Antivirus Software

About 711 days ago Antivirus Software | Business Software | Computer Security | Spyware and Malware

Consumers Choose Free Over Paid Antivirus Protection

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Would you prefer to pay for software, or would you select a free option if it was virtually as good? No, this isn’t a trick question. It’s the choice consumers must actually consider when deciding which antivirus software to install. Back in November, PC World tested the top brands of free and paid antivirus software, and found there was very little difference between them when it came to blocking bad stuff. Free options tested “ever-so-slightly worse,” catching 95.7 percent of sample infections, compared to 96.2 percent for the pay varieties. READ MORE »

About 745 days ago Antivirus Software | Network Security | Spyware and Malware

New DIY Malware Targets Mac OSX

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If your company uses Windows, you’ve probably been irked more than once by the smugness with which Mac users brag that they don’t have to worry about viruses or other malware. Same goes for Linux users. Turns out they’re both wrong. The Danish security firm CSIS has discovered a new do-it-yourself malware kit targeted specifically at Mac OSX being sold quietly in underground forums under the name Weyland-Yutani BOT. READ MORE »

About 1449 days ago Antivirus Software

Be Very Afraid of Scareware

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CRITICAL ERROR MESSAGE! REGISTRY DAMAGED AND CORRUPTED! Confronted with a message like this, most computer users feel compelled to take urgent action. Fortunately, instructions for what to do are right in front of them: click on a box to scan the computer. Once the scan is complete, and dozens of infections have been identified, they must go to a security website and pay $49.99 to download software that will remove the infections and safeguard their systems. “A lot of people feel that is $49.99 well spent,” notes Paul Ducklin, head of technology, Asia Pacific, for the security firm Sophos. “They don’t realize they’ve been fleeced.” At best, the downloaded software will have done nothing. At worst, it could conceivably be malware that could steal financial and password information, or cause the computer to distribute spam. The user has been the victim of “scareware” — bogus security software that pretends to find infections and then pretends to remove it after the user has paid for a license. Scareware is a rapidly growing problem. “Approximately five to 50 new samples of scareware are turning up every day,” Ducklin says. There’s a good reason for scareware’s rapid growth: It’s the easiest way for criminals to make money on the Internet, with millions of frightened computer users paying to download the stuff every month. For obvious reasons, it’s hard to get precise information about exactly how much money scareware scares out of users. But by most estimates, scareware is a billion-dollar industry. Sophisticated deception One reason scareware is so lucrative is that much of it uses very sophisticated techniques to fool users. Many scareware warnings reference security threats in the news (such as the Conficker worm), or display the four-color shield logo of the Microsoft Windows Security Center. “The design is almost identical to Windows, so it all looks very inviting and non-threatening,” says Dennis Fisher, editor of threatpost, Kaspersky Lab’s security news site. If users click to accept the scan, a realistic-looking animation will run, showing filenames flying by, much as they would during a real antivirus scan operation. Once the scan is complete the software will report on the viruses it found. “Scareware often promises to find viruses other products miss,” Ducklin explains. “So, to really scare you, it’ll report on all sorts of exotic viruses that infect mobile phones, or unusual applications you probably don’t have installed. If you research them on bona fide websites, you’ll find they are listed as legitimate threats.” The result of all this sophistication is that most people are deceived. And if you think your company’s users are different, consider this: In a recent experiment at North Carolina State University, 63 percent of participants were fooled into clicking on scareware — even though they’d been warned that some messages they saw would be fakes. Protecting users Given these figures, it’s smart to assume your company’s users are as likely to be sucked in by scareware as everyone else. Here are three steps that can help keep your computers scareware-free: Make sure security is up-to-date, and consider blocking all pop-ups. Generally, there’s no reason to accept any kind of pop-up advertising, Fisher says. “Even if there’s no malware link in the pop-up, it could be sending users to sites you don’t want,” he says. A pop-up blocker can always be overridden if necessary. Consider website filtering. “It can help to get some Web filtering software or appliance,” Ducklin says. “It will pre-filter websites your users are visiting, and analyzing the content coming in from them. That way, if a user does fall for the trick, and tries to visit a bad site, you can head it off.” Make sure users know what not to do. Education is your best tool in fighting scareware. Begin by making sure users know what brand of security software your company is using, and that no other security software should run on company-owned equipment. Next, make sure they know that if a pop-up or balloon appears, they should not click anywhere on it. “Don’t touch it!” warns David Bateman, who leads the Internet Safety Group at K&L Gates, a law firm representing Microsoft in its joint lawsuits with Washington state against eight scareware purveyors. “Even if you think you’re clicking the X button to close the window, sometimes those are fake and will begin a download. But nothing can download without the user taking some action.” Instead, users should either use control-alt-delete to close the window from the Windows Task Manager, or call for IT assistance. What if the balloon is a legitimate Windows Security Center warning? “If you need to run security software, open the Control Panel, go to the Windows Security Center, and run it from there,” Bateman advises. “That way, you’re safe.”

