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Thanks for the misinformation, Disney

Dave Farquhar security August 21, 2012android, antivirus, apache, BSD, computer security, iphone, mac os x, os x, sony, spyware

In one of its throwaway kid’s sitcoms, Disney insinuates that open source software contains spyware and using it is a ‘rookie mistake’.

Open source software rarely contains viruses or spyware. Since it’s open for examination, changes to the code that have any funny business in them tend to be rejected. For that matter, code with unintended bad consequences tends to either be rejected, or quickly changed.
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Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Is the Windows firewall safe enough?

Dave Farquhar security May 17, 2012November 22, 2016compaq, firewall, red hat, Red Hat Linux, spyware, Windows XP

Is the Windows Firewall safe enough? I wish more people would ask that question rather than make assumptions.

I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard an unsubstantiated statement like “Windows firewall is junk.” I went looking, and the best I could find was this, an editorial that said it doesn’t do enough to address outbound connections, particularly on a program-by-program basis.

OK, point taken. But “enough” is a moving target.

Dave Farquhar

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Things I wish everyone knew about home computer security

Dave Farquhar security May 16, 2012December 1, 2015antivirus, boxcar, certifications, computer security, firewall, malwarebytes, Microsoft Security Essentials, passwords, spam, spyware, vista, WEP, Windows XP, yahoo

I’m a security professional by trade, with two certifications. I’m not responsible for defending your computer networks, but I want your networks to be secure. There’s a really simple reason for that. If your computer and your network is secure, then it isn’t attacking mine. Or anyone else’s.

Several fellow subscribers to a train-related interest group that I like got hacked recently, and have been sending out spam messages. They’ve received a lot of advice in the hours since. Some of it has been good, and some not as good. So I tried to think of some things that people could do in about 30 minutes to keep the crooks at bay.

Incidentally, the computer crooks won’t be going away. Computer crime happens because the criminals can make more money doing that than doing something legal. The only way to make it stop is to make it too hard, so that getting a real job becomes more profitable. You won’t solve that problem in 30 minutes, but if we all take that single step down that road, we’ll make the world that much safer. So, with that, let’s roll up our sleeves. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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End of the innocence for Mac security

Dave Farquhar Macintosh, security March 30, 2012Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Reader, antivirus, apple, firefox, mac os x, macintosh, malicious code, malware, Malware Domains, microsoft word, office 2007, os x, pdf files, spyware, trojan horse, vector, vulnerability, yahoo

Antivirus vendor Kapersky has identified a new trojan horse targetting Macintoshes. It spreads a botnet based somewhere in China via an infected Microsoft Word document, typically sent as an e-mail attachment.

The spin is that if you don’t use Word on your Mac, you’re safe. That’s true–this week. But going forward, it’s going to take more than that. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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What I would do to fix Dr. A’s computer

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Software, Windows August 3, 2011antivirus, ccleaner, defragmenter, dell, Dell Inspiron, McAfee, Microsoft Security Essentials, pagedefrag, spyware, symantec, sysinternals, Western Digital, windows 7, Windows XP

I left my conversation with Dr. A nearly convinced he doesn’t really need a new computer. The local store is pitching him a new $700 Dell Inspiron with a 1 TB hard drive and 6 GB of RAM and a 17-inch screen. But he could upgrade to a 1 TB hard drive for less than $125. If he doesn’t want to switch to Windows 7, his current Windows XP Professional will only use 4 GB of RAM anyway. Upgrading to 4 GB of RAM will cost less than $40. And looking at the new system, I don’t know that its CPU is all that much more powerful than what he already has.

To me, the clincher was this. I asked myself the question whether, if I were offered a machine exactly like his for $200 or $300, would I buy it. And it was an easy answer. I would.

I haven’t done a thorough analysis of the machine, but I’ve seen enough to have an idea what it needs. Much of it will seem familiar, if you’ve been reading me a long time.
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Dave Farquhar

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Disadvantages of Windows 98 and 98SE

Dave Farquhar Windows May 21, 2011July 3, 20181990s, antivirus, firefox, spyware, vista, windows 2000, windows 7, windows 98, windows 9x, windows me, windows nt, Windows XP

Many years ago, I wrote about the disadvantages of Windows 3.1 because I started noticing people searching for that. Now, I see people asking the same question about Windows 98. I spent 9 months of my life ripping Windows 98 apart and putting it back together again and writing about it, so I know it well.

As much of an improvement as Windows 98 was over Windows 3.1 and even Windows 95, it, too, is feeling the effects of time. Windows 98SE was the best of the Windows 9x series (better than its successor, Windows ME), but there are better things to run today.

Dave Farquhar

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Don’t use gadget buyback programs

Dave Farquhar Saving money May 13, 2011April 15, 2017capacitors, dell, Dell Inspiron, nvidia, spyware

MSNBC consumer reporter Bob Sullivan does a thorough analysis of how gadget buy-back programs work, and why you shouldn’t use them.

There’s no need for me to rehash everything that’s wrong with them, because Bob covered all those bases admirably. I’ll just run through his hypothetical scenario and tell you what you should do instead.
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Dave Farquhar

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How to clean viruses off other people’s systems safely

Dave Farquhar security, Viruses, Windows December 13, 2010antivirus, bitdefender, christmas, firewall, Microsoft Security Essentials, spyware, USB flash drive, WAN

What should you do when someone hands you a computer, tells you they think it has a virus, and asks you to clean it?

Proceed carefully, that’s what. You don’t want to infect your other computers with whatever it has.

To get it gone safely and effectively, you really need two things: an antivirus live CD, and a spare router.
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Dave Farquhar

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Speeding up a sluggish HP Mini 110

Dave Farquhar Hardware, security, Windows December 4, 2010March 18, 2020antivirus, disk cache, firefox, hp, intel, Linux Mint, Microsoft Security Essentials, pagedefrag, spyware

My mom’s HP Mini 110 Atom-based netbook (with the factory 16GB SSD) was hesitating, a lot. Frankly it was really frustrating to use–it would freeze up for minutes on end, for no good reason. It was so slow, calling it “sluggish” was being kind. But it’s fixed now. I did six five things to it. Here’s how to speed up an HP Mini 110.

Dave Farquhar

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Fix host hijacks or host file hijacks for free

Dave Farquhar security, Software, Viruses, Windows November 17, 2010April 24, 2017antivirus, Bing, classmate, malware, spyware, windows 2000, Windows XP, yahoo

Sometimes your antivirus will tell you that you have host hijacks or host file hijacks, but not elaborate on how to fix them. Some people charge way too much to fix them. Here’s how to fix host hijacks or host file hijacks for free.

A former classmate’s computer suddenly stopped letting him get to search engines. Aside from that, his computer appeared to be normal.

Fortunately he had some antivirus and antispyware software installed, so he was able to run it and get a relatively clean bill of health, but he still couldn’t use Google or Bing or Yahoo.

One of the pieces of software he ran mentioned a host hijack or hosts file hijack, but didn’t offer to clean it up without ponying up some serious bucks.

That was enough to tell me how to clean it up though. You don’t have to buy anything. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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