Setting up KeePass2

I intended for this entry to follow an entry on the importance and techniques for maintaining internet account security.  However, the information I have on installing KeePass2 is ready to go now, so I'm going to post them out of order.  So, assume I've already made the case you that you need to install this software and use it!

Introduction

With our technological society and need to keep some of our lives private, such as our bank accounts, we have to maintain a huge number of passwords to ensure our secure communications.

Problem

The problem is that we just can’t memorize this huge number of unique passwords.  So we resort to alternative crutches.  Some memory crutches that I’ve heard include:

1. Write passwords on a file on your computer (very bad idea)
2. Write passwords on a piece of paper and keep it near your computer (may or may not be a bad idea – depending upon the details).
3. Reuse your passwords among many websites (bad idea)
4. Use easy to remember passwords (pet or people names, words from a dictionary, etc.)
5. Create a password formula to calculate new passwords for you (may or may not be a bad idea – depending upon the details).
6. Create a password hints file (not a great idea but less bad than most).

I use some bits of many of these techniques (except #1 & #2)

Password Vaults

One way to avoid many of the pitfalls of these 6 methods is to use a secure & encrypted password vault. 

Password vaults stores your password in an encrypted and secure database that cannot be read by anyone who does not know the master password.  This provides the convenience of keeping your password “cheat sheet” on your computer and it provides you the security of very good encryption.

Setting up KeePass2 

KeePass2 is a freeware secure password vault is KeyPass2.  It is maintained as Open Source code.

KeePass2 Icon

About KeePass2 - from its website

Download

If your computer runs on MS Windows, Linux, or MacOS (OS-X); then you can download and use KeePass2 to manage your passwords downloaded latest KeePass2 version for MS Windows computers.

MS Windows download from SourceForge

Click on the [Download] button and you should see this screen:

Download started dialog

If your computer uses OSX (Mac) and Linux, you can download KeePass 2.28 for Linux / OSX from the same site, but it takes a bit of poking around to find the proper file.  I already did that poking around so you can just click on the link above to start the download and your download should start:

Download started for Linux/OSX

If your system uses default settings, then your browser will store the downloaded file in the “download” directory.

Install

The remaining directions apply to MS Windows systems only.  I will write an addendum to this shortly since I will be installing this software on my Linux server in the near future.  Until then, OSX & Linux users, you are on your own.

Double-click the .msi or .exe installation image to begin the installation:

Launch KeePass2 installation executable

You can install this software using default settings.  Follow the on-screen prompts to use the default settings or change them if it suits you better.  After launching, the first dialog that appears is the language selection:

Select Language

Select "English" & click [OK]

Then next dialog will start the installation process

Start Installation

 

Click [Next >]

KeePass2 should install from here

Configure

Launch KeePass2 by double clicking on its icon in your program files or on your desktop.

Create Master Password file

Select the “[X] Master Password” and create your own new master password.  The dialog includes a tool to tell you the relative strength of your new master password file – try for a password for at least 32 bit strength and 64 bit provides much MUCH better security.

You must remember this new master password or you will never get access to the passwords contained in the database again - you may want to write it down somewhere.

Save the new password database as a file.

Save database as a file

Save database file in a location on your hard drive that you will regularly backup – such as your desktop.

Save in a location that gets backed up

Create KeePass2 Entries

After you start KeePass2, it will look like the image below.  Simply start adding password groups and entries and begin putting all of your password and account details in these entries.

Create account entries

This is what the new password entry window looks like.  Give the entry a meaningful title, supply it with your username and password, and provide any additional useful information (URL & Notes) so that the entry is most useful to you.

Account details

NOTE: you can let KeePass2 create new more secure passwords for you.  Just have KeePass2 create the new password and use it to change your existing ones.

Use KeePass2

Once you populated your KeePass2 with important account information, you will need to know how to use it.

Method 1

Select the appropriate entry and perform a right mouse click (RMC).  Highlighting the entry will display the summary information shown at the bottom of the window, the RMC provides the menu options displayed.

