Defence tips

[highrisemech]

Most of you probably know this but.....
If your ever sent a pic from someone on the net and it has the .exe file extension don't open it! You can bet your bottom dollar it will contain a trojan.
Look for the common file extensions like
TIf
Jpg
Bmp
are safe but not both like Bmp.exe, jpg.exe (ect....)

Trojans usually arrive in the exe format. They can also be hidden in games that are sent from friends and downloaded from the net.
These files should be scanned with a couple of virus scanners before being ran.
The most unsavory characters out there to put it mildly will try and use the latest trojan programs out to avoid detection this is why it is important to use updated virus detection software.

A good firewall and virus detection software is the first line of defence.
Also if you have file sharing enabled these should be password protected, try to make these files read only whenever possible.

Unfortunatly my time is limited I'll try to post more here when I can...:rolleyes:

[highrisemech]

Well now that I have your attention.
I'll give you a small taste of what one of these bugs can do.

You ever go to a secure site with 128 bit encryption, youthink it is safe? Well it is unless you have a trojan on your computer.
You enter your password, you think it is safe because you can't even see it. Wrong this bug has a keystroke recorder and sends back to the would be intruder your every keystroke. So now your thinking your still safe because he/she doesn't know which web site your at. Wrong again because this little bug has just sent back a screen shot of the site you were just at. Get my drift? Furthermore some of the more advanced trojans can acess your web cam and microphone effectivly bugging you in your own home. And believe me this is only a small sample of what they can do. This is why it is important to scan your system with at least two updated virus packages.

This is not meant to scare anyone. This is only small demonstration to help you from having your system compromised.
Like anything else knowledge is power and it is your best defence on the internet.

[glc]

I strongly recommend that in your folder view options, you UNcheck "hide file extensions for known file types" - this will let you SEE a file named "filename.jpg.exe" as exactly that instead of "filename.jpg". Windows default is to hide them, and it's my opinion that M$ is making a big mistake doing this since Win95 - they also hide system and hidden files by default.

[morriswindgate]

Fully agree with you GLC, the very first thing that I do after loading windows is uncheck hide file extensions and check show hidden files.
Also I urge people who download a lot of files to scan the folder with their anti virus before ever opening or playing the file. For heavy duty downloaders a program such as Getright will automatically have the AV scan the downloaded file.