About 1692 days ago Antivirus Software

Network Defense: Intrusion Prevention Systems

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Here’s a quick network security quiz: When it comes to detecting and stopping IT threats, is it better to position intrusion prevention systems: On the network At particularly important devices on the network All of the above For small businesses, the correct answer is “All of the above,” according to IT security specialists, who say more small businesses are figuring that out and installing IPS accordingly. Network intrusion prevention systems (IPS) are hardware appliances that sit on a company’s intranet to inspect incoming Internet traffic and block anything malicious, be it a worm, virus, or spyware. IPS can also block attacks that originate inside an intranet. IPS complements firewalls, anti-virus software, and other security measures small businesses take to keep their networks safe, says Elisa Lippincott, a spokeswoman for TippingPoint, an Austin, Texas, IPS maker. “We have some customers using our box to protect their firewall,” Lippincott says. By contrast, host IPS works at the device level, doing its job from inside a server, desktop or other machine attached to a network. Although large companies have long relied on IPS for network security, more small businesses are starting to use it. They’re being propelled by technical upgrades that prevent the false alarms that previously dogged the appliances, as well as other improvements, such as behavior-based IPS that looks for traffic patterns that could signal an attack, according to security industry sources. Small and mid-sized businesses are also being pushed to using IPS by industry regulations that require it, such as the PCI Security Standards Council’s Data Security Standard, security measures any company that processes credit card payments have to follow, according to security industry sources. An updated version of the council’s standard is expected to debut this month. “We’ve seen tremendous interest down market driven by PCI” standards, says Michele Perry, chief marketing officer at Sourcefire, a Columbia, Md., network IPS vendor. Depending on the size of the business, small companies either buy and set up IPS themselves, or subscribe to it as an add on from their firewall vendor. They can also purchase it from a regional or national managed security services provider (MSSP) such as or  Clone Systems, or from a business broadband carrier such as Verizon Business. Network IPS and host IPS Which ever way they go, small businesses should consider using both network and host IPS. Network IPS should come first because it casts the widest net, says Greg Young, research vice president with Gartner, the Stamford, Conn., technology researcher. With network IPS, if a virus is detected, the system will block traffic long enough to allow IT staff to make sure anti-virus software is up-to-date on individual workstations, says Lippincott, the TippingPoint spokeswoman. Another advantage of network IPS: since it’s installed on the network it doesn’t slow down individual devices’ computing speed the way host-based IPS could, Lippincott says. However, host IPS is a smart option for machines where critical information is stored, or for devices that have to reside outside a company’s firewall, such as servers used to handle online credit-card transactions. Host IPS is the only way to protect devices like laptops that leave the network, says Sean Martin, a vice president at SkyRecon Systems, a French maker of host IPS solutions. Host IPS also makes sense in situations where a company can’t put new devices on a network but can change what’s on a server, Gartner’s Young says. But put it on the network first, he says. “Threats come through the network first so stop them there first.” IPS prices range from free open source products such as Snort, which has been downloaded 3 million times, to tens of thousands of dollars for applications for mid-sized businesses running multiple Internet traffic-intensive applications for hundreds of users. Or companies can pay by the month or annually for IPS from a MSSP or other third party. Whether it’s network-based or host-based, small businesses need IPS, maybe even more than larger companies, Young says. “Worms don’t discriminate.” Sidebar: Intrusion Prevention Systems for Small Businesses The following vendors offer network or host IPS for small businesses as stand-alone products or part of a multifunction security solution: Check Point Software Technologies — The UTM-1 product line includes firewall, VPN, IPS, gateway antivirus, anti-spam, URL filtering, and IM and peer-to-peer blocking and is marketed primarily to the top end of mid-sized companies and branch offices of large companies. Cisco ASA Advanced Inspection and Prevention Module — An IPS hardware appliance for Cisco routers. According to Gartner’s June 2008 report on multifunction firewalls for small and mid-sized businesses, Cisco has struggled to adapt enterprise-scale hardware to small businesses, but the report says a long-term road map for an improved small business console “is encouraging.” Fortinet — A multifunction firewall appliance with antivirus, anti-spam, URL filtering, and IPS services offered by annual subscription after the first year. Secure Computing SnapGear — A multifunction network security device for small and mid-sized businesses. In late September, Secure Computing agreed to merge with McAfee, which offers the McAfee Network Security Platform. http://www.skyrecon.com/>SkyRecon Systems — Offers host IPS as part of a unified endpoint security solution. SonicWall — The multifunction network device maker offers IPS as an add-on to its TZ series for small and mid-sized businesses. Sourcefire — The commercial version of a pioneering open-source network IPS created by programmer Martin Roesch in 1998. “Snort is the engine and Sourcefire is the whole car put together,” says Perry, Sourcefire’s chief marketing officer. TippingPoint — Offers a behavior-based network IPS hardware appliance. WatchGuard Technologies — Offers a subscription antivirus, IPS service for its X Core E-Series multifunction network security devices for small and mid-sized businesses.

