Fighting spyware (beyond antivirus)

June 13, 6:24 PMSF Computer Virus ExaminerLenny Bailes

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You might think installing a good antivirus program and firewall on a Windows PC means no more worry.  Your PC is now supposed to be immunized against catching a computer virus. But, unfortunately, there are an increasing number of Internet nuisances out there that can bypass those defenses. Spyware applications and spyware tracking cookies often skip right past the "behind the curve" antivirus program you inherit from the computer dealer when you buy a new Windows PC.

If you use a Mac, you might congratulate yourself for being immune to a number of hostile programs that mistake you for a Windows user. Bad stuff targeted for Windows just bounces harmlessly off your computer. But whether you use Windows or OSX, visiting a website in your web browser opens the door for a wide number of processes to access your computer. Mac users, before you get too overconfident check out this list of Macintosh keyloggers, trojan horses, and backdoor spyware.

There are more than 100,000 spyware programs currently circulating on the Internet. These include adware (which tracks your web browsing habits and opens extra windows with annoying popup ads), Trojan horses (which plant files on your hard disk that don't cause trouble until hackers activate them, through scripts on other websites), and keyloggers (that can record and broadcast the keystrokes you type in a web browser all over the Internet, allowing criminals to intercept passwords and credit card numbers).

The effects of spyware infestation first become visible when you open a familiar website and discover a series of annoying pop-up ad windows. (Some of the popup ads may offer to solve this problem by selling you an anti-spyware program from the company that initiated the attack!) If you set your web browser to visit Google and start seeing popup ads, you're infected! The Google website doesn't have any automatic popups. The general rule, which you may know by now, is: "never click on anything in a popup window you didn't open yourself," For additional safety in Windows, don't even click the X button in the corner to close the window!. Instead, terminate the web browser by accessing the Windows Task Manager (press CTRL+ALT+DEL or right-click in the Taskbar and choose "Task Manager" from the popup menu), Click the Applications tab, highlight the web browser process and click "End Task." On a Mac, you can terminate a web session by right-clicking the browser icon in the Dock and choosing "Force Quit."

The malware situation can worsen when you discover that your web browser no longer opens the homepage listed in your default Internet settings. (Malware is the generic term for all of the bad stuff: computer viruses, spyware, trojans, worms, etc.) You type the URL for Google or Yahoo and your web browser is automatically redirected to a page you've never heard of, such as "CoolWebSearch." Eventually, your web browser may stop connecting to the Internet, at all, or the PC may refuse to boot to the desktop. If this happens to you, of course, you'll want fast relief. The Internet is full of forums populated by people complaining of these problems and saintly would-be gurus trying to help people get rid of them. Unfortunately, the Internet is also populated by sham spyware removal companies and ads that promise you relief if you just download and run their products.

In upcoming articles, I'll take a look at some of the most popular antivirus, antispyware, and anti-malware products and give you my two cents worth on them. For now, if you're a Windows user and catch an infection, I'll point you to Malwarebytes Anti-malware. I think it's the current all-purpose champ. That may not last, once the hacker community learns how to target it.

Most antivirus programs will stop you from making typical boneheaded mistakes: downloading or opening infected e-mail attachments or installing infected programs. Some of the better products include additional "anti-malware" protection that stops you from getting infected when you click on an infected picture or song lyric link. (Yes, you can sabotage your PC just by being stubbornly determined to know the lyrics of a Phish song.) As you may already have sussed out, there's an ongoing race on the Internet between the "white hats" and the "black hats." The best anti-malware applications protect PCs from as much stuff as their programmers are aware of. But, unfortunately, new bad stuff shows up on the Internet every day.

The good news for San Francisco city dwellers is that if you "click wrong" and get your computer infected, a number of neighborhood repair clinics may also be able to purge the bad spirits from your PC at reasonable rates. But the even-better news is that if you read this Examiner page regularly, you'll learn some simple techniques to avoid bad computer ju-ju on your own. In my next column, I'll show you how to configure Windows web browsers to block bad new stuff before the AV companies release their updates for it!