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Home

PC Security FAQ help:


Frequently asked PC security support questions:

PC And Server Remote Support Assistance Online Evening And Weekend IT Support

What is spyware?

How can I remove spyware?

How to protect yourself from hackers?

Block Google Analytics From Tracking You And Protect Your Privacy

Internet Explorer - Internet Security Registry Zone Settings

Why do I get error: "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item"?

How can I check for settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware and other unwanted programs or check start up running processes?

List of common network ports?

List of ICMP Type Codes?

Useful security sites to visit:

ITsafe

Cert Coordination Centre

SANS - Internet Storm Centre
 

 What is spyware?


Spyware and other unwanted software refers to software that performs certain tasks on your computer, typically without your consent. This may include giving you advertising or collecting personal information about you. Typical symptoms of an infected PC are:

1/ Pop-up advertisements appear all the time.
2/ Your IE Home page or search settings have changed.
3/ PC appears sluggish or crashes.
 

 How can I check settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware and other unwanted programs or check start up running processes?


One program that can check settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware and other unwanted programs or check startup running processes is HijackThis by TrendMicro. Microsoft also provide a process explorer which can show information about identifying running program processes which can be downloaded from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default

Microsoft Security Essentials -
Provides free real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Microsoft Safety Scanner - Free provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Note: expires after 10 days.
 

 How can I remove Spyware?


There are several programs you can download and install for free to remove Spyware and backdoor Trojans, or alternatively you could install a combined antivirus, spam and firewall suite package:

Anti-Spyware packages:
1/
Malwarebytes
2/ Spybot - Search & Destroy

Anti-Virus Suite packages:
1/ Kaspersky Internet Security (Recommended combined antivirus, spam and firewall suite package)

2/ Microsoft Security Essentials - Provides free real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
3/ Avast (Free)
4/ AVG Anti-Virus (Free)

5/ F-Secure
6/ SUPERAntiSpyware

7/ Symantec Norton 360 - Recommended for all in one security protection and speed, supports 32-bit and 64-bit.
8/ Trend Micro HouseCall - Trend Micro provide a free online Anti virus scan for your PC.
 

 How to protect yourself from hackers?

Protect yourself from hackers make sure you have the latest versions of Java and Adobe Reader, Flash and Shockwave player installed.

To find out if you have Java installed and check what version you may be running, Windows users can click Start, then Run, then type “cmd” without the quotes. At the command prompt, type “java -version” (again, no quotes). Users can also visit Java.com and click the “Do I have Java?” link on the homepage. Updates are also available via the Java Control Panel or from Java.com.

Secure Adobe Reader, in Adobe Reader click Edit and then Preferences. Under JavaScript clear checkbox to disable Adobe Reader's ability to run dangerous JavaScript from a PDF. Under Security (Enhanced), another checkbox helps to secure the application. The Trust Manager category allows you to disable Acrobat's ability to call external applications to handle non-PDF files.

Make sure you are using the latest version of Internet Explorer (IE10 is the latest), note: IE9 cannot be installed on XP, IE8 is the latest version for XP which will provide you with enhanced security protection such as DEP (Data Execution Prevention) and ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization), and XSS cross scripting protection. Ensure "SmartScreen Filter" is enabled in the IE Menu bar, Tools and you are running in "Protected Mode: On" shown in IE status bar. From IE10 onwards you can enable Tracking Protection in the IE Menu bar, Tools to help protect your privacy.

If you use Mozilla Firefox always ensure you have the latest version, for extra protection you could install add-on NoScript which blocks JavaScript and Java which allows you to run for trusted domains of your choice. Another popular add-on is Adblock Plus which blocks advertising and tracking.

Disable Autorun/Autoplay for all removable media drives. Most malware applications spread because of the Autorun feature, which automatically executes a said file mentioned in the autorun.inf file when you insert a CD/DVD or USB flash drive. For example in Windows 7 this can be found start run, Gpedit.msc, under Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ AutoPlay Polices.


Protect yourself from hackers make sure you are using Microsoft's latest desktop operating system which is currently Windows 7, highly recommended is to install the 64 bit version as this can make use of 4GB of memory or larger.