Copy account information

From this menu, you can select "Copy User Name" or "Copy Password".  After selecting the "Copy" command for your password, you only have ~12 seconds to paste it into the password field of your account before your system "forgets".  12 seconds is plenty of time to do the simple cut & paste unless something distracts you.

Method 2

If you hover over a field (e.g. username or password) and perform a double left mouse click (LMC), KeePass2 will copy that field into memory for the same limited time.  This method is faster once you get the hang of doing it.

Neat side benefit

You might wonder, "Why should I bother to put the URL for your accounts into KeePass2?"

The answer is, "because then you can access all of these accounts directly from KeePass2."  If you perform a double LMC on the URL portion of the entry, KeePass2 will launch your default browser to the location specified in that URL.

Account information can include URLs - you should put this information in

Double clicking on URL, takes you to the designated website

It allows you to access and log onto your accounts without using bookmarks or having to type the URL into the address field.

Other Benefits

Life Inventory

By storing your passwords and web addresses in a single transferable database file and securing it with just a single master password, this allows you to easily transfer all of your electronic account information to another person in the event you become incapacitated.

I highly recommend that this be used as a means of managing your electronic account information as part of your life inventory.  Make sure to only grant your master password to someone you really trust or put your master password in a secure location like a Safe Deposit Box.

Make sure that you keep a current copy of the password file not attached to your computer and some place away from your computer.

Simplifying

My current password cheat sheet contains 26 pages of account information and password clues.  KeyPass2 will very much simplify this problem and make it easier to find my passwords.

I am busily transferring all of this account information into KeePass2 although it will take a while to complete the task.

Archiving

If you use the single Master Password as I suggested, then you can copy the database file to any other computer with KeePass2 installed, enter the master password, and get access to your accounts.  This means you can bring your password database with you wherever you go and use any computer to access your accounts (be aware that there are security ramifications to doing this though).

Alternatively, you can print your password database and store it at home, if home is a safe location to keep this information.

More Information

Get more information about KeePass2 from KeePass website.

http://keepass.info

Computers: VM Performance tuning

In my earlier blogs (such as Computers: Antivirus), I discussed other aspects of the care & feeding of your computer.  I originally wrote these tips specifically to tune Virtual Machines for VMWare server v7.5. However, if you ignore the VMWare specific settings and just perform the other actions, these instructions ought to work well to tune up any machine.

NOTE: that these specific directions are for WinXP systems, however, the general principals ought to apply to later Windows versions too.

