Virus Help

Anti Virus Knowledge and Computer Common Sense

2011-08-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Everything you see on my site about anti virus programs,anti spyware software Internet security scams will be well researched and only then be brought to you! Take a look at the Categories I have listed!

In the Categories section called FREE PROGRAMS will be a list of my personal free program I use to protect mine and my families computers! I am so sick and tired of companies out here trying to rip you and me off with their fake programs. What I mean is they tell you to download their program for free and it finds all these problems, then you go and click fix problems only to find out you have to go and buy their crappy program to get rid of these viruses,spyware and god only knows what else it tells you they find!

The Anti virus program I use is free and it finds everything better then all the paid programs like Norton's ( My opinion only ) and free programs out there! Yes the anti virus software I use has a paid section which after a long time myself using it, I paid for, but it is free and it rocks out the viruses and spyware like nothing before! I also use Free spyware program that after several months of testing I liked it so much I paid for it!! While it's free it still protects you and kills the spyware that is on your PC! I also use the windows firewall for added protection!

Article Source: http://goo.gl/UUDvg

Effective Anti-Viruses For Mobile Phones

2011-08-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

There are more than forty mobile phone viruses and threats that have been reported. Apparently, these viruses can badly damage your phone and can cause it to be of no use at all. Therefore, getting an anti-virus is vital to keep your mobile running well and efficient.

Zebra Virus Cleaner
One of the most effective anti-viruses that you can implement on your mobile phone is the Zebra Virus Cleaner for Symbian OS Smart Phone. This is a dependable anti-virus software that can protect your mobile from being assaulted by malevolent programs. Zebra Virus Cleaner can identify and clean rootkits, Lasco, Cabir, Skulls, plus nearly a thousand of viruses including Trojans and worms from your smart phone. It also provides security for all your personal files and information. Zebra Virus Cleaner scans quickly and gets rid of viruses completely in real time, easy to adopt and has a friendly feature. The users can set the time to scan and update automatically.

The Kaspersky Anti-Virus
With the growing recognition of smart phones and communicators, your phones may not be safe from malicious programs that were increasing both in numbers and variety. The Kaspersky Anti-Virus is the appropriate and reliable solution that will keep your mobile phones from such programs that affect the mobile platforms. It was developed and combined the latest technology of the Kasperky Lab technologies, experts in the antivirus field. Their solution offers competent armor for your smart phone and personal files.

Commander Mobile Anti-Virus
One of the most effective defends against mobile phones harmful content, unwanted messages and malfunctioning applications is the Commander Mobile Anti-Virus. With this anti-virus, you can scan both the principal memory and memory cards, thus providing an absolute and prompt protection. It can detect viruses such as Cabir and thoroughly remove them from the system. All files are automatically inspected when they are copied, synchronized, modified, saved, or downloaded. This will definitely put off corruption of your mobile phone files.

F-Secure Mobile Anti-virus
F-Secure Mobile Anti-virus is uncomplicated to adopt and does not need excess device resources or pointless user interaction. By design, it examines all files both in the device and on the memory cards. When a corrupted file is found, it is directly isolated to protect all the other data in the system. When the data connection is applied for emails and web browsing, the anti-virus database is updated unnoticeable in the background. F-Secure anti-virus also safeguards mobile computing by bringing together an integrated anti-virus and firewall. This platform makes available a remedy and automated security thru real time. The F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus scans both the incoming and outgoing internet packets to thwart malicious, unsafe, or possibly destructive packets. F-Secure is also uncomplicated to apply.

These mobile software anti-viruses help us to stay composed and prepared for the attacks of malicious programs that can virtually impair the system of our phones. The defenses that they build into the network layer are the most valuable system of protection. In selecting mobile antivirus solution, look for the one that supports your device as well as its operating system. Also, the anti-virus software should be trouble-free to use, has over the air updates and a real time virus scanning and should scan all attachments for viruses. Although anti-viruses may significantly decelerate your mobile phone but it is beyond doubt the best protection.

Article Source: http://goo.gl/NurqR

Remove a Virus

2011-08-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

These days there are so many ways to invade a person's privacy. And as our life becomes attached to technology we become more and more vulnerable.

There are a lot of people who use the internet and are unaware that almost every time they click, buy or fill out their name online, the information are saved somewhere as a cookie on your computer and can be retrieved to be used for and against them.

It is not to mean that all websites do this or every programmer would try to hack into your company or home computer. But the thing is, as information gradually becomes more of a commodity, criminals are now directing their attention to private and easily manipulated facts like credit card information and addresses.

Instructions

1: Click the start button, select "All Programs" and then "Windows Update." Allow the Windows Update application to load.

2: Find and click on the "Check For Updates" link on the left side of the screen. Allow the application to scan your computer for necessary updates to the Windows operating system and related applications such as the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool.

3: Follow the on-screen directions to download and install the updates. Close the Windows Update application.

4: Click the start button, select "All Programs," "Accessories" and then "Run." Type "MRT" into the text box that appears and click the "OK" button.

5: Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool Window. Select "Full Scan" in the window that appears and click the "Next" button.

6: Allow the scan to complete. The scan takes several minutes to over an hour to finish depending on the size and number of storage drives.

7: Follow the on-screen directions to remove any detected viruses and other malware. Click "Finish" to close the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Problems That Relate to Computer Virus

2011-08-03T04:10:00.000-07:00

Computer viruses cause many problems for business and personal computers and their users. Viruses can cause large amounts of damage, from computer errors to data theft. Protect yourself and identify them early by looking for the following problems evident in your system.

Slow Computer

Viruses slow down your computer operation. Start up, normal operations and even Internet browsing may be affected.
Freezes

When a computer freezes, there is a good chance your system has been infected with a virus. Restart your computer to see if the problem persists. A virus is the likely culprit if this isn't a one-time problem.
Crashes

Verify that drivers, especially for new hardware, are up to date, if your system is crashing. A virus may be the cause if the problem continues.
Printing Issues

Scan your system for viruses, especially if you lose the ability to print and your printer appears online.
Anti-virus Software Disabled

Check if your anti-virus software has been disabled. Many viruses have the potential to disable such security software if not detected quickly enough.

Read more: http://goo.gl/A87N5

Google Redirect Virus Help

2011-07-23T00:53:00.000-07:00

The "Google Redirect Virus" is a virus infection which is continually causing major problems for Windows computers all around the World. This virus is particularly bad because of the way it's unable to be removed by "traditional" antivirus programs. In order to get rid of it completely, you need to be able to use a special type of virus removal program that's going to be able to identify the infection and then remove it in the easiest & most effective way possible.

The Google redirect virus is basically a virus infection that "redirects" your search engine results to random websites. This virus is continually infecting 100's of computers around the World, and is extremely difficult to remove. You can normally tell if you have the infection because it will generally re-direct your search engine results 2 or 4 times before actually taking you to the proper website. It may also show random popups when browsing.

The problem with this virus is that it's so difficult to remove. It acts a lot differently than "normal" viruses, in that it will actually install itself on your computer, change a few of your web browser's settings and then just hide on your PC. This is a major issue as it will actually prevent many antivirus programs from being able to remove the infection. Typical antivirus tools will look for various applications / files that are running on your system and then remove them if they are infected. However, because the Google Redirect Virus just hides away, this cannot be done.

To get rid of this infection, it's advisable that you use a special antivirus program called "Combofix". This is a tool which will fix the various files where the Google Redirect Virus likes to hide, and should free up your computer for you. If you want to remove the Google Redirect virus infection, you really need to look at using this tool and the correct script that it requires to run.

After you've used ComboFix, it's then advisable you clean out any of the errors your system has by using a "registry cleaner". This is a software tool that will repair the various errors and damaged settings that your computer needs to run, allowing your PC to run like it did when it was new. Not many people realize this, but the Google Redirect Virus will actually leave a lot of damaged settings inside the "registry" of your PC, which will lead your system to re-open the problems on your system.

Article Source: http://goo.gl/c1Tnw

Recycler Virus Help

2011-07-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Dealing with the Recycler virus can be a frustrating ordeal, but it must be removed quickly to prevent damage to your computer's operating system or the loss of important data.

Identity

The Recycler virus is actually just one manifestation of the Lecna computer worm. Recycler.exe is just one of a number of files Lecna creates on the host computer.
Method

Once it has gained access to a computer, the worm makes numerous changes to the system's registry, installs malicious software and propagates by copying itself onto networked drives. It may also transfer the data it searches for to an outsider, giving that user access and control over the system.
Removal

To stop the virus, disable the System Restore function, if present, and initiate a virus scan using any available antivirus software. Avira, Avast, Kaspersky and TrendMicro are a few of the free antivirus programs available online.

Read more: http://goo.gl/YJY3n

Protect Yourself With Anti Virus Knowledge and Computer Common Sense

2011-07-11T01:18:00.000-07:00

Anti spyware software Internet security scams will be well researched and only then be brought to you! Take a look at the Categories I have listed!

In the Categories section called FREE PROGRAMS will be a list of my personal free program I use to protect mine and my families computers! I am so sick and tired of companies out here trying to rip you and me off with their fake programs. What I mean is they tell you to download their program for free and it finds all these problems, then you go and click fix problems only to find out you have to go and buy their crappy program to get rid of these viruses,spyware and god only knows what else it tells you they find!

The Anti virus program I use is free and it finds everything better then all the paid programs like Norton's ( My opinion only ) and free programs out there! Yes the anti virus software I use has a paid section which after a long time myself using it, I paid for, but it is free and it rocks out the viruses and spyware like nothing before! I also use Free spyware program that after several months of testing I liked it so much I paid for it!! While it's free it still protects you and kills the spyware that is on your PC! I also use the windows firewall for added protection!

I use CcLeaner which is a free program to delete all your junk files and helps clean your registry and it's 100% free! I use male ware program which is free! The best defense is to make sure your computer is always updated with the latest updates from Microsoft and all your anti virus and anti spyware programs! Please take a look at the post I have made about how you can protect yourself and your family! The INTERNET should be fun and free from idiots trying to infect your computer! I hope you walk away with a better understanding on how their are bad things out there that can hurt your computer and your identity and your money!

Article Source: http://goo.gl/lx2mO

Help For Computer Virus Removal

2011-07-05T02:18:00.000-07:00

Computer viruses have been in existence about as long as the personal computer has been. They can cause damage to software programs creating numerous problems. In an office setting, a virus can decrease productivity. For any who unfortunately encounter a virus, it is a frustrating problem.

What is a computer virus? First of all, it helps to know what it is. A computer virus or malware is a software program that has been created by a person with the intention of causing destructive problems such as applications that spy on you, corrupt your data or give control of your computer to someone thousands of miles away. Viruses and malware are generally limited to damage to the software, however hardware can be targeted as well.

Once you suspect that you have a computer virus, what do you do? Here are some tips for computer virus removal:

Don't panic! This is the most important tip. Do not assume that you need to wipe your computer clean and start from scratch.

Determine that you have a virus. If you suspect that your computer has a virus, some symptoms may be your computer is running unusually slow, complaining with lots of errors, random reboots, blue error screens, or tons of pop-up windows. If any of this is happening, make sure you close all of your files and opened windows. Run antivirus software to make sure it is operating. Do this before updating it with the latest virus definitions. If it is operating, update your antivirus with the newest virus definitions and run it again. If it is not operating, the virus may have disabled the antivirus software. To get around this, download the software onto another computer then save to a disk or flash drive. Use the disk or flash drive to load the software onto the computer with the virus. Once loaded, scan your computer and follow the directions given to remove or disable the virus.

Start your computer in "Safe Mode". This may be an option if the antivirus program is still not working. This mode is usually is used when there is a system-critical problem that interferes with the normal operation of Windows and can help troubleshoot the problem. To start your computer in Safe Mode, you can press the F5 key or you can press the F8 key and select Safe Mode from the boot menu. Once started in Safe Mode, try running your antivirus software. This scan may find malware. If you can remove all of the malware applications found, this may correct your problem.

Hire a professional. If you've been through all of this and your PC is still having problems, it is time to call in reinforcements. There are plenty of companies which are more than happy to help. Simply check in your local phone book under "Computers; Repair and Service". When pricing these services, find a company that will take a look at your computer and give you a free estimate. They will charge hourly rates for their services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2934934

How To Uninstall / Remove Security Suite Virus ( Removal Guide )

2011-06-30T04:27:00.000-07:00

Security Suite is a false antivirus software and it is a similar virus to Antivir Solution Pro. The main way in which it infects computers is through websites that host various videos which when users try to play them, a message warning will be displayed which says that you need to update your flash software if you want to view the video. After that flash software update is downloaded and you start it, it will automatically infect your system with the Security Suite virus and also it will install an TDSS rootkit, that you’ll be able to remove if you follow he instructions in this guide.

Security Suite will automatically start after Windows logs in and it will start a scanning process which will tell you that your computer contains lots of infected files, but all these are fake results and those files are clean, the only virus existent in your system is Security Suite that you need to remove. Also, it says that if you want to clean those infected files you need to buy the full version of it. Of course that this is a scamming attempt and you will lose your money if you decide to trust in this malicious software. Security Suite won’t scan your system, it just pretends to do that and all the scanning results are fake as it only tries to fool you into thinking that if you buy it you will manage to clean your system, when in fact your system is completely clean except for the Security Suite virus.

Security Suite will also block some of your applications and you won’t be able to run them. Security Suite virus blocks applications so that you won’t be able to run a legitimate anti-virus program and remove it from your system. So, when you try to open an applications you should see some of the following fake warning messages :

*

Security Warning. Application cannot be executed. The file notepad.exe is infected. Do you want to activate your antivirus software now.

*Windows Security Alert. Windows reports that computer is infected. Antivirus software helps to protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. Click here for the scan your computer. Your system might be at risk now.

*Antivirus software alert. INFILTRATION ALERT. Your computer is being attacked by an internet virus. It could be a password-stealing attack, trojan – dropper or similar. Threat: BankerFox.A Do you want to block this attack? Yes or No

Another nasty thing that the Security Suite does is that it will change the proxy server of your Internet Explorer and you should see some of the following fake warning messages :

*Internet Explorer warning – visiting this site may harm your computer! Most likely causes: The website contains exploits that can launch a malicious code on your computer. Suspicious network activity detected. There might be an active spyware running on your computer. What you can try: Purchase for secure Internet surfing (Recommended). Check your computer for viruses and malware.

As i said before, all these warning messages are fake and the virus is the Security Suite it self and you need to get rid of it as fast as you can. Still, if Security Suite virus convinced you to buy the full version of it, you should immediately call your credit card company and tell them that you were the victim of a scamming and you bought in fact a PC virus and they might give your money back. So, if you want to remove completely this virus from your computer, then you need to follow this removal guide on how to remove Security Suite virus from your system completely :
1.First you should save this instruction on another computer or you can print them out, as at a further point you will need to close all the opened windows and running applications.
2.Security Suite might have blocked your system’s possibility to download anything from the internet and you will be forced to download the antivirus applications on another PC and after that you can transfer them with a USB memory stick, CD / DVD or with any other type of removable storage device. Now, that i’ve explained you this, please get to the next and start the removal of Security Suite virus.
3.You need to restart your system in Safe Mode with Networking mode and to do this, you need to tap the F8 key, before the Windows logo appears and from the menu select Safe Mode with Networking option. When Windows logs in get to the next step.
4.I was saying that Security Suite virus changes the proxy server and you won’t be able to visit any websites with Internet Explorer or any other browser. So, we need to solve this problem. Start Internet Explorer, and go to Tools and there go to Internet Options.
5. Click on the Connections tab.
6.Now you need to press on the LAN Settings tab.
7.Now you should check the little box at the left of ‘ Use a proxy server for your LAN’. Click OK to close LAN settings, press OK to close the Internet Options menu also and after you do this, you will be able to connect to the internet once again.
8.Now we need to terminate all the processes of Security Suite virus. Download Rkill.com from here. If you can’t get to the download location of Rkill.com you need to repeat the 3 and 6 Steps again, Security Suite might have blocked your internet connection once again. If you still can’t connect to the internet, please do the actions at Step 2.
9.Now that Rkill.com application is installed on the infected PC, you can start it and Rkill.com will begin the attempt to stop the Security Suite virus processes from running. After Rkill.com stops all malicious processes it will close automatically and you should go to the next step. However, if you see a warning message saying that Rkill.com is a virus, leave it opened and start Rkill.com again. Such message is a fake one displayed by Security Suite virus which tries to protect itself against removal. You need to start Rkill.com until it completely stops Security Suite’s processes. If Rkill.com can’t terminate those processes, you can try to use eXplorer.exe or iExplore.exe, these two are similar in functions with the Rkill and these might be able to stop Security Suite virus from running. Also, you should know that you shouldn’t restart your system,as the malicious processes will be started again when you log into Windows. Get to the next step.
10.Download Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware from here, this is a virus removal tool. You need to put it on your desktop. If you can’t download it, repeat steps 3 and 6 or you can do the step 2.11.
11.Now that Malwarebytes’ is on your PC, you need to close all the running applications and opened windows.
12.Install Malwabytes’ Anti-Malware, aka MBAM, by double-clicking on the ‘mbam-setup.exe’ icon.
13. Please do not change any of the installer’s default settings. Only when the installation is complete you need to make sure that the ‘Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware’ and the ‘ Update Malwarebytes Anti-Malware’ boxes are checked. Press the ‘Finish’ button and if MBAM asks you to restart the system, please DO NOT RESTART, as the Security Suite virus will be re-enabled and you will need to repeat all the previous steps.
14.Now Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will start, it will ask you to update it, but you already did that. Click OK and it will display its main screen.

15. Here you need to be sure that ‘Perform Full Scan’ box is checked and you can hit the ‘Scan’ button, which will start the hunt for the Security Suite virus files.

16.You should know that the scanning process might take a little bit longer that you’re expecting. After MBAM completes the scanning, it will display a confirmation window. Click OK and you will be taken to the main Scanner screen.

