Web Security Review

by mheo soriano

Be cautious of the people who contact or attempt to contact you.

You may never know, today’s advanced technology can also be used as instruments of deception.

Never entertain unsolicited phone instant messages, email messages or any other type of communication from unknown individuals/parties asking for information especially private and undisclosed ones. Some may even request information about your company so unless you are certain about the person’s authority, never supply the information.
Some people would try to “fish” for financial information using the email, never respond to these especially email solicitations for this information. Beware of the links and documents attached with the message following links sent in email.

To be continued…

by mheo soriano

What is a phishing attack?

Phishing is done by people who desire to obtain information, be it personal or most oftentimes financial to be used for their own motives. People who perform phishing attacks usually make use of email or web sites. They may send emails from a reputable institution such as bank accounts asking for information. And when the recipient of the message responds with the requested information, they will be able to use it to access to the accounts.

This leads to several net crimes, they can invade your accounts to extract personal information, pretend that you are them or even steal money from your bank account.

Thousands of cases like these were reported in the past years. So it would be wise to be cautious in who we spill our private information.

To be continued…

by mheo soriano

Customer Support
AVG Technologies has provided AVG Anti-Virus 8 users with an e-mail technical support within. In their site Grisoft.com there is FAQs site which will be useful for users who are having trouble. There is also a downloadable 124-page users’ manual in PDF format. Like the previous versions AVG does not provide telephone technical support or a free online user’s forum for entertaining questions from troubled users..

Conclusion
Overall, AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 works great on the detection and removal of virus, malware and spyware. It also works well in blocking Web threats. Future updates are also available to strengthen it and improve its performance. But it would be better if it has more technical support options in the future.

by mheo soriano

New Feature: The Link Scanner

The AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 newest addition, the Linkscanner technology promises to give AVG a more versatile protection. Linkscanner, developed by Exploit Prevention Labs, is known to obstruct malicious content from Web sites from getting in your computer.
Adding this to the system, surfing online with AVG Anti Virus 8.0 seems to be more secure than before.

What AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 linkscanner feature lacks is additional information about the exploit, unlike the standalone Linkscanner Pro package, which provides detailed information about the exploit it finds as well as a rich log archive so that sites with malicious software can be easily identified.

Although not as powerful as the Linkscanner Pro, AVG’s Linkscanner works great for an additional feature.

To be continued…

by mheo soriano

Interface

The user interface of the AVG AntiVirus 8.0 is an improved version of the previous design. However it turned out to be somewhat complicated, the right windowpane seems too crowded with the large icons (there are nine icons). Under each icon is a note that indicates whether the feature is active or not. When an icon is clicked the application will either display additional information about that tool (if an icon tool is clicked) or run that specific scan.
On the other hand the left windowpane only has three selections.

The Overview , Computer Scanner, and Update Now Options.

Computer Scanner has only one option, Scan All.

Update Now is intended to search the grisoft.com for updates.

There is a toolbar on top of the windows which contains the advanced feature options.

To be Continued…

by mheo soriano

AVG just released the AVG Anti Virus 8.0 last March 2008. And it is now equipped with the Linkscanner Technology, an advance that can actively block malicious content from site in the world wide web. These sites may either be hijacked or designed to send malicious content that can harm your computer. There are thousands of reported cases about this matter around the globe.

Also the AVG integrated its three past innovations (the antivirus, antispyware, and antirootkit) into one powerful product. T also features the drive-by download protection that contributed to AVG’s award winning effectiveness

It does a great job in the blocking and removing virus, malware and spyware. However its somewhat exhibits slow performance when it was tested by CNET Labs. Even though the individual applications load fast, the scan and boot appeared to be slow.

To be Continued…

Remember how difficult it was in those early days when in office we had to preserve and work on huge piles of papers? Wasn’t it difficult? Yes it was. But today with developing technologies, things have become easier and faster. Now days, content management, be it in the form of documents, videos, etc., have become hassle-free—thanks to SharePoint Server 2010 Library! Continue Reading »

If you are a Skype user and have been receiving anonymous spam messages inviting you to porn sites or whatnots, then this is the article for you. Even if these pesky bots are too irritating to deal with, fortunately for us, all we need are a few mouse clicks.

Just go to your preferences menu: Tools > Options for PC users or Cmd + , for Apple users, and go to the privacy tab. Just click on the radio button “Only people whom I have authorized” button to the “Allow instant messages from” option. And if you’re really in to it, why not click it for all the categories!

Let’s see if these spammers get past this trick! Just some note for reference, by enabling this feature, it will disable people that you haven’t added to message you. Add them up for you to be able to Skype away!

For readers with a MySpace or Facebook account, please be vigilant and careful when accepting apps or widgets from your friends; they main contain Trojan viruses that steal information from your site and then send it all back to the one who created it. They usually do this by sending Trojans through apps or widgets that your friends sent you. According to researchers at Finjan, cyberattackers are now going to these social networking sites such to get more victims.

“Attacks will become more sophisticated by combining several services in order to heighten infection ratios and decrease the detection rate, while providing more robust and scalable attack frameworks,” Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer, Finjan, said in a news release. “The focus will be on trojan technology as it enables maximum flexibility in terms of command and control. This adds another potentially malicious element to the “legitimate” web traffic that needs to be examined by security solutions.”

In short, before installing the app or widget that your friend sent you, confirm if it came from them. If it didn’t, kindly delete it immediately. If it did come from them, research on the app or widget from previous users.

Source

BitDefender was an excellent performer among security suites, but it’s best for experts who don’t need guidance regarding security extras and pop-up alerts and who don’t mind through interface.

BitDefender Internet Security 2008 ($40 for one PC, $50 for three PCs) pairs shining success with disappointing failure. It outperformed every other suite in crucial malware detection tests, unmasked every rootkit sample, and finished second among the eight suites evaluated for our “All-in-One Security Suites: Tried and Tested” roundup on a separate spyware and adware detection test.

But this stellar performance behind the scenes was seriously marred by an unpleasant user experience. From aggravations with the initial installation to difficulties with warning pop-ups, BitDefender’s flaws are hard to brush off.

Continue reading more from: PCWorld.com