Cape Cod Times, MA - Apr 28, 2008
The only way to win a battle with malware is not to be infected.

Anti-virus, anti-phishing, even the multi-function security applications and the best firewall cannot completely protect you from malware. In most cases, by the time the definition file for your security program contains the information needed to detect a given malware program it is already so old that it is not in common use. The following precautions, while not guaranteeing safety from malware, will lessen the likelihood of infection — but only if you are scrupulous in maintaining a constant awareness and practice good surfing security.

System utilities and add-ons: Anti-virus and anti-phishing tools are the obvious place to start, not because they can detect the malware but rather because they can detect the delivery system used to infect your computer with malware, effectively stopping the infection before it happens. This will work best if you regularly update the definition files for your programs and run them on a daily basis. Activate e-mail-scanning for anti-virus and anti-phishing programs.

Buff-up your web browser: Giving your web browser the ability to warn you if you are about to go someplace that you shouldn’t is a very good idea, and McAfee’s Site Advisor is an excellent place to start. Site Advisor (www.siteadvisor.com) is free, easy to obtain, and once installed provides a simple color-based warning system whenever you do a Web search.

For Microsoft Internet Explorer: Go into the settings menu and lock all active content from adservers via the “Restricted Sites” zone to help limit auto-loading of disguised binary files. Prohibit JavaScript across the board as well as file downloads in the Internet Zone to plug up the larger threat. This is inconvenient, but you can then go in and configure on an individual basis to allow JavaScript or to download from sites you implicitly trust. Finally, as an added point of warning, install a download manager and configure it to ask for permission to start a Web download.

For Mozilla Firefox: In addition to disabling JavaScript and automatic downloads and installing Site Advisor, you will want to visit the Firefox Add-On Library and install NoScript, a web utility created specifically for Firefox that is constantly updated by its author and that will prevent hostile scripts from running. NoScript comes with an easy to use authorization button so that you can re-enable scripting on sites that you trust.

Safe surfing: The final tool in your anti-malware arsenal is you — adopting and practicing a personal policy of safe surfing on the Internet. A place to start is to avoid sites you do not know. If you have a PC and a notebook computer, you might want to consider restricting the use of one of these to your more sensitive transactions such as online bill paying, eBay, and gaming, and do all of your web surfing on the other.

The price of safety in our online world is eternal vigilance. Don’t store unnecessary and sensitive data on your hard drive, use a thumb drive and keep it safe. Pay attention to what’s happening on your computer and don’t take unnecessary risks. Remember, safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.

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