17. Now you need to press the ‘Show Results’ button and it will display the scanning results.

18. Now you should see the scanning results, like in the image below. Your scanning results might be different from the ones in the picture. Click “Remove Selected’ and Malwarebytes’ will start removing all the malicious files from your computer. During the removal process, MBAM will ask you to restart your system in order to completely remove Security Suite from your PC, allow it to restart your system. After Windows logs back in, you can get to the next steps.
MBAM Scan Results

19.After Malwabytes’ Anti-Malware completed the removal process, it will show a scanning log in Notepad. Look through it and after that you can close it.

20. Now you can close the Ma

lwabytes’ Anti-Malware, as the Security Suite virus has been removed from your PC.

If your computer was infected with the TDSS rootkit infection also,

If you did exactly what i’ve told you, then it means that the Security Suite virus has been completely removed from your system. However, i recommend you to install a powerful anti-virus application or you can choose to buy the professional version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware application and it will keep your computer protected 24 / 7 against any malicious software attack.

Source:-www.geeksailor.com

PC Virus Removal Can Help Businesses Save Millions of Dollars

2011-06-24T00:16:00.000-07:00

The business world is now, for the most part, driven by technology. The internet is of fundamental importance to the success of a business. With such a reliance on technology, computers, and the internet, there has been an increase in attacks against businesses. One such attack is computer viruses. A computer virus is a program that replicates and infects a user's computer files. Computer viruses are such a hazard to businesses as they erase information and permanently destroy files.

Security against viruses is essential for any business. A virus infecting a business computer system can decrease productivity, increase expenses to repair and recover information, and lose customer confidence. The result is lost customers, lost sales, and lost profits. The effect of a virus can end up causing a business millions of dollars. Fortunately, innovations in security measures have allowed businesses to protect themselves against computer viruses. One such measure is using an effective PC virus removal program.

When looking on the market, you will find a number of quality virus removal programs that are effective at removing many types of viruses and will provide upgrades to eliminate new viruses that are released. They are designed to scan system registries and hard disks to root out and remove computer viruses. One has the option of downloading or purchasing an anti virus software program from a retail software.

A business can set up their security policy to protect them from virus infection by implementing measures that can include:

1. Back up your data regularly on a server that is not linked to your main server. If you do get a virus, you will have a back up so that you will not lose all of your files, programs, software, and other pertinent information.

2. Enlist the services of a computer security expert who can go through your system to search for any viruses and remove. A professional can also advise you on the best antivirus program that will protect the businesses from viruses. Use a quality anti-virus program that will scan files, programs, and software. Make sure you keep the anti-virus software up-to-date and scan your computer often.

3. Make sure that the anti virus that you use is from a reputable company. Do not share commercial software with others because viruses can spread this way.

4. When you download files from the internet, make sure you have an anti virus spyware program that will scan them for viruses before they are opened. A business can even adopt a policy where downloads from the internet are prohibited.

5. Purchase an anti virus program that includes anti-spyware, anti-hacker-tools, anti-key-loggers and anti-worm applications

6. Make sure your business has a quality anti virus program for email accounts. These programs will detect suspicious emails and delete them. Some programs will even send an email back to the spammer saying your address is invalid.

Every year, businesses lose millions of dollars due to a virus attack on their system. If your computer is infected with a virus, make sure you are equipped the highest quality and most current anti-virus program to remove the virus and quickly get rid of all copies of the virus. Most virus infections can be prevented. With proper anti virus programs and policies, a business can protect themselves from harmful viruses and save millions of dollars

Virus removal in Toronto and Ottawa virus removal is very important for people with computer-based jobs. If you're looking for Montreal virus removal, visit us today!

Source :-webmedic.net

Solutions To Computer Viruses

2011-06-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

Does your computer lag or does it seem to have any unusual behavior, if it does chances are your computer is infected with a virus. To help you with solutions to computer viruses I have answered some questions people ask me about getting rid of viruses.

1.)Whats is a computer virus?

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation. A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your e-mail program to spread itself to other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk. Viruses are most easily spread by attachments in e-mail messages or instant messaging messages. Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files, this is why most viruses come from downloading movies, music, illegal programs and most of all from pornographic material.

2.)What are other names for a virus?

You may have heard of malware, spy ware, Trojans, trackers, hijackers, ad ware, etc... these are just subsections of viruses.

3.)Symptoms of a virus?

After you open and run an infected program or attachment on your computer, you might not realize that you have introduced a virus until you notice something is not quite right.
Here are a few primary indicators that your computer might be infected:

Your computer runs more slowly than normal,

Your computer stops responding or locks up often,

Your computer crashes and restarts every few minutes,

Your computer restarts on its own and then fails to run normally,

Applications on your computer do not work correctly,

Disks or disk drives are inaccessible,

You can not print correctly,

You see unusual error messages,

You see distorted menus and dialog boxes

You are BOMBARDED with pop ups,

4.)What are some solutions to computer viruses?

The perfect solutions to computer viruses are purchasing a quality virus program, and staying off unwanted sites. Then your computer and your privacy is secured.

5.) What is the best virus protection for me?

Even if you do not have a virus, or already have one, purchasing a quality virus program is the best solution to computer viruses. I have mentioned the best solutions/products for your computer virus problems below.

Source: http://goo.gl/ULvNG

Has My PC Got a Virus ?

2011-05-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

What is a virus? The term broadly describes any program that tries to hide a malicious function or spread copies of itself on to as many computers as possible.

Believe it or not most viruses are benign, displaying a message or picture at a specific time. There are some malignant viruses that can cause damage to your files and programs. Most viruses in circulation fall into six key classifications:

1. Worm - a self contained program that can spread functional copies of itself to other computer systems.

2. File Infector - attaches itself to ordinary program files, it usually ends in exe or com.

3. Trojan Horse - Noramlly a non-replicating program, designed to perform malicious damage, such as destroying all word processing documents.

4. Boot Sector Infectors - These attach themselves to the boot sector of a disk, either on your hard drive or on any floppy disk that you insert into your floppy drive.

5. Master Boot Record Infectors - Infect the master boot program preventing it from starting in the usual way, for example constantly restarting.

6. Multi-partite viruses - this can infect both the master boot records, or files and disk boot sectors.

How does your PC pick up a virus? They don't just occur, they are introduced to your PC by an outside party and can be avoided if you take appropriate precautions.

Downloading files from the internet or receiving e-mail can put you at risk of virus infection. Contrary to popular opinion it's not generally possible to contract a virus by simply reading an e-mail message. The damage is done by executing files that are attached to your message without first checking for viruses. This could also occur by importing information from floppy disk files that were created on an infected PC.

How do I know if I have a virus? Generally, some of the symptoms might be a discrepancy in the amount of memory you have, running out of hard drive space unexpectedly, programs running or loading slowly, unidentified files appearing, and unexpected crashes or failure to load. These symptoms could also be due to a number of common technical problems, don't automatically assume that you have a virus the moment anything looks out of the ordinary or slows down.

The best way to ensure protection from viruses is to install a specialised piece of software often referred to as anti-virus software or a virus checker. This continually scans for possible problems and alerts you before they can inflict any damage.

Source: http://goo.gl/8oyFM

Best Anti Spyware Support Software Selection

2011-05-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

Spyware are a whole lot different from viruses and they cannot be clubbed together in the same category since they are completely apart from each other. These are software which leak into a computer system without the user's knowledge and then it starts taking total control of the PC. It can hack into a computer and steal all the personal information of a user including login username, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account numbers etc..

In order to get rid of all these anomalies and complications, a user can always get a software. Almost all computers are infected with some spyware or the other. A lot of anti spyware downloads have been developed by companies and they are available to users everywhere. But the task here now is to select the best anti spyware software. There are a lot of anti spyware support available online especially if one Googles it online. A user can choose the best option available for their PC to by keeping in mind a few relevant things.

One of the most important things to consider while getting an anti spyware software is to choose one with an easy to use interface. If a product, no matter how efficient it is, is difficult to run and install then there is no point in getting one.

One should go for which gives real time protection. Some software removes spyware only after a manual scan without proactive protection. A good spyware should not only remove but also block malicious elements trying to get into the computer system.

A user should also go for a support software which gives them the option to update database definitions regularly. Since fresh spyware are coded regularly, anti spyware companies should regularly update these definitions. Without the updates, the spyware software is obsolete and not usable.

The user should also look for a comprehensive signature database in order to fend off and confront spyware attacks while choosing a software. It should have a strong database.

It should have the versatility of scheduling the scans regularly as well. The customizable scan feature will by itself scan your PC for spyware and adware infections.

System performance backed by good customer support should also be considered while going for a good anti spyware support software. One should also look out for something which gives a good money back guarantee. It should enable a risk free guarantee and should give the user at least to a 30 day trial with a cent per cent monet back guarantee policy.

All these points are most relevant in order to enable a user to choose the best anti spyware software available at hand.

Source: http://goo.gl/k8thF

The Best Ways to Protect Your Computer Against Viruses

2011-05-18T02:48:00.000-07:00

Computer viruses are deceptively small, and though they seem benign, they can cause immense damage. Viruses can have an effect that ranges everywhere from deleting your hard drive, hijacking your web browser and stealing your personal information. A large percentage of computer viruses travel as email attachments. They are often disguised as a funny picture or some other seemingly safe type of file. However, once the attached file is opened the virus can infect your system.

The other most common way for viruses to spread are in simple executable files (.exe for pc's and.app or.dmg for macs), often disguised as part of other programs and that get installed when you run them. These types of viruses, often known as trojans for the stealthy way they get on your computer are harder to diagnose and solve. It is imperative that you never click on, open or run a file or program unless you are sure the author can be trusted.

There are several things you can do to help protect your computer from viruses and malware. The first step is to understand whether or not your computer is already infected. There are a number of symptoms which are emblematic of virus infection.

* Slow Speed - if your computer is 'taking a long time to think about things' such as loading programs or saving data, then your computer may be infected.
* Lost Drives - If you are unable to access certain drives, like disk drives or partitions, you need to run some malware removal.
* No Response - This can be the result of a virus, although that is not always the case as software incompatibilities or hardware configurations can have the same effect.
* Crashes/Reboots - it stands to reason that if your computer starts shutting down and starting itself back up you have a serious virus on your hands.

You can do a number of things to help protect your computer from virus attacks. Many of these are simple or easy, but they should not be ignored just the same. Always remember to:

* Shut Your Computer Down - If you are sure your computer is off then you never have to worry about what it is doing when you aren't using it.
* Disconnect from the internet - Now that no one uses dialup anymore, connecting to the internet hardly takes any time. Best to leave your computer disconnected whenever you can.
* Untrustworthy Programs/Files - If you didn't download it, ask for it or anticipate opening it, then don't open it. If you aren't sure who sent you a file or why you are being asked to download something delete or abort it.

If you do happen to contact a computer virus, which happens to most of us despite our efforts, you need to consult a malware removal specialist. This can come in the form of anti-virus programs and security suites, or tech support specialists highly trained in virus removal. Anti-virus programs can detect and delete many types of malware that could harm your computer, whereas a removal specialist can help you troubleshoot the viruses that can hide from security software. Don't forget to always keep your firewall up and your anti-virus software constantly updated, especially if you spend a lot of time on the internet.

Source: http://goo.gl/Xotza

Is Antivirus Software an Absolute Must For You ?

2011-05-11T04:22:00.000-07:00

If you have recently purchased a PC or planning to buy the same, one of the most important considerations should be quality Antivirus software. Many hardware vendors will bundle an anti software package along with a brand new PC as part of the deal. However, if it is not the case, it is an absolute must that you have a quality antivirus software package installed onto your laptop or desktop.

What is antivirus software? Antivirus helps you to protect your PC from the computer viruses floating around through the net as well as hidden in the email attachments and documents. Computer viruses come in the form of Trojans, Key loggers, malicious code, and Worms. Good antivirus software can understand and identify the virus patterns and can eliminate them.

Typically the antivirus software comes with a Scanning Engine and the information about various viruses and its remedies in the form of a database. The scanner utilize the information containing in its database to pin point the computer virus which is hiding in your system by comparing the obvious virus patterns. Antivirus software should be updated on a regular basis to make sure that it is equipped with the latest virus definition files. There is no point in having an out dated antivirus program in your pc as it will be useless in destroying the latest viruses.

Almost all of the antivirus programs offer regular updates to their virus definition files and most of them offer automatic updates. In the case of Automatic update antivirus programs you need not worry as it will get updated as soon as you connected to the Internet. But some programs offer manual updates only which requires user intervention. So if you are planning to buy an antivirus package, make sure to have the one which offers an Automatic update option.

Some of the reputed antivirus software manufacturers are Symantec Corporation, McAfee and Trend Micro. All these software vendors have an exhaustive knowledge base articles and a dedicated research team working to identify the new threats which comes to the Net on a daily basis. Also, all of them have a dedicated team of Technical Support folks ready to answer your queries related to the product.

Source: http://goo.gl/Os808

New fake antivirus accepts SMS payments

2011-04-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

There's a new twist with some fake antivirus scareware that has cropped up. It accepts payment via SMS, according to antivirus firm CyberDefender.

Typical rogue security programs infect the system first, then display pop ups warning that the computer is infected, and request payment to clean it up. The new programs are seemingly more genteel, asking for the money before the program is installed and infects the system, said Achal Khetarpal, threat research director at CyberDefender. Of course, a payment does nothing to "fix" a system and means criminals now have your money and possibly your credit card information.

When a potential victim happens upon a Web site hosting the malware, a dialog box pops up that looks very much like an installer window for a legitimate antivirus product, according to screenshots from CyberDefender. It says "Welcome to" and names a popular antivirus software and suggests closing other applications. If the victim falls for the ruse, it then displays a message that says "To complete installation, you must go through activation" and offers several ways to pay, including SMS (Short Message Service), WebMoney, and credit card.

If you click "cancel", the program won't install, compared with typical fake antivirus programs that have already infected the system by the time the victim realizes what is happening and keep displaying the annoying pop-up messages, even after reboot, Khetarpal said.

The company has seen five versions of the rogue security programs masquerading as software from Avast, Norton, McAfee, BitDefender, and RootKitBuster, and they, as usual, target Windows systems.

Khetarpal could not say how widespread the malware is but said he has seen it in a "lot of Web sites" and in relation to search results for popular and trending topics.

Fake AV scammers aren't the only ones to hop on the SMS payment bandwagon. Scammers were found to be seeking payment by SMS for fake browser updates earlier this year, according to GFI Labs.

Kaspersky Lab warns of fake trial resetter app

2011-03-22T01:40:00.000-07:00

Kaspersky Lab, a developer of secure content and threat management solutions, is warning users of key generators and software cracks that can steal information from computers.

The malware, identified as Trojan-PSW.MIL.Agent.wx, disguises itself as a Kaspersky Trial Resetter, which is used to reset a software evaluation period that has expired.

Instead of extending the evaluation period of a legitimate software, it steals information from the infected computer -- from passwords saved in a web browser to other installed applications.

Kaspersky Lab said Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the browser most targeted by the virus, followed by Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera.

The Trojan has so far stolen information from MSN accounts (400), Ebay accounts (175), Facebook accounts (169) and ICQ accounts (116), the company said.

"I hope these statistics will convince you that downloading pirated software is not a good idea," said Kaspersky Lab security expert Nicolas Brulez.

He added, "Users who thought they were downloading a crack for a security solution ended up being infected. It's also clear that saving your passwords within your browser isn't the best idea."

According to Brunez, a total of 1,109 computers -- or an average of 48 a day -- have been infected in 23 days. The malware was reportedly created on January 31 this year and was detected on February 6.

Germany is said to have the most number of infections at 29%, followed by Holland (11%), France (3%), Poland and United Kingdom (1% each). The remaining 55% are spread out across the globe, Kaspersky Lab said.

New way removing virus from a computer

2011-03-08T01:30:00.000-08:00

Step by step instructions to get rid of viruses:

STEP 1:what I did is that i created a secondary account on my computer for backup plan if my main account is infected badly were the antivirus program wont come up and get rid of the virus.
STEP 2:hold the power button on your computer until it turns off. let it sit for a minute or two. turn it back on and log in when the log in screen comes up. click on the antivirus program that you bought. if your antivirus program doesnt come up and you tried everything. then log off or shutdown your computer and use your secondary
account you created.
STEP 3: go to the control panel on your seconary account and click on USER ACCOUNTS AND FAMILY SAFETY. then go to ADD OR REMOVE USER ACCOUNTS after that then click on the user account and then click on delete user account. it will get rid of the account. ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE TOO.

Norton 360 5.0: Social Networking Security

2011-02-28T03:05:00.001-08:00

Things have come a long way since the days of the early antivirus software. Just developing an antivirus these days isn’t considered good enough, so internet security suites were born which cover everything from viruses to spam to malware.
Norton 360 was born out of a need for a simplistic security solution for the layman. The latest revision of the popular suite Norton 360, 5.0 was launched earlier this month.

User Interface
Norton 360 5.0 installation is simpler than most other antivirus and security suites. On first impressions, the new Norton 360 5.0 doesn’t look a lot different than the previous versions except for the Verisign logo on the left bottom of the UI.The broad features of the suite are PC Security, Identity Protection, Backup and PC Tuneup.

Trend Micro acquires Mobile Armor

2011-02-04T04:57:00.001-08:00

Mobile Armor now to be called as Trend Micro Endpoint Encryption offering
Trend Micro, a provider of Internet content security, has completed the acquisition of Mobile Armor on 1 February 2011.
The acquisition is a part of Trend Micro's data protection portfolio extending encryption offerings in the cloud. The agreement was announced on 29 November 2010.
Mobile Armor Data Armor Suite has now changed to Trend micro Endpoint Encryption offering after the acquisition.
The product is now a centrally managed encryption offering that includes full disk and file/folder capability, delivers software-based encryption and support for self-encrypting drives, and covers PCs, Windows Smartphones and Removable Media, said the company.
Trend Micro chief product officer Steve Quane said they are pleased to complete the acquisition of Mobile Armor and welcome new employees, partners and customers to the Trend Micro family.
"Trend Micro is helping government agencies, enterprise customers, SMBs and consumers around the globe protect their data whether stored on a local PC or mobile device or in a virtualized environment or public cloud," Quane said.
http://us.trendmicro.com/us/partners/strategic-partners/mobile-armor/

Fraud Theft by Rouge Anti-Virus Software

2010-12-30T05:07:00.001-08:00

Fraud theft has many faces – none of which are pretty – but perhaps the most insidious is that of Rouge Anti-Virus Software scams.