About 1784 days ago Antivirus Software

Virus Attack: What to Do on Zero Day

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The words “zero day” strike fear into the hearts of most IT security professionals. The phrase refers to the first day that a new malware (such as a virus or worm) or intrusion vulnerability makes its appearance. Since traditional antivirus software works by identifying and protecting against known threats, it offers no protection against an attack that has never been seen before. What can you do to keep your systems safe from a brand-new threat? While there is no way to guarantee your company will never suffer a zero-day attack, there are steps you can take in advance to cut that risk to a minimum. And if it does happen, there are ways to minimize the damage. Before zero day Keep security up to date. “Keeping your network up to date and following security best practices could prevent exploitation of a zero-day vulnerability,” says Russell Smoak, director of technical support, Cisco Systems, Inc. And of course, if a virus or threat gets through because your security software wasn’t up to date, the effect can be just as bad as a zero day attack. Christian Chase, CFO and managing partner of Everything Tradeshows learned this the hard way when he deliberately turned off updates because they were causing errors in some computers. “It was silly of me,” he says. “All of a sudden, things started going down and down and down. Our accounting system was corrupt. As it turned out, we had 14 viruses.” Fortunately, Everything Tradeshows had backups in place, so the company only lost three days of data. Now, Chase is something of a poster boy for security best practices. In addition to having a firewall and keeping up to date on all definitions and patches, the company has its IT provider do a one-hour review each month to make sure there are no known vulnerabilities. It also maintains a blacklist of websites where users are not allowed to browse. “I’ve learned there’s always a way in,” he says. “So you have to arm yourself with the best fort available.” Keep an eye on your systems.  Your best chance of spotting a zero-day attack early is to make sure your system activity is constantly monitored, either by your own staff or an IT outsourcer. “A traffic spike, or a sudden increase in unusual error messages could all be signals of a zero-day attack,” notes Joe Dallatore, senior manager in technical support at Cisco. Keep an eye on security news. Security providers and the tech media always put the word out as fast as they can when a zero day event is detected. So staying on top of this information can help you stop a new threat before it does you any harm. Make sure that either you or your IT provider is monitoring security threat information and is ready to respond if an application you depend on is known to have new security issues. Make sure you have host intrusion protection. HIPS or host intrusion protection software can actually stop a zero-day attack because it does not rely on lists of definitions or signatures to block viruses. Instead, it identifies a threat by analyzing its behavior in your system, and uses rules-based monitoring to prevent such intruders from making unwanted changes. “Host intrusion prevention used to be very costly, but now it’s included in many of the large providers’ security suites,” says Adam Hils, a primary research analyst focusing on the small and mid-sized business market at Gartner. He recommends reviewing security contracts with a view to making sure you have this protection. “And it should be turned on as the default setting,” he says. If HIPS is turned off as the default, that may indicate the company is aware of compatibility issues that you need to know about, too. On zero day Execute your plan. Well in advance of zero day, you and your IT team will have created a response plan for security attacks. Once you suspect an attack is underway, it’s time to put your plan into action. The specifics of your plan will depend on your company’s “CIA” priorities — meaning whether confidentiality, integrity, or availability is most important for your data. “If confidentiality is paramount, disconnecting from the Internet might be your first step,” Dallatore says. “If availability is most important, it might not be.” If the plan calls for disconnecting from the Internet, and perhaps cutting off your ecommerce, some of your company’s executives are likely to object, and these issues must be addressed ahead of time, Smoak adds. “The group executing the plan must have the authority to take these measures.” Contact your security provider. Letting your IT outsourcer and/or security software company know what’s going on should be an early step in any plan. Their representatives will be able to tell you whether what you have on your hands is a known threat or a genuine zero day event. In order to find out, however, they will need detailed information about what’s been happening in your systems. Thus, it’s important to have good log management in place, so that they can review your log information quickly and easily. (For more on log management, see previous article.) “Once you communicate that you’re under attack, the security provider will either say, ‘Yes, we know about that, here’s a patch,’ or ‘No, we’ve never heard of that before,” Hils says. If it’s the latter, sharing your information may help save others from suffering through zero day.

