The best virus, spyware and firewall utilities that won’t cost you a dime - 7/9/2007 8:16:00 AM by Preston Gralla

From the moment you switch on your PC your system faces countless Internet-borne dangers, including spyware attacks, viruses, Trojan horses, home-page hijackers, and hackers trying to weasel their way into your system.

And the Internet isn’t the only source of trouble. Anyone with access to your PC can invade your privacy by prying into which Web sites you visit — and learning a great deal more as well. But fighting back is easy. We’ve found 15 great pieces of software — firewalls, spyware busters, antivirus software, rootkit killers, and general Internet security tools — designed to protect you against any dangers that come your way. They’re free, they’re powerful and they’re easy to use. So what are you waiting for? Start downloading.

Preventing and Eliminating Malware

From firewalls to antivirus software to tools for combating rootkits and spyware, here are some great downloads to protect your system against malicious attacks. 15 free security programs that work!

OSA Editorial Comments: 

What a great article and review of some really good products and services make sure you go and visit this site and check out the rest of the story at the above link…

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Bill Wardell

By Joris Evers, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: February 15, 2007, 3:33 PM PT.

If you haven’t changed the default password on your home router, let this recent threat serve as a reminder.Attackers could change the configuration of home routers using JavaScript code, security researchers at Indiana University and Symantec have discovered. The researchers first published their work in December, but Symantec publicized the findings on Thursday.

The researchers found that it is possible to change the DNS, or Domain Name System, settings of a router if the owner uses a connected PC to view a Web page with the JavaScript code. This DNS change lets the attacker divert all the Net traffic going through the router. For example, if the victim types in “www.mybank.com,” the request could be sent to a similar-looking fake page created to steal sensitive data.

“I have been able to get this to work on Linksys, D-Link and Netgear routers,” Symantec researcher Zulfikar Ramzan said. “You can create one Web site that is able to attack all routers. My feeling is that it is just a matter of time before phishers start using this.”

After a router’s DNS setting is changed, all computers connected to the device will use the DNS server set up by the attacker to find their way on the Internet. DNS functions like the phonebook of the Internet, mapping text-based addresses such as www.news.com to actual numeric Internet Protocol addresses of a Web site.

OSA Editorial Comments:

This goes back to my main issue of online security and the threat of the Hackers & Cyber Criminals, if we can’t catch them and punish for there crimes, how do we even stand a chance against the rest the cyber-crime world!

We need to start making the cyber criminals, cyber terrorists pay with real punishment or real jail time! And we need to begin to say: “enough is enough” or scream out from the rooftops that
“Were not going to Take IT Anymore!!” 

We as an Internet family have to band together and force politicians, the Federal Government, and International leaders to make changes in how we treat terrorists and especially Cyber Criminals.

Your Online Security Authority
Bill Wardell

It’s a murky world of chat rooms, malware factories, and sophisticated phishing schemes. Here’s a look inside.

By Larry Greenemeier J. Nicholas Hoover
InformationWeek

Feb 10, 2007 12:02 AM (From the February 12, 2007 issue)

When retailer TJX disclosed Jan. 17 that the computer systems that store data related to credit card, debit card, check, and merchandise return transactions had been broken into, it said it had discovered the hack in December. But security officials at Visa had been seeing an increase in fraudulent activity on credit and debit cards related to TJX properties, such as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods stores, since mid-November. That means it’s possible the purloined consumer data has been floating around the Internet, available for purchase on black market Web sites and chat rooms, for at least two months, maybe longer.

Hacking isn’t a kid’s game anymore. It’s big business. Online black markets are flush with stolen credit card data, driver’s license numbers, and malware, the programs that let hackers exploit the security weaknesses of commercial software. Cybercriminals have become an organized bunch; they use peer-to-peer payment systems just like they’re buying and selling on eBay, and they’re not afraid to work together.