One of the newest virus threats online comes to your computer as a true “wolf wrapped in sheep’s clothing.” System Tool 2011, and other such malware, is being e-mailed to computers all over the world, causing damage and bilking its victims out of hundreds of dollars.

The Scam

Unless you work, live, and breathe for computers, you probably aren’t familiar with online theft information regarding the term “rogue” anti-virus software until you become a victim. This is not optimal way to learn about the deleterious effects it can have on your computer and bank accounts.

Rogue anti-virus software is spread over the Internet the same way other viruses are: in e-mail attachments, as a part of a shareware software bundle all with the help of a Trojan. (Trojans are software packets that sneak inside your hard drive hiding within another download, much the same way the actual warriors hid inside the horse.) One of the most successful, and most damaging, of these rogue anit-virus programs is System Tool (also known as systemtool and System Tool 2011).

Rogue anti-viruses have no affinity for malware, Trojan, or other harmful programs’ removal because they are in and of themselves malware. Their real and only purpose is theft fraud by capturing your credit card information under false pretenses. This qualifies rogue virus software as identity fraud theft scams at their finest.

How it Works

Once inside your computer, System Tool, or any other rouge anti-virus program, springs into action without your knowledge or consent. It self-installs and plants its malignant files deep within your registry. It sets itself to begin on your computer’s start up.

The next time you turn on your computer you will be greeted with a legitimate-looking scan results screen listing the many programs System Tool has detected within your computer. The list is fake – a scare tactic to motivate you to click the removal button option.

Once you click the remove button, a message will prompt to you to activate your account or subscription. To do this you need to pay for a one, two, or lifetime subscription option. To keep you motivated, new messages are popping up all the while proclaiming new infestations, infected files, and other damages needing repair.

Don’t fall for it. The messages are fake. The infections are fake. The computer scan results are also fake. They are all part of System Tool’s design to entice you to impart of your credit card information willingly. This program is a virus itself, so it will not do anything but mess up your computer and then take your money and run.

Recovery

First off, if you have paid for System Tool (now that you are wiser), call your credit card company and dispute the charges.

The next step is getting it off of your computer. This can be tricky because part of the programming is aimed at keeping itself alive inside your hard drive by blocking attempts to remove it. Legitimate virus removal software does not always recognize and remove it because the malware looks like real anti-virus software.

To be certain you are rid of System Tool, you will most likely need the help of an experienced computer wiz, a visit from the Geek Squad, or someone similarly qualified.

The process of starting the computer in safe mode and sifting through real system files from fake ones will be simple for them but difficult and dangerous for a novice.

Malware Posing as Fake Desktop Utilities Instead of Phony Antivirus

2010-12-21T04:59:00.001-08:00

In the past two months, fake anti-virus scareware has morphed into variants pretending to be generic security products, disk utilities and the trusty defrag tool, according to researchers.

Recently, researchers at GFI Software have noticed an increase in the number of fake security software scams purporting to be disk utilities that fix disk errors. Instead of listing Trojans, these security alerts pretends to find disk fragmentation or file system integrity problems.

“Fake AV authors have added a new branch to their rogueware business,” Desai said. He expects to see more variants of both fake anti-virus and utilities in the coming months.

The rogue products initially looked like a generic security product, addressing a range of system issues with names like HDDDDiagnostic, PCoptomizer and Privacy Corrector, according to GFI. Since then, there’ve been a series of “defragger clones” with names like UltraDefragger and ScanDisk that claim to find read/write errors on the hard disk drive, according to the blog.

The fake disk defrag and scanning utilities started showing up in mid-October, according to Deepen Desai, senior researcher from SonicWALL’s threats team. He noted that new variants are often “A/V resistant” because legitimate security products may not be able to immediately identify the files as fake. Rand Abrams, director of technical education at ESET said these variants are “not yet as popular as they will become.”

Scareware refers to software that displays legitimate looking pop-up windows and dialog boxes claiming serious problems with the user’s computer. Often posing as anti-virus or anti-spyware software, the messages list several malware infections and scare the user into purchasing anti-virus software immediately to fix the problem. Some known variants mimic Microsoft Security Essentials or McAfee, while others have real-sounding names such as Security Tools or Pest Detector.

Fake utilities are generally marketed differently from fake A/V, said Larsen. The potential victim is generally already searching for a disk utility or trying to resolve an issue when the scammer says, “’Here’s what you were searching for,’ and hand them a malware payload instead,” said Larsen.

Users should be wary of any error messages coming from software they didn’t install, and should not purchase or install any software that suggests downgrading the Web browser to an older version, according to GFI Software’s researchers.

There are even some variants that detect legitimate anti-virus software and prompt users to uninstall it, according to Sophos researcher Chester Wisniewski.

Avira AntiVir Personal: Great Malware Protection

2010-12-07T03:43:00.001-08:00

Avira AntiVir Personal ranked second in our late 2010 roundup of free antivirus products. AntiVir did a great job at detecting and blocking malware.
AntiVir Personal is nearly identical to its paid counterpart, AntiVir Premium 2010: Both have nearly identical interfaces and installation processes, so the real difference between them is the feature set.
The Status tab gives a basic overview of whether you're protected and up-to-date, though it doesn't really give too much detail. Most buttons are not labeled, and the button icons are not always immediately detectable, so you'll have find them for a tooltip describing what they do. Avira is a German import, and some of the wording in dialog boxes feels awkwardly translated. The overall feeling I got from AntiVir Personal's interface is that, while it's serviceable, it feels geared toward more advanced PC users.
Avira put up very good scores for malware detection. AntiVir Personal detected 99 percent of malware samples in scanner-based detection tests that predominantly rely on malware signature files, which was one of the better showings in this test among the free antivirus products we tested. And in the blocking of actual, real-world malware attacks, AntiVir personal completely blocked 80 percent of attacks, which puts it slightly above the average of the products we tested. It partially blocked an additional 5 percent of attacks.
Avira also but up decent scores for malware cleanup. It detected all infections on the test system, and was successful in removing all active components of an attack 70 percent of the time (right around average), and removed all malware components 30 percent of the time (also about average).
On the negative side, AntiVir Personal, along with Comodo's free Internet Security Premium, had the most false positives--six--of the free antivirus products we looked at. As a percentage, this number is still low--it was .004 percent of files scanned, and they were all non-operating-system files, but any false positive can be a hassle. That said, only one free product we tested--Avast Free Antivirus--achieved a perfect false positive score.
AntiVir Personal's scan speeds were impressive as well--it completed an on-demand scan of 4.5GB of data in 87 seconds, the best finish of the free antivirus products we looked at. Its on-access scans were also quite fast: It finished the test in 4 minutes, 7 seconds, well below the average time of 2 minutes, 50 seconds. The on-access scan is a good indicator of how quickly an antivirus program will be able to scan files for malware as they're opened or saved to disk. In addition, AntiVir Personal's impact on overall system performance was low, and it added a mere 2.5 seconds to system startup in our tests--the average product added over 4 seconds to startup time.
AntiVir Personal, like Avira's other products, has been a strong contender in the past, and this latest version continues that trend. But we'd like to see Avira make some improvements to its user interface.

Symantec launches beta of Norton 360 5.0

2010-10-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

Symantec opened the public beta of Norton 360 5.0, the latest version of the company's end-to-end security suite. This beta builds upon the updated versions of Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security, and improves the usability and performance in the backup and tune-up features exclusive to Norton 360, revamps the online backup user experience, and integrates with Norton's free online tools.

New Features
The revamped UI in Norton 360 puts all of the different tools: Antivirus protection, online backup, Identity protection, Norton Safe Web, Norton Online Family, automatic PC tune-up and the global threat protection map are all displayed on the main screen, and settings/security controls for each are organized underneath.
Norton 360 5.0 now includes resource management for third-party apps on your PC. Norton 360 can immediately alert you, if a particular piece of software you have installed is using a lot of system resources. If alerts aren't your thing, you can check out resource logs to compare third party app behavior.
As with any security package, performance remains a paramount issue. Symantec says it is working to improve backup and restore performance, reduce system impact, and increase valuable communication with users in Norton 360. PC Tuneups, one of the most popular features of 360 are also faster, the company told us.
Additionally, the Bootable Recovery Tool Wizard, Norton's malware removal tool to get inoperable systems up and running again, can now be booted from USB or CD/DVD.

F-Secure Internet Security 2011

2010-09-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

F-Secure has launched a new product F-Secure Internet Security 2011. They have released a Public Preview so that you can experience the new look of new version. This preview version is currently available only in English and gives you the opportunity to look what the successor of F-secure Internet Security 2010 has to offer in context with performance improvements, security and new features.
F-Secure Internet Security 2011 comes with a separate menu called Online Safety which consist of parental and Browsing Protection. From here, you can configure parental controls for different user accounts.
Another new and interesting feature is for those who access internet via UMTS access card / stick on Netbook or notebook on the go which detect your mobile internet connectivity. With this new feature, you can select whether to download new updates to the security suite on the mobile phone connection or not.

Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011

2010-09-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

Trend Micro's Titanium initiative aims to offers consumers maximum security with minimal aggravation. When you download Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011you immediately how different it looks from the 2010 model.
Features:
SPAM-BLOCKER
Detects and blocks annoying and dangerous junk email and image spams. The real-time spam detection provides immediate protection from outbreaks.

REAL-TIME UPDATES
Safeguard your computer from the latest on-line threats today and in the future. Titanium Maximum Security leverages Trend Micro%27s Smart Protection NetworkT plus real-time antivirus scanning to provide always-on-guard protection keeping you safe from latest, ever-evolving malware threats.

PARENTAL CONTROLS
Protect your children from inappropriate websites, limit their time on the Internet, and see detailed reports about what they do online, without having to look over their shoulders.

DATA THEFT PREVENTION
Prevent hackers and spyware from stealing credit card numbers, passwords, email addresses, and other sensitive data.

TREND MICRO VAULT
A password protected folder that can safeguard your sensitive files. If your computer is lost or stolen, you can remotely lock this vault to keep these files safe.

SECURE ERASE
Deleting a file just removes the directory information used to find it, but not the actual data. Secure Erase overwrites deleted files with random data, so that the contents can%27t be retrieved.

SYSTEM TUNER
Recover disk space, make Microsoft Windows start faster, clean out your instant messaging history, and optimize your computer%27s performance. Schedule automatic tune-ups to keep your PC running smoothly.

LIGHT ON SYSTEM RESOURCES
Titanium is powered by Trend Micro Smart Protection NetworkT which gathers and analysis threat data, blocking viruses and other malware BEFORE they can reach your PC. Because the processing is done "in the cloud", Titanium uses less of your PC%27s memory and disk space, so it won%27t slow you down.

DETAILED SECURITY REPORTS
Easy to read graphic reports provide you with all the details about the threats that attack your computer. You can drill down into detailed logs with just one click.

FREE TOOLS
The Titanium Maximum Tool Centre displays a page of shortcuts so you can easily access and manage features such as Parental Controls, System Tuner, Secure Erase and more. From the Tool Center you can turn features ON or OFF for a solution tailored to your individual internet security needs.

Norton Releases 2011 Security Products

2010-09-08T03:14:00.000-07:00

Norton announced its 2011 versions of its Norton Internet Security suite and Norton Antivirus software, a new application--Norton Power Eraser--that is produced to remove the increasingly common fake antivirus malware.
New features for Norton's 2011 product lineup include new "reputation-based" detection technology, bolstered behavioral malware detection (detecting malware based on how it acts on your PC), and new system performance monitoring tools.
Norton Power Eraser is a new freebie tool designed to identify so-called fake antivirus malware--malware that looks like garden variety antivirus software and tried to coerce you into paying for "full" versions of the software that do nothing at all.
Another new tool is Norton's Bootable Recovery Tool, a tool of last resort for when your PC is so hosed by malware that it won't start up, or your antivirus software won't even work properly. The Bootable Recovery Tool is a free download, but you need to enter a Norton product key in order to use it.
As for detection, the company declares that the new Norton products lead the security pack. We'll be the final judge of that, though, when we have a chance to thoroughly test the new Norton products. To see how Norton Internet Security 2010 performed, be sure to check out our review from earlier this year.
The new Norton products are available for purchase now from Norton.com; Norton Internet Security 2011 costs $70 (for use on 3 PCs), and Norton Antivirus 2010 costs $40.

Lavasoft Releases Dual-Engine Ad-Aware Total Security

2010-07-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

Lavasoft has just announced the release of new versions for its award-winning, Ad-Aware suite. Several modifications are to be mentioned as the company no longer treads the previous path.
Ad-Aware protection bunch comes in three different flavors, with the freebie leading the way, closely followed by the two paid editions. This time around, the freebie includes full antivirus protection: “Here at Lavasoft, it’s part of our founding principle that all computer users must have the power to protect themselves online. By continuing to offer the Ad-Aware Free version and now adding anti-virus protection, we are ensuring that our users throughout the world have a one-stop product that delivers core malware protection: anti-spyware, anti-virus and anti-rootkit,” says Johnny Widerlund, Senior Technologies Director at Lavasoft.
The Plus version has been replaced by a different suite, Ad-Aware Total Security, a complete set of tools bent on offering your system not just the best security against malware.
For increased protection against malware, Lavasoft select GData as their technology partner for Ad-Aware Total Security. Thus, the tool relies on two antivirus engines, which can work in tandem or separately. Among highlights of the bundle are easy-to-configure personal firewall, rootkit removal system, anti-spam protection, webmail protection, as well as protection against phishing attacks. Ad-Aware Total Security includes special features including parental control, backup and system tuning functions.
Ad-Aware Total Security also offers a comfortable file shredder designed to securely remove your data, in a manner that prevents its recovery. A simple drag and drop of the item on the file shredder desktop icon is enough to get rid of it.
The prices set by Lavasoft for the two products are $29.95 for a one-year single user subscription for Ad-Aware Pro, while Ad-Aware Total Security sells for $49.95. The difference between the two is pretty steep, the Ad-Aware Total Security representing a new turn in Lavasoft’s security products.

Kaspersky Lab Predicts Malware Epidemics

2010-07-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, has successfully patented technology in the USA that allocates the potential scale of malware epidemics to be accurately predicted in order to prevent them from spreading.
"The patented technology works by examining statistical data about threats received from a global monitoring network.
Emerging epidemics can be recognized by the number of incidents occurring during a specific period in one location or another. It makes it possible to pinpoint the source of an epidemic and forecast its likely propagation pattern.
Protective measures can then be implemented by countries in the path of the epidemic. This slows the proliferation rate considerably and offers effective damage limitation, according to chief intellectual property counsel Kaspersky Lab.
The technology has a number of advantages over other similar systems, including the ability to trace the source of the threat, generate protective measure and simulate the spread of an epidemic, she said.
Today's malware has the capacity to spread in millions of computers infected in an instant as an epidemic sweeps across the Internet. This can take down huge swathes of infrastructure, bringing information highways to a standstill and leaving systems vulnerable to data leakage which in turn opens the door to large scale fraud. Detecting malware on computer that is infected during an epidemic has little or no effect. What is needed is a reliable method for estimating the potential scale and direction of an epidemic, an early warning system, and that is exactly what the new technology developed by Kaspersky Lab's Yury Mashevsky, Yury Namestnikov, Nikolay Denishchenko and Pavel Zelensky, is capable of doing. The technology was granted Patent No. 7743419 by the US Patent and Trademark Office on 22 June, 2010.
Kaspersky Lab currently has more than 50 patent applications pending in the USA, Russia, China and Europe. These relate to a unique information security technologies developed by the Company's personnel.

Registry Cleaner Vs Anti Spyware Programs

2010-06-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

Most people simply assume that having the occasional anti-virus scan is more than enough. Is that alone really enough? You need a registry cleaner more than you need an anti virus software. If you frequently go online, then you will also be needing an anti spyware, adware program. Both, a Registry Cleaner and an Anti-Spyware Program are necessary to combat registry errors and ensure optimal performance of your computer system. The differences between Registry Cleaners and Anti-Spyware programs are briefly detailed below.

1. Like Registry Cleaners, Anti Spyware programs are made to specifically detect applications that cause unwanted symptoms to prevail on your system. However, these programs are designed specifically to recognize malicious code and are updated frequently as new spyware programs are identified and antidotes are created. Such activity may include but is not limited to the following:
* Unauthorized users, or Hackers, gaining access to your computer.
Malicious programs, called Trojans, inadvertently installed on your computer and often disguised in your computer registry as benign files, can allow users to gain remote access to your computer. Once the Trojan is in place, sensitive data on your computer is accessible to prying eyes that are free to search your computer at will for confidential information such as passwords, access codes for credit card and bank accounts, social security number etc. A registry cleaner may not recognize these cleverly disguised files and will allow them to remain in the registry.
* Frequent Nuisance Pop ups and advertisements.
Trojans can be programmed to allow third party advertisements to pop up in your browser window whenever it detects an internet connection. This means that if you have a broadband or DSL connection that is “always on” you can be overwhelmed by these popups. Trojan Vundo is one such form of malicious program. Then confronted by a Trojan such as Vundo, you must use a specialized Trojan remover that is continually updated to keep the database of mutated Trojans current. A registry cleaner may not recognize and remove virus.

