BBC Watchdog last night

[Val_2]

Scared us to death with all the revelations about how even just turning on your internet connection can give instant access to the Russian gangs stealing people's identities,photos and financial details. Seems there is nothing to stop them unless you are a computer scientist daily updating your protection,to the rest of us who innocently use our PC's we have no control apparently over who can get into it. Anyone else see this programme?

[Baz]

Val, yes I watched it and agree with your comments. It was very worrying to hear that protecting your computer against criminals stealing your information is very difficult  as they can get passed most if not all of the best protection software and firewalls available todate. The only good news was that the Banks would refund any money stolen but this is of small comfort if they steal your identity.

Baz

[Alex H]

"as they can get passed most if not all of the best protection software and firewalls available todate. "

If that were true, then they would attack the banks not someones PC

[Val_2]

I don't post on Anglo Info anymore but read it for the amusement at some of the stupid threads on there and today there is one poor chap who has been hacked into,his jersey bank account emptied and £20K debt run up on his credit rating all because of the internet and someone stealing his details. Luckily his bank have agreed to cover the theft etc.

[Alex H]

"someone stealing his details"

I don't suppose we know how they were stolen?

Did he have a personal firewall on his PC?

Did he have anti-virus software running?

Does he open up every SPAM special offer he is sent?

Does he have adware killer software on his PC and use it ?

Does he download 'free' games from 'strange' websites?

I know we shouldn't have to learn about PCs just because we use the internet, but it is advisable to know what protection you should take, after all its your money.

[Baz]

[quote]"as they can get passed most if not all of the best protection software and firewalls available todate. "If that were true, then they would attack the banks not someones PC[/quote]

Alex, in trying to keep my response short, I should have stated that the programme was dealing with PC's and the current software to be effective has to be regulary updated. In fact they stated "At the moment around half the broadband users in the UK don't have adequate firewall or virus protection and up to a third of PCs in the UK have been infected at any one time."

For more details on last nights watchdog report see:http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/reports/home/home_20051024.shtml

In the case of Financial Institutions if they had been attacked, I hardly think they would want to broadcast it. We only know too well that the Banks are changing their security measures often on their internet banking accounts due to breaches of security.

Baz

[Alex H]

Baz

Yes I believe the stats. The man in the street thinks he can just buy a PC and connect it to the internet and he's sorted.

Unfortunately the places that usually sell these products do nothing to clue up the clueless as to what they should be doing.

Fortunately, high take up of broadband will actually improve the situation. More PCs will be sold - the majority of which will have XP installed which is far better security wise (at default settings) than M$ has ever produced (of course with the extra service packs etc etc !!)

[Will]

Before anybody gets paranoid BBC Watchdog does have a tendency to sensationalise. I know, I've been on it (but that's another story).

Although the criminals are, by definition, one jump ahead of those writing security programs, I still feel that a good PC security package is a very worthwhile investment. I wonder if the banks will be all that ready to cover people's losses if their PCs are not properly protected?

Broadband, being an always-on connection, can have disadvantages too from a security viewpoint.

[David M]

I think it’s a question of understanding and evaluating the threat and your own vulnerability and then just modifying your behaviour accordingly. We’ve all learned to keep our eye on our wallets and purses in crowded streets for example. I have been a victim of identity theft twice in the last 20 years, I’m much more savvy now. But in both cases I was uniquely placed to serve a particular need, l wasn’t a random choice.

 

But you do need to be sensible about connecting your computer to the internet – I mean you wouldn’t let a child out on the street without teaching them at least some rudiments of road safety. Using computers is really no different – you put yourself at varying levels of risk and its simply a matter of learning to manage risks just as you would shopping in a busy city street.

 

But be aware, you are at risk.  A couple of months or so ago, I was flying home from Dublin. The flight was late and I took the opportunity to test out just how many people were using laptops in the departure lounge and how many were secure.

 

There were 4, 3 men and a woman. I could have told you their names, addresses, nationality, age, employer, name of spouse or partner, and what they were dong tomorrow. In one case, I could even have stolen his ferry e-ticket. And yes they were all using Windows XP. And for ADSL users there are other vulnerabilities where there is a small risk that the processing ability of your computer can be stolen  -to process spam for example.

 

But the answer is simple, though it does take a little money and a little application. but nothing too technical or overcomplicated.  You need to get an all-in-one security application. One that will help defend you against virus attack, spam, other malicious code or malware and intrusion.  I use something called F-Secure Client Security. Updating it each year gives me continual antivirus updates but the security part would continue to work even if I didn’t update my sub. When you install it, it will stop all network traffic except internet browsing, Then each time your computer tries to do something new there will be a pop-up asking if you want to allow this (either this time, or every time). That’s, how you create and configure new firewall rules. It’s very straight forward but you may need to take time to understand what it’s doing. Now F-secure client security is easy to use, but it is a professionals product so your retailer may never here heard of it. But they may be familiar with similar products from other vendors. Providing you are prepared to spend a little time reading the manuals these products will become transparent in use  –but you will be protected

 

Regards, David

[Eslier]

I couldn't agree more with what David has just said. There is no need to be alarmist about internet security providing you are taking sensible precautions.

What I don't understand is that there is plenty of advice available to people about using good firewall and virus protection and yet there are still many who choose to ignore this advice or seem to think that something you download for free is going to be as good as something tried and tested that you pay for. Purchasing your security software is the most important thing you should do once you have bought the computer.

A few simple guidlines are:

FIREWALL: don't rely on the Windows-XP firewall, it is far to easy for hackers to get past this.

BROWSER: Internet Explorer is notorius for being insecure. Consider trying one of the, now readily available, alternatives. I use Mozilla Firefox and found it simple to use after IE and much faster.