About 1784 days ago Antivirus Software

Is Security Software Choking Your System?

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Are your desktop systems feeling sluggish? There might be more than slow hardware or spyware at fault — it may just be your security software. “Generally, users will experience a twenty percent decrease in performance, just from having Norton or McAfee Antivirus installed on their desktops,” says Perri Naccarato, owner of The Computer Guys, a computer service and repair shop in Saugerties, N.Y. “And that’s not taking into account any other security software you may also be running.” Naccarato believes that for all but the smallest businesses, it makes more sense to take a unified threat management (UTM) approach, placing the security on the network, and off the individual desktops. The constantly increasing need for more and better security on all workstations is a problem in any company. The trick is how can you keep a computer safe from intrusion without loading the system down to the point of non-functionality? What a UTM solution is UTM solutions are primarily hardware gateways, routers with hardened operating systems that contain centrally maintained firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-spam functions, as well as assorted other monitoring and blocking capabilities for the highest levels of security. This relieves the need for each workstation to provide these services, thereby freeing their resources so they can better do the work needed. According to Jon Kuhn, director of product management at SonicWALL, Inc., a secure network infrastructure company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the security problems don’t come just from outside threats, but maintaining control over just what your employees are doing as well. The rapid growth of innovations that provide services through the Internet, and the accompanying increase in network traffic, can pose real problems for IT to manage. “The Web 2.0 approach makes for a loss of control,” says Kuhn. “Internet applications like Google Documents, Scribd, and Zoho are quite useful, but a potential security problem for IT.” UTM solutions also allow IT to control all incoming and outgoing data. This gives IT one place to manage all maintenance, and gives far more control over what Internet sites workers can access, and what they can’t. Plus, not only can you control threats of intrusion, but with some of the more sophisticated UTM solutions being offered now, you can control the content itself sent out by employees, safeguarding confidential content, like medical or legal documents, from accidental release or insider espionage.  “It’s so important for admins to have access to tools to control and monitor all throughput,” says Kuhn. “The UTM solution protects your bandwidth and secures all your sensitive data.” Prices have come down UTM systems used to be more costly, too high for small and mid-sized businesses to handle. But Moore’s Law continues to apply across the tech spectrum, bringing everything within reach, and now even the smallest company can protect its network investment.  “If you have just 10 employees or more, then investing in security hardware becomes cost effective,” Naccarato says. “Those aren’t cheap items for small businesses, but take into account all the money spent on multiple licenses for security software installed at each desktop, as well as all the man-hours reclaimed that used to be spent updating and patching individual computer boxes, and it suddenly looks like a bargain.” Though UTM devices and network-based software provide great protection for in-house desktops, they obviously can’t protect users’ laptops while they’re off the network, using a home Internet connection or surfing the Web from a café, airport, or hotel room. But they can use UTM to free up processing power by simply plugging it into a USB port. The Yoggie Pico, an award-winning miniature personal security server that resembles a USB flash memory, provides the mobile worker with security software solutions that include a firewall, VPN, IDS/IPS, anti-virus, anti-spam, and more. The little thumb-sized unit contains a 520 MHz Intel Processor running a hardened Linux-based OS. All data coming in and going out is seamlessly passed through the unit, keeping your data safe. And at under $200, it’s affordable for every business — even if you’re the entire company. “My customers are usually amazed at how much faster their system runs when I take all the security software off the desktop,” says Naccarato. “It can make the difference between a slow, frustrating working experience and a smooth, responsive one.” SIDEBAR: Some Companies Offering UTM Services and Products Fortinet is a provider of Unified Threat Management (UTM) security systems that enable secure business communications and deliver excellent security. Their security systems and subscription services protect more than 20,000 customers worldwide — including telecommunications carriers, service providers and enterprises of all sizes. IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS) offers a large portfolio of IT security products and services for organizations of all sizes. Their UTM solutions protect against a wide variety of attacks and Internet nuisances, and provide data security solutions to safeguard valuable information. 3Com Unified Security Platforms offer threat protection for organizations of all sizes, as well as those with multiple sites, branch offices or numerous teleworkers, including services like virtual private network (VPN), packet inspection firewall, application bandwidth management, and IP multicast routing support. Astaro Security Gateway provides protection for networks, Web access and e-mail traffic, and offer a complete range of hardware appliances. Cisco Systems provides security products that combine firewall, virtual private networking (VPN), and intrusion prevention system (IPS) technologies, and incorporate content inspection and control over applications like e-mail, Web access, instant messaging, and others. The SonicWALL network security appliances provide UTM security services with deep packet inspection to provide small, mid-size and enterprise-class organizations excellent protection. SonicWALL appliances integrate automated and dynamic security capabilities for protection and performance. ZyXEL solutions offer networking features such as quality of service (QoS), network security, and network management. Serving both corporate and home users, the companies UTM Series combine firewall, content filtering, anti-virus, anti-spam, and intrusion detection and prevention. It also supports virtual private network, load balancing, and bandwidth management features. Yoggie’s range of USB key-sized and ExpressCard-sized security mini-computers connect to any PC or laptop at home, in the office or on the road, blocking Internet threats outside the host computer and boosting computer performance by off-loading installed security software. 