While the independent hacker still exists (pardon us, but in this story, we’ll refer to “hacker” in the layman’s sense), the FBI sees true organized crime in parts of the hacking community, particularly in Eastern Europe, says special agent Chris Stangl, who works in the bureau’s cybercrime division, the agency’s third largest behind counter-terrorism and intelligence. “You’ll have hackers cracking the machines, individuals collecting the data, and individuals selling for profit,” Stangl says.

Getting a clear picture of the hacker economy isn’t easy. It’s a murky underground about which few people are willing to talk on the record. But the general outlines can be gleaned from inside and outside sources.

Direct Approach
Some hackers take the direct approach. Ransom scams–in which a criminal infects a company’s systems with malware that encrypts data and then demands money to provide the decryption key–are common in Russia. Uriel Maimon, a researcher with the consumer division of RSA, a security vendor now owned by EMC, says he’s seen a half-dozen of these scams over the past five months.

But in the scheme of things, those kinds of scams aren’t all that common because they’re risky–they require “a direct financial connection between the victim and the author or proprietor of the malware,” says David Dagon, a researcher with the Georgia Tech Information Security Center. More omnipresent is the thriving black market in data. Online sites abound where credit and debit card numbers, cardholder names, and the card verification value, a three- or four-digit code that’s used to verify a card’s authenticity, can be bought and sold. Jeff Moss, who goes by the handle “The Dark Tangent” and is the founder of Black Hat, a security research and training firm (owned by InformationWeek parent CMP), says he knows of one European cyberattacker who makes nearly a half-million dollars annually buying and selling databases and customer lists. Read the rest.

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Wave Systems’ Trusted Platform Module fosters user ease, protection

By Scott Stafford, Berkshire Eagle Staff

Sunday, January 28
LEE — Steven Sprague, president and CEO of Wave Systems Corp., wishes his laptop computer would work like his cell phone and intuitively know who he is and what he is allowed to do.
Largely because of his efforts and those of his colleagues at the company, his wish will soon come true.

After more than 10 years of development, business is about to blossom for the software development firm, as more computers are shipped with hardware and software that enables what is known as the Trusted Platform Module (TPM).

According to Sprague and others, using a silicon chip and the software that enables it, the TPM takes computer security to a whole new level of convenience and encryption.

Dell, Gateway, Intel equipped with software

And Wave is the company that developed the enabling software being shipped already installed in all Dell and Gateway corporate class PCs, shipped with Intel motherboards and installed on all TPM chips manufactured by four of the five chip manufacturers — Atmel Corp., ST Microelectronics, Winbond and Broadcom.

It also markets expanded versions of the software that companies can purchase to further secure sensitive information, with far more convenience. “Finally, my PC will have the same level of security as my cell phone,” Sprague said.

OSA Editorial Comments:

I am glad to see that officials are taking a active roll in trying to solve some of the major problems, with Trusted Platform Module fosters user ease!

Your Online Security Authority
Bill Wardell

NEW YORK, Jan. 7 (UPI) — Computer code writers in Europe are the chief suspects in the creation of programs that turn other computers into zombie-like slaves for Internet crimes.

Computer experts in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are likely behind the newest computer crime plaguing the Internet, which has turned innocent users into unwitting participants and left security experts stumped, The New York Times reported.

By inserting small programs into others’ computers, electronic criminals can harness the collective power of multiple computers to commit more elaborate online crimes.

“It’s the perfect crime, both low-risk and high-profit,” computer security researcher Gadi Evron said. “The war to make the Internet safe was lost long ago, and we need to figure out what to do now.”

While some zombie computer crimes have been linked to computers running Linux or Macintosh operating systems, officials have warned that Windows systems are the most susceptible.

Security experts have been unable to defend against such crimes, but some products and services are available to improve online security, the newspaper said.

OSA Editorial Comments:

We have to be aware of what is going on in the world, and just how careful you have to be everyday with your personal information! Start now, find out how to protect your ID. 

Your Online Security Authority
Bill Wardell