Are you patched, Secunia Says NO

By Paul | Dec 5, 2008

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Think you’ve got nothing to worry about, according to Secunia 98% of computers are not fully patched and are vulnerable to some kinda of attack.

So I wanted to talk about this a little and give you a few good ways to make sure you are patched. There are several ways to get your system up to almost 100%.

Some things to do is make sure you have your Windows systems updated. This is easy to make sure, if you have an internet connection you can just check for updates. If you don’t know how to do it, it is quite simple, Just go here. If you have Windows Vista all you have to do is hit Start and type in the search box “Windows Update” and hit Enter and you will be taken to the update page.

If you have a system that is off of the Net you could use the Clone of Autopatcher Program to do it for you. You also need to update all your secondary programs such as Audacity, Open Office, and other programs that you use weekly.

Stop botnets in its tracks With a Firewall!

By Laforge129 | Nov 30, 2008

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According to PC World and I’ll quote:

According to FireEye chief scientist Stuart Staniford, detection rates are so poor that, on average, only around 40 percent of security software can detect binaries during the period of greatest infectivity and danger, namely the first few days after a particular variant starts being used by botnet builders.

[via PC World]

Now let’s talk about this, having been seeing recent surges of people getting infected. I’ve come to the conclusion that companies like AVG and other Anti-Virus companies are keeping up. Now true if all you have is an Anti-virus and nothing else that greatly increases your likely hood of getting a virus.

In a recent virus storm, We have people finding my site because of a Good Firewall. No if he didn’t have anything but Windows firewall then it would of gotten through and you would not of known about it. So let’s talk about how to prevent botnet attacks. This is relatively easy and if you follow some common rules. You to could be less likely to be infected. I will say this most people don’t do these common tips and they should do them.

Spying on Spyware.ISpynow!!

By Laforge129 | Nov 29, 2008

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This is another Virus that is going around and thought I’d tell you about it:

Spyware.ISpyNow monitors files, network traffic, and keystrokes. This Spyware gives the person who installed it a Web-based interface with summaries of logged information on the host computer.

[Via Symantec]

Now this one isn’t to hard to figure out what happened. You have to manually install it on your system to get infected. Symantec has a great way on uninstalling this annoyance. I also suggest checking out my other program list just in case you don’t want to buy Symantec Anti-Virus programs. Some other things to check out is:

Avg detected Trojan Horse Generic 12.htc? – This has a great article on how to use HiJackthis program and how to make sure you no longer have the virus.
Some Important programs to prevent yourself from having viruses and Malware!! — This article gives you some other programs to use other than Symantec. You have a wide variety of choices on Anti-virus programs and Firewall Choices. You also have some choices on Spyware removal programs.

Limiting Use of Your Bandwidth!!

By Paul | Sep 1, 2008

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With the Recent Comcast deciding to declare how much of bandwidth you can use. I decided to talk about how to limit your bandwidth. So Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of your bandwidth:

Chapter 1 – Understanding your Wireless Router : This is a must. This chapter talks about how to access your router and and how what is an IP!!

Chapter 2 — 10 Ways to keep your wireless router Secure – This one will help with those pesky neighbors who are leeching of your internet and Bandwidth!

Chapter 3

Turn off Auto Update to Unimportant programs : Having several programs checking for updates can start to add up. Although this is a small amount of bandwidth. It will give your that extra amount.
When not using your Internet turn off your Modem : This one is the most useful because when your not using your internet just turning off the modem will prevent you from using to much bandwidth.

Keep Your Software Up-to-Date and Secure with Secunia

By Paul | Jan 3, 2008

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Windows only: Freeware application Secunia Personal Software Inspector is sort of like Windows Update for your installed software, monitoring your installed apps and notifying you of available security updates. When you run your first scan after installing Secunia, you’ll be presented with a list of insecure apps that have available updates, “end-of-life” apps that are no longer being supported by the developer, and patched apps that have the latest security updates. Keep in mind that Secunia is not an anti-virus software, but more of a preventative tool for ensuring that your software is secure as it can be. For a less security-focused angle, check out mass-update apps File Hippo Update Checker or UpdateStar. Secunia PSI is freeware, Windows only.

Secunia Personal Software Inspector [via Confessions of a freeware junkie]

[via LifeHacker]

Instantly free your iPhone

By Paul | Oct 29, 2007

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If you’re looking to update your 1.1.1 iPhone to install 3rd party apps all you need to do is visit jailbreakme.com – once there you’ll get the installer.app and can start loading applications right away (check out more detailed instructions @ TUAW).

Yes that’s right now you can add your third party apps back on the IPHONE or IPOD!!

Find Software Updates with UpdateStar

By Paul | Oct 11, 2007

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Windows only: Freeware application UpdateStar detects what applications are running on your computer and informs you of available updates. In tests, UpdateStar performed much better than previously mentioned AppSnap as it provides shareware and commercial application information, whereas AppSnap does not. UpdateStar’s interface is also a lot snazzier, though that’s really just frosting. To be fair, UpdateStar isn’t entirely accurate: it informed me that Mozilla Thunderbird 5.2 was the latest version available (it’s currently at 2.0.0.6). However, for a product that’s still in beta, it does a fine job. UpdateStar is a free application for Windows only.

Nice little program!