2. Unlike Antispyware programs that are designed to prevent attack from and remove malicious programs from your computer registry, Registry Cleaner programs are used to tune up your computer registry so that unneeded or obsolete files are removed from your computer.
* Speed Restoration
As we use our computers and get comfortable with them, they become an extension of ourselves. We tend to install toolbars, games, start up programs and the latest gadgets available to make our time spent enjoyable or easier. Overtime, those added programs get replaced or are no longer used and these unnecessary programs slow our computers down because even though we’re not using them, they can load in the background and siphon off precious CPU resources. A Registry Cleaner will run a registry scan and identify files that are no longer needed, allowing you to easily remove them resulting in an increase in processor speed.
* Repairing a corrupt computer registry
Occasionally, you may accidental delete a file resulting in an error message every time you turn on your computer. When some of your files go missing, a registry cleaner can help solve the problem. Rather than figure out what “windows.dll is missing” means… execute and run a registry cleaner program, then reboot your PC. The registry cleaner will restore your missing files and identify the correct ones to remove.

After a brief comparison of Registry Cleaners and Anti Spyware, I hope you agree that both are necessary to ensure optimal performance of your computer system. Stay connected to this site for registry cleaner reviews in the coming days and you will be armed with the tools necessary to chose the right registry cleaner for you.

Speedup Slow Startup Times in Windows 7

2010-06-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

On a system with one- to two-year-old hardware, Windows 7 usually takes only 20 to 40 seconds to boot up. Even the performance-wise challenged netbooks rarely need more than a minute to be ready for work! Certainly, boot times vary significantly from one computer to another. This is nothing new. But if Windows 7 clients need way longer – and we’re talking way over one or two minutes – then you’re looking at a resource hog.

So what could be causing the problem?

1. You just installed a new driver, which hasn’t been WHQL-certified and delays the boot up process. It could be a simple driver bug!
2. You installed a piece of resource-intense software that initializes a process or a service during startup.
3. You updated existing software or Windows 7 itself. Yes, it’s not unheard of that some updates cause a significant boot delay.

Speed Up a Slow Windows Computer

2010-06-09T19:47:00.001-07:00

Are you constantly waiting for you computer to respond. Have you decided that it’s just time you go out and get a new computer? Before this, there is a easier and much cheaper option that can give you the same results.

Some people will tell you that in order to get back the performance on your computer you need to upgrade the memory in it. Sounds good, but unless you know what type of memory to get let alone know how to install it properly that bit of information won’t help you out much.

Spyware, malware and viruses can also slow down your systems performance. Even though these little nasty’s can sneak onto your computer at any time, most people are well aware of the mess they can cause on your computer. Most people these days have at least one if not more antivirus programs that protect them as long as they keep them up to date and run them on a regular schedule. but even these are no guarantee.

The problem with most slow computers is actually the registry file. Because the registry plays such an important role in the operation of a computer, keeping track of the location of every file and setting your computer has, it means that if some of those entries become corrupt from every day use that they can lead to serious issues when it comes to performance. Over time the problem can become so bad your PC will just crash on you with a blue screen error all the time.

This is why having a registry cleaner is so necessary. It’s not strange the first time you run the program to find thousands of errors in your registry. And even if you do clean them run the program again either later that day or the next day. There may be even more errors that have popped up that were either missed the first time or new errors that popped up.

Technique to remove HTTPS Tidserv Request

2010-06-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

Introduction about Tidserv Trojan

“HTTPS Tidserv Request” or “HTTPS Tidserv Request 2”is a mark which detects your antivirus. It indicates that your computer is infected with a Tidserv trojan. Tidserv (TDSS) trojan fix onto your computer through a vulnerabilities in an already installed applications (mostly in InternetExplorer, Java and Adobe Acrobat reader) or with the help of a rogue antispyware programs. This trojan is very dangerous and uses rootkit-specific techniques designed to hide the program presence in the system.

When installed, Tidserv trojan creates a hidden driver and hidden service to run automatically when Windows loads. While is running, the trojan can hijack Internet Explorer, redirect search results in Google, Yahoo, MSN to non related sites, block most of antivirus and antispyware programs from running, block an access to security websites, disable Windows Task Manager, Windows Security Center and Registry editor, and much more.

Steps to remove Tidserv Trojan

1. Download TDSSKiller by Kaspersky Antivirus Lab and unzip to your desktop.
2. Open TDSSKiller folder. Right click to tdsskiller and select rename. Type a new name (123myapp, for example). Press Enter. Double click the TDSSKiller icon to start scanning Windows registry for TDSS trojan.
3. When TDSSKiller will prompt you to press “Y”, type Y and press Enter. Your computer will be rebooted.
4. Download MalwareBytes Anti-malware (MBAM). Once downloaded, close all programs and windows on your computer.
5. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MalwareBytes Anti-malware onto your computer. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure a checkmark is placed next to “Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware” and Launch “Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware”. Then click Finish.
6. MalwareBytes Anti-malware will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
7. As MalwareBytes Anti-malware will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main menu.
8. Make sure the “Perform quick scan” option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Tidserv (TDSS) trojan. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient.
9. When the scan is finished a message box will appear that it has completed scanning successfully. Click OK. Now click “Show Results”. You will see a list of infected items similar as shown below.
10. Make sure all entries have a checkmark at their far left and click “Remove Selected” button to remove Tidserv (TDSS) trojan. MalwareBytes Anti-malware will now remove all of associated Tidserv (TDSS) trojan files and registry keys and add them to the programs’ quarantine. When MalwareBytes Anti-malware has finished removing the infection, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart.

After this Tidserv Trojan will be permanently remove from computer.

Rouge Antivirus imitates BitDefender

2010-05-27T00:23:00.001-07:00

BitDefender has recently found a new rogue antivirus software that was tricking users by installing it and posing as a BitDefender PC security product. Moreover the name wasd ByteDefender quite similar to BitDefender, this malicious software acts like a fully-fledged rogue antivirus with a twist.

Unlike other rogue antivirus applications, the ByteDefender sibling does not rely on the classic drive-by method used by most products of its kind, but rather allied on the popularity of the BitDefender products and their distinct visual identity to lure users into voluntarily downloading it. The website distributing it is located at hxxp://www.bytedefender.in (URL specifically invalidated to avoid accidental infection) and abusively built using the BitDefender layout. The domain name has been registered in Ukraine. Even the boxshots have been crafted in such a manner to trick the user into thinking that they are installing the genuine security product.
The infection scenario is simple, yet efficient: the user searching for a BitDefender software type genuine address and he/she might gets redirected to the malicious software’s webpage. As they have web page similar to webpage structure of original website, the user might download and install this rogue antivirus.
Once installed in the copmuter, this piece of scareware would start showing fake infection alerts in an attempt to pursue the user to purchase the “full version” and get rid of the mentioned fake threats.
Interesting enough, the payment processor for the ByteDefender Rogue antivirus is the trustworthy company Plimus, who has suspended sales on grounds of user abuse.

“Cyber-criminals have no boundaries when it comes to distributing and marketing their rogue computer security software. Sensational events, Trojanized applications or websites and watchfully forged –moreover they are useless – ‘security products’ are only a few of the multitude of methods to capitalize on unwary users”, said Catalin Cosoi, senior Researcher at BitDefender Company.

Google attack on fake antivirus software websites.

2010-05-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

Within last 13 months Google analysed nearly 250 million website and found that fake antivirus websites accounts for more than 15 percent of total malicious attack.

Cyber criminals are using more and more sophisticated tactics to trick unsuspecting PC users in to downloading and installing applications laced with malicious code, which, when activated, they gives hackers "back door" access to a computer and personal stuff within it. This allows criminals to use the machine to send spam emails, or to try and capture personal information and login details for online banking and email accounts.

Fake antivirus--false pop-up warnings designed to scare money out of computer users. "Once it is installed on the user system, it's difficult to uninstall, you can't run Windows updates anymore or install other antivirus software, and you must install the [operating] system," rending it unusable until it has been cleaned up.

More than half of the fake antivirus software - which predominantly targets MS Windows machines - was delivered via adverts, Google said. Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos, who has been involved in the studies, said that one of the key ways that hackers spread fake anti-virus was so-called black hat search engine optimisation techniques.

"They then create websites stuffed with content, which in many cases appears on the first page of search engine result pages (SERP)." Anyone clicking on the link, would be confronted with a pop-up with a link of fake antivirus program. Google uses tools to filter out booby-trapped websites, but the firm said that hackers were managing to avoid detection by moving between domains quickly.

Bitdefender AntiVirus 2009

2009-12-21T02:17:00.000-08:00

BitDefender Antivirus 2009 offers advanced proactive protection against viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and identity theft. It doesn’t slow down your PC. With this antivirus you can confidently download, share and access data on Internet.

Bitdefender antivirus 2009 requirements are given below:

• Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (32/64 bit) or higher
• 800 MHz or higher processor
• 256 MB of RAM Memory (512 MB recommended)
• 170 MB available hard disk space (200 recommended)
• Windows Vista (32/64 bit) and Windows Vista SP1
• 800 MHz or higher processor
• 512 MB of RAM Memory (1 GB recommended)
• 170 MB available hard disk space (200 recommended)

Why Bitdefender?

BitDefender is complete package of easy-to-use, highly-effective antivirus and antispyware program that you will want in your PC.

BitDefender got the “eBLOG Gold Award” as the top antivirus software for its consistent great performance in defending PC, ease of use and installation. BitDefender is truly effective and offers tremendous value without making a dent in your pocketbook. If you are seeking best performance and optimum protection at optimum price, we suggest BitDefender Antirvirus 2009. It easily and smartly removes viruses from your PC.

Remember: Don’t’ install two antivirus packages on your system at a same time. After a successful installation don’t forget to scan the entire PC.

Follow the given instructions to install this antivirus program:

Step 1. Download and Install Bitdefender antivirus trial version.
Step 2. Now open the patch and select Bitdefender Antivirus 2009.
Step 3. Click on Yes.
Step 4. Reboot your system.
Step 5. Now enjoy this program and protect your system against multiple threats.

Windows 7: 64 bit support

2009-10-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 7 with 64-bit version runs beautifully with 4GB of RAM, enabling you to manage tons of applications with zero slowdown. This new version of Windows 7 also makes your system more futureproof, allowing you to take your system to 8GB, 32GB or even a terabyte, before too long.64 bitHowever, hardware is the biggest issue. You cannot work with your 64-bit OS, if a gadget doesn’t have 64-bit drivers, as 32-bit drivers aren’t supported.

There are some software problems too. For example, sometimes Google’s Chrome may not operate efficiently with Windows 7 64-bit. Although Adobe Flash doesn’t run with 64-bit browsers, it can be operated with the regular 32-bit browser.

Using a 64 bit OS for a 64 bit processer can address far more than 4GB of memory, which is suitable for avid gamers, CAD, video editors and huge multi-taskers. While any 32 bit software will still be restricted to 4GB memory, a 64 bit CPU, OS and applications will take full advantage of the additional RAM.

However, if you possess a 64 bit capable CPU but use older hardware, then staying with a 32 bit version for the time being will be safer to ensure that you don’t require extra upgrades.

But if you have the latest hardware and drivers, it may be beneficial to step up to a 64 bit OS. For a user working regularly with 64 bit optimised resource hungry applications – like video editing, CAD and image packages – it would be especially advantageous to be able to work with more than 4GB of RAM along with the other improvements.64-bit computing will soon be a common standard, as all hardware from the last couple of years has been customized accordingly. However, there is still a strong case for some

users to stick with 32 bit Windows for the time being until a complete upgrade cycle has passed for the majority of users.
it's all about Windows 7 features .

Boot Windows 7 in just under 10 seconds

2009-10-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

Great success is achieved by Microsoft by reducing the boot timing for its latest operating system, Windows 7, to only 10 seconds.

This is amazing, considering the fact that the BIOS has to turn on everything in the system from the CPU to hard drive, before the

OS begins to load.

Windows 7 has achieved this feat of extremely low boot time by using a healthy hardware configuration. Moreover, most of the

hardware manufacturing firms are paying more attention on cutting the boot time.

For example the Lenovo Group Ltd is making some remarkable changes like:

* Helps to prevent the BIOS phase from the loading of driver.
* Fixing the drivers of on-board hardware components that were cumulatively causing massive delays.
* Avoiding the loading of unessential application being included in the Startup programs. Using msconfig to disable stuff that

runs on startup

Dell, Toshiba and HP are also on course to follow the same trend.

Windows 7 version works extremely good even in the case of multiple operating systems. If your hard disk has ample space then you

can create a partition and dual boot your system. When you will turn on your computer, it will ask you about the option of OS.

If you wish to improve the boot processing then Windows 7 offers you some ultimate tools as mentioned below:

* Defragmenter should be used frequently.
* Defragment your Windows page file and registry as well.
* Check your hard drive from the temporary files frequently.
* Load up Windows faster by using Startup Delayer a free program that will speed up the boot time of Windows by delaying the

startup of programs.
* MSCONFIG will help you keep a check on many of useless Startup programs.
* Use a program click memtest86 or Prime95 to check bad memories on your PC.
* Do check your BIOS version, if required update it.
* Run chkdisk to remove bad sectors in hard drive.

Test your Computer Securit

2009-08-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

Security concerns, including viruses, denial of service attacks, and spyware/malware, have made firewalls (both software and hardware) a critical part of having an internet connection today. Without testing it, how do you know that your firewall is doing its job? We will look at how to test your firewall.

Step 1 : If you have a firewall, hardware, software, or both, make sure that it is enabled.

Step 2 : Find a computer security test site. I use ShieldsUP! from grc.com and the QuickTest from PCFlank.com. Run the test and review the results.

Step 3 : The first results to review are the ports shielding or stealthing. This tests to see if the ports (different doors) to your computer's address are visible from the internet. Having them hidden, prevents your computer from being "found" by a computer or person that wants to take control of it.
If there are ports that are not hidden, but should be according to the test tool, then refer to the documentation for your hardware firewall (usually part of a router) or software firewall. Look for the section on port rules.
Add rules to hide the ports that should be, but aren't.

Step 4 : Test your new rules with the security test tool to make sure that the rules worked correctly and hid the ports. Also test to make sure that your internet connection still works correctly.

Step 5 : Another test run by these tools is to attempt to get information about your browser (e.g.- Internet Explorer or FireFox). If the test results show that you have a problem, refer to the documentation for your software firewall. Look for information on privacy.
Add or modify the rules to hide your browser information.

Step 6 : Again, retest with your new rules in place to ensure that they are working correctly and hiding your browser information. Also, make sure that you can still browse correctly.

Step 7 : Feel just a little bit safer when browsing the internet.

How can I remove adyieldmanager from my pc

2009-08-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

This is server based adware/spyware.

To remove ad.yieldmanager.com cookie with Internet Explorer 6, 5, 5.01, and 5.5 for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, follow the manual removal steps below:

1. Start Internet Explorer.

2. Go to Tools > Internet Options > General tab.

3. In the Temporary Internet Files, select Settings > View Files.

4. On the View, select Details.

5. Click the Internet Address column header, and search for the Internet addresses of the cookie file(s) below:

6. Right-click on the ad.yieldmanager.com cookie file, and then press Delete. If you are prompted to confirm that you wish to delete the ad.yieldmanager.com cookie file, click Yes. You can repeat this step for each cookie file you want to remove.

How to secure unsecured wireless network?

2009-08-12T01:20:00.000-07:00

Step 1 : Open “Network Connections” on your PC or laptop. If you do not have an Icon or specific file for network connections, it can be located under the “Control Panel” in the main menu. If you are connected to a network already it will show if it is an “unsecured wireless network” or “security-enabled wireless network.”

Step 2 : Find your default username and password for your router. Access your router by entering the default IP address of 192.168.0.1 (or a similar IP address - this number varies depending on the manufacturer) in your browser. If you are having difficulty accessing your wireless network or settings verify that your firewall or other Internet Security settings are not blocking your attempts to secure your network.

Step 3 : Log into your wireless router. Click the link for “Security” or similar link to access the security settings for your wireless network connection.

Step 4 : Set the authentication type to WPA. (WPA stands for Wireless Protection Access.)

Step 5 : Change the password or “Key” from the default setting to your personal password setting. This will prevent others from accessing your wireless router and its settings with the default password. Write down the password and keep it somewhere safe since you will not be using it often.

Step 6 : Turn the “Remote Management” setting to “Off.” This way changes can only be made to your wireless network connection by a computer already in the network. This makes it more difficult for hackers to access your wireless settings and the computers attached to your wireless network.

Step 7 : Click “Save” or “Apply” to save the changes you made to the settings. Close the Network Connections window.

Step 8 : Reopen the “Network Connections” window. Your connection should display as a “security-enabled wireless network” if your changes were saved successfully.

McAfee and Norton Antivirus

2009-07-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

McAfee and Norton are two Antivirus programs protect your computer against viruses. McAfee is one of the most famous fighter for the computer virus and is 5 euros cheaper than competitor Norton Antivirus. This article is about the two most Antivirus programs McAfee and Norton.

McAfee
What is McAfee?
Here are some steps that McAfee against viruses.

* Securing your computer against viruses, spyware and hackers, so you can surf safely on the Internet.
* Unsafe vermeiden websites with McAfee SiteAdvisor.
* Continuous updates free downloads so that the computer is equipped with the latest software.
* Standard features you can customize.

Security
The computer almost every day new software that it installs immediately. He searches the computer for viruses and blocks them so that they do not damage the computer can process. The computer is invisible on the Internet so that hackers can not be. Also, the system for so many days a system scan. By scanning all unnecessary files so your system is not full of stuff sitting. He removed the dangerous files automatically.

Site Advisor
McAfee Site Advisor is part of McAfee. It is free for download on the McAfee site. The SiteAdvisor site indicates whether a 'good' or 'bad' is. If a site is no viruses, etc., a green tick behind the site name to it. The site advisor is no antivirus, so you have your antivirus program is not discarded.

Free Scan
This program can be downloaded for free on the McAfee site. This program helps Antivirus smaller, sometimes almost impossible to find, virus to detect and remove. If the computer has been searched, a list of files containing such viruses.

Norton

Norton searches the computer for viruses. If he has found it immediately removed. All viruses come in via the Internet. Most e-mail or downloaded music. Limewire is an example of a free music download site where you as a user likely to have viruses. Viruses affect parts of programs in which files or even the whole program away. If these viruses are not addressed, it's likely that they jump to the next program to which to attack. For example, the whole computer crashing.
If Norton has the whole computer will be searched for viruses, check each file that the computer arrives. So keep your computer clean. If Norton for a while on your computer is it to spend so much time re-search all files for viruses.