PASSWORDS: Never check the boxes that ask if you want your computer to remember passwords or log-in details for things like bank accounts etc.

FIREWALL & ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE: Buy good commercial internet security protection for your computer such as Norton or McAffee (the two best known and both about the same price). This should include both Personal Firewall and Antivirus protection. Enable the automatic updates option, which will download new virus definitions etc. and make sure you regularly check for any software updates using the live update function. DON'T rely upon free download antivirus software as it won't give you the same level of protection. Also, read the instructions as David has pointed out so you know what to do when an alert is raised.

SPYWARE / MALWARE ETC. This is something you can get for free. Download something like ADAWARE-SE which will scan your system for malware spyware and adware. Delete anything it finds. Scan your system on a regular basis.

COOKIES Delete all your cookies on a regular basis and start again.

[Mpprh]

Hi

It is worth looking at this site http://www.mercury.org.uk/page3.htm .

It is a site devoted to online security with links to many free downloads.

Peter

 

[Opel Fruit<P><BR>Opel Fruit, Dept. 53<P>]

Try this to see who might get access to your PC

http://www.grc.com/default.htm

Click "Shields Up" then "Proceed"

Click "All Service Ports"

Frighten yourself with port 443

[Alex H]

Great Site Opel Fruit !!!

Worth a look even for those in the know

[Cat]

Fantastic Opel Fruit!

Running a firewall, Spybot, HijackThis and anti-virus software I thought I was as secure as Fort Knox.  Just shows how wrong you can be, as the scan showed that my PC was responding to pings (even though I had specifically disallowed this in the advanced settings for Microsoft Windows Firewall)!

I had no idea that the default firewall settings allowed incoming ping requests if TCP port 445 was enabled.

Needless to say I've now disabled it.  I've just run the tests again, and achieved a perfect rating

Seems you can still teach an old dog new tricks, thank you!

[Iceni]

Thanks for this Old Fruit. Just ran a check and we are all green but I won't tell Di or she will be more unbearable than usual. It is her job after all - keeping the machine clean I mean, not being unbearable.

John

not

[bigjimbishop]

Many of my friends have got ADSL recently and have all been using Norton and McAfee, neither of which have defended them from attack.

I tried both for the last 2 years and suffered constant virus problems.

Zonealarm works for everyone round here and passes the Sheilds Up test 100%

Mozilla, Adaware, Spybot all help greatly

Don't use Norton!!!!! It's pants

Always has been

[Ron Avery]

[quote]Try this to see who might get access to your PC http://www.grc.com/default.htm Click "Shields Up" then "Proceed" Click "All Service Ports" Frighten yourself with port 443[/quote]

Frighten yourself with port 443?

No, because I can tell when a site is trying to "frighten" people into buying their software.  Think about what these sites are and why they are in business? They are no better than rogue burglar alarm salesmen frightening old ladies with tales of break-ins in the next street. They know that you cannot function on the internet without having some of your security settings at low or medium, if all were set to "Max" you could access little and most of your E-mails would be blocked as " suspicious" so all they do is tell you that you are at risk because you do not have "Maximum" security which is impossible to achieve and want 50€ to do so.

This sort of software gives you no more protection than your ISP and a good firewall does, no system provides 100% protection, there is always the first victim of a new virus out there, but if you follow the recommendations of your internet security system, do not remove "allow" all sites, which some people do, and run something like Evido or Skybot from time to time,  you will be 99% safe from infection by a virus or trojan.

You are more likely to have credit card details stolen by a waitress at a restaurant in Manchester than on the internet.

[la bezarderie]

I 100% agree with Ron's comment.  Received an e-mail purporting to be from Microsoft offering to check for security breaches.  Clicked yes in an unguarded moment and found it was another company entirely purporting to check system.  It bxxxxxxxxd up everything on my p.c. and took all day to get rid of.  Once I thought of using system restore it went but itwas very irritating.

I've never had a problem purchasing from household name companies on the Internet but would be very wary of e-bay.

[Davies]

Yes, I would go along with Ron too, It's interesting that the experts who appear on these programmes usually have an axe to grind. Even the chap who wrote on on another forum the day after the Watchdog programme, saying that he'd just had his account (plus £20000) emptied, mentioned a preventive program in his post (clearly, it didn't work for him!).

 My slant on this is; take the normal precautions, that is firewall, virus checker,-be suspicious of emails but don't let it prevent you from using the internet as a useful tool.

 

[Deimos]

Whilst computer security is important I would be sceptical about anything presented on Watchdog. The program requires their reports to be “dramatic” and in the case of computers it would be pretty easy for them to find “experts” who will provide them with the necessary “unbalanced” views.

I agree with all the posts about firewalls, anti-virus, mail attachments, spy-ware, etc. but I would not treat Watchdog as an authoritative source for anything.

(As an aside, some time ago I saw “the culprit” being interviewed by Nicky ? and he was standing up for himself. Every time Nicky ? was doing his “but you …” this guy had a quite reasonable answer. “The Culprit” stayed calm, gave his relevant and reasonable responses, yet Nicky was being loud, unruly and losing on every footing. Nicky ? then stopped the interview walked away and said something alonmg the lines of “well there you have it, not a company to do business with …” – yet seemed to me that Watchdog had a non-stor and lost all their arguments against this organisation !!!)

Ian

[Fritz]

Too right. He's a twock but one almost feels sorry for him as he gets his usual humiliation each week at the hands of some arch-criminal or other. And what sort of a name is Nicky, for a bloke?

[Jc]

If you get software for free,what do you expect? Ask yourself,why is it free?.Nobody gives away something for nothing.