Warning: This entry is long, dry, and geeky. It's also important. Please read it.
Most of my computer work lately has been helping users cope with malicious programs they've inadvertently installed on their machines. This "malware" includes not only viruses and worms — with which we're all familiar — but especially spyware and adware, the latest scourges of the internet. (To my mind, malware also includes pop-up ads and e-mail spam and their ilk.)
This entry is a primer on how to cope with malware.
What is Malware?
I'm sure there's some specific technical definition available, but for our purposes I'm defining malware as any computer program which you did not explicitly give permission to be installed on your computer and/or which performs actions detrimental to your best interest.
Most malware installs itself automatically, without your permission. Viruses and worms are obvious examples of this. Nobody intentionally installs a virus.
However, users do inadvertently install worms and viruses (and adware and spyware). Even "power users" inadvertently plant malicious programs on their computers. Thus, any program that does not act in your best interest must also be classified as malware. Bonzi Buddy may seem like a fun idea, but its primary purpose is to harvest information about you so that websites can better target their advertising. Bonzi Buddy is malware.
(Note: all links in this entry were safe at the time of posting. For example, the Bonzi Buddy link leads to an article about the program, not to the program itself.)
Who is Susceptible to Malware?
The short answer is: everyone is susceptible to malware.
The somewhat longer answer is: while all computer users are susceptible to malware, there is a specific population of computer users that is at much greater risk. Which population is that? Users of Microsoft Windows are at high risk for malware. Furthermore, users of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook are subject to additional risk.
Linux and Macintosh users would like you to believe that their operating systems and applications are inherently more secure than those produced by Microsoft. Perhaps this is true. However, it seems more likely that the problem is that Microsoft is a huge target, and that its applications and operating systems are subject to attack because more people are affected when an attack succeeds.
About 95% of all computers are running a version of Windows. About 95% of these computers feature Internet Explorer as their primary web browser. (Though, amazingly, recent security issues have caused IE's market share to actually decline.) A slightly smaller — but still huge — percentage use a version of Outlook to read e-mail.
Microsoft products are more prone to malware attacks because they are widely used. Find a security hole in Windows and you can affect 95% of the computers in the world. Find a security hole in Linux and you can affect less than one percent. If you're a hacker, which are you going to choose?
(Here are some other, slightly different, market share numbers.)
Preventing Malware
What, then, can be done to avoid spyware, adware, viruses, and worms? The single best defense is to make yourself less of a target.
An extreme solution is to abandon Microsoft Windows for another operating system. Have a geeky friend install Linux for you. Buy a Macintosh. From experience, I can tell you that malware problems on these platforms are rare.
(I've been using Macs regularly for fifteen years and I have never had a problem with malware. Mac viruses were common, but innocuous, in the late eighties and early nineties when the Mac had a larger share of the market, but I've not encountered a single Mac virus in the past decade. I have no problem with adware or spyware on a Mac. The default Mac browser automatically smashes pop-up ads. (Only one reason it's my favorite browser.))
If you're not willing or able to change your operating system, the next best solution is to change the applications that you're using.
Yes, I know that you're accustomed to Internet Explorer, and I know that you like the features of Outlook, but there are several worthwhile alternatives. And I know that you feel inept at computer stuff, are scared to install something on your own — but that's why you had children, right? Ask a kid or a friend to install alternate applications for you. I guarantee they'd be happy to do it.
For a number of reasons, Internet Explorer is the worst possible browser choice you can make: it's slow, it's a memory hog, it's not standards-compliant (meaning it doesn't display pages properly), it's insecure, it's buggy, etc.
On the Macintosh, my web browser is Safari. I love it. On Windows, the closest thing to Safari is Firefox. I've been using it as my default Windows browser for several months. While it, too, is sluggish (and a bit buggy), and its bookmarking system is annoying, Firefox offers a number of improvements over Internet Explorer. I recommend it. (There are other browsers you might like to try, too: Opera, Mozilla, Netscape. Any of these is better than Internet Explorer.)
I know many of you love Microsoft Outlook (or Outlook Express). And if you're attached to Outlook's calendar features, I can't recommend a good alternative. However, if you're simply looking for an e-mail client (program), then there are many alternatives.