XP is very old and vulnerable now to the latest security threats, especially since Microsoft has now released two major upgrades, first Windows Vista and now Windows 7, both of which were designed to obsolete it. Part of the problem now is that XP still ships with wildly outdated noncore technologies, many of which are becoming favourite targets of hackers. If are still using Microsoft XP make sure you have the latest service pack installed (service pack 3 is the latest) has been installed and the firewall is enabled in control panel.

To check Microsoft Windows version and service pack level:
Right click the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties. The Windows version and service pack level will be listed under System: in the General tab dialog.

If you are still using older Microsoft windows operating systems 95, 98 you could download and install Zonelabs free personal firewall.

Always ensure you have the latest Microsoft updates installed by enabling windows automatic updates in control panel. You can also check manually using URL http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and install all critical updates as well as recommended updates.

Make sure you have installed all the latest Microsoft Office updates http://office.microsoft.com/.

Check your PC security and look for any missing updates with Microsoft's Baseline Security Analyzer

Always ensure you have a current anti virus product installed.

Ensure you always use strong long passwords that are changed regularly and include letters, numbers and symbols.

Always ensure you have the latest security patches installed and never open email attachments unless you know the person they are being sent from and you are expecting them.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Provides free real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Security Tip: Increase Microsoft Windows 7 default security set the UAC (User Access Control) slider to the highest security setting!
1. On the Control Panel Under "System and Security" heading, click "Review Computer Status".
2. Click "Change User Account Control Settings" (second choice on left pane).
3. Click yes to UAC security warning, enter an administrator password if prompted.
4. Slide the UAC slider all the way to the top.
5. Click OK. You may be prompted for the admin password again.


Protect yourself from phishing, forged emails, install Iconix Email Identification - http://iconix.com/ - Instantly see which email messages are legitimate with an icon in your inbox.

Protect your PayPal account login access, enable PayPal Security Key in your PayPal account - Double-lock your account with the SMS-based PayPal Security Key.
 

 Block Google Analytics From Tracking You And Protect Your Privacy?


Website visitors
that are concerned about being tracked and having their personal data collected may wish to protect their identity and privacy in several ways:
1/ Edit your PC windows Hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\) using notepad and add the following entries:

# [Google Inc]
127.0.0.1 www.google-analytics.com
127.0.0.1 ssl.google-analytics.com

If you cannot modify or access to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts was denied see Microsoft solution http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923947

2/ Google Analytics are providing an opt-out browser add-on to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics it is available at http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

3/ Use browser in private mode to help prevent tracking:
In Chrome : ctrl+shift+n
In IE : ctrl+shift+p

You can also create shortcuts to start automatically in private mode:
You can start IE with the "-private" switch to a shortcut.
You can start Chrome with the "-incognito" switch to a shortcut.

 

 Why do I get error: "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item"?


A high security setting in Internet explorer security zone may stop some explorer .exe programs from executing or it may give you an error you do not have correct permissions. Typical Microsoft popup error: "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item". Another symptom is unable to adjust security Internet zone setting, set to high. Check your Internet security zone and if set to high set to medium-high or medium. If you are unable to adjust the Internet zone or there is only high option you then need to locate the zone 3 Internet zone in the registry using regedit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\<3> and adjust the Minlevel from high (0x00012000) to medium (0x00011000). This will then allow you to reset the zone to medium.
 

 Internet Explorer - Internet Security Registry Zone Settings


These registry entries are located in the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\<ZoneNumber>

Value Setting
------------------------------
0 - My Computer
1 - Local Intranet Zone
2 - Trusted sites Zone
3 - Internet Zone
4 - Restricted Sites Zone

What values for Minlevel, RecommendedLevel, and CurrentLevel mean the following: Value (Hexadecimal) Setting
----------------------------------
0x00010000 - Low Security
0x00010500 - Medium Low Security
0x00011000 - Medium Security
0x00012000 - High Security

See Microsoft reference for full information http://support.microsoft.com/kb/182569
 

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Last updated 26/09/2015

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