Who controls your computer: Malware Cleanup

Free Tools

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•MalwareBytes - This is shareware, free to try. It has a quickscan feature. 90% effectiveness against malware. Upgrade to paid version activates real time scanning. I like this program!

– http://www.malwarebytes.org

•Spybot Search and Destroy - Free, fully functional. Regular updates, manual scanner, manual updates. 80% effective against malware, finds different things than Malwarebytes.

– http://www.download.com (search for program by full name)

•The Cleaner (Moosoft) - trial version (scanning can take hours), they’ve changed their model, so I’m not sure if the trial version only alerts, or if it will also clean the infections it identifies.

– http://www.moosoft.com

•Trend Micro Housecall - manual online scanner, downloads a complete virus and malware scanner, scans can take hours. Since Trend is a major AV company, some viruses are specifically designed to hide from Trend Micro Housecall. Anti virus effectiveness – 80%. Anti malware effectiveness – 60%

– http://housecall.trendmicro.com

Paid Tools

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•Webroot Spysweeper with AntiVirus - You can download and run the scanner in trial mode, but it will not clean or quarantine infections until you subscribe, usually $40 for a single computer. I recommend the version listed here, although there is a malware only version, Antivirus and malware effectiveness – 95%

• http://www.webroot.com

•Trend Micro Internet Security - Fully functional trial version for several days, purchase for $50/year. Trend is very strong on the anti-virus side, but not as strong in handling malware.

• http://www.trendmicro.com

Update! Update! Update!

If your defense software doesn’t get updated, it cannot protect you from all the new forms of viruses and malware that are updated by the malware programmers each day. Some programs update themselves automatically, some require us to manually update them.

Inclusion here reflects Jon’s opinion and ratings are based on his recent observation against current malware, May 2009

Facebook Friend: Did you send me that?

So how do you know when you get a message if it really came from your Facebook friend or if it's some sort of viral email going around.

Oh, and while we're on the topic, please! Please! Christopher Butterfield is not a hacker. Ok? He's just some poor Facebook shmuck like you and me who's name has been used in a new round of social engineering viral emails.

Ok, now that's off my chest.

I look at messages I receive and ask myself, does this have the feel of my friend? or does it feel like some sort of automated response.

The last viral email I got had the subject line: "Hey, look at this!" and it looked like a Facebook login page. I think there was some text inside that implied a doorway to view the old Facebook interface. They always try to craft a message that will push us to click or accept before our brain has a chance to question.

Of course, I wanted to see, and I trusted the person who it came from (part of the ploy). As soon as I logged in to what appeared to be the facebook login, all of my facebook friends got an email from me that had the same subject as the one I'd just received. Then my brain said. "You? You clicked on that link? You moron! You know better!"

So now when I receive an email from one of my friends, I slow down and ask myself, "does this sound like my friend's voice?" Then I hover my mouse over the link and see where I'll be going if I click on it: it may look like a Youtube video link, but the url is somewhere in .cn (China).

Just as a side note, yesterday I posted a note on one of the game forums I play about ads that spawn or in this case entirely redirect my browser page to a non facebook, non application website and this one insisted my computer was infected with malware and I just had to click here to scan my computer and clean it.

Not on your life.

I say... be savvy... be wary... take your time... there's no rush... leave poor Mr. Butterfield alone, he's probably a good guy.