1. Host system prep
   1. Ensure the guest VM is not running!
   2. When possible, install VMs on internal, eSATA, or USB 3.0 capable external drives only.
   3. Ensure "Write caching" is enable on the hard drive on which the VM is installed (for internal drives this is the default setting)
   4. For external drives, ensure the "Better performance" radio button is selected in the Device Properties -> policy tab (this should already be selected)
   5. Remove unused files (recommend running ccleaner to do this)
   6. Defragment the OS (recommend running auslogics defrag on "Defrag and optimize" setting)
      1. Repeat as necessary until the defrags take less than 10 minutes to complete!
      2. WARNING: do not defragment the host hard drive while running a VM!
      3. NOTE: filesystems with multiple VMs can take many hours to defrag and optimize the first few times. Plan your defrags accordingly.
   7. Configure Win to perform weekly maintenance on your hard drive
      1. Run ccleaner on your hard drive at least once per week (contact me if you need instructions on how to do this.)
      2. Run defrag your hard drive at least once per week (contact me if you need instructions on how to do this.)
   8. Close applications and turn off services which use a lot of memory (such as web browsers) prior to launching your VM
      1. In Services, set "Indexing Service" to "Disabled"
   9. Create a fixed page file size of 1 – 2x your physical RAM (this is always a trade-off; using a larger value improves your run time performance BUT also permanently removes that space from your available drive space)
      1. Open Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Performance -> Settings -> Advanced -> Virtual Memory
      2. Click on [Change]
      3. Click the "Custom Size" radio button
      4. Enter the value "6192 or 12384" (for 6 GB RAM systems) or "8256 or 16512" (for 8 GB RAM systems) for "Initial size (MB)"
      5. Enter the value "6192 or 12384" (for 6 GB RAM systems) or "8256 or 16512" (for 8 GB RAM systems) for "Maximum size (MB)"
      6. Click on the [Set] button
      7. Click [OK] and [Close] to get all of the open windows closed
   10. Restart your host system before proceeding
2. VM Workstation global settings (for VMWare workstation) –
   1. VM Workstation memory settings (Edit -> Preferences -> Memory – click the appropriate radio button)
      1. Otherwise set the VM workstation memory setting to "Allow some VM memory to be swapped"
   2. Set the amount of memory available for VMs with "Memory Allocated to Virtual Machines"
      1. Launch your normal set of host system applications
      2. Open your task manager -> Performance tab
      3. Check the values of "Physical Memory Usage" and "Total Physical Memory"
      4. Set the "Memory Allocated to Virtual Machines" to the lesser of
         1. The value found by (Total Physical Memory – Physical Memory Usage – 512 MB)
         2. 3684 MB
3. VM Settings
   1. Set memory to a value of 100 MB smaller than the value found in 2.2.4
      1. NOTE: This value should be between 1.5 GB and 3.5 GB – see details below
         1. Add up the memory usage of the applications you intend to use in your VM – this should be the lowest value of memory usage you consider.
         2. 2 - 3.5 GB would be better if those values meet the other requirements
         3. NOTE: 32 bit OS (e.g. 32 bit WinXP VMs) cannot address more memory than 3584 MB (the exact amount is dependent upon your environment), so there is no reason to use a number larger than this.
   2. Set "CPU processors" to 1 processor
   3. Set "CPU cores per processor" to ½ of your cores rounded up (so not less than 1).
   4. Floppy drive – uncheck the "Connect at power on"
   5. Unset the CD/DVD drive auto-detect
   6. Disable/remove USB Controller
   7. Disable/remove printer
   8. Disable/remove soundcard
   9. When done only the following should appear under the "Devices" tab:
      1. Memory
      2. Processers
      3. Hard Disk
      4. CD/DVD – "Using drive [C|D|E]:"
      5. Floppy – Auto detect
      6. Network Adapter
      7. Display – Auto detect
4. Guest system preparation
   1. Launch the VM (your VM must be running to make these changes)
   2. Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> [Device manager]
      1. Disable Floppy drive
      2. Disable Com1
      3. Disable Com2
      4. Disable Lpt1
   3. Install latest version of VMTools – RMC on VMTools and click on the [Update] button
   4. Remove unused files (recommend running ccleaner to do this)
   5. Defragment the OS (recommend running auslogics defrag on "Defrag and optimize" setting) – repeat as necessary until the defrags take less than 10 minutes to complete!
   6. Shrink the VM – RMC on the VMTools and follow instructions on the VMTools SHRINK tab
   7. Create a fixed page file size of 1-2x the memory of your VM (the value set in 3.1)
      1. Open Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Performance -> Settings -> Advanced -> Virtual Memory
      2. Click on [Change]
      3. Click the "Custom Size" radio button
      4. Enter a value (e.g. "3584") for "Initial size (MB)"
      5. Enter a value (e.g. "3584") for "Maximum size (MB)"
      6. Click on the [Set] button
      7. Click [OK] and [Close] to get all of the open windows closed
   8. Close applications and turn off services that use a lot of memory (such as web browsers, etc.)
      1. In Services, set "Telephony" to "Automatic"
      2. In Services, set "Alerter" to "Disabled"
      3. In Services, set "Automatic Updates" to "Disabled" (NOTE: you will need to re-enable this in order to update the OS)
      4. In Services, set "Background Intelligent Transfer Service" to "Disabled" (NOTE: you will need to re-enable this in order to update the OS)
      5. In Services, set "ClipBook" to "Disabled"
      6. In Services, set "Computer Browser" to "Disabled"
      7. In Services, set "Error Reporting Service" to "Disabled"
      8. In Services, set "Help and Support" to "Disabled"
      9. In Services, set "Indexing Service" to "Disabled"
      10. In Services, set "Messenger" to "Disabled"
      11. In Services, set "NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing" to "Disabled"
      12. In Services, set "Remote Desktop Help Session Manager" to "Disabled"
      13. In Services, set "Remote Registry" to "Disabled"
      14. In Services, set "Terminal Services" to "Disabled"
      15. In Services, set "Themes" to "Disabled"
      16. In Services, set "Uninterruptible Power Supply" to "Disabled"
      17. In Services, set "Wireless Zero Configuration" to "Disabled"
   9. Restart the guest VM
5. Test drive the performance settings

