do i need more security

**grumpygit** · 10-29-2006, 04:03 AM

hi, i am currently using norton internet security but it seems to be missing things. i done a scan using panda and it found 1 adware and 2 spyware that norton had missed. is there anything i can add to my security to back up norton without causing problems or should i just do regular on line scans.

**Glaswegian** · 10-29-2006, 04:24 AM

Hi

have a look at this article for some hints and tips on security in general.

**grumpygit** · 10-29-2006, 01:13 PM

hi iain (glaswegian),
thanks for the advice. looks like i've got a lot to learn. i didn't realise that owning a computer was such hard work.

**Glaswegian** · 10-29-2006, 01:48 PM

Lol - it's not as bad as it looks! Just use some commonsense - that's one of the keys.

**grumpygit** · 10-30-2006, 11:45 AM

hi again,
i think i,ve read all the info you suggested.
can i run spyware blaster, spyware guard or something similar while i am running norton internet security.
or will my computer just end up as confused as me?

tetonbob · 10-30-2006, 12:13 PM

You should have no problems running SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard on the same system with your Norton.

You can read more about them here, here and here

Quote:

The reason for less frequent updates with SpywareGuard is that much of its detection abilities are heuristics in nature. (Basically this means it doesn't need a specific signature for every spyware it catches, simply an overall pattern or approach-used, which it can identify and then trigger off of.) So, SpywareGuard works for many of the newer versions of the same spyware installers even without adding "signatures" for them.

Quote:

SpywareGuard is a resident scanner (similar in a way to how an anti-virus program works) which proactively scans files prior to them being executed; looking for spyware installation kits and such. It scans with both known signatures and some generic protection techniques to detect and prevent spyware installation. SG also includes capabilities to prevent browser hijacks and provides built-in download protection for Internet Explorer. Because of all of this, SpywareGuard does run in the background. In fact, there will be two processes related SG in your task manager.

SpywareBlaster is a preventative program. It sets flags in the registry to prevent the running of a specific list of bad spyware related ActiveX controls. This includes general spyware and malicious dialers. It also blocks a list of known spyware related cookies in IE6. SpywareBlaster should be run periodically, say once a week, to check for updates to its database. Other than that it doesn't need to be running to provide protection, so there are no processes run either at startup or in the background.

**grumpygit** · 10-30-2006, 12:27 PM

thanks.
i'll give them a go. how about snoopfree? sorry to keep asking questions but i'm not very good at this.

tetonbob · 10-30-2006, 12:39 PM

You'll have to wait on Glaswegian for that....I have no experience with SnoopFree.

Ask all the questions you like...that's the idea of the Help Forums.

**grumpygit** · 10-30-2006, 01:44 PM

hi again,
one more thing. is there a way of testing the efficiency of my firewall.

**carsey** · 10-30-2006, 01:48 PM

There certainly is!

Shields UP!! — System Error

Run all the services they offer. It will show holes in your security.

Another good point to remember:
Some Anti-Virus programs can cancel out each other making them both useless.

**Glaswegian** · 10-30-2006, 02:21 PM

Hi

SnoopFree is a small programme that watches for attempts to log your keystrokes or capture your screen - things that hackers would love to do. It is light on resources and quite effective. Currenty it's using 3404K memory, which is much less than SpywareGuard, Firefox, MS Office etc etc.

Hope that helps.

**grumpygit** · 10-30-2006, 03:44 PM

thanks everyone,
i feel a bit safer now. i won't sell the computer just yet.
i was starting to wish i had got a dog instead.
at least with a dog you know when you've been bitten!

**grumpygit** · 11-04-2006, 03:27 AM

hi everyone.
i'm having trouble with trend housecall. every time i try to run online scan, it gets halfway through loading up and stops. any advice? do i need to disable anything to enable it to run. also having similar probs with kaspersky online scan.

wally246 · 11-06-2006, 01:19 PM

I have AVG Anti-Virus, Comodo free firewall, Ad-Aware and Spybot. I keep them all updated and run at least one scan a week. Every so often I do an online scan with Bit-Defender and that scan has always come up clean. Works for me.

**grumpygit** · 11-07-2006, 11:40 AM

have you tried panda online scan? it keeps finding things on my system that none of the others find. i dont know if this is because they are low risk and the others ignore them.

**Glaswegian** · 11-07-2006, 01:40 PM

What does it find - just tracking cookies or something else?

**grumpygit** · 11-07-2006, 03:03 PM

i think most are just tracking cookies. i've had doubleclick, 2o7, tribalfusion, sbsoft, statcounter, server.iad.liveperson, bravenetA. panda active scan pro has got rid of them all but some keep coming back. eg statcounter.
i'm running norton internet security, spywareblaster, spyware guard. ive done norton, kaspersky online scans. both clear. tried trend housecall but could not get it to work.

**Glaswegian** · 11-07-2006, 03:31 PM

OK, here's what I normally ask users to download and install to help prevent those tracking cookies.

Download IE-Spyad - Extract the contents to a new folder. IE-SPYAD will place thousands of bad websites in the Restricted Zone of Internet Explorer.
From within the folder, double-click install.bat
Select Option #2 - Install the new IE-SPYAD list.
Then return to the main menu.
Select option #4 - Add the old porn sites domain

Download MVPS Hosts file - From within Host.zip, double click on MVPS.bat & allow it to run. This will replace your current Hosts file with one that will block known adware and spy websites.

niall · 11-07-2006, 04:00 PM

i have the hosts file, does it get out-of-date etc i.e do i need to use it again

**Glaswegian** · 11-07-2006, 04:15 PM

Just check back now and again at the site for updates. It's not updated every week or anything, more like a couple of times a year.

