Internet Security Measures
 

My Neteller account was recently hacked into and the investigations team at Neteller told me that I could've been infected with a MYTOB virus. I had never heard of it, but apparently it's a keylogger virus. (For those that don't know, it's a virus that gets on your computer and records what you type and sends the log to the hacker.)

I guess this is party my fault because I didn't do a good enough job of keeping my computer protected from such things. I still can't think how a keylogger could've gotten onto my computer because I don't download things from suspicious sites. But then who knows.

This incident gave me a good kick in the butt and got me to realize that I too am vurnerable to viruses and hackers. I'm not very good at computer setup and security stuff so I called Geeks-On-Call and someone came over to clean up my computer and set me up with an antivirus and firewall software from Computer Associates. He also scanned my computer for a MYTOB and didn't find any. I was told in many instances that the hacker will remove the MYTOB after he gets what he wants.

So, now he tells me my computer is clean and protected, but I was wondering if this is enough. There is a feature on this firewall that alerts me when something on my computer is trying to access the internet. So suppose another virus gets on my computer without my knowledge and tries to send information to the hacker, this firewall will let me know that something is trying to get out. This may be common knowledge for many but I was not aware that firewalls do this so when I heard this I felt pretty good that I will now know when something screwy is happening.

But my question basically is this. What do you guys do to keep yourselves protected from hackers and viruses, other than having a basic antivirus and firewall software.

Re: Internet Security Measures
 

I have Norton and Mcafee (sp?) 2006 on my computer. With both of them, you shouldnt have any probs. Thx

Re: Internet Security Measures
 

For years I've used ZoneAlarm (free edition) and free Anti-Virus software and I've never had a problem. Don't use an email client that automatically opens attachments, don't use an insecure browser (IE) and use common sense in what you download and you should be pretty safe.

With your new firewall software, don't let anything connect to the internet that you aren't sure about.

Edited to add: Also, use a firewall router as well. This will keep people from getting in from the outside.

Re: Internet Security Measures
 

Hello,

Besides those already mentioned, I also follow a few ground rules to ensure safe online ativities.

1) I use firefox to browse websites, and I configured it to balance security with compatibility (block popups, only allowing cookies from originating sites, etc.)

2) I only check email from my browser and only use a web based email like google or yahoo. I don't use email clients to read emails. Text based email clients are ok to use though. Google mail is particularly good because they now have antivirus protection as well as disabling images by default to prevent spaming sites from knowing that you actually viewed the pictures they send. AOL Mail is also good for this and they disable link by default too unless you specifically click on a link to un-disable the links and images). Plus AOL blocks spam goot.

3) Never download attachments or click on any links from your emails unless you are expecting the attachment or links.

4) Sometimes when I visit sites that I think are suspicious, I will use a web proxy for extra security (google for "web proxy" my favorite is Megaproxy)

5) Unless you live alone, always make sure your PC requires a login to use it. Make sure it locks the pc when screen saver is turn on (I set mine to turn on at 15 mins). Also make sure that in order to unlock or log in, you have to press ctr-alt-del.

6) If you suspect you have a keylogger on your machine... http://dewasoft.com/privacy/kldetector.htm (google for more free or buy versions)

7) I don't personally do this.. but I know a few people that do. On their machine, they create a local user (non-administrator) account which they use to do daily activities like play games, email, surf etc. They will only log into their administrator account when they need to do... well, administration stuff.

8) If you have an always on connection, get a router with a built in firewall to deal with the riff raff of the outside cruel world.

9) Join a monastery and pray for your online safety. Oh, and while you're at it, have a go at world peace too.

If I think of more, I'll post. Until then, safe surfing!