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Fbi looking for the zombie computers


bellis

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People should be trained in the correct use of firewalls, anti-virus/anti-spyware applications and general good e-mail/browsing habits before being allowed anywhere near a computer, to minimize the risk of this sort of thing happening, in my view. I know it's not a viable idea, but still. The amount of machines I've seen with little or no security software on them beggar belief; I'm always round at friends' places -and friends of friends' places- trying to sort malware out.

 

I was round at a cousin of a mate's house the other week; he'd turned his security software off to play a game and didn't turn it back on again; it took an age to sort out, so I'm not surprised in the slightest that there are the world's supply of zombie machines out there.

 

:)

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About bloody time.

 

ISPs could easily do more to stop botnets but they choose not to, they really should be sueing ISPs who make no attempt to shut them down. I mean it's quite easy for an ISP to see which connection a load of spam is coming from really.

 

BT do sod all. With having a dynamic IP ours actually changed once and I found out it was marked as a spammer so I had to get it sorted out before I could use my POP3 email.

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all computers should come with FREE!!!!! firewall, anti virus, spyware

decent ones, enabled

that'd cut down on the majority, and info in the manual about the dangers

Unfortunately, the majority of computer manufacturers see fit to bundle rubbish (in my opinion) security applications like Nor*on and McAf*ee, so when people who aren't too experienced with computers get their hands on them, they assume the aforementioned products are 'good'. How wrong they are.

 

A proper, paper manual specific to that model of machine and not a generic PDF manual that's about as much use as handles on a monkey would be a brilliant start, with information on spyware, virii and other Internet dangers, like you just said, would be a champion idea, that way the user would be able to make an informed choice on what products to put on their machine. A huge amount of PC users just aren't aware of the dangers and risks which is why the botnets and so on are so successful. :(

 

:)

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exactly

 

but it should be law to do so, to eradicate 90% of internet dangers

 

politicians..........DO IT :P

 

 

 

 

 

avg, spybot and someat like commodo or zone alarm, plus decent information about the dangers with EVERY new pc would help enourmously

 

oh yeah, and a none swiss cheese browser would be good too :)

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They will not make P.C.s secure because it brings them further revenue when the P.C.s go down.Crafty s*ds.

 

tbh thats not how they make money, thats how the likes of us make money :P

 

the likes of dell are in bed with the likes of symantic and micro$haft because they make money (both ways) big companies, not good software

ive never bought a new pc but two things id want if i did

 

no software "bundled" with it and a real windows cd, none of this pre installed and thats yer lot crap, you buy windows you should get a backup windows

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exactly

 

but it should be law to do so, to eradicate 90% of internet dangers

I agree: it should be law. An uninformed user taking a poorly protected PC on the Internet is a dangerous thing; without the correct protection it won't be long before the machine gets infected and starts spewing e-mails about how to improve your love-life to all and sundry.

 

A full, comprehensive guide on Internet security and a guide on the many and various different anti-virus/anti-spyware applications and firewalls should be included with EVERY new PC and laptop- and not in a PDF file either but in a paper manual so that your attention is drawn to it the second you unpack your shiny new PC.

 

avg

I agree that as standard this should be installed, but the user should be informed about other AV apps too so they can decide for themselves what to use. I personally don't rate AVG Anti-virus: (though AVG Anti-spyware is VERY good, and, incidentally, can be used with Vista if you run it in XP SP2 Compatibility Mode) I tried it for a couple of months last year and found it to miss quite a bit that luckily other security apps picked up on. It's an improvement on Norton/McAfee though, without a doubt. I use NOD32 on my laptop and desktop and I love it to bits; it really is one of the best AVs there is. Okay, it's £27 per year, but I don't mind paying if it does a grand job, which it does.

 

As for anti-spyware applications, most PCs don't come with any, except for Vista machines which come with Windows Defender, though in my opinion Defender is rubbish and you may as well let the nearest mouse protect your system. Spybot is good, though personally I think new computers should come with more: Ad-Aware, AVG Anti-spyware, A Squared and SUPERantispyware would be good- though to be honest I can't see that happening. :(

 

I agree about the browser too; many people don't know there are alternatives to IE available; having a guide to Internet security chucked in with the computer that informs about Firefox and Opera would be a huge plus and all in all would reduce malware problems in a gargantuan way.

 

My setup on my laptop is:

 

NOD32 Anti-virus

Windows Vista Firewall (behind a firewalled router)

 

SpywareBlaster

AVG Anti-spyware free

A Squared free

SUPERantispyware free

Windows Defender

Spybot Search and Destroy

 

Get past that lot, Mr Malware! :cool: I also run CCleaner daily and I have Vista's UAC turned on; I don't visit dodgy websites either.

 

I have ZoneAlarm firewall on the desktop but I had that before I got the router; when I got the router I just left it on there. Like you say, Comodo is very good too.

 

If only others around the world knew how to protect their computers properly then there wouldn't be a botnet epidemic. I've dealt with machines where there's anti-virus/anti-spyware apps on there, but it's been God knows how long since they were updated! "But I scanned yesterday! :o " someone said to me after I discovered their machine was rammed to the gunnels with malware. Aye, but the aforementioned apps haven't been updated for ages and they're about as much use as a paper raincoat! But if the people using the security apps don't know to update them first then it's not really their fault, hence why they should be informed when buying a computer!

 

I apologise for the length of this post. By reading it you relinquish any rights to sue me for strained eyes. :P

 

:)

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If you want to blame anybody then blame Microsoft for releasing OS after OS (and other products e.g. IE) with more holes in it then Swiss cheese mainly due to a pathetic security model.

 

If you really want to protect your Windows machine from spyware/adware/... then run it in a virtual machine.

 

Alternatively, if practical you could swap to a well designed OS.

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