Eudora is a solid program, with many features, and it enjoys a respectable market share. However, some users can be overwhelmed by the number of options, and Eudora's default spam-filtering is pathetic. (Though not as pathetic as Outlook's.)
Yesterday, in a fit of whimsy, I installed Thunderbird, an e-mail client from the same people who produced Firefox. I'm not a fan of Thunderbird's interface (yet), but I do like that it has a number of options without being overwhelming, and it has a decent built-in spamfilter.
Aside from changing operating systems, or changing applications, you can prevent malware by installing certain programs that protect your computer. The most obvious of these is some sort of anti-virus protection. Keep your virus definitions up-to-date.
You can also install certain programs that attempt to prevent adware and spyware from being installed on your system. Tonight, while setting up two new computers for a client, the first thing I did was install Spyware Blaster in an attempt to thwart most common spyware problems. It's not a perfect fix, but it's a good initial level of protection.
If you insist on using Internet Explorer, at the very least install the very useful Google Toolbar. Not only does it allow you to search Google from the menu bar, it also has an option to block popup ads. There's no reason not to install it if you're running Internet Explorer.
Removing Malware
You're running Internet Explorer and Outlook on Windows. You didn't take any of the above preventative measures because you didn't know they were needed. Now your browser is spouting a half-dozen popup ads every time you try to go to a new page. Your home page has been reset to a porn site and you can't change it. Your computer has slowed to a crawl. You're in trouble, and you need help now.
What do you do?
The safest — and most extreme — thing you can do is to completely reinstall your operating system. I don't recommend this (unless you're unable to fix the problem through some other method). (And unless you know a lot about computers, I don't recommend re-installing the operating system yourself. Back up all of your data, and then have a geeky friend do it for you.)
The two best tools I've found to combat a spyware problem are Adaware, Spybot Search and Destroy. These two tools &mdash best used in the order I've listed — can find and remove most spyware threats. Neither of them finds everything. Together, they find most problems. Download them. Update them. Run them.
(A third, though limited, program is CWShredder, which targets a specific spyware threat from CoolWebSearch.)
Note that it's best to have the above programs installed before you are attacked by malware. It's very difficult to actually get them downloaded once you're under attack. You may have to download them on another computer, and then transfer them to yours via a CD. So even if you aren't affected, download them now as a preventative measure!
Final Thoughts
Even careful users can encounter problems, especially on high-speed connections. I'm anal-retentive about spyware and spam, and even I've been affected. (I once browsed to a site looking for a walk-through for a computer game. Before I knew it, the site had downloaded a half-dozen spyware programs. I never was able to remove them all, so I re-installed the operating system. That computer gives me trouble to this day...) But care can reduce your risk, and the severity of a problem when it occurs.
Unfortunately, there's currently no one program that removes all malware. In fact, a thorough cleaning takes several programs. Instead, we settle for "good enough", and remove what we can. When you've fixed your problem, consider alternate applications. Reduce your dependency on Microsoft.
Finally, remember NEVER to respond to a piece of spam for any reason, especially not to buy what they're offering. If you buy something from a piece of unsolicited commercial e-mail, you are part of the problem. You have no right to complain about any of these spam, spyware, viruses, or any other form of malware.
On this day at foldedspace.org
2005 — Drunken Idiots and Spring Sprout The neighbors behind us have a drunken party that rages through a week night. Also, Kris has a paint emergency.
2003 — Clamdiggers In which I hunt for bivalves.
2002 — When Standards Aren't: A Rant Let me get this off my chest: among the many evils perpetrated in the name of standards -- in particular, CSS standards -- coding a page in ems instead of absolute font sizes is one of the worst.
Re: reliance on Internet Explorer
I've been using Firefox since the release of 0.9.1 and have been liking it. I'd very much like to get away from IE as my browser and have in the past tried Netscape and Opera as well, but keep going back to IE because the sites I want to use virtually FORCE me to do so!
If I want to use the web interface for Flexcar, they insist I use IE. If I want to order grocery delivery from Safeway I can't complete my order if I use another browser. If I'm simply browsing, most sites will at least load correctly, but the real functionality of the web is hamstrung by businesses that willingly cater to the Microsoft stranglehold.
Under these circumstances, business shares part of the blame for the insecurities of the web.
(I realize this rant is only tangentally related to your post. I blame it on insomnia.)