Update
Once you've bought a Norton, it is not necessary for this each year. Each year you can download new updates so that the system cope with new types of viruses. Through the program on Internet Live Update, you can each year, the latest updates.

Remove
It is very difficult to remove Norton. You can not just simple un-install it. Here are some steps to NAV (Norton Anti Virus) removal.

* Remove first Norton via the normal way: via: Start-control panel software, select Norton and click remove.
* Click on A: Norton AV remover and then double-click Remove.exe.
* A window appears, choose no.
* There is still a window appears, select the version you are using and click Yes.
* There is still a window appears, choose Yes.
* There is still a window appears, choose Yes.
* Install the new version Anti Virus and it's done.

Make your computer faster and virus-free

2009-07-08T02:17:00.000-07:00

It is common that computers slow. There are many different causes and the solutions it can read.

Why computers slow?
If you have many emailt, download and simply surf the Internet you can get many files inside. Sometimes viruses, trojan horses, worms and spyware disguised as an innocent music or an attachment to an email. The viruses can themselves unnoticed into your computer and if your computer is always slower. Many people are not well prepared for viruses. There are many unnecessary files stored on your PC making it slower.

Remove your viruses
The first thing you should do is make your computer clean of viruses etc. I have a few good programs in a row put.

AVG Anti-Virus
AVG Anti-virus is one of the best free anti-virussen.Klik Here to download.
Click run and install the program. If you have started the program you see a screen with: congratulations! Press next, check for updates, the internet and then update. The latest update is installed.

Press next and Low Priority. Then press Scan computer! Your computer is now gescant. Wait until it has finished scanning, this can be a time. If it does AVG daily scan for viruses, so your computer remains virus-free.

Ad-Aware
Ad-Aware is a good program to spyware and malware. Click Here to download. Press again, and follow the steps to install it. When they ask for a code: use Free.

If the program is running, close all programs and press the right in the middle of the scan now and then Full Scan. When the scan is finished, then with your right mouse button on the white box and select: Select all objects, then press Delete.
Put at least 1 time per week a full scan.

Remove unnecessary software
Press start> control panel> software. View the list and press the software that you never used and do not need. Then click Remove or Change / Remove. If there is a setup of the program that you should uninstall or delete key. Do this for all programs you want to leave and then restart your PC.

Clean your private data of Firefox. It is just are cookies.
Do this 1 x per week.
For Firefox users:
* Go to Tools> Options> Privacy
* Click "Clear" and new window will open.
* Check all boxes in "the following information now clear:"
* Click on "Clear Private Data Now"

For Internet Explorer users:
* In IE Tools> Internet Options> General tab
* Click the browser history on "Delete" and a new window will open.
* Check the following: Delete Files, Delete Cookies and Delete History. Then click ok.

Disk Cleanup
Enter 1 time every two weeks from a disk cleanup. Your disk is army and your PC is faster.

* Go to My Computer> The disk where you store all your files (usually C or D)> properties.
* Press the button on disk cleanup. The computer will analyze what it can remove.
* Check the following components: Temporary Internet Files, Recycle Bin, Temporary files and cataloging files for indexing.
* Click OK and then Yes.

Viruses and free AVG, Anti-Virus Free

2009-07-03T02:57:00.000-07:00

Today there are more and more computer viruses that you'd rather not encounter on your computer. So here an article about what a virus is now and what you can do against. Of course you can buy expensive anti-virus software, but a free virus scanner like AVG Anti-Virus is also very safe.

What are viruses?
Very simply get a virus your entire computer by the war. It seems like you have nothing under control, the icons on your desktop can go jump back and forth or you get junk on anti-virus companies.

Worse still are the worms, also known as the Trojan horse called. These are small programs that unseen installed and after a few hours to a few days to activate Windows on your computer there may be.

Anti-virus programs

Of course you can protect yourself with known anti-virus programs. A very good program that is free to download via the Internet is AVG Anti-Virus Free. This program lets you download and install as follows on your computer;

1. Go to AVG Anti-Virus Free and download the file 'avg75free_446a965.exe,'
2. Then choose 'run' and wait until the file is downloaded,
3. Click 'run'. Now start the installation, the program is about 17 Mb,
4. If the program is installed you will see the Welcome screen, click here on 'next'
5. You will now see a License Agreement. Read this post and accept it,
6. Now go to the next screen, you can for a number of options that you just have to find themselves,
7. It may now be that you get the option to install AVG now, but if it is, this is already on the computer and there is another option, depending on your computer. Choose the option that suits you, in this case, that 'install' are
8. The program will now be launched and when it is ready you can 'finish' button. AVG is now installed,
9. Restart your computer if necessary, then start AVG also automatically.

AVG Anti-Virus use
AVG performs every day a full scan of your computer. This setting lets you change if you find this a bit redundant. AVG Anti-Virus starts off as your computer. You can also choose to have a scan to run while your computer is not on. These things can all change in the menu. Click on your start bar with your right mouse button on the AVG logo. Click on 'Launch AVG Test Center, "now brings you a menu where you can change everything.

What if the computer it infected?
If your computer is infected with a virus, you can go to an expensive expert, but you can also put the 'DIY' store. In forums on the Internet you can find useful tips here, you or even a computer and internet access from someone else needed .. Having problems? You can always still the expert to steps.

Fake Anti-Spyware & Anti-Virus Programs

2009-06-29T02:28:00.000-07:00

In the past you have almost only protect your computer from viruses and worms. Could just as easy ... there are now many more enemies that lurk on your computer to disrupt and damage. The most worrying is that anti-virus and anti-spyware programs also could be falsified. This rogue scareware true or are becoming a pest.

Fake Anti-Virus and Anti Spyware Programs
It is sometimes known by everyone that there is suddenly a pop-up advertising will appear. This is usually not so bad and can be a pop-up blocker to be resolved. But if more sites can be visited or your virus scanner does not and your computer indicating that Windows has found spyware is something wrong.

The message you get is usually whether you want to remove spyware now. Of course you want this (so you can surf through good) and you press' Ok '. Fantastic: a good program (for example, 2010 or XP Antivirus Micro Antivirus 2009) download and install it. The titles of these programs give a reliable impression, but appearances are deceiving here.

Removing spyware and viruses represents scam
The programs work well and just after they've run, you see indeed that many adware, malware and spyware are found. With the click of a button "delete" opens a new web page which asks you to pay to remove the spyware. Do absolutely not! This is almost certainly a fake anti-spyware program and payment is the spyware is not removed. Perhaps so, since they the customer in a subsequent scan again able to pay.

A typical example of fraud in practice this is so. There are probably tens of millions of computers infected by such rogue true or scareware. There are always people who believe in this report, which highlight this practice is so lucrative, more and more programs on the market with the most innocent names. That the following list before.

List of fake anti-Virus and Spyware programs:

* Advanced Anti-Virus
* Many false
* Many false
* Advanced Privacy Guard
* Advanced Privacy Suite
* Andromeda AntiVirus
* AntiMalware 2009
* Did Antimalware
* AntiMalware Suite
* AntiSpyControl
* AntiSpyware Pro XP
* Antispyware XP 2008
* Antivir64
* Antivirus 2010
* Antivirus Lab 2009
* Antivirus Protection
* AntivirusDoc
* Cleaner2009
* Content Eraser
* EAntivirusPro
* Internet Antivirus
* Micro Antivirus 2009
* MS Antivirus (2008)
* PC Virus Less
* PersonalAntiSpy
* Power Antivirus 2009

Bay Underground Malware on the Internet

2009-06-17T03:28:00.000-07:00

Malware, called all kinds of malware or causing troubles such as advertising software (adware), spyware (Trojan, spyware), type the code risk control and help control the computer remotely to the bad (the computer was brought into the system Zombie, botnet), type the code helps fraud (phishing) ... is becoming big danger. The Internet has more than half a million websites are showing Malware infection who surf the web.

One of the new weapon helps Malware is a rapidly developing social networks (social networks) such as MySpace to help Internet users can easily create websites for individuals as their blog. Social networking is a new concept appeared recently for the website only provided for the user environment to create personal blogs and connect with each other according to preference. Own social network protection is sure to create the blog can not be brought to Malware blog.

However, creating blogs can take on their path (link) to other sites with attractive introduction to deceive viewers. Just click this link to see the trap can order as it is the site contained Malware or provide free software with very useful but the shell peeled harmful Trojan is extremely dangerous .

According to the statistics of companies writing anti-spyware software Webroot, many sites on the personal social network like MySpace by creating a user with more information to different virtual trap John's web surfing. "Each like to see people under click always attractive, such as software, film and free hot cause you can not deny downloading your computer. Of course, gift with their product is free Trojan, spyware that the price people pay to surf the web for volatility is not your cheap little time.

Until this time, the specialists have Webroot's statistics list of sites containing 527,000 John Malware trap users, more than 100,000 pages over the same period last year. With the number of sites Malware much like the numbers the computer, as in most households, infected with one or more spyware in more than 30 spyware most popular today. Spyware is also quite common in business. Webroot has surveyed nearly 20,000 businesses in 71 countries and found a computer in the company also infected 19 different types of spyware.

Technical writing spyware is continuous improvement with the ability to automatically hide to avoid anti-spyware software to detect and destroy as well as record type keyboard (keylogger). Most recently, a Trojan called Zlob the use of dummy as software code resolution video update for the Microsoft. However, the link to download the program again this leads to a site that the hacker, a series of Malware is downloaded and installed to the computer's victims

Are all Antivirus softwares safe?

2009-06-03T04:02:00.000-07:00

According to a report from Microsoft, fake security software is growing on the Net. The number of vulnerabilities it is down from 2007, except for its own applications. Each semester, Microsoft, like other publishers, publishes its report on information security. It must be said that the U.S. firm has an advantage in weight to take the temperature of Risk: the collection of information is based on 450 million computers worldwide.

First observation fake security software have proliferated on the Internet. These applications exploit the fear of the Internet, usually by displaying messages alerting an infection. Once the antivirus installed, it will attempt to extort money from the user. These fake security tools can also steal personal data and information as well.

Win32/Renos virus totaled 4.4 million infections in the recently past time. Microsoft has detected malware and family Win32/Spyware Secure 260 000 computers between July and December 2008. This represents an increase of 87.4% in six months. Win32/Renos, another one of these programs gave rise to 4.4 million infections worldwide over the period (+ 66.6%). The sources of threats largest number of infections in the second half are the various Trojans. Trojans (various, downloaders and injectors) account for more than 50% of infections.

The situations vary significantly between different countries of world. In Brazil, the threat most common (greater than 50%) consists of programs sniffer passwords and monitoring tools. In Korea, the worms that cause the most infections (28%). The Trojans (all categories) remain the most serious threat. Another finding of the report Microsoft application vulnerabilities continue to pose a major risk to security, even though the numbers tend to decrease. Between 2007 and 2008, the total number of vulnerabilities of high index (52% of all faults) fell by 16% compared to 2007.

This downward trend in the number of vulnerabilities appears forget Microsoft applications. Between the first and second half of 2008, the publisher notes an increase of 67.2% of faults for its products (42 security bulletins about vulnerabilities 97). From 2007 to 2008 it rose by 16.8% with a total of 78 security bulletins encompassing 155 vulnerabilities. On the Operating System, Microsoft said in its report noted a rate of infection correlated with the length of the OS. Plus an operating system is old and the more successful attacks increases. The infection rate for Windows Vista is much lower than its predecessor, Windows XP, regardless of the configuration; specifies the document. The rate of infection of Windows Vista SP1 is for example 60.6% lower than Windows XP SP3. A fact that Microsoft checks on both client OS on servers.

Virus help

2009-05-28T06:37:00.001-07:00

Now-a-days millions of viruses, Spyware, Woms, Malware etc. present, and new originating day-by-day continuously. Some kind of viruses type are:

Viruses - A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other programs).
E-mail viruses - An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to e-mail messages, and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the victim's e-mail address book. Some e-mail viruses don't even require a double-click -- they launch when you view the infected message in the preview pane of your e-mail software.

Trojan horses - A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it (it may erase your hard disk). Trojan horses have no way to replicate automatically.

Worms - A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well.

Symptoms of virus infection on your computer:

> Programs take longer to load. Memory-intensive operations take a lot of time to start.

> A change in dates against the filenames in the directory. When the virus modifies a file the operating system changes the date stamp.

> Increased use of disk space and growth in file size-the virus attaches itself to many files.

> Strange characters appear in the directory listing of filenames.

> Strange graphic displays such as falling letters or a bouncing ball appear on screen.

> Abnormal write-protect errors. The virus trying to write to a protected disk.

> Programs may hang the computer or not work at all.

> Junk characters overwrite text in document or data files.

Best way to recovery your all virus infection is Install good antivius software and Scan your whole computer with it. Some good Antivirus are:

> Notron
> Macfee
> AVG
> BitDefender
> F-secure
> Trend Micro

iYogi Acquires Clean Machine Inc.

2009-05-14T02:12:00.000-07:00

Larry Gordon, Founder of Clean Machine appointed as President Global Channel Sales at iYogi

New York, NY, May 11th, 2009 : iYogi, a global direct to consumer and small business remote technical support provider, today announced it’s acquisition of Clean Machine Inc, a provider of remotely administered PC security and performance management services. Clean Machine will operate as a separate brand under the iYogi services umbrella along with the recently lunched Support Dock (www.supportdock.com) and its comprehensive range of 24/7 technical support services for computers, printers, MP3 players, digital camera, routers, servers and more than 100 software applications. Larry Gordon, Founder of Clean Machine is appointed as the President of Global Channel Sales for iYogi.

iYogi will integrate technology and innovation that Clean Machine Inc. has developed for delivering an enhanced service experience by proactively managing the health and security for PC's and Apple Computers. This acquisition also broadens iYogi's access to key markets through Clean Machine's existing partnerships. Larry Gordon's past experience and successful track record will accelerate iYogi's expansion through his focus on global alliances.
Commenting on the acquisition of Clean Machine Inc., Uday Challu, CEO & Co-founder of iYogi, said,

"This acquisition will help iYogi to enhance our customer experience and extend our market reach to the millions of consumers that are challenged by the increasingly complex technology environment. Clean Machine's proactive maintenance and management of PCs in home and small business environment will be our launch platform for building the next generation of managed services for consumers."

"We are delighted to have Larry spearheading partnerships and global alliances for iYogi. His incredible experience in marketing, sales and building global alliances will help forge partnerships with retailers, multiple service operators, software publishers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and other such companies that are at the frontlines for managing tech support issues for consumers and small businesses",

added Challu.

With more than 20 years of experience, Larry Gordon has played a variety of strategic roles in marketing, sales and building alliances. Larry was the Executive Vice President at Capgemini and Kanbay. He was also VP of Global Marketing for Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), a leader in global IT services and Director of Marketing for New York based Information Builders.

"I am excited to join a company that shares a common mission to Clean Machine in creating a global brand for delivering the best technical support to consumers and small businesses. We also share a common approach of utilizing highly skilled talent with leading edge tools, thereby delivering services at incredible price-points, with high margins for our partners",

said Larry Gordon, the newly appointed President of Global Channel Sales at iYogi.

ABOUT IYOGI

Headquartered in Gurgaon, India with offices in New York, USA, iYogi provides personalized computer support for consumers and small businesses in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. IYogi's 24/7 phone and remote technical assistance, spans across a comprehensive range of technologies we use every day from a wide range of vendors. Utilizing its proprietary technology iMantra , and highly qualified technicians, iYogi delivers amongst the highest benchmarks for resolution and customer satisfaction. iYogi is privately held and funded by SAP Ventures, Canaan Partners, and SVB India Capital Partners. iYogi was recently awarded the Red Herring Global 100 Award, recognizing it as one of the 100 most innovative private companies driving the future of technology. For more information on iYogi and a detailed list of technologies supported, visit: www.iyogi.net.

ABOUT CLEAN MACHINE

Clean Machine Inc. is a NJ-based and incorporated company that helps consumers and small business owners easily manage and protect their computing environments safely and cost effectively. The company is has a unique, powerful and inexpensive PC concierge service. Specifically, each customer is assigned a highly-trained tech concierge who remotely examines their computer system on a scheduled and very secure basis. The PC concierge will immediately fix software-based problems and prevent new threats to the customer's computing environment including offensive pop-ups, browser redirects and slow performance, and then provides a detailed report. Clean Machine's proprietary Radar(TM) technology (Remote Access Detection Audit and Repair) allows its expert technicians to remotely resolve any problems, eliminating the need for customers to go through the frustrating process of speaking with a tech support expert, and still having to do the work themselves. In other words, the Clean Machine PC concierges do it all. For more information on Clean Machine please visit www.pccleanmachine.com.

iYogi Announces Launch of Monitoring and Performance Tool For SMBs

2008-08-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

iYogi – a leading provider of technical support services with horizons in the US, UK, Canada and Australia – today announced the launch of its exclusive server monitoring tools for small businesses. The new product offers integrated technology solutions to surmount the users’ unique IT support requirements thereby enabling them to derive and share information, data, enable network performance analysis, and security trends critical to plan and mana ge their set of servers – 24x7.

Uday Challu, iYogi’s CEO commented, “Holding a significant niche for itself in the computer support industry, iYogi has always known to be on the forefront of adapting breakthrough technology to exceed customer service expectations. This time we have developed a tool offering value-add functionality which will help small business customers maximize the business outcomes of IT.”

iYogi’s monitoring tool provides real time observation and monitoring solutions to ensure more robust and reliable IT support and infrastructure for small buinesses. Small Business owners also get a comprehensive assesment of their IT environment to meet technology needs with the scalability for future growth and create preventative measures based on quick analysis of network device alerts, pre-failure indicators, performance benchmark and security issues.

The new Monitoring and performance tool will provide small business with the opportunity to test all technical and non-technical aspects of their servers and help them to strengthen overall IT infrastructure. The array of services will include: Patch Management, Security Auditing, Site Inventory, Real Time Alerting Script Based Management, and Rights Management Services for all critical server issues.

