash the vulnerable system, but that was later amended to suggest that the vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute malicious code on the vulnerable system…without user intervention.

Now the race is on for attackers to develop a worm that exploits the flaw before Microsoft can patch it. In the meantime, there are some things you can do to protect yourself in case the hackers win the race. Check out Race is On to Patch Critical Windows Flaw for more details.

Tags: Blog by Tony Bradley
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To view a summary of the September 2009 bulletins, visit Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for September, 2009. Click the links below to view the individual Microsoft Security Bulletins and to download any patches that might be required for your system. Microsoft will discuss the issues addressed in the Security Bulletins and field questions from users during a webcast which can also be viewed after the fact. You can also visit Windows Update to automatically determine what patches or updates your system needs.

Tags: 2009 by Tony Bradley
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Rating

Pros

• Adaptive interface allows the product to cater to novice, intermediate, and expert users
• Firewall able to recognize many common programs and activities
• Parental controls provide ability to monitor and protect kids on the PC
• Game Mode and Laptop Mode

Cons

• None that I found

Description

• Game Mode reduces system load and postpones scans to maximize system resources available to the game
• Laptop Mode postpones scans to prolong battery life when the laptop is not plugged in
• File Vault provides a method of securely encrypting sensitive files
• Ability to secure instant messaging conversations on Yahoo and Windows Live Messenger with encryption
• Manage all computers on your home network from a single PC

My Review – BitDefender Internet Security 2010

Over the years antivirus software- or more appropriately these days antimalware suites- have been criticized for either being too simplistic to be of any value for more advanced users, or too complex for novices to use effectively. This is the first product I have seen that is capable of addressing that issue successfully.

As a function of establishing a profile you can simply let BitDefender Internet Security 2010 know if you are a Novice, Intermediate, or Expert level user and the program will display the user interface that is most appropriate for you. The Novice interface is elegant and simple- with only a few, clearly labeled buttons to choose from. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Expert interface provides a much more detailed and granular view including real-time monitoring of file and network activity.

So- regardless of your skill level you can find the interface that works for you. That isn’t why you buy a security suite though. Looking good and protecting the computer are two different things. If you’ve invested in BitDefender Internet Security 2010, you’re in luck! The product delivers on both looks and performance.

BitDefender Internet Security 2010 includes a comprehensive collection of security components: antivirus, antispam, personal firewall, vulnerability scanning, file encryption, privacy protection, and parental controls. All of them perform as advertised in the marketing brochures.

For the most part, antivirus and other security functions have been comoditized. In other words, there aren’t any significant differences in the function or performance from one product to the next. With BitDefender Internet Security 2010 there are a few things that make it a unique value:

1. BitDefender knows you are buying a *security* product. They are not sacrificing security for the sake of shaving a few milliseconds off of scanning times and being able to say they are the fastest.
2. The unique ability to adapt the user interface to fit the skill-level of the user
3. Innovative features such as Game Mode and Laptop Mode

BitDefender Internet Security 2010 is an excellent product and it represents an excellent value for anyone looking to protect their PC. At $49.95 to protect up to 3 PC’s it provides a reasonable bang for your buck. I haven’t played with the latest, greatest McAfee software recently, but I have a feeling if I were to redo the antivirus roundup from 2006 BitDefender might come out on top for 2010.

Tags: Product Reviews by Tony Bradley
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If you are one of the 10 lucky people who already won BitDefender Internet Security 2010 in last week’s contest, you can skip the rest of this post. For the rest of you, if you still want a copy of BitDefender Internet Security 2010 its not too late.

Call it a consolation prize. This one you have to earn though. Essential Computer Security readers can read my review of BitDefender Internet Security 2010 and get my opinion, but a more diverse collection of opinions provides added credibility and gives users a broader sense of the pros and cons of the software. So, I want you to share your opinion.

Click on the link below (choose the 32-bit version of the 64-bit version- whichever you need) to download the evaluation version of the software. Install it and run it. Use it for a few days or week. Dig into the configuration settings. Work the software out to figure out what you like or to identify any weaknesses or pet peaves. Then, write your own review and post it as a comment on my original review of the software.

• BitDefender Internet Security 2010 32bit: http://bit.ly/ZMGkF
• BitDefender Internet Security 2010 64bit: http://bit.ly/1ommJb

Be honest. Readers don’t get any value from fluffy praise. Tell us what you think of it. Try to be specific about the features you like and the features you don’t. Share you experience and post your review and you can earn a copy of BitDefender Internet Security 2010.

The first 50 people to post a review of BitDefender Internet Security 2010 by September 30 will receive a 1-year license for the software. To clarify- there is no prescribed format and you don’t have to like the software (although- iif you don’t, why would you post a review to win a free copy?), but just saying “it rocks!”, or “it sucks” does not qualify as a “review”. Share the kind of information you would want to read if you were trying to make a decision on whether or not to spend your hard-earned money to buy the software.

Tags: Blog by Tony Bradley
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Are you running IIS? If so, you should be aware of an exploit currently being used by attackers in the wild.

The exploit primarily affects older versions of IIS. The initial exploit code targets IIS 5.0 running on Windows 2000 and could allow the attacker to take complete control of the IIS server. Newer exploit code was subsequently released which affects IIS 5.0, 5.1, 6.0 and 7.0, and could affect users running IIS on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The newer exploit code results in a DoS (denial-of-service).

Both attacks rely on IIS also running FTP and that the attacker has some access to be able to write to the server. Microsoft will be releasing the September Security Bulletins this coming Tuesday, but this threat is just emerging and is not expected to be included as one of the regularly scheduled patches this month.

Microsoft has issued a Security Advisory related to these attacks which includes mitigating factors and workarounds you can use to protect your IIS server pending a more permanent fix from Microsoft.

Tags: Blog by Tony Bradley
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