Virtumonde question

There is no perfect or long lasting protection solution. Malware creators are constantly tracking how we find and remove malware and find new ways to bypass protection methods all the time. Which means we have to find new ways to detect them, remove them, and protect against them again....... and so it repeats.



There are many vehicles by which people get infected. Downloading and clicking on adverstisments are only two possible ways. Others include but are not limited to

• NOT KEEPING ALL SOFTWARE UPDATED!!!
• surfing - usually certain websites are the main problem
• click links to view pictures or videos, or listen to music....etc
• not reading what you are clicking on and even if you do it may be worded in a form to trick you into clicking the wrong answer. Sometimes the answer is the opposite of what you think. And sometimes there is no correct answer because it is already too late one the popup has appeared..
• installing codecs to view videos or sound
• installing cracks and or illegal software
• downloading via P2P or Torrent programs
• downloading from websites that do no check their downloads to see if they are safe and very few actually do this even though they say they do. (We do at Major Geeks!)
• reading emails from unknown senders especially if you have html enabled and also especially if clicking on any attachments
• reading emails from friends who don't know they are infected and may not even know they are sending you emails.

I know that many people like to say that they don't understand how they are getting infected, but the fact remains that in most cases it is by their own doing. I surf more than most people and access all kinds of websites while trying to test various malware. I have to eliminate all of my protection (even my router which has a hardware firewall) and I still have a hard time getting infected and I have to knowingly agree to install things to get infected.

General Tips for everyone (not just you )

• If you do not have a router or do not have a router with a hardware firewall, then get one.
• If you are not using a real bidirectional firewall (I know you said you now have Online Armor) then install one and only one. The Windows (any version) firewall is not adequate.
• Install one and only one antivirus program.
• Install one and only one realtime antispyware protection program
• Install the below for background protection
  • SpywareBlaster
  • Spybot with SDHelper and use the Immunization feature
• Do period scans with you AV and AS programs?
• Use additional scan only programs like SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes.

 

You're welcome. Surf safely.