A bit paranoid as of late.. am I missing any good practices?

1112 Views 29 Replies 12 Participants Last post by shinyboy, Dec 10, 2009

shinyboy

Discussion Starter · Dec 7, 2009

For some reason I have been really paranoid about trojans and the like. I recently started using a lot of private info on this comp(banking and such).

Am I justified?

Running Avast scan thorough and archived. + real time.
Malwarebytes
Spybot S&D

Comodo firewall ((anything trying to send out information would show up as an outbound connection right?)any custom settings one would change?)

Am I missing anything that others would recommend?
How likely is something to be able to get past that.

Thanks for hopefully easing my concerns.. or at least informing me of reality.

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BiG O

· #2 · Dec 7, 2009

What you have there is a pretty standard setup. You should be fine honestly.

IEATFISH

· #3 · Dec 7, 2009

Those programs will catch most things. Just stay off any shady sites or any site that is potentially one step removed from shady, it you know what I mean. If you really want to, you can dual boot/VM Linux and that would be better for your online banking and such.

glenbuck1914

· #4 · Dec 7, 2009

If your really paranoid you could probably use the mvps hosts file too.

Reactions: 1

Choggs396

· #5 · Dec 7, 2009

I never recommend running multiple AV/AS programs simultaneously (as in, having them installed at the same time). It can cause conflicts.

If you must run multiple AV/AS programs, I would at least remove one before installing another.

lilraver018

· #6 · Dec 7, 2009

can i ask why that is the case?

So do you install avira and run a full scan , then uninstall.
Install and run spy bot and do a full scan, then uninstall?

Reactions: 1

Choggs396

· #7 · Dec 7, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilraver018

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can i ask why that is the case?

So do you install avira and run a full scan , then uninstall.
Install and run spy bot and do a full scan, then uninstall?

From personal experience, having more than one AV/AS program installed just seems to create problems. First, they tend to bog down the computer and make it run slower, because they are always running (at least to some degree) in the background - even if you turn off any "active" or "resident shield" options. Second, one AV/AS program can actually consider another one a "threat" on the same PC.

Now I guess it would be OK if you had one program that just detects viruses and one program that just detects spyware, but only if they are set to an on-demand type scan basis only. But, considering nowadays that a lot AV and AS programs have been combined into single packages, I would still recommend just running one good program.

You can run one AV/AS program, uninstall, then run another if you believe there are still undetected problems. But I honestly recommend just using one program if possible, and keeping the virus/spyware/malware definitions up to date.

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shinyboy

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 7, 2009

Alright, makes me feel a bit better.
Thanks for the responses so far.

I am however curious about the host files and exactly weather they are worth it. Seems that using modified host files goes a lot deeper then just mvps. Any guides that cover combining multiple host files from all the sources that seem to provide them.

Atomagenesis

· #9 · Dec 7, 2009

The best defense is just to stay off sites that seem shady and to have a good router IMO. I have a bunch of blackhat stuff on my comp, but I don't execute it, I use the tools for understanding security. I must have over like 300-400 blackhat proggies on here, but like I said, I only use them to keep my own comp more secure, even though when I scan my system it tells me I have a million virus's, but they havent integrated themselves into the OS, they're just there sitting on my HD like bombs sitting in storage so to speak. I have learned a lot about protecting my own PC and security by just reading blackhat websites.

error10

· #10 · Dec 7, 2009

I never do anything with Windows that even could potentially be sensitive. There are just too many holes and you can never be sure you're completely safe. Consider the vast number of bits of malware that only some of the AV programs will detect and remove, for instance.

Try using the guide in my sig to set up a Linux virtual machine where you do anything that might involve personal information. For extra bonus points, use the virtual machine's snapshot feature to roll back the hard drive state each time you're done with it.

Reactions: 1

shinyboy

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 7, 2009

I do have an old comp that can somewhat run windows xp.. perhaps i should throw a linux install on there...

Any version best for using as a super secure comp?
after installing does it need any other modifications?

error10

· #12 · Dec 7, 2009

2

Quote:

Originally Posted by shinyboy

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I do have an old comp that can somewhat run windows xp.. perhaps i should throw a linux install on there...

Any version best for using as a super secure comp?
after installing does it need any other modifications?

How secure do you want to be? Very high security tends to be inconvenient.

We also have a very nice Linux section here which you should check out.

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Reactions: 1

un4rmed

· #13 · Dec 7, 2009

I don't have any security. No antivirus, no antispyware.

shinyboy

Discussion Starter · #14 · Dec 7, 2009

It does not need to be super secure i guess. Basically my plan is to hook it up to my router only when using it, then accessing a few banking sites, then unhooking it. I would not visit any other sites with the computer.

error10

· #15 · Dec 7, 2009

5

Quote:

Originally Posted by shinyboy

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It does not need to be super secure i guess. Basically my plan is to hook it up to my router only when using it, then accessing a few banking sites, then unhooking it. I would not visit any other sites with the computer.

That sounds pretty inconvenient. It's probably what you SHOULD do with Windows.

Try starting out with Ubuntu.

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Reactions: 1

shinyboy

Discussion Starter · #16 · Dec 7, 2009

What about setting up a virtual machine on my comp running ubuntu and loading that to go to a few websites.

Can anything on the host comp affect the guest machine?

I am still going to install linux(ubuntu most likely) and my old comp, seems like it would run a lot better then xp on it and would give me something to mess with as my interest has grown.

Core300

· #17 · Dec 7, 2009

I run Malwarebytes, Spybot S&D, Nod32, and Avast all on the same computer at once. I have never had any conflicts or problems between them. Sometimes, I even scan with MBAM and Spybot at the same exact time. I wouldn't worry about conflicts. I think problems like that are usually with Anti-viruses like McAffe and AVG.

But as far as firewalls go, I do not use one at all. I figure if I get a virus I can just use all of the anti malware programs I have. I have been thinking about getting a Firewall in the future though...

shinyboy

Discussion Starter · #18 · Dec 7, 2009

Sorry, had one more idea/option.

What about using a bootable cd? From what I understand there are some linux distros that can be booted to off the cd? any more info on this or what they are called exactly so I can google them would be great. Also any opinions on this option?

basically I mean booting from a disc that has a linux install on it, going to a few websites then restarting keeping the disc and the os on it completely clean.

Thanks again, sorry for the ideas bouncing all over.

Core300

· #19 · Dec 7, 2009

Ubuntu can be booted off the CD. Just go to the Ubuntu website and get the Ubuntu Image to put on a CD/DVD.

Reactions: 1

IEATFISH

· #20 · Dec 7, 2009

That's a great idea. You can use Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, OpenSUSE, etc. Those are the ones I like.

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