Proceed to the next blog on computers (not finished yet).

Return to an earlier blog on computers: Computers: Antivirus

Computers: Antivirus

In previous blogs, I discussed basic computer maintenance tasks as well as setting up your anti-spyware protection. After you take care of those tasks you should ensure that you’ve cleaned off any potential malware with these tools. It is best that you scan your computer first, then install these and activate their protection services.


Antivirus
1. Introduction
2. Malwarebytes
3. Avira and Avast
4. On-line tools
5. Hijack this
6. Other tools and my comments
7. Summary

1. Introduction
Computer "viruses" have come to mean any number of different types of software that install themselves without your knowledge and perform operations that you do not know about and do not want. In common usage, malware has become synonymous with "virus".

For that reason, most anti-virus software is designed to detect and mostly remove all sorts of bad stuff (Yeah!).

I'm going to introduce you to several pieces of software that I have used in the past couple of years. However, there is a lot of other perfectly good software I am not including because I am either ignorant about it or I've found I prefer one of their other tools. I'll discuss some of these at the end of the blog.

All of the ones I've included you can download and use for free.

One thing you should know is that many antivirus applications do NOT work well when use on the same computer as other antivirus software. I'll discuss this in a bit more detail under the relevant sections

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2. Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes is a malware scan tool only. Meaning it'll only look for and try to fix viruses if it finds them. It does not include virus protection. Which means that it does not have a program that runs on you computer and tries to block suspicious activity. This is unlike the other applications I'll discuss here.

However, if you have other virus protection, Malwarebytes is a very nice tool to have because it runs fast and it won't interfere with other programs. Malwarebytes *CAN* be installed and used with all of the other antivirus software I've tried. So I have it installed on all of our computers.

To get it simply "Google" it or go directly to www.malwarebytes.org. I used to post direct links but Google has been busy nerfing my external links!
Select the free version and wait for the file to download (it's about 6MB in size).
When the download completes, execute the downloaded file.
Follow the directions for installing the software.
When asked if you want to update the virus definitions file, say "yes."
When asked if you want to scan the computer, say "yes."

If Malwarebytes finds problems, allow it to try to fix them.

When you're done with the scan, set up Malwarebytes to scan your computer automatically every week (just like we set up the weekly defragmentation runs a couple of blogs ago).

To set up daily virus definitions updates on Windows XP:
1. Left mouse click (abbreviated LMC) on the [Start] button.
2. Click on "Settings >"
3. Click on "Control Panel"
4. Double click on "Scheduled Tasks"
5. The "Scheduled Tasks" window should launch.
6. Double click on "Add Scheduled Tasks"
7. On the "Task" tab, enter the text "C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes\mbam.exe /runupdate" into the run field
8. On the "Task" tab, ensure that the "Enabled" check box is checked at the bottom of the page.
9. On the "Schedule" tab, select the scheduled task to run "Daily"
10. On the "Schedule" tab, select a start time (I just leave it with the default, the update runs so fast, you won't even notice it).
11. On the "Schedule" tab, select the number one in the "Every" box.
12. On the "Settings" tab, you may choose your own settings but I would enable the ability to "Wake the computer to run this task."
13. When done click the [OK] button.
14. You may be prompted to enter your username & password. If you are, enter them and click [OK] again.
15. Your computer is now set to update your virus definitions daily!


To set up weekly Malwarebytes virus scans for Windows XP:
1. Left mouse click (abbreviated LMC) on the [Start] button.
2. Click on "Settings >"
3. Click on "Control Panel"
4. Double click on "Scheduled Tasks"
5. The "Scheduled Tasks" window should launch.
6. Double click on "Add Scheduled Tasks"
7. On the "Task" tab, enter the text "C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes\mbam.exe /fullscanterminate" into the run field
8. On the "Task" tab, ensure that the "Enabled" check box is checked at the bottom of the page.
9. On the "Schedule" tab, select the scheduled task to run "Weekly"
10. On the "Schedule" tab, select a start time (I select a time a few minutes after midnight).
11. On the "Schedule" tab, select the number one in the "Every" box and select a day (any day except one reserved for defragmentation or another scan).
12. On the "Settings" tab, you may choose your own settings but I would enable the ability to "Wake the computer to run this task" and click the setting to "stop running if the system is running on batteries."
13. When done click the [OK] button.
14. You may be prompted to enter your username & password. If you are, enter them and click [OK] again.
15. Your computer is now set to scan your hard drive for viruses every week!

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3. Avira and Avast
I like these programs equally well. You should select only one of these two for installation because they may conflict with each other if you install both.

Avira: http://www.free-av.com/
Avast: http://www.avast.com/index

After downloading the install images, execute the installer, and follow the installation instructions.

Once installed both pieces of software offer the ability to set up automatic scans of your computer.

Unfortunately I only have Avira installed right now so I only have its directions here:

After installation and reboot (if necessary):
1) Launch the tool
2) Click on the "Administration" tab in the left pane.
3) Click on the "Scheduler" option under the "Administration" tab.
4) Click on the "Complete System Scan" in the main pane and then select the third icon from the left (if you mouse over the icon, it'll say "Edit selected job".
5) [Optional: In the first wizard window edit the name of the job if you wish.] and click [Next >]
6) Click [Next >] (you should not change anything in the second wizard window)
7) Ensure that "Local Hard Disks" option is selected in the third window and click [Next >]
8) In the fourth window select "Weekly", the day of the week, the time of the day, and click [Next >] (I pick a day different than other scans and defragmentation jobs and a time a few minutes past midnight).
9) In the fifth window, select your preferences (you really can pick the settings that best suite you or leave them with the default values), and click on [Finish].
10) Click on the "Daily Update" job, the "Edit selected job" and repeat steps 5) - 9) with only changing the frequency of the job (select daily for updating services).

Now your system will automatically scan for and remove viruses on a weekly basis!

Go back to the "Overview" tab in the left pane and select the "Status" pick.
Ensure that the "AntiVir Guard" (the first item in the main pane) is activated.
Ensure that the "Last update" (the third item in the main pane) is a recent date.
Then click on the "Scan system" option adjacent to the "Last complete system scan (the second item in the main pane).

You're done setting up your antivirus software!

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4. On-line Tools
Both Pandaware and TrendMicro possess on-line virus scan tools.

The downside to these tools is that they are very slow. A scan that would take 2 hours or so on your computer might take 12 hours or more from these tools depending upon your internet connection.

However, they do serve a very important role in your virus protection. The more sophisticated viruses can hide from most installed antivirus tools after the virus has gained control of your computer. There are a couple of ways to work around this problem and one of them is to use a scanner running on another computer. These on-line tools provide that capability to people who do not have sophisticated local area networks set up.

Pandaware's tool is called "ActiveScan". You can find the ActiveScan scanner with Google or you can navigate directly there using this address http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/. Follow the steps to get the scanner running. When it has finished do not be alarmed if it finds *thousands* of threats on your computer. It includes even very low risk cookies in its threat analysis. If I remember correctly, it will give a threat description and/or a numeric code. You can safely ignore low and medium risk threats reported by this scanner. I know it will not offer to clean these (they want you to buy the full scanner). ActiveScan has never found a severe threat so I don't know if it'll offer to clean those.

TrendMicro's tool is called "HouseCall". You can find the HouseCall scanner with Google or you can navigate directly there using this address http://housecall.trendmicro.com/. Follow the steps provided by Trend to get the scanner running. It's been over a year since I used HouseCall so I don't remember what the output looks like. If you have questions, feel free to ask me in the Comments section!

Both tools require the use of Internet Explorer to run properly, so even if you normally use another browser like Firefox, switch back to Internet Explorer for the scan.

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5. HijackThis
HijackThis is not a tool like any of the others mentioned in this blog.

It does not scan for viruses and malware, it does not clean those things either. Instead TrendMicro wrote it to capture a very accurate description of what is installed on your computer and it presents that information in a manner that an IT professional could use to determine whether you have a computer virus infection. It can be used by computer professions to find and delete malicious software on your computer. However, it is VERY easy to delete software that you need to run your computer. Until you learn a lot about the programs running on your computer, this should be used only as a tool of last resort.

You should download this software and install it. You should NOT attempt to use this software to clean an infection unless you are given specific directions to do so by someone very knowledgeable about computers.

The reason that you should get it now is because many virus infections will prevent you from getting it after they've infected your system. Getting it now will save you time and trouble if you get an infection later.

You can find this software by entering "HijackThis download" into Google. Then select a reputable file server (e.g. CNET, MajorGeeks, or other) and download it.

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6. Other tools
There are many other good antivirus programs. Some I haven't tried, some cost money, some I didn't like. Here a few of these and my notes:

Norton Antivirus - does a good job fighting viruses but there's no free version. It does not play nice with most other forms of computer protection. It causes severe performance problems on some computers.

TrendMicro OfficeScan - I have to use this on my work computer. They've locked down the controls so I really haven't been able to play with it and see how it works. It seems to do an OK job. You must pay to use it.

F-Prot (stands for "Frisk" [the creator's name] Protect) - I used to use this on my MS DOS computers back in the day and I loved it. However, I haven't used it in 10 or more years so I can't really fairly evaluate it now. Currently F-Prot only offers a trial version which is free only until the trial is over.

Pandaware Antivirus - Other than its on-line scan tool, I've never used Pandaware's software. I do not think that it has a free installable version but you can use its on-line scan tool to scan for malware.

McAfee - has recently had some very notable and large issues lately, however, I have not personally suffered from any of these. McAfee provides no free version that I'm aware of. I have heard it does not work well with other antivirus software.

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7. Summary
Well I can't really call this a summary because I intend to instill a little IT wisdom instead.

When protecting your computer there are technological weaknesses and sociological weaknesses. No matter how good your technology is, your computer will still get infected if you download and install the malicious software yourself. The technology can only help protect your computer - you still need to be careful.

Avoid malicious sites! The Spybot Search & Destroy "host file" tool blocks known malicious sites but these spring up very quickly and the list is never up to date. The Web of Trust add on for Firefox also helps because it provides a rating of how trust worthy a site is but it suffers from the same fate as Spybot's tool. Finally, the "NoScript" add on for Firefox will block malicious web site's code but only so long as you don't override that tool's block! Remember *YOU* are a much bigger security hole for your computer's security than any piece of software is.

Scan file downloads! You now have virus scanning tools - USE THEM. When you download a file, scan it with one of these tools. It costs only a little time and can do a lot to prevent malicious infections from ruining your computer.

Don't automatically override security pop-ups! I see this all of the time. Someone installs Spybot's "Tea Timer" tool to prevent the running of malicious software but then whenever the tool advises the user of some activity they automatically override the block! Why the heck do you even bother? Instead remember these tools "learn" the correct behavior. When the tool launches a pop-up, read the pop-up, and determine whether the application should be trusted. Do you recognize the name? Only after you are certain the application can be trusted, check the settings, ensure the "remember this decision" box is checked and either [Allow] or [Deny] the access. If you are not sure, then uncheck the "remember this decision box and click on [Deny]. If your application works fine without the access, then the next time it asks, make the decision permanent.

Don't respond to email solicitations! It is very easy to spoof links in an email. It looks like a valid address (say to your bank) but it will actually take you to a site disguised to look like your bank. If your bank needs to contact you, then type the address into your browser directly and do not depend upon a link.

Don't open unsolicited files! When you get files in your email, don't open them unless you were expecting it. Some malware will look through your email software and harvest the email addresses there. It will then email itself to all of your friends with familiar greeting ("hey, look at this!"). Do not trust email even from your trusted friends. When you do get some, USE YOUR SCANNER to ensure it is safe!

At this point you may wondering if I'm paranoid. I can assure you that I know everyone is not out to get me. However, your computer will be a whole lot safer if you always question whether the website you're using or the email you're reading was really sent by the person you think it was.

Remember that you are not just protecting your computer. You are also protecting your data. If you have banking information, tax information, or other very sensitive personal information then the malware will collect that and return it to criminal gangs who will use it to steal your identity.

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Proceed to my next computer blog, Computers: VM Performance Tuning (really these tips can be used to tune up any machine and not just virtual machines).

Return to my previous computer blog, Fighting spyware.

Computers: Fighting spyware

In my last blog, computer maintenance, I discussed some basic computer maintenance tasks. After you take care of those tasks you should ensure that you’ve cleaned off any potential malware.


Spyware
1. Introduction
2. An ounce of prevention
3. Spyware Blaster
4. Spyware Search & Destroy
5. Web of Trust


1. Introduction

Malware (a word coined to encompass all software which might inhabit your computer against your wishes) has become pervasive on the internet.

Some of the anti-malware software providers leave unprotected “bait” computer computers on the internet to see what it catches in the wild. They’ve discovered a computer gets “attacked” within just a few minutes of hopping onto the internet. Even worse unprotected computers are often compromised within 10-20 minutes!

Malware affects the stability of your computer, slows its performance, but worse it often seeks to steal your personal data. This data is sold to the highest bidder and is used to steal your ID and take out credit cards in your name.

With just a little time spent on a one-time set up, you can set up your computer to automatically update its anti-virus, anti-spyware, and run scans.

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2. An ounce of prevention

First of all, you need to be aware that many malware attacks involve “social engineering,” which is a fancy way of saying “tricking you to install something you don’t want.” To avoid this type malware, don’t go to web sites you don’t trust, don’t open files in email unless they are attachments you expect, and don’t follow links provided in your emails especially to banks and other sites. Let me reiterate that last one, whenever you wish to do online banking or credit card transactions you should always type in the address or get there from a saved link.

Next you should install basic protection for your web browsing. I use multiple products to help fight for me. These include:

Spyware Blaster
Spyware Search & Destroy
And another Firefox addon called Web of Trust

Download this software and then run their install images. I’ll address the details of each piece of software in a separate section.

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3. Spyware Blaster

1. Launch the software
2. Click on the “Updates” link on the left.
3. Then click on the [Check for Updates]
4. Once the update completes, click on the “Protection Status”
5. At the bottom of the page, select the “Enable All Protection”
6. That’s it!

This application does no scans or malware removal. Its only purpose is to protect you from your own web browsing.