“Irrespective of the business being small or large, when the consumer chooses iYogi, he leverages the potential of an elite taskforce of Microsoft Certified System Engineers and Cisco Certified Network Associates, ready to service their critical assets, using the most advanced network asset tracking and Performance monitoring”, adds Challu.

Another factor where the Company aims to distinguish itself from its competitors is product pricing. Embracing the concept of service quality, iYogi offers competitively priced technical support services at no-haggle, low prices.

As for its small business support, the Company has integrated its exclusive Monitoring and Alerting Services under one price umbrella of just $480 annually. per server i.e. $49.99 per month. The price is certainly hard to find anywhere else.

For more information on iYogi Small Business Support, visit http://www.iyogibusiness.com/

Contact Details:
Company Name: iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd
Address: iYogi Inc.
12 Desbrosses Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013
Toll Free no:1-800-237-3901
Work Number: 1-212-229-0901
Fax Number: 1-888-867-2715
E-Mail: awadhesh.singh@iyogi.net

iYogi Secures $9.5M in Series B Funding Led by SAP Ventures, With Follow-on Investment from Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners

2008-07-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

iYogi Secures $9.5M in Series B Funding Led by SAP Ventures, With Follow-on Investment from Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners
iYogi, a Direct-to-Consumer and Small Business Technical Support Provider, Paves the Way for Personal Offshoring to Become India’s Next Success Story

New York, 24 July, 2008: Personal Offshoring, which is driving the next wave of India’s outsourcing success story, got a huge boost today when iYogi - a remote technical support provider from India - raised $ 9.5 million in Series B financing from SAP Ventures, a division of SAP AG, Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners, a venture fund affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank.

iYogi (www.iyogi.net) delivers technical support services directly to consumers and small businesses and is the first, global, technical support brand based out of India. The company offers its customers an unlimited, annual service subscription for $119.99 per desktop that includes support for a wide range of technologies, including PC hardware Microsoft Windows operating system, software applications, peripherals and multifunctional devices.

“Personal Offshoring has created new investment opportunities in India with incredible growth potential,” said Doug Higgins, partner at SAP Ventures. “It is very exciting to see companies like iYogi challenging the traditional enterprise-focused offshore-service delivery model by creating a consumer-focused, direct-to-customer personal offshore model. iYogi is one of the fastest-growing companies in this market segment, and we look forward to working with them to create India’s next success story.”

“Our focus on the customer experience has helped us achieve a 93 percent satisfaction rate across more than 50,000 customers,” said Uday Challu, CEO of iYogi. “We are delighted to have the support of three terrific investors as we increase our market share and continue to provide the best technical support experience possible for our customers.”

iYogi will use the funds to fuel its expansion into 12 new regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, and to increase its delivery of new services including PC recovery, anti-virus/spyware, data back-up and PC optimization.

“As consumer technologies grow in sophistication, consumers will be seeking the kind of home IT support services – including remote services offered by companies such as iYogi – to help them solve their most complex problems,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst, Parks Associates. “In primary research, we found more than one-third of consumers are willing to pay for competent and professional remote support services, and 60% express a strong interest in software solutions – what we refer to as ‘PC Dashboards’ – that automate many basic PC performance enhancement and troubleshooting features, solving many PC-related problems before they even are noticed by end-users.”

iYogi had previously raised $3.1 million in Series A financing from Canaan Partners and SVB in April of last year. “iYogi is one of the most promising investments for Canaan Partners,” said Alok Mittal, managing director of India at Canaan Partners. “Third-party, vendor-independent technical support is an exciting new service category, witnessing explosive growth. Customers are looking beyond the traditional vendor-provided support to remote channels for better problem resolution, faster service, and greater overall satisfaction. iYogi has created an incredible value proposition and price offering for its customers that is hard to beat.”

”Several next generation outsourcing companies from India are delivering a range of personal offshoring services for individuals and small businesses in the U.S. including online tutoring, tax preparation, remote executive assistance and research services,” said Suresh Shanmugham, managing director of SVB India Capital Partners, a venture fund affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank. “iYogi has leveraged the technical skills available in India along with process expertise to scale as a global technical support provider for millions faced with increasingly complex technology”.

About SAP Ventures
SAP Ventures invests in innovative and disruptive software and services companies globally. We pursue opportunities across all stages for outstanding financial return. Our goal is to bring substantial benefit to all parties by facilitating interaction between portfolio companies and SAP and its ecosystem of customers and partners. SAP Ventures has a successful track record of building industry-leading companies by partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and top-tier venture capital firms since 1996. For more information, visit www.sapventures.com.

About Canaan Partners

Canaan Partners is a global venture capital firm specializing in early-stage information technology and life sciences companies. Founded in 1987, Canaan Partners has $2.4 billion capital under management and has invested in more than 240 companies, completed 63 mergers and acquisitions, and brought over 50 companies public. The firm catalyzes the development of innovative mobile, Internet, CleanTech, networking, semiconductor, enterprise software and services, biotechnology and medical technologies to build next-generation market leaders. Canaan was an early investor in Acme Packet (APKT), Aperto Networks, BharatMatrimony.com, Blurb, DoubleClick (DCLK), ID Analytics, Match.com and SuccessFactors, along with dozens of other market-leading companies. Canaan is headquartered in Menlo Park, California and also has offices in Connecticut, India and Israel. For more information visit: www.canaan.com.

SVB India Capital Partners Fund and Silicon Valley Bank

SVB India Capital Partners Fund is a $54 million equity fund that is focused on Indian companies and co-invests across industries and stages with top-tier venture capital firms. Silicon Valley Bank is the premier commercial bank for emerging, growth and mature companies in the technology, life science, private equity and premium wine industries. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., the company serves clients around the world through 27 U.S. offices and five international operations. Silicon Valley Bank is a member of global financial services firm SVB Financial Group, with SVB Analytics, SVB Capital, SVB Global and SVB Private Client Services. More information on the company can be found at www.svb.com.

About iYogi

iYogi is the first direct-to-consumer and small business technical support service from India. Providing an annual unlimited subscription to technical support for $119.99 per year, iYogi now boasts more than 50,000 customers. The company employs 450 professionals servicing customers in the U.S., U.K., Canada fast expanding to 12 new geographies across the globe. iYogi’s resolution rate of 87 percent and customer satisfaction rate of 93 percent are amongst the highest published benchmarks in the industry. For further information, please visit www.iyogi.net.

SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. iYogi shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Contact:

Company Name:
iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd

Address:
iYogi Inc.
12 Desbrosses Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013

Toll Free no: 1-800-237-3901

Work Number: 1-212-229-0901

F ax Number: 1-888-867-2715

It's not Online Vista Tech Services: Windows Server 2008 gets nod from IT

2008-07-01T02:48:00.000-07:00

It may look like Windows Vista. It shares the same code base as Vista. It even rolls in Vista's first Service Pack. But in terms of customer adoption plans, Windows Server 2008 is no Vista.

A new Computerworld survey shows that 63% of the 403 respondents plan to adopt Microsoft's new server operating system. This contrasts with the intention of some IT organizations to skip Vista entirely and move directly to Windows 7 on the desktop. According to an of 372 IT professionals conducted by Sanford C. Bernstein in May, companies expect just 26% of their PCs to be running Vista by the beginning of 2011, down from an estimate of nearly 68% of computers based on a similar survey a year ago.
"I haven't seen any shadow of Vista being cast over Windows Server 2008," says John Enck, analyst at Gartner Inc. Most industry watchers, in fact, agree that deployment is not a matter of if, but when and where.

IT executives say that for the most part, Windows Server 2008's many new features won't compel them to change their normal refresh schedules to adopt it right away. "It's just an evolutionary step from Server 2003," says Rick Redman, senior IT analyst for the city of Amarillo, Texas.

Jim Thomas, director of IT operations at window manufacturer Pella Corp. in Pella, Iowa, says Microsoft's new virtualization hypervisor, is interesting. But other than that, he says, there's "not a whole lot" that he finds compelling. And Hyper-V is and immature to warrant rushing ahead to convert his 425 Windows servers, he adds.
Overall, however, IT decision-makers give the operating system a qualified thumbs up and plan to move to it as part of the normal server refresh cycle, which typically ranges from three to five years. Some customers, for instance, phase in new servers by replacing one-third of their machines each year; others replace all of their servers at once.

"We're coming at it much more from a normal rollout of an operating system," says Bob Yale, IT principal at The Vanguard Group Inc. in Valley Forge, Pa. Vanguard has about 1,200 Windows servers, most of which are running Windows Server 2003.

Overall, 59% of Computerworld 's survey respondents who said they plan to adopt Windows Server 2008 (WS '08) expect to get started within the next 12 months. More than half -- 55% -- expect to complete the transition within two years. The highest level of interest came from respondents at midsize organizations with 100 to 1,000 employees; 69% of them said they expect to get started within the next 12 months.

Selective service
In most cases, the early adopters are deploying WS '08 selectively in a bid to leverage specific new features in the operating system. While more than half of respondents in our survey said they will follow the usual upgrade schedule, about one in four said they will accelerate adoption for some applications. One in three respondents said that online vista tech services their organizations have a business need for a new feature in WS '08.

Mike Moore, IT principal at Vanguard, says his company has implemented a few WS '08 machines where the new features filled a business need. For instance, Vanguard has servers in place that leverage WS '08's new (NAP) features. "We'd like to extend that further with the more-granular policy servers that Windows Server 2008 provides," he says. But he doesn't expect to get serious about WS '08 rollouts until sometime in 2009.

Neither does the city of Amarillo's Redman, who says he'd like to see a base of documentation and best practices before moving forward. "The biggest problem is getting useful technical articles out of Microsoft that don't have a lot of marketing hype," he says.

But Ward Ralston, senior technical product manager for Windows Server 2008, argues that plenty of resources exist today. He points to the and to the as examples.
Redman expects to begin migrating to WS '08 within a year. For now, however, he'll stick with Server 2003 when the need for new servers arises. While it's not hard to install the new operating system, it's quite a bit of work to load the fixes and patches and deal with technical support, he says. "If this one is working, why break it? We have 1,500 other things to do," he notes.

Early adopter Pacific Coast Cos. in Cordova, Calif., upgraded three server-based applications to WS '08 while participating in Microsoft's beta program. The applications, which include an estimator, a design application and a quality-control application, are all hosted using Terminal Services and have been stable. Because they're critical, however, administrators perform a preventive reboot every month, just to be safe, says enterprise architect Matt Okuma. But he'd like to see the operating system season a bit before he migrates other applications. "Would I run an SAP portal on Server 2008 right now? Probably not," he says.

Like Vanguard, Pacific Coast plans to selectively deploy WS '08 as a replacement for third-party products. "We don't want a fancy environment for network access protection. We just want to know when someone unauthorized has accessed our network," Okuma says.
His organization has also deployed Windows Server 2008's Terminal Services, with its ability to publish applications, as a replacement for his Citrix environment, which was hosted by a third party. The new setup saves on licensing and maintenance costs and performs better. "We've offloaded the cost and maintenance of Citrix. That's why we went to Server 2008," Okuma says. It was, he adds, a "no-brainer."

Broader deployments at Pacific Coast will likely start with Active Directory servers, but that's at least a year away. "We'll stick with Server 2003 in the interim," Okuma says.

Virtual possibilities
is probably the most talked about new feature in Server 2008. But with the hypervisor and management tools just emerging from beta, most organizations don't take Hyper-V seriously -- yet. "It's on our watch list, but not on the critical path to our virtualization strategy by any means," says Vanguard's Yale.
"Down the road, I think Microsoft will crush VMware, but they're far behind VMware at this point," says Okuma. He currently has 150 Windows servers, most of which are running virtualized Windows Server 2003 sessions on VMware products. Many of those virtual servers are "Tier 0" virtual machines, where server recovery would be time-consuming. "I would not move them to Hyper-V at this point," Okuma says.

"In 12 to 18 months, [Microsoft] will give VMware a run for their money," says Gartner's Enck. He thinks Microsoft will push Hyper-V into the enterprise through aggressive licensing practices. "It is very good at using the as a tool to shift the base," he says.
VMware also faces a competitive challenge from Microsoft for IT organizations that use more than one hypervisor. The of System Center Virtual Machine Manager, which offers some of the same tools found in VMware's VirtualCenter, will support not only Hyper-V but VMware ESX hypervisors as well when it's released later this year. And support for Xen is planned, according to Microsoft. VMware supports only its own hypervisor.
Right now, management tools are the No. 1 issue when it comes to virtualization, according to IDC. Microsoft's offering is not nearly as complete as VMware's, says Amarillo's Redman. But as it matures and the number of virtual machines under management continues to grow, System Center Virtual Machine Manager's flexibility will be increasingly attractive.

For now, however, most large companies are already committed to VMware. While 62% of large-company respondents in the Computerworld survey said they were using VMware for virtualization, nearly half (45%) of small companies and 29% of midsize companies said they weren't using virtualization at all yet. Gartner estimates that the installed base for virtualization as a percentage of all servers in use is still somewhere around 10%. That leaves plenty of room for Microsoft to move in.

"We think Microsoft will get big chunks of the market" and push out competitors, Enck says, leaving the market with two dominant players: VMware and Microsoft.

Scott Zimmerman, CIO at CenterPoint Properties in Oakbrook, Ill., is using VMware to host six of the real estate development and management company's 25 Windows servers. Zimmerman says he's very interested possibly using Hyper-V. "Is it a viable substitute? We'll want to find out," he says.

The city of Amarillo, with 100 to 150 Windows servers, is just starting to look at virtualization, Redman says. He's interested in Hyper-V but wants to see a broad community of support surrounding it before he'll consider deployment. "With VMware, a lot of people can help," he says.

Chad Mawson, IT manager at law firm Woods & Aitken LLP in Lincoln, Neb. agrees. He says he's seen "bits and pieces" of information on Microsoft's but notes that "there doesn't seem to be any real community base."
Overcoming VMware's entrenched position and customer loyalty won't be easy. "We're probably going to stick with VMware unless there's a huge price differential," Mawson says, noting that his ESX virtual machines are "incredibly stable." VMware isn't cheap, but that doesn't keep him up at night. "We get a good value for our money," he says.

Better living through Active Directory
and group policy are another area where users say even incremental improvements are welcome. Overall, however, the improvements in Active Directory, such as the new read-only domain controller and improved logging for change events, are minimal, says Gartner's Enck. More important improvements, including better integration with Lightweight Directory Services or non-Windows Kerberos implementations, aren't there yet.
Microsoft's Ralston counters that WS '08 includes more than 1,800 group policy settings that used to require the creation of custom scripts. "We closed the loop on all of those group policy features that were missing," he says. Microsoft also rolled in tools from its Desktop Standard acquisition, now called Group Policy Preferences, to automate the creation of group policies.

Woods & Aitken deployed a single instance of WS '08 for an Active Directory domain controller in a remote office that needed a new server. Mawson says the system is working fine, but he acknowledges that the deployment was a gamble. "It's more of a test in active use," he says. The enhanced group-policy management features are a step up, and Mawson intends to take full advantage of those features. He'll begin moving to WS '08 immediately but will only migrate as servers come up for their regular replacement, he says.

found the new Active Directory features sufficient to upgrade some servers. "The improvements in the Active Directory services [and] fine-grained password policies are really compelling," says Michael Lebiedzinski, director of infrastructure for the company s Global Wealth Platform. "In the past, different password policies were a driver to separate domains," he says. While the ability to fine-tune password policies drove the firm's adoption of WS '08, enabling domain consolidation was a secondary benefit, he says.
Others say they like the improvements but are in no rush to upgrade servers. "We've had talks about upgrading our Active Directory, but what do we actually gain from it? The risk is higher to go to 2008 than to just stay with 2003 at this point," Okuma says.

Stripping down to the core
Server 2008 offers 19 role-based installations that strip down the operating system to only the components needed to perform a given function, such as DNS. "We removed everything that wasn't needed for those roles. No .Net Framework, no Media Player, not even a GUI," says Microsoft's Ralston.

Redman thinks that the Server Core roles such as Active Directory and DNS server configurations will be particularly useful for remote sites. "A stripped-down operating system has less of a footprint for viruses, etc.," he says. Still, he's not going to put them in ahead of the normal refresh cycle.

Some of the roles fall in areas where Linux has been a popular alternative, but Gartner's Enck doesn't think WS '08 is a Linux-killer. Server Core is limited to a few specific roles, making it less flexible than Linux, he says. And while Server Core versions are easier to administer and are more secure than full-blown Windows Server installations because of the smaller footprint, there's no clear cost benefit to moving off of Linux. However, Server Core could blunt further advances by Linux into the enterprise for those role-based services it does support, he says.
Internet Information Server
, part of WS '08, offers more security features. Like the rest of the operating system, IIS has been componentized. There are more than 40 different pieces that can be installed to build a Web server, says Ralston. IIS 7 includes many security improvements, he adds. For example, a remote procedure call can't write to the registry or file system anymore because the security token for the account it runs under no longer has those privileges baked in.
IIS 7 is the most interesting part of Server 2008 for Zimmerman at CenterPoint Properties. "All of our applications are Web-based, so we like to keep current," he says. He points to improvements in streaming-media capabilities and in how IIS interacts with Active Server Pages, as well as the ease with which WS '08 can propagate configuration updates to Web server farms, as compelling reasons to upgrade.

It's not, however, compelling enough to make an IIS migration a top priority. "We don't have the time and project plan to focus on Windows Server 2008 right now," Zimmerman says. For now, he will continue to deploy Windows Server 2003 as needed and gradually begin upgrading later this year, starting with noncritical servers, he says.

SP2: The new SP1
While it's typical for organizations to wait for the first service pack before deploying a new operating system from Microsoft, in Computerworld 's survey, just over a third of respondents said they'd wait for the next service pack before deploying WS '08. Small companies were the most cautious.