About 1935 days ago Antivirus Software

IT Security: How Much $$ Should You Spend?

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Small and mid-sized businesses typically spend 5 to 10 percent of their IT budgets on security, according to research by Gartner. That’s a bigger slice of the IT pie than for large enterprises, which typically spend 3 to 6 percent of IT money on security, notes Adam Hils, principal research analyst at Gartner who specializes in small and mid-sized business security. “The smaller companies have overall IT budgets that aren’t as large,” he explains. Perhaps surprisingly, the biggest spenders on IT are mid-sized businesses, around the 500 to 1,000 employee range. “They want to be able to compete with larger companies,” Hils notes. “And, especially if they’re in finance or healthcare, they need to be able to offer the same types of security guarantees to their customers as big companies do.” Statistics like these can be helpful for comparing your company to overall IT practices. But figuring out how much of your particular IT budget should go for security requires taking many factors into account, such as your industry, how dependent your company is on technology, and the possible consequences of a security breach. In addition to considering these factors, here are some steps that can help you ensure your IT security spending is on track: 1. Aim for compliance. Increasingly, a review of government regulations or other standards that affect your company may help determine what security you need and how much it will cost. The Sarbanes-Oxley, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) impose data protection requirements on public companies, health care companies, and those that receive federal funds, respectively. In addition, a growing number of companies find they must also adhere to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard as a prerequisite for processing credit card payments or other financial information. “Starting in the middle of last year, we see companies like Visa and MasterCard targeting smaller retailers for compliance,” Hils says. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. “Unlike some of the government regulations, PCI is a very useful standard,” notes Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer at the SANS Institute, a leading provider of information security and training. “It’s very specific, and incorporates a lot of best practices many companies should be following.” 2. Look for a single solution to multiple problems. Security threats take many forms and come from many different sources. Where once guarding against viruses and hackers seemed sufficient, companies are now faced with spyware, Trojans, staggering volumes of spam, and wrongdoers eavesdropping on wireless networks. Rather than addressing each of these individually, more and more small companies are seeking out unified threat management, single boxes which supply a range of security solutions, filtering spyware, keeping out hackers, and fighting off viruses at the same time. “This way, as future needs change, you’re buying new software licenses rather than new hardware,” Hils says. He predicts that by 2010, 90 percent of small and mid-sized business security purchases will be multi-faceted solutions such as these. 3. Expect more security for less cost. As the large security players acquire smaller companies and fold in their offerings to these multiple solutions, overall costs for security are going down, Hils says. Another price-reducing factor is Microsoft Forefront which has entered the security market and provides affordable security options for small companies. Though Microsoft may never dominate corporate security the way it does so many other areas, it’s still forcing competitors to lower their prices, Hils says. “Microsoft is a big factor in getting [small and mid-sized businesses] more bang for the buck.” 4. Get expert help. It’s tough, if not impossible, for a small or mid-sized business to have the in-house expertise needed to stay up to date on security. “Even if you have full-time IT staff, can they focus on security enough to stay in the loop on the latest threats and products?” Ullrich asks. “Before you deploy an antivirus, you should do some tests to seek which one will work best for you. Independent consultant can help with this, and you get the benefit of what they’ve learned working with other companies similar to yours.” A consultant can also help you understand how adding a new security element will affect your network, he adds. “Whatever you do, don’t just go to Best Buy and grab something off the shelf.” In general, Hils says, “Companies need to figure out if they simply want adequate security, follow all the best practices, or perhaps be on the cutting edge of security technology.” Hils estimates that about 60 percent of small and mid-sized businesses simply want adequate security. The problem, he says, is that, while most companies believe they’re at least up to that level, “Some are falling below the line.” How can you tell if your company is among them? “One sign to look for is how much spam you get,” Ullrich says. “The more spam you get, the more penetrable your boundary is. And, since spam often carries viruses, it increases the possibility that your company is already infected.”

About 2331 days ago Antivirus Software

Which Anti-Virus Software Should You Use?