10-29-2006, 04:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	do i need more security hi, i am currently using norton internet security but it seems to be missing things. i done a scan using panda and it found 1 adware and 2 spyware that norton had missed. is there anything i can add to my security to back up norton without causing problems or should i just do regular on line scans.

10-29-2006, 04:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,425 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Hi have a look at this article for some hints and tips on security in general. __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

10-29-2006, 01:48 PM	#4 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,425 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Lol - it's not as bad as it looks! Just use some commonsense - that's one of the keys. __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

10-30-2006, 12:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
tetonbob Manager, Security Center, TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Transylvania County, North Carolina, USA Posts: 35,559 OS: 2000 Pro; XP Pro; XP Home	You'll have to wait on Glaswegian for that....I have no experience with SnoopFree. Ask all the questions you like...that's the idea of the Help Forums. __________________ Practice Safe Surfing PC Safety and Security--What Do I Need? Because what you don't know, CAN hurt you. Proud Member of ASAP since 2005 Proud Member of UNITE since 2006 Microsoft MVP - Consumer Security 2009

10-30-2006, 01:48 PM	#10 (permalink)
carsey Moderator, TSF Articles Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hunwick, Co. Durham England Posts: 10,678 OS: XP Pro SP3 My System	There certainly is! Shields UP!! — System Error Run all the services they offer. It will show holes in your security. Another good point to remember: Some Anti-Virus programs can cancel out each other making them both useless. __________________ Submit New Articles Here

10-29-2006, 01:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	hi iain (glaswegian), thanks for the advice. looks like i've got a lot to learn. i didn't realise that owning a computer was such hard work.

10-30-2006, 11:45 AM	#5 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	hi again, i think i,ve read all the info you suggested. can i run spyware blaster, spyware guard or something similar while i am running norton internet security. or will my computer just end up as confused as me?

10-30-2006, 12:27 PM	#7 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	thanks. i'll give them a go. how about snoopfree? sorry to keep asking questions but i'm not very good at this.

10-30-2006, 01:44 PM	#9 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	hi again, one more thing. is there a way of testing the efficiency of my firewall.

10-30-2006, 02:21 PM	#11 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,425 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Hi SnoopFree is a small programme that watches for attempts to log your keystrokes or capture your screen - things that hackers would love to do. It is light on resources and quite effective. Currenty it's using 3404K memory, which is much less than SpywareGuard, Firefox, MS Office etc etc. Hope that helps. __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

10-30-2006, 03:44 PM	#12 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	thanks everyone, i feel a bit safer now. i won't sell the computer just yet. i was starting to wish i had got a dog instead. at least with a dog you know when you've been bitten!

11-04-2006, 03:27 AM	#13 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	hi everyone. i'm having trouble with trend housecall. every time i try to run online scan, it gets halfway through loading up and stops. any advice? do i need to disable anything to enable it to run. also having similar probs with kaspersky online scan.

11-06-2006, 01:19 PM	#14 (permalink)
wally246 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: US Posts: 125 OS: xp sp2 Firefox Baby!	I have AVG Anti-Virus, Comodo free firewall, Ad-Aware and Spybot. I keep them all updated and run at least one scan a week. Every so often I do an online scan with Bit-Defender and that scan has always come up clean. Works for me.

11-07-2006, 11:40 AM	#15 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	have you tried panda online scan? it keeps finding things on my system that none of the others find. i dont know if this is because they are low risk and the others ignore them.

11-07-2006, 01:40 PM	#16 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,425 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	What does it find - just tracking cookies or something else? __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

11-07-2006, 03:03 PM	#17 (permalink)
grumpygit T-Shirt Winner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: hertford, england Posts: 4,737 OS: win xp pro sp3 My System Blog Entries: 2	i think most are just tracking cookies. i've had doubleclick, 2o7, tribalfusion, sbsoft, statcounter, server.iad.liveperson, bravenetA. panda active scan pro has got rid of them all but some keep coming back. eg statcounter. i'm running norton internet security, spywareblaster, spyware guard. ive done norton, kaspersky online scans. both clear. tried trend housecall but could not get it to work.

11-07-2006, 03:31 PM	#18 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,425 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	OK, here's what I normally ask users to download and install to help prevent those tracking cookies. Download IE-Spyad - Extract the contents to a new folder. IE-SPYAD will place thousands of bad websites in the Restricted Zone of Internet Explorer. From within the folder, double-click install.bat Select Option #2 - Install the new IE-SPYAD list. Then return to the main menu. Select option #4 - Add the old porn sites domain Download MVPS Hosts file - From within Host.zip, double click on MVPS.bat & allow it to run. This will replace your current Hosts file with one that will block known adware and spy websites. __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

11-07-2006, 04:00 PM	#19 (permalink)
niall Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 188 OS: Vista	i have the hosts file, does it get out-of-date etc i.e do i need to use it again

11-07-2006, 04:15 PM	#20 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,425 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Just check back now and again at the site for updates. It's not updated every week or anything, more like a couple of times a year. __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner