blog.brandprotect.com

Mad about Malware...

  

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The proliferation of malware sites that use trademarked brand names in their source code is a hot button issue for many of my clients.   A review of their stats makes it is easy to see why; a comparison of the aggregate number of malware incidents reported from January to December 2008 versus January to June 2009 shows a mind boggling 300% increase.

Malware is a term coined from a blend of the words "malicious" and "software", and includes Trojan Horses, viruses, computer worms, spyware and crimeware.   Some possible outcomes of malicious code downloaded on a user's computer are data destruction, pc hijacking, performance limitations, crashes and identity theft. 

It is frustrating to see the magnitude of the abuse; large established brand owners, smaller organizations, and Internet users are all victims.    In many cases just visiting a malicious website is enough to get you infected; you don't need to click on any links to download the malware.  The security firm Sophos cautions "With one new infected webpage discovered every 4.5 seconds, there is no longer any such thing as a trusted website." Here at BrandProtect as infected sites containing our clients' brand terms are identified we work with domain owners, ISP's and registrars to quash them.  These sites cause havoc in cyberspace, but with exemplary co-operation among industry colleagues they tend to come down quickly - and as each one tumbles I feel I pressed the Staples® Easy Button^TM. 

Inevitably, you will come across a site that downloads malware on your computer.  What should you do?  For expert advice I turned to our BrandProtect IT group who provided valuable information about protecting your system from attacks and mitigating damage.  Adam Crichton, our IT Manager, lists the most critical aspects of malware infection prevention and clean up as follows:

• Run a current antivirus and anti spyware/malware system. If you need a free one for home use I recommend AVG Free Edition for the antivirus and Spybot Search and Destroy for Malware/Spyware.
• Keep these up to date. Regularly check that your antivirus and malware/spyware definitions have been updated within the last week.
• If you can, pay for protection, because it generally works better. I recommend Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2009 but most of them are good. However, you should disable the firewall on this product and enable the basic windows firewall instead to save yourself some headaches. Most home users are behind routers now and this provides automatic firewall protection anyway.
• Once infected, run a full scan with both antivirus and anti-spyware / malware. After completing the scan, run it again after a reboot. If you continue to find more malware, you should take your computer to a professional for clean up. This can often be accomplished for $50 or so.
• Be a good netizen. Don't run a computer you suspect is infected with malware, and don't run without antivirus / antimalware protection. Get it checked by a professional or go through the steps above if you're not sure.
• Do NOT click links that come up on your computer that say you're infected with malware that are not from your installed antivirus/malware software. This will only further infect your computer.
• Backup your documents, pictures, movies and music frequently, so if you have a computer destroyed by malware and your computer cannot be recovered, you at least have your critical data available.

Adam Kalbfleisch, our Desk Top Support Manager, provided some additional guidance:

• Always uses a reputable source when downloading software on your computer. Sites like Downloads.com and Majorgeeks.com guarantee their software is clean.
• Never google for free anti-virus software - this is a red flag to cyber criminals that you don't have anti-virus protection.
• Always download your music from iTunes.com. People who download from the free software/music/movies sites are open to picking up malware. In the long run it is much cheaper to spend money with legitimate sites than to deal with the fallout caused in picking up a virus (legal issues aside!).

I'd like to suggest you print out this list and keep it by your computer .... for when ......