Out of all the security programs installed on the company network or end user’s desktop, it’s probably the anti-virus software that’s doing the most to earn its keep. The joint Computer Security Institute/FBI’s 2006 Computer Crime and Security Survey found that overwhelmingly viral attacks remain the greatest source of financial losses and damages to businesses than any other breach in computer security. Losses from all computer security incidents among the survey’s 313 respondents totaled more than $52 million for 2006, down by more than 50 percent compared to 2005, according to the survey. Ninety-seven percent of the companies that responded reported using anti-virus software. Don’t log on without it Some companies tend to get lax about anti-virus software once they’ve installed a good firewall at the network gateway. “No firewall out there is a silver bullet,” says Joern Wettern, co-author of Firewalls for Dummies. “Make sure you have anti-virus software installed on all PCs and check them regularly for updates.” For that reason, easy-to-schedule scans and automatic updating is probably the first feature a business owner would want to look for in an anti-virus program. When it comes to other features, Arabella Hallawell, vice president at Forrester Research, of Cambridge, Mass., who specializes in the security software market, advises clients to be choosier. “The rule of thumb is you should only pay for what you’re going to need within the next 12 months,” she says. “And don’t forget to do a competitive negotiation, regardless of how small your organization is.” Round-up of anti-virus software With that in mind, here is a round-up of just some of the offerings in anti-virus software, ranging from market leaders, Symantec and McAfee, to some of the smaller, more entrepreneurial companies, such as Alwil and Kaspersky. Norton’s AntiVirus Cost: $40 to buy. $30 annual fee. Features: Produced by Internet security giant Symantec, a better question might be: What doesn’t it feature? Norton’s standard version includes a firewall, scheduled scans, scans for instant messaging, as well as bundled spyware, adware and rootkit detection. All those bells and whistles may take a toll on speed however. It’s the one area that got a low rating from Consumer. The professionals don’t seem to disagree. John DeLozier, a network security expert and founding partner of Nply Security, a network security consulting group in Dallas, concedes it’s often the preferred choice of his clients. “But, I find (Norton) too big, too bloated and too intrusive with all the chatty pop-up windows,” says DeLozier. McAfee’s ViruScan Cost: $40 to buy. $40 annual fee. Features: McAfee’s anti-virus software is bundled in with anti-spyware software and a firewall. It features automatic updates and instant message scanning. Other versions include protection for laptops, e-mail servers and file servers. Ben Rothke, director of security technology implementation at AXA Financial and a frequent speaker at industry conferences on network security, says, “I like McAfee. It’s mature. It’s automatic… with any brand, by the time it gets to version 3.0, the differences are going to be minimal at that point.” BitDefender Standard Cost: $30 to download. $20 annual fee. Features: BitDefender is worthy of mention, if for no other reason the critics seem to love it the most. It was recently ranked number one in its class by both PC World and Consumer Reports, who gave BitDefender especially high marks in detection and ease of use. The standard edition features both scheduled scans and scanning for instant messages. It does not include a firewall. Kapersky Labs AntiVirus Cost: $50 to buy. $35 annual fee. Kaspersky, a Russian software company best known in the small business and consumer market, is a little pricier. Wettern says it’s well worth it. “I find it updates very frequently, has great detection rates and is the fastest to react to new threats,” says Wettern. Kaspersky offers standard features like scheduled scans and spyware/adware protection. Additional features, not as easy to find, include laptop power saving, suspended scans during heavy usage and proactive rootkit removal for malware. Alwil’s Avast! Cost: Non-commercial use, free to download. Professional Edition is $40 a year. Features: You can’t beat the starting price. Avast also comes with a high rating from Consumer Reports and features IM scanning and a firewall. One of the unique features includes what Alwil calls a “virus chest.” It’s a folder on the disk drive that is impenetrable to any kind of virus attack, a sort of virtual lock box where sensitive files can be stored and isolated away from the rest of the operating system. Avast may also be a good solution for a small organization that does business worldwide. The software is offered in no less than 20 languages, including Japanese and Russian.