One reason may be the perception that WS '08 has already had its first service pack, since Microsoft rolled up Vista's SP1 into the initial release of the product. Indeed, Microsoft has announced that the first true service pack for WS '08 will be labeled "SP2."

But while Vista and WS '08 do share a common code base, the server OS is far more modular and has many features that aren't part of Vista. At best, Vista SP1 was a partial service pack for WS '08. "SP2 is the old SP1," says Vanguard's Moore. "I'm not convinced that they've fixed all of the quality issues. We'll wait until SP2." Vanguard will begin a gradual rollout only when SP2 finally ships, he says.

Pacific Coast's Okuma is also cautious. "Our organization will definitely wait" for SP2, he says.

But that's not stopping Mawson at Woods & Aitken. SP1 "was already integrated into Server 2008, so that didn't play into the decision for us," he says, adding that he has seen no crashes so far with his test server.

Zimmerman currently has WS '08 running on a test machine. "We like it," he says but notes that he'll wait for the next service pack. "We kind of hang out until [SP2 ships], unless there's some overwhelming argument that it's stable," he adds.

"Sometime after SP2 comes out, we will start to look at rolling through a refresh," says Moore. He expects to start sometime next year. The rollout will require six months of planning and 12 to 18 months to complete.

Perhaps the biggest reason why SP2 doesn't matter is that the update is likely to arrive before many organizations can initiate major deployments. Redman says SP2 is important but not a concern on his planning horizon: "By the time we get around to [deploying Windows Server], there usually is [a service pack]." The real bottleneck, he says, is evaluation and planning time. "It could take us six months to a year to finish looking at the features, play with them and see what it will buy us," he says.

Top-slicing the Beeb: Clueless execs get busy

2008-06-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

Some quangos, like jellyfish, seem to be able to reproduce asexually. It's what they live to do. What this means is that without any contact, parthenogenesis occurs and they simply spawn off a little version of themselves, which may grow as large as its parent. Britain's uber-regulator Ofcom, I learned this week, definitely falls into this class. I just hadn't realised how badly it longs to plop out lots of baby Ofcoms.

Ofcom recently proposed that the BBC should share the licence fee with commercial rivals. But with one exception, none of the commercial rivals actually want this to happen - which leaves Ofcom keenest of all on the idea.

At the Westminster Media Forum debate on Wednesday, executives from the top of British TV management discussed the regulator's review into Public Service Broadcasting, in which "top-slicing" the licence fee is The Big Idea. As we discussed here, Ofcom gets itself into terrible difficulties trying to define the subject. It can't decide what "Broadcasting" is in the Noo-Media era, nor what "Public Service" is, either. This culminates in some very strange conclusions, such as lauding Symantec's Anti- Virus help page as a very modern example of Public Service Broadcasting.

Amongst other things I also learned is how this purportedly "blue sky consultation" contrives to leave most of the interesting options out of the debate. Which isn't surprising when you see how few people there are at top of the public service TV business - they all simply swap jobs every few years - and how almost all of the Professorial "independent experts" are really just part of the furniture. Shafts of insight were as rare as rude words in church. But more of that in a moment. As for top-slicing, where do they stand?
Take your positions

Naturally the BBC regards Ofcom's review as an attack, or "pickpocketing". In a speech on Tuesday, BBC chairman Sir Michael Lyons said the licence fee is "not a back pocket for government or regulators or anyone else for that matter. It is not a spare pot of cash, a contingency fund, to be raided every time there is a cause, however worthy, with a hole in its balance sheet and a media flag attached."

In other words, it's the Ark of the Covenant, and the BBC alone is trusted with the sacred duty to spend it. That's not so surprising - what is rather startling is that neither ITV nor Five want a slice of your money.

"We're not asking for money, we're asking for freedom," said ITV's director of strategy Carolyn Fairbairn. She agreed that the old model no longer worked, and that a multi-channel world meant only a fraction of revenue - around ten per cent - was being invested in programming by the newer channels. Magnus Brooke, ITV's directory of regulatory affairs, added that ITV would be tied by bureaucracy and compromised by public money.

Five echoed this theme, with its regulation exec Martin Stott chastising "an experiment in intervention that may or may not succeed". He also criticised the lack of accountability of a licence fee diffused between commercial broadcasters, and thought that by the time the cost of the additional bureaucrats had been totted up there wouldn't be a great deal of extra money for programmes. So you might as well give the money to the BBC.

BSkyB, which receives no public subsidy and has no public service broadcasting obligations, also thought it was a daft idea. There wasn't really a problem with a dearth of material, what with shows like Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, said Sky's director of corporate affairs Graham McWilliam. Sky's subscription highbrow arts channel was a good example of the market meeting the demand, he added. None of Ofcom's four proposed options involved less regulation, McWilliam pointed out - they all involved more. Jellyfish syndrome, again.

Naturally Channel 4's chief executive Andy Duncan disagreed. Duncan's main problem was not looking too chuffed at the suggestion of top-slicing, since Channel 4 is the biggest beneficiary.

His argument was primarily economic - the TV advertising market is shrinking, and C4 is great value, since it doesn't have to pay a dividend to shareholders. (ITV also points out the looming crisis in ad spend, but would prefer to have the public service obligations lifted so it can compete with Sky, rather than get a cash hand-out.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/15/westminster_forum_bbc/

online computer support

2008-06-02T03:55:00.000-07:00

Paper isn't waterproof. Your house title, insurance information, Social Security card and wedding photos could be ruined in a hurricane, and so could your computer and the data stored there.

So when preparing for a hurricane, it is wise to both safeguard the original versions of your vital documents and to make sure you have your most important data backed up.

Fortunately, the cost of scanning and storing information is dropping all the time, and it is easy to create digital copies of your photos and documents and to find a safe home for them.

Some public libraries, including the Palm View branch library in McAllen, will help you scan your documents for free. But if you're less tech-savvy or short on time, stores like Fed-Ex Kinko's and McAllen's Copyzone offer scanning services. Kinko's will burn a CD with 100 of your old snapshots for around $10, while Copyzone charges $0.49 to scan a color document and $1 to burn it to a CD.

Once you have digital copies of your information, it is best to store a set where it can be accessed easily, no matter where you end up.

The simplest method is e-mailing documents and information to yourself. High-storage free e-mail systems like Google's Gmail and Microsoft's Hotmail will save these e-mails and allow you to retrieve your information from any computer hooked up to the Internet.

In order to back up your larger files, like digital photos and music, there are a host of online computer support back-up and storage centers, some free, some of which charge a monthly fee. For example, Carbonite.com will automatically take your computer's hard drive and regularly back up files for around $50 per year. Sites like AllMyData.com will allow you to store 1 gigabyte of the most important files in an individual account for free.

Of course, the easiest way to take your digital information with you is to burn files to a CD or DVD and put them in a plastic bag with your passport, checkbook and other vital information, ready to be grabbed on your way to the car if you have to evacuate.

http://www.foxriverantiques.com

source :http://www.themonitor.com/news/information_12559___article.html/files_documents.html

How to Clean Spyware from Your Computer

2008-05-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

Spyware is computer software that gets installed secretly on personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's contact with the computer, without the user's consent.
Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habit, sites that have been visited. Spyware can even change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and loss of Internet or other programs.

To keep you computer working finely it is necessary to remove spyware. For this you need help of a spyware remover program. There are plenty of anti-spyware software available as it has become a blooming industry. You need to keep a good firewall in place as well as email virus help protection. But these two ways are not sufficient and any time these malicious viruses can get into your computer.

Anti-spyware programs can combat spyware in two ways:
• They can provide real time protection against the installation of spyware software on your computer
• Anti-spyware software programs can be used solely for detection and removal of spyware software that has already been installed onto your computer.

Some examples of such spyware removing programs are:
• Norton Internet Security
• Microsoft Windows Antispyware (Beta)
• X-Cleaner (freeware)
• Spy Sweeper
• Pest Patrol
• Hijack This
• Spy Remover
• Who's Watching Me

The other way to remove a spyware is through the Add/Remove Programs section of Windows to see if any worm, virus help or spyware help is listed. Some of the quasi-legitimate adware programs may include uninstallers, but malicious pests do not.

For a home PC a clean format can solve the problem. But for a computer which is storing huge amount of information, it would not be a good choice. You need to take back up before formatting a computer. In this case you need to keep these tips in mind.

Hard disk partitioning method:
• Shrink and hide the current infested partition, create a new visible and bootable partition, install the clean copy of Windows into this new partition.
Disk imaging method:
• The best location for the image backup is outside the infested computer, either on CDs, DVDs, an external hard disk or another computer on the LAN.

Formatting may be one of the safer methods, but you need to clean spyware thoroughly and eradicate it whenever you find it.

To keep your PC spyware free it is advised to constantly update your spyware definitions to the latest versions. Scan your system at least once a week, more often if you can, and use at least two proven spyware remover programs to clean spyware completely and keep your computer in good shape.

Source : http://www.itvoir.com/portal/boxx/knowledgebase.asp?iid=696&Cat=3

Adding to memory can help a slow PC

2008-05-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

use Windows 2000 and have DSL service . My computer is 10 years old. About two weeks ago, everything began slowing down. I have spoken with my Internet provider and we ran a test - my speed is fine. I did a complete virus help scan and there are no viruses. I did a defrag and it did not help. Every time I use my computer a message comes up saying I am low on virtual memory and Windows is increasing its size. It is frustrating using my computer as I now sit and wait. Any suggestions or links to fix my problem?

When a computer needs more memory than can be furnished by the actual RAM chips - a super quick form of memory - installed, it creates a substitute memory using the hard disk. Memory created this way is much slower than what you get from a chip, since the chip is a solid-state device and the hard disk is mechanical.

So what should you do? You can add more RAM memory, it's pretty cheap these days. Even if you don't add more memory, turn the computer off and restart it a few times each day. That can release memory. Windows has a nasty habit of holding onto memory, even when the program that was using it closes.

Another thing to do is make sure that the computer is clear of adware and spyware. That's not your main problem in this case, but it is a cause of slowdown. Use Adaware, SpyBot Search and Destroy, or Windows' free Defender. Combining this with more RAM will almost certainly give you a faster computer.

source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.pl.helpdesk15may15,0,1769633.story

The future of security

2008-05-15T04:27:00.000-07:00

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 12 MAY 2008 - A futurologist in IT security? Difficult to believe, but it is true. On a recent visit to Dubai to discuss the risks of the global Internet, David Perry, Global Director of Education for Trend Micro, is a futurologist, predicts the upcoming dangers and thefts in the IT industry globally. He has been working for Trend Micro for the past 10 years and was earlier associated with McAfee. CNME met up with Perry to get a brief analysis on the scenario today.

CNME: Why do you call yourself a futurologist?

Perry: At Trend Micro there has always been stress on the role of Internet security which is a dense area. There are all kinds of considerations to be made like vocabulary, messed up mathematics, be able to interpret languages from Russians, Chinese and Americans. I am constantly involved in research and I have a good grasp of the English language. You don't find a lot of computer virus help experts with the same ability therefore I am able to interpret all the technical information for the ordinary person. Due to this I am able to predict trends and initiatives which also help me to understand threats. We are able to articulate it and make sense before selling the solution to the end-user.

CNME: How you see the state of Internet Security today?

Perry: Customers must be made aware of basic facts like for example the original computer virus help was not on a PC or an Apple machine or mainframe or storage device. The original virus was a work of fiction by a writer named John Brunner. Viruses existed in fiction before they existed in fact. All the ideas we carry on viruses are fictional and they are not responsible for destroying the hardware. Somebody is not writing viruses in the backroom of an antivirus company. They are invisible, silent and most importantly at this point of the history of the world viruses and malware are stealing your bank accounts. This is happening in the behest of giant organized crime rings in Russia, China, Etnovia, Latvia, South America, Columbia and even including United States and Australia.

The real crime is not about stealing a bank but about stealing passwords, credit card numbers and logins of users. According to the FBI last year 15 million users from America got their identity stolen and computer crime put together accounted for $89.9 b. This means its approaching the same level of crime from drugs therefore making it front rank crimes.

CNME: As a security expert, do you think Trend Micro has done enough to stand apart from competition? What kind of initiatives is being undertaken by the vendor?

Perry: I am influential and one of the most famous anti-virus people in the whole world, probably not as much Gene Kaspersky because he owns a company. At Trend Micro I am able to share any kind of concern with the top management which is a big difference compared to companies like Symantec. They have moved onto hiring professional managers who are only interested in sales, numbers and finances. But in Trend Micro the CEO has 9 patents, she is an engineer, has invented many of our hot products and been with the company for 20 years. The top management - Steve and Jenny Yang - has been around for the entire history of the company. They have a passion and understanding of what makes good protection.

At Trend Micro one of the initiatives we have decided to take up as a public affairs issue is that of children being bullied on-line. We are getting ready to launch information, give lectures and also conduct these sessions in schools. There are market initiatives launched in EMEA where I have gone and given presentations.

CNME: Has security today moved beyond the computer?

Perry: It has definitely moved from the basic computer. Today it's about identity, not about computer security. In the United States if I purchase a sofa, telephone or a car, the credit rating company is called to check on your reputation. The same is applicable with your passport, which is checked every time at the airport for your identity.

In the same situation, if your identity is stolen through your credit card you have lost your credit rating and you cannot buy a car.

We are heading into a future which is not protected and there will be more sensitive data for the end user. There is often a comment made that antivirus companies are catching up with hackers. Even for us, there is immense effort put into research for e.g. there are thousands of research engineers at Trend Labs in Manila. On my way back from Dubai I will be stopping by at the lab. There is a lot of advanced study and research done in this direction but you don't hear about all the products being developed in these labs.

CNME: You have made comments in the past about security vendors not behaving like grownups, please comment.

Perry: Security vendors are always fighting on what to name viruses. In the era of worldwide virus outbreaks, that was affecting the entire world. But now it's a different scene as the virus attacks target a few hundred end-users. The name of the virus help was an important issue and all the anti-virus vendors wanted to name it differently. The question was always 'Who would name it?' so 'Who was the grown up?'

Nobody respects the other to differ from them and they don't want to make Symantec more powerful. There are no grownups in this fight as it moves on to other issues like setting security standards for testing. These are political decisions to be made on how to test the software based on who is going to win this test?

There are companies pushing one kind of standardization putting them into the good light completely. This is a business where billions of dollars are made and therefore the naming problem has to be fixed.

CNME: Should there be set parameters for security in an IT network?

Perry: The first point to keep in mind for an enterprise end-user is to understand what is happening in your network. You cannot fly blind as you have to know what you are protecting and secondly have comprehensive protection. Customers would earlier purchase different security solutions from various vendors. But now customers use heterogenous networks and they could be using a Linux or Nuventu or a Mackintosh OS other than a pure Microsoft XP system.

Computer security is based on four pillars beginning first from systems, then security, followed by hardware, software in all the systems has to be designed in a secure manner and the security products have to be aware of the changes in the system and product.

User education and awareness are the other important factors. Security awareness within the enterprise begins with recognizing the need for it. At Trend Micro we will be able to help end-users do this as we have acquired several new companies and are in a position to start with knowledge assessment then move onto training programs.

source : http://computerworld.com.my/ShowPage.aspx?pagetype=2&articleid=8267&pubid=4&issueid=135

Computer Virus Help

2008-05-12T04:45:00.000-07:00

t’s been weeks since a corruption scandal humiliated the Bush administration, so I suppose we were overdue for news like

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Office of Special Counsel here, seizing computers and documents belonging to the agency chief Scott Bloch and staff.

More than a dozen FBI agents served grand jury subpoenas shortly after 10 a.m., shutting down the agency’s computer network and searching its offices, as well as Mr. Bloch’s home. Employees said the searches appeared focused on alleged obstruction of justice by Mr. Bloch during the course of an 2006 inquiry into his conduct in office.

The independent agency, created by Congress in the wake of the Watergate scandal, is charged with protecting federal employees and deciding whether their complaints merit full-scale investigation — a first line of defense against fraud and mismanagement in government. It also enforces a ban on U.S. employees engaging in partisan political activity.

This story has taken a few twists and turns, but it’s actually really interesting, and more than a little comical.

The Office of Special Counsel isn’t the most high-profile office in government, but it’s generally tasked with investigating whistleblower complaints. Bloch, however, has been ambitious — about a year ago, the OSC launched a broad investigation into Karl Rove’s political activities, with particular attention on the prosecutor purge, RNC emails, and fairly obvious Hatch Act violations (Rove’s office politicized various federal agencies). “We will take the evidence where it leads us,” Bloch said.

But while the investigator was investigating Rove, he was also facing his own investigation.

The Special Counsel looking into a potential cover-up appears to have been

The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove’s White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a private computer-help company, Geeks on Call. […]

Recently, investigators learned that Mr. Bloch erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said.

Bloch claims that he contacted the private PC-help service — bypassing his own agency’s computer technicians — to deal with a virus that had control of his computer.

He apparently asked the technicians to do a “seven-level” wipe, which, as the WSJ reported, “makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later.” While Geeks on Call was there, he also directed the technicians to wipe laptops used by his two top political deputies.

Bloch used tax-dollars to pay for all of this, and the $1,149 receipt makes no mention of a virus. Jeff Phelps, who runs Washington’s Geeks on Call franchise, said it would be unusual to address a virus problem by wiping a hard-drive. So for virus help he called the somebody.

Nothing suspicious here. No sirree.

This is, as David Corn while back, “a dizzying situation.”

The investigator investigating officials who oversee the agency that is investigating the investigator. Forget firewalls. This looks more like a basement flooded with backed-up sewage — with the water rising.

I should note, by the way, that this probe was launched while Bloch was already under investigation for

Only with the Bush gang is this set of circumstances even possible — Bloch is ostensibly investigating the Justice Department for its political activities, and simultaneously the Justice Department sends the FBI to raid Bloch’s office and home. What’s more, everybody is probably guilty.

source : thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15449.html

Virus Types to the Computer System

2008-05-05T23:21:00.000-07:00

In the present scenario of technology, computers play the most significant role. Whether you are working in an income tax department, a private firm or any of the other organization, storing data on these computer systems is a very common process and thus the reliability of the data saved matters a lot.

