There are a lot of things you can do to protect yourself. You can educate yourself on new potential threats, read on how to keep your computer secure, and what security software doesn’t protect, and obtain the best tools for the job, whether they are anti-virus programs or extensions.

Here, I’ll be taking a look at ClamWin, an open-source anti-virus program that’s been around for a while. Should you get it? Read on to find out.

Getting ClamWin

ClamWin is an anti-virus program based on the only open-source anti-virus solution in the market, Clam AV, which is a toolkit initially designed for UNIX.

As you can probably tell by the name, ClamWin is available as a download for Windows machines only. You can download the installer here, which is almost 40MB, or you can also try the portable app for anti-virus protection on the go.

If you’re wondering about which version to go with, I’m using the portable version 0.97.3 for this review. This latest release has improved bytecode signature matching, in addition to the reigning features that characterize this anti-virus – virus scanner, scanning scheduler, automatic virus database updates, and integration with Windows Explorer and Microsoft Outlook.

If you’re using the installer, be aware that the Ask toolbar might be offered during the installation. Make sure you read what the checkboxes are offering before you click Next. I didn’t see any such thing during the portable application “installation”.

Launching ClamWin

When you first launch ClamWin, you’ll likely need to download the built-in database of viruses.

Doing so will just take a few seconds if you’re connected to the Internet.

Once ClamWin has finished updating its Database, you can see the main window where you’ll have the options to set your preferences, update your virus definition database once again, scan programs currently running in memory and finally, scan specific files or directories.

Running Memory Scan

Selecting this option allows you to scan the programs that are currently running in memory. If you’re as paranoid as this author, t’s probably a good idea to update your virus definition database before running your scans.

Unless you’re running Photoshop, Mozilla Firefox, and many other resource hogs, this scan should be completed in a couple of minutes. Mine took just over 3 minutes and scanned 28 processes in memory.

Running File Or Directory Scan

In the main window, there will be a directory browser where you can select a whole drive (e.g. your C drive), specific folder or even a file to scan.

Depending on what you chose, this scan can obviously last a while. When I was running a scan for my D drive, ClamWin was also working really hard, using almost 109 MB of RAM. Not that it’s a bad sign, but it’s probably a good idea not to multi-task on your PC while you let a scan run through an entire disk drive. After a scan is finished, you can see the report right after, save it or access it in the main window menu.

If a virus is detected during the scan, there are three options you can choose from in the Preferences: Quarantine it, report it, or remove it.

If you’re particular about your scans, you can also filter files to be included or excluded from the scan in the Preferences. You can also limit a file size to scan or not, and also whether to extract files from zipped files in the Preferences window.

If you installed ClamWin instead of using the portable version, you’ll be able to schedule scans right in the Preferences window, increasing security for your PC.

If you’re using the portable version and wish to schedule scans, you could always use Windows Task Schedulerand clamscan.exe which should be under ClamWinPortable/App/clamwin/bin.

ClamWin shines for being an open-source anti-virus program with file and directory scanners, scanner scheduler, automatic downloads of virus databases and more. It does lack a real-time scanner, which could be a big con, but for basic protection and its price, it’s a great product to have on your PC security arsenal.

Have you used Clam AV or ClamWin? Share your experience in the comments section below!

Unlike most cases of malware, this virus embeds itself deeper into your system and requires more than a simple malware scan. However, even though the removal process is more involved, someone who is computer illiterate will still be able to perform it, so if you’re not very tech-savvy, fear not!

What Is The Google Redirect Virus?

The main symptom of the GRV is that clicking on a Google search result link will take you to another unrelated website. It doesn’t matter which search link you click and it doesn’t matter which browser you use for searching. How can you get it? Unfortunately, it’s not very difficult. If you accidentally (or even purposely) visit a malicious or infected website, and if you don’t have the necessary anti-virus protection on your computer, you can get it.

Technically, the GRV is not really a virus at all – it’s a trojan – and despite the name, Google has nothing to do with the problem. It’s not a problem with Google’s website, search engine, or anything else. The problem is local to your computer and it will affect all of the main browsers that you have installed, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome.

Why Is The Google Redirect Virus So Frustrating?

For many people, the GRV is one of the most annoying and infuriating computer infections to deal with. Not only does it interrupt your normal search sessions, it makes it incredibly difficult to find a solution – because you can’t search for one. At best, you’ll spend inordinate amounts of time pressing the “Back” button to negate the website redirects. At worst, your productivity will plummet and you’ll stop wanting to even use your computer at all.

To add to the frustration, the GRV is difficult to remove. It is a variation of the TDSS rootkit, which piggybacks on top of a system driver. Since the system driver is innocent in the eyes of malware detection programs, the GRV is not flagged as malevolent and, therefore, not removed.

The GRV is an objectively small inconvenience, but it can wear you down and ruin your mood rather quickly. Luckily, there are tools and programs to aid in the process of removing the Google redirect virus.

Remove Google Redirect Virus – Using TDSSKiller

Follow these steps to get rid of the Google Redirect Virus once and for all.

Download TDSSKiller. Download the TDSSKiller.zip file to your Desktop and extract the files using an extraction program. WinRAR is popular, as is 7-Zip. After extracting, you should see a TDSSKiller.exe file.

• If you are unable to download the file, then the TDSS rootkit on your system may be blocking the connection. In this case, you’ll need to download the file using another computer and transfer it to your own computer.

Run the TDSSKiller.exe. Double click on the TDSSKiller.exe file to run it. The program will initialize and then present you with the ability to scan your computer for problems.