About 2362 days ago Antivirus Software

Do You Need Anti-Virus Software for Your Handhelds?

There was a time when the wireless world was a worry-less world in terms of network security and fear of viral attacks. However, it appears those days are coming to a close. Viral attacks on handheld devices, to be sure, are still a rarity. But most security experts agree it’s only a matter of time before there is a major outbreak, which raises the question: is anti-virus software for the handheld now a necessity? According to a recent survey by Bluefire Security Technologies, 70 percent of more than 1,800 entrepreneurs and business executives polled — all of them wireless device users — say fear of viral attacks against their handhelds is a top security concern. The fear factor “The world has changed,” says Mark Komisky, co-founder of Bluefire and author of the survey. “The wireless ecosystem has matured. Devices are now capable of e-mail and are supported by more robust operating systems. They now have the same functionality as a notebook computer, which means they have the same vulnerabilities. From the perspective of a virus, a wireless device is now just another IP address on the Internet.” Viruses and worms that can attack computers through Web browsing, e-mail, or attachments, also run the risk of making your PDA or smartphone vulnerable. Up until June 2005, when the Cabir worm first appeared, targeting Symbian Series 60 phones, there was little real threat to handhelds. Since that time, there have been more than 100 mobile viruses detected and new strains are appearing every week and some have spread over Bluetooth and other wireless connections, according to F-Secure, an anti-virus maker based in Helsinki. “It’s just a matter of time until viruses are just as pervasive on handhelds because so much of computing is moving to mobile computing,” says Ben Rothke, author of Computer Security — 20 Things Every Employer Should Know. And it’s not just the handheld device itself that’s at risk. Komisky points out other key areas in which handhelds with wireless connectivity can pose risks to your business: Connecting through a public Web connection. Remote access can provide a hole in the network, especially if users are connecting to their e-mail, for example, through a public wireless Web connection at an airport or coffee shop hotspot. The desktop back at the office. Take an infected handheld and sync it up on the PC at work. Now, the PC is infected too. Such malware can also spread rapidly within your firm to other computers. The VPN connection to the network. Without a virtual private network (VPN) quarantine feature on the company firewall, there’s a risk of spreading an outbreak remotely just like any other infected laptop. The downside of handheld anti-virus protection So when in doubt, why not just get the anti-virus software as a precaution to protect your handheld and your business? There are some other considerations that businesses need to factor into the discussion, security experts say. “Don’t get me wrong, I would never tell my clients not to get anti-virus protection for their handhelds, if they wanted it,” says John DeLozier, of Nply Security, a Dallas-based network security consulting group. “But, I would advise them that there’s a much bigger risk of being compromised by loss or theft than from an attack.” DeLozier goes on to point out a couple of other reasons why a business owner might think twice about getting anti-virus software for PDAs and smartphones. Aside from the obvious cost of the software itself, there’s the greater cost of installing and maintaining it. Smaller companies, especially, tend to give their employees the freedom to pick out their own handheld devices and just expense them back to the company. It’s highly unlikely one brand of software will accommodate different handheld models. Managing compatibility can quickly become a major headache for a minimally staffed IT department. Meanwhile, it’s not just business consumers debating whether the time has come for anti-virus software to come standard on wireless devices. It remains to be seen whether manufacturers or wireless carriers will make it standard issue. According to the Bluefire survey, 86 percent of those polled say security software should be required in all handhelds. Three out of five say they feel confident their companies would be willing to pay more to have it. With that kind of demand, regardless of need, it’s a safe bet both manufacturers and carriers will figure it out soon enough and one way or the other wireless devices and security software will go hand-in-hand.