But unfortunately people who want to disrupt the use of computers can well perform this task with the help of some programs that are able to infect the computers and at last damage to it one or the other way. The data may get lost or corrupted and you may feel a need of data recovery.

These malicious programs can damage the data ranging from mild to the severe one. Widely the infections which could affect the computer systems can be categorized as:

virus: These are the malicious programs that can copy themselves and infect a computer without the prior permission or knowledge to the user. They attach themselves with specific programs and when these programs are run and so do the viruses . A computer virus may get spread from one computer to another computer when its host is taken to the uninfected computer either through internet or through carrying it to on a removable media like USB, CD, floppy disk etc , we need virus help to remove these viruses

Trojan Horse: Trojan Horse is a software program which appears to perform some other task but in real sense the action carried out is some other damaging actions such as erasing your hard drive or allowing an open access to some other users. They have no way to replicate themselves but rely heavily on the exploitation of the end user.

Worms: Worms are the self replicating programs that use the network to send the copies of it to the other nodes. It does not attach to the existing program but instead scan the whole network for other computers with similar security holes through which it can then move to another computer for duplication.

Rootkits: These are the programs which are designed to take fundamental control of a computer system without user´s authorization. It is intended to seize control of the operating system running on the hardware and can also results into sabotage.

Spyware: These are the programs which are installed surreptitiously on a computer system in order to secretly monitor the user´s behavior and also it can collect certain other information of the user like personal information such as internet surfing habits, most often visited sites etc.

These programs can badly damage the data side of the user and the data may get lost. So all you need to be knowledgeable about the solution prior to any kind of infection that can happen to any of the hard drive.

source: americanchronicle.com/articles/60617

Computer Virus Crashes San Diego Court Computers

2008-04-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

A computer virus infected San Diego Superior Court computers, forcing employees to work manually and causing some public service delays, court officials said Thursday.

The virus was discovered Monday after reports of unusual desktop behavior.

Employees reported that computers were repeatedly restarting or freezing, and that they could not get some applications to work.

To keep the virus from spreading, courthouse computers were taken off the county and state computer network, forcing court personnel to revert to paper files.

Employees are also having difficulty accessing information such as court dates and case information, said Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Dalton.

Court officials asked the public for patience and urged those who need information to have their court-issued paperwork, courtesy notices or tickets with them when they come to court.

Information technology personnel and outside vendors are working to get rid of the virus, but it was unknown when the court computers will be back online, Dalton said.

Security needed to help battle botnet viruses

2008-04-11T02:37:00.000-07:00

Botnet scams are often misunderstood as a virus, however, they exist in a computer without the user being aware their machine in compromised.

Botnet scams are often misunderstood as a virus, however, they exist in a computer without the user being aware their machine in compromised.

According to the article “Botnet Scams are Exploding” by Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz in USA Today on March 17, botnets are largely unknown by the public.

"Botnet is a term used to describe a collection of compromised computer systems that are working together for some common, usually nefarious goal," said Curtis Larsen, assistant professor of computer science.

In the article, Rick Wesson, CEO of Support Intelligence, explained that 30 percent of the 800 million computers connected to the Internet are bots taking part in spreading e-mail spam, stealing data from shopping and banking Web sites, and bombarding Web sites in a "denial of service" attack.

A denial of service attack uses mass amounts of bots to flood a certain Web site. All of this intensive traffic can cause a Web site to crash. This is a serious threat to large corporations' Web sites.

An example of phishing students may relate to takes place on MySpace. When clicking on an illegitimate advertisement, the user is redirected to a Web page that looks like the user has accidentally logged off. The user is tricked into entering his or her log on name and password. Now the hacker has total control of the account. Typically the hacker will post advertisements in the form of comments and bulletins, and the user's network of friends has no way of knowing the original user didn't actually post them. Also, the hacker has the user's e-mail address, and if the user uses the same password for his or her e-mail, it can be violated as well.

Users may not even be aware they are in the botnet network. Larsen said a compromised computer may exhibit symptoms similar to other virus compromises. He said the computer becomes unusually slow to respond or responds unreliably.

The botnet is not a virus. However, viruses can easily take advantage of machines that are a botnet.

"Hackers break into a machine, then install a code, which runs a botnet," said Chris Mosteller, campus systems administrator at DSC.

Luckily, anti-virus programs can detect botnets. Set up scheduled virus scans to occur automatically.

"The bottom line is, the program is running on your machine and you can't control it," Mosteller said.

According to www.fbi.gov, the FBI launched Operation Bot Roast last year. Operation Bot Roast was launched because national security implications of the growing botnet threat are broad.

According to the Web site, hackers may use the computers themselves or they may rent out their botnets for a charge. The more computers they control, the more they charge their clients.

Instead of being invaded by a botnet, prevent it from happening in the first place. Mosteller said to keep the computer patched. This means updating the computer on a regular basis, and downloading security updates and service packs. Most operating systems prompt the user when there are new updates available.

"I recommend checking more than one source when trying to determine if a computer has unusual network traffic," Larsen said.

Larsen suggested monitoring network connections and network traffic rates. For Windows, the user can use the netstat command from the command prompt to monitor open connections and volume. Larsen said users can also download TCPView to help find unusual network connections. Other prevention strategies include e-mail filtering, staying away from untrusted Web sites, activating the port filter on the DSL or cable modem, and not downloading software from untrusted locations.

Source : sun.dixie.edu/index.php?pg=story&storyid=3149

Linux without virus

2008-04-08T04:53:00.000-07:00

OKaY! So you’re sick of the old computer and want a new one. You have it all figured out a nice processor with a lot of RAM, an elegant TFT screen and of course, a huge hard drive to store all your ‘stuff’.

You go to the store, give your specifications, browse the models and the options for operating systems.

Going all legal is an expensive proposition. Windows itself costs a great deal of money and once you add on an office package, anti virus software and a firewall (with paid renewal every year), you realise that you haven’t really budgeted for all of it.

What if you could find a way to keep software costs down and spend your money on hardware and that sleek 22 inch TFT monitor?

Ubuntu joy

Enter open source. Many years ago, Bruce Perens published the ‘Open Source Definition’, outlining a philosophy of software development that gave anybody the right to possess, install, redistribute and re-engineer software free of charge.

Ubuntu, tagged ‘Linux for human beings’, is becoming popular among home users. You can order a free Ubuntu installation CD with free shipping at www.ubuntu.com (Yes! You will not be charged even for shipping.)

Installing Ubuntu is simple. Its installation, by default, includes the Mozilla Firefox web-browser and Pidgin, an instant messaging client that lets you use Yahoo, MSN AIM and GoogleTalk in a single window.

The package comes with OpenOffice, with a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database programme and a presentation tool. Evolution Mail, an Email programme is also a part of the default package.

No virus!

You do not need an anti virus package because most computer viruses are designed to attack Windows computers.

Once the initial install is done, your computer can connect to the Internet and download all the updates.

In case there is any hardware on your system that you don’t have drivers for, Ubuntu will download them automatically.

Your Internet enabled Ubuntu computer will be able to connect to a global repository of over 20,000 Linux applications from where you could download and install any programme you like, absolutely free of cost.

The add-ons

Playing MP3s and movies require some additional work. You will have to install the MP3 codec via Synaptic Package Manager. Media players like VLC and Totem that play all video and audio types can be performed via the Package Manager without having to visit any product websites.

There is a programme called WINE (www.winehq.com) that allows you to use windows programs on Linux. This works well with Microsoft Office and some games, but other programmes may not perform as expected. If downloading is your thing, Azureus and Limewire are available for Linux.

One of the advantages of being on Ubuntu is the vast support network available.

There are thousands of pages of information out there on virtually every problem that you can encounter.

Volunteers offering help will be patient with you if they know that you are a total newbie.

Make it a point to join one of the discussion groups and put your questions to the more experienced users.

Teething trouble

So, Ubuntu is free, all the applications are free, you don’t have to worry about virus, hey, that’s like having a supermodel girlfriend who is a cordon bleu chef and has a PhD in particle physics, right? Not quite.

Ubuntu comes with some constraints. A majority of the world’s computers run or Windows or a related platform. Many business applications do not have a Linux version simply because it will not be worth anybody’s time to produce.

Also, the idea of paying for software goes against the essence of Linux and Open Sources.

If you’re looking for a computer that you can use to surf the Internet, check Email, chat, listen to music and watch videos, Ubuntu is for you.

Lessons from getting hit by a computer virus

2008-04-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

FOR the nth time, I got hit by a computer virus. This time, though, it was a nasty hit.

I was happily surfing the Internet last weekend when my antivirus software started detecting it. I am not yet sure if it is a Trojan (a malicious program that leaves a backdoor open in your system for hackers to take control), or a computer worm (self-replicating malware). But it was clear. It was annoying and it took control of my laptop.

As one saying goes, there are many ways to skin a cat. The most effective and yet desperate way to get rid of a computer virus is to format the computer. Wipe the hard drive clean, and start afresh. But that would mean losing all your important files, data, and programs — not to mention wasted man hours in reinstalling the operating system, drivers, etc. So that wasn’t an option. I had to find a way to take out the computer virus with surgical precision.

A friend who is computer virus expert told me that getting rid of a computer virus is like peeling an onion. No, it does not make you cry. You have to pass through several layers to get to the juicy part. Hmmm, I hope that makes sense. Anyway, it took me and “Ownyot” (our in-house techie) to kill da bastard . We ran full scans, using both my existing antivirus software and an online free service from Trend Micro. The software was able to detect it. It was called . It was a Trojan. But when we checked for a solution, there was none at this time. I Googled it and found that others have recently been hit, and were asking how to get rid of it.

Ownyot eventually found a two-punch solution, thanks to the Internet. He used a free trial antivirus software version from Avira and launched a Filipino-made solution called Noob Killer, which fixed Windows registries in my system. You can Google both and find a way to download the software. Noob is apparently a solution developed by Pinoy techies, according to Ownyot (that’s another story, though). The free antivirus detected 30 more infected files. They were all quarantined. The Noob Killer was then launched, correcting registries affected by the computer virus. I asked what Noob Killer did to the nasty computer malware, and our in-house techie said that it “patched” the damaged “autorun” configuration of my system, and sought other computer virus/worms that are spreading through removable medias.

Lessons: if you’re patient enough, there are free and effective fixes online. But you have to have an expert with you when using such software. Also, numerous free trial versions of antivirus software are on the Internet. You can download them and use them to scan and quarantine computer virus. Finally, it is best to update your antivirus software. If it’s a corporate account, then ask your network administrator if it comes with the latest fixes.

More lessons: be careful in deleting files during computer virus scans. It is best to quarantine them first. Also always make sure that you scan removable media you plug in to your computer. That means USB thumb drives, external hard disk drives, and other media. Computer worms are now spreading through removable media, and it can be a nasty problem.

Finally, I learned that today’s computer viruses will not necessarily render your system useless. But when not dealt with quickly, it would. In past discussions with computer virus experts, computer malwares are increasingly being launched to steal passwords, usernames, and other personal information on an infected system. So when you’re infected, it is best to seek the help of an expert. You would never know that they are just sitting in a little corner in your office. Thanks, Ownyot!

Source: blogs.inquirer.net/techaddicts/2008/04/02/lessons-from-getting-hit-by-a-computer-virus/

Protect Yourself From Computer viruses

2008-03-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you have a computer connected to the Internet, watch out! You'll be surprised to learn how often it's being attacked by computer hackers. Ivanhoe explains how to protect yourself and your PC.

It can strike at any time and can attack and destroy your computer. A virus hit Nicole Gentile's PC with a vengeance. "It was terrible," Gentile recalls. "It destroyed most of my files." And it also left her with a mess to clean up.

"It was a horrible feeling," she says. "I felt invaded and it caused me a lot of time and money to get everything fixed on my computer."

Nicole's ordeal is common. Computer scientists now reveal that computer hackers are using the internet to attack your computer every 40 seconds! "He or she will get on your computer and then see what is interesting on your computer." Michel Cukier, Ph.D., a computer scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park, told Ivanhoe.

Hackers can use disc space on your own computer and steal credit card numbers and personal info. Computer scientists also discovered hackers try common usernames and passwords to break into computers. "If you have a weak password, it will take a few minutes for that password to be found." Dr. Cukier explains.

Consumers should avoid easily guessed usernames like "test," "guest" and "info," and easy passwords like "1-2-3-4-5-6," "password" and "1-2-3-4." Instead, use longer, complicated usernames and passwords with random numbers and upper and lowercase letters.

"You try to make something as complex as possible." Dr. Cukier says. Changing usernames and passwords more often can help guard against future attacks. Also, anti-virus software may help keep computers hacker-safe.

"I bought a lot of virus protection software for my computer, so let's hope it works," Gentile says.

Hackers also break into large numbers of unsuspecting computers to control and manipulate the computers remotely for fraudulent purposes like identity theft, to disrupt networks and corrupt computer files.

source: ivanhoe.com/science/story/2008/04/415a.html

virus help in 7 steps

2008-03-28T00:17:00.000-07:00

ROCKLAND (March 27): 3. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall, and update them all regularly.
Dealing with anti-virus and firewall protection may sound about as exciting as flossing your teeth, but it's just as important as a preventive measure. Having intense dental treatment is never fun; neither is dealing with the effects of a preventable computer virus.

Anti-virus Software
Anti-virus software protects your computer from virus that can destroy your data, slow your computer's performance, cause a crash, or even allow spammers to send email through your account. It works by scanning your computer and your incoming email for virus, and then deleting them.

To be effective, your anti-virus software should update daily with antidotes to the latest "bugs" circulating through the Internet. Most commercial anti-virus software includes a feature to download updates automatically when you are on the Internet.

What to Look For and Where to Get It
You can download anti-virus software from the websites of software companies or buy it in retail stores. Look for anti-virus software that:

Removes or quarantines virus.
Updates automatically.
Anti-spyware Software
Installed on your computer without your consent, spyware software monitors or controls your computer use. It may be used to send you pop-up ads, redirect your computer to websites, monitor your Internet surfing, or record your keystrokes, which, in turn, could lead to the theft of your personal information.

Clues that spyware is on a computer include:

A barrage of pop-up ads
A hijacked browser — that is, a browser that takes you to sites other than those you type into the address box
A sudden or repeated change in your computer’s Internet home page
New and unexpected toolbars
Unexpected icons on the system tray at the bottom of your computer screen
Keys that don’t work
Random error messages
Sluggish or downright slow performance when opening programs or saving files.
You can take steps to limit your vulnerability to spyware:

Update your operating system and Web browser software. Your operating system (like Windows or Linux) may offer free software “patches” to close holes in the system that spyware could exploit. Make sure to set your browser security high enough to detect unauthorized downloads.
Download free software only from sites you know and trust. It can be appealing to download free software like games, file-sharing programs, customized toolbars, or other programs that may change or customize the functioning of your computer. Be aware, however, that many free software applications bundle other software, including spyware.
Firewalls
Don't be put off by the word “firewall.” It's not necessary to fully understand how it works; it's enough to know what it does and why you need it. Firewalls help keep hackers from using your computer to send out your personal information without your permission. While anti-virus software scans incoming email and files, a firewall is like a guard, watching for outside attempts to access your system and blocking communications to and from sources you don't permit.

Some operating systems and hardware devices come with a built-in firewall that may be shipped in the "off" mode. Make sure you turn it on. For your firewall to be effective, it needs to be set up properly and updated regularly. Check your online "Help" feature for specific instructions.

If your operating system doesn't include a firewall, get a separate software firewall that runs in the background while you work, or install a hardware firewall — an external device that includes firewall software. Several free firewall software programs are available on the Internet.

Don't Become a Zombie Drone
Some spammers search the Internet for unprotected computers they can control and use anonymously to send unwanted spam emails. If you don't have up-to-date anti-virus protection and a firewall, spammers may try to install software that lets them route email through your computer, often to thousands of recipients, so that it appears to have come from your account. If this happens, you may receive an overwhelming number of complaints from recipients, and your email account could be shut down by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

source: http://waldo.villagesoup.com/financial/story.cfm?storyID=111716

Seven Tips for Avoiding Computer virus

2008-03-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

1 Old Hardware. “Studies have shown that the likelihood of physical problems with computer equipment goes up significantly after 24 to 36 months,” says Reaves. “Consider replacing computer systems every three years – considering how inexpensive computers have become, one major repair bill could easily cost more than purchasing an entire new system.”

2 Power Protection. “Surges and power drops can cause data loss and are always damaging to sensitive components, reducing their lifespan. Most people do use surge protectors, but what many don’t realize is that surge protection wears off over time. For the best protection make sure that the surge protectors for all your computer equipment are replaced every 2 to 3 years. “

3 Illegal Software. “Many businesses don’t realize that they don’t ‘own’ software; just the licenses to use it on a specific number of PC’s. Manyt software programs automatically report their usage via the internet, and breach-of-license letters and audits from software manufacturers to businesses are on the rise.”

4 Training. “Having to spend money training your staff might sound like a waste, but most employees understand less than 20% of the software packages they use. The gain in productivity far outweighs the training costs.”

5 Firewall and Security. “The internet is full of hackers who regularly try to access computers for nefarious purposes. If they get in (either directly, or with the help of exploits from malware or viruses) the list of problems they can cause is pretty big; including stealing files or customer records, and deleting important data. It’s important to be sure that all computers in your organization are updated with the latest security patches from Microsoft or Apple, and that firewalls are installed and maintained properly.”

6 Backup Data. “It sounds so obvious but most companies fail to keep 100% of their important data backed up 100% of the time – there are often gaps in what’s being backed up which are only discovered when it’s too late. The consequences of lost data can put a company out of business on the spot, and data retrieval is frighteningly expensive.”

7 Spam, Virus and Spyware. “80% of all Computer Troubleshooters’ service calls worldwide are from people with problems directly linked to these issues. You should consider good virus protection, spam filters and anti-spyware programs as mandatory if you want a trouble-free computer.”

source: http://americajr.com/news/computersickness0326.html