• If nothing happens when you double click the file, you’ll need to rename it. Right click on the file and select Rename, then rename the file to 12345.com. Take note that the .com extension is very important – it is how you can bypass the TDSS block.
• If TDSSKiller still won’t run, you may need to scroll down and use FixTDSS instead.

Scan your system. Click on Start Scan to start the scan. TDSSKiller will search your system for related problems and report back to you if it finds anything. If TDSSKiller happens to not find anything, you may need to scroll down and use FixTDSS instead.

Cure the problems. If TDSSKiller does find any problems, choose to Cure as many of them as you can – all of them would be best. If you can’t cure some of them, leave it on the default Skip option.

• Only use the Cure or Skip options. Avoid the Delete and Quarantine options because using them on critical system files may cripple your computer and render it inoperable.

Reboot your computer. To complete the removal of the TDSS rootkit, you will be required to reboot. Do so when prompted.

Google Redirect Virus Removal — Using FixTDSS

These steps are only necessary if TDSSKiller failed to clean up your system.

Download FixTDSS. Download the FixTDSS.exe file to your Desktop.

Run the FixTDSS.exe. Double click the FixTDSS.exe file to run it. After the program initializes, click on the Proceed button to start the scan. The program will look for potential problems and fix them if necessary.

Reboot your computer. To complete the removal of the TDSS rootkit, you will be required to reboot. Do so when prompted. After your computer boots back up, you will see the results of FixTDSS’s findings.

Conclusion

At this point, the TDSS rootkit should be successfully eliminated from your system. You can check if the infection is gone by searching on Google and clicking on any search result link. If you aren’t redirected to another website, the infection is gone.

In the future, you can help prevent infections on your system by utilizing free anti-virus software. Compound that with safe computer habits and you will drastically reduce your likelihood of catching another virus.

If you are the victim of the Google Redirect Virus, try these tools out and let us know in the comments if they helped or not.

According to Lookout, these ill-gotten gains generally come from malicious websites and apps that contain Trojans. Once installed, the software sends messages to premium-rate numbers and services. The owners of those numbers make off with the cash while the victim is left with an outrageously high mobile phone bill.

The malware known as GGTracker, which hit the United States in June, is one of the most recent examples of a severe SMS Trojan. Lookout claims to have detected many new threats in recent weeks as well, information that seems in agreement with an earlier report by Juniper Networks stating that Android malware has increased significantly.

How do you protect yourself? Lookout doesn’t go so far as to specifically recommend its own security app, but having some form of anti-malware protection is a good idea. I stick by my recommendation of Kaspersky’s Mobile Security. The report also states that users avoid third-party app stores, be wary of certain types of applications, and avoid shortened URLs, among other things. The suggestions are longer than this news article (the report is quite detailed) so be sure to read the full report.

Source: Lookout Mobile Security

Basically, this Trojan overwrites XProtectUpdater files preventing the program from updating and finding new threats that need to be handled. This opens your Mac to a wide of range of possibly threatening software and attacks.

Right now it isn’t clear what this Trojan is actually trying to do, but it is able to connect to a remote host and run other pieces of code. It seems more like it is setting up for future attacks, and not doing the attacking itself. Either way, this cannot end well if it ends up on your system.

Please, make sure to only update your software from a source you trust, or better still, from the official site of the software developer. This practice applies to pretty much any piece of software, but it applies especially to flash now.

Source: MacRumors

Nobody likes to be informed that they’ve received a speeding ticket, but in today’s world of speed cameras and intersection flash-blubs, the practice of receiving a ticket without encountering a cop is becoming more common. Some enterprising ne’re-do-wells have apparently decided to take this to their advantage, and are now spreading a virus via fake email speeding tickets.

The email’s trickery largely relies on the fact that it appears to come from a government address (nyc.gov, to be specific) which helps the email’s credibility. It also attempts to work magic via false specificity by claiming that recipients were speeding at 7:25 am. That’s made up, of course – but anyone who happened to be on the road at that time might be inclined to think this makes the email legit.

Once the email has earned your trust, it directs you to open an attachment which is supposedly a form that can be filled out in response to the ticket. Instead, it’s a typical Trojan Horse virus.

If you do receive such an email, you can rest assured it’s not legitimate by fact that it’s an email. First notification of a speeding ticket via email would be unusual to say the least. In addition, the email text doesn’t provide any personal information about the recipient (such as name or address) which is an easy giveaway that the email is bogus. Finally, the Chatam Hall which is referred to in the email doesn’t exist.

Should you receive this email, simply delete and ignore it. It is harmless so long as you don’t open the attachment. Don’t forward the email to the police, either. They’re well aware of the trickery.

Source: MSNBC

Image Credit: Tech and Security

This new threat consists of two stages. First, a downloader is installed when a user executes an infected file. As it downloads the full Trojan, it opens a PDF that contains political rebel-rousing that might get you a bit rowdy – if you can read Chinese. Once the malware is installed, it connects to a remote server which can command it to take screenshots or archive files.

Researchers have noted that the Trojan is relatively harmless so far because it is not actively receiving instructions from the remote server it connects to. That could change at any time however, so be sure to keep your malware definitions up to date and watch for PDF files that seem to open randomly.

Users who do not have malware software can also try to check for this Trojan by opening Activity Monitor and hunting for a process labeled “checkvir“.  Note its location, stop it (using the Activity Monitor) and then attempt to delete it.

My opinion is that anyone running Mac should now be relying on some form of anti-malware software, such as Sophos Anti-Virus Free or iAntivirus. As OS X grows in popularity, threats targeted at it will only become more common.

Source & Image Credit: CNET