About 2392 days ago Antivirus Software

When a Virus Strikes

A recent survey by the Computer Security Institute and the San Francisco FBI’s Computer Intrusion Squad revealed two very interesting trends when put side by side. Number one, virus attacks are the leading cause of financial losses among cyber crimes committed against U.S. companies. Number two, 98 percent of the companies and organizations polled for the survey say they use firewalls. Ninety-seven percent use antivirus software. Virus attacks happen There’s plenty of preventative advice available to protect business owners from a virus attack and even more security products to purchase. But small businesses, in particular, would be wise to also have a crisis plan in place for what some would argue is inevitable. “Small businesses are more vulnerable to attack,” says Ben Rothke, director of security technology implementation at AXA Financial, a New York-based financial services firm, and the author of Computer Security — 20 Things Every Employee Should Know. Small and mid-size businesses “typically don’t have an IT department monitoring their network 24/7.” Signs of a possible virus attack So what can a company without an IT department do to prepare for the worst? For starters, know enough about viruses to know when the system’s been hit. Computers start crashing all around the office at the same time. One or more computers get flooded with pop-up ads. One or more computers get multiple warning screens from your security software. One or more computers get flooded with strange e-mails that seem to be replicating faster than they can be deleted. The company network slows down to near-standstill. Users are denied access when trying to log in. Respond immediately Once it’s been determined the network’s been attacked, you need to react. “Simply put, responding to a virus is like fighting a fire,” says Devin Jopp, chief technology officer for SCORE, a counseling service for small business owners. Here are some tips for hot to respond to a virus attack. Isolate Shut down all the infected computers and programs that appear to be infected to staunch the spread elsewhere within the network. As an added precaution, Joern Wettern, co-author of Firewalls for Dummies, says “disconnect any part of the system that is critical to your business… it helps to have those areas flagged in advance.” Treat Run your antivirus software. Jopp points out that 90 percent of all viruses can be identified and cleaned up by most antivirus programs. Diagnose In addition to identifying the virus, assess what parts of the network have been hit, the damage inflicted and what it will take to fix it. For more complicated attacks, have a local IT consultant with expertise in cleaning up viruses that can be called in on short notice. “A virus attack on a small business is too critical to let the fix-it guy in the office handle on his own” says Rothke. Learn See this as an opportunity to improve security for the next time. Chances are there’s room for improvement by way of updating software more frequently or training employees to avoid high risk web sites or dubious e-mail, for example. Don’t forget the customers Michael Shaw, California’s assistant state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) advocates full disclosure to customers in the event of a virus attack. “Employers need to have a plan in place to notify customers in case there is an attack that compromises customer information,” he says. In a growing number of states, companies are required by law to report data breaches to customers. Either way, a business owner may be wise to remember that a lost reputation is much harder to replace than lost data.