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4. Spyware Search & Destroy

1. Launch the software
2. After Spybot – Search & Destroy launches, click on the [Search for Updates]
3. When the update dialog pops-up, leave the selected site alone and click the [Search]
4. Make sure all updates are selected and click on the [Download] button.
5. Wait for the update to complete.
6. When finished, click on the [OK] button.
7. In the main Spybot – Search & Destroy window, click on the “Mode” menu -> select “Advanced Mode”
8. In the left pane of Spybot – Search & Destroy, select “[+] Tools”
9. In the main window, check all tool check boxes (we want to have access to all of these tools)
10. In the left pane of Spybot, select the “Resident” tool
11. Ensure both (SDHelper & TeaTimer) Check boxes are checked (see the note on TeaTimer below)
12. Click on the “ActiveX” tool
13. One-by-one click on each registry entry that does NOT have a green check mark.
14. Examine the information for these entries and delete all entries which you do not understand. You delete these entries by highlighting the entry and clicking on the “X Remove” pick at the top of the page.
15. Click on the “BHOs” tool.
16. Examine the information for these entries and delete all entries that you do not understand. You delete these entries by highlighting the entry and clicking on the “X Remove” pick at the top of the page.
17. Click on the “IE tweaks” tool.
18. Ensure the “Lock Hosts file read-only as protection against hijackers” check box is checked.
19. Click on the “Hosts File” tool.
20. At the top of the page, click on the “+ Add Spybot-S&D hosts list”. This will prevent you from navigating to a page which is known to transmit malware.
21. Now click on the “[+] Settings” bar in the left pane.
22. Click on the “Scheduler” tool
23. At the top of the page, click the “+ Add” button.
24. Select the “Schedule” tab, click on the [New] button, enter frequency (weekly), start time (when the computer will be on but not used), pick a day of the week (any).
25. Select the “Settings” tab, choose any settings that seem appropriate but I do recommend clicking on the “Wake the computer to run this task” check box to ensure your scan happens.
26. Click the [OK] button.
27. You will be prompted to enter the username and password of the account that should run this scan, enter the administrators username and password.
28. Click the [OK] button.
29. Click on the “+ Add (Updater)” and repeat steps 24-28 with the exception that I’d recommend running the updater daily.
30. Click on the “[+] Spybot-S&D” bar in the left pane.
31. Click on the “Immunize” tool.
32. Spybot S&D will ask you to close your browsers – do so, and click on the [OK] button.
33. Wait for the immunization check to complete (it’ll show you that you need to immunize your computer).
34. Click on the “+ Immunize” button at the top of the page. Wait for the browser immunization to complete.
35. Click on the “Search & Destroy” tool.
36. Click on the “Check for problems” button at the top of the screen.
37. Wait for the check to complete.
38. If Spybot S&D finds problems, they’ll appear as checked entries. Click on the “Fix Selected” button at the top of the page.
39. That’s it. You’ve updated Spybot S&D, scheduled to automatically run on its own, and performed your own scan.

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5. Web of Trust (WOT)

Web of Trust is a web site rating tool. Rated web sites should have a ring rating next to their links. Untrusted sites should have red rings. Trusted sites should have green rings. Unrated sites could be safe or not. I highly recommend avoiding untrusted sites, these have been known to sell user information or worse.

To install WOT:
1. Launch Firefox
2. Click on the “Tools” menu.
3. Select the Add-ons pick
4. Type “WOT” into the upper left “Search” window and hit your enter key.
5. You will probably need to hit the “See all results (#)” link at the bottom of the page.
6. You should see the “WOT – Safe Browsing Tool”, click on the “(+ Add to Firefox)” button to download the software.
7. The Software Installation dialog should appear. Wait for the 5 second countdown timer and click on the [Install Now] button.
8. You will be prompted to restart Firefox, so do this now.
9. Congratulations! You have installed Web of Trust!
10. If this is your first installation, you will be prompted to subscribe to a WOT list. Select one geographically close to you.

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Proceed to my next computer blog, Antivirus software.

Return to my previous computer blog, Computer maintenance.

Computers: Computer maintenance

I’m starting a new series on computers and intend to use this as a starting point. Unfortunately I haven’t had much experience with Macs over the last several years and so will limit my contributions to Windows and Linux operating systems.

For my next article I will discuss how to download & install spyware scanning tools and then run them to remove infections.

For this first blog, I’ll discuss three Windows OS’es: Win XP, Vista, and Win 7.

Computer maintenance
1. Introduction
2. Defragment
3. Turn on automatic update
4. Schedule defragmentation
5. Download and install Firefox
6. Download and install Firefox Addons

1. Introduction
Today computers are ubiquitous. Nearly everyone has access to computers and most people own one or more. However, not everyone has the time to learn enough about them to ensure the computers run efficiently and clean of viruses.

So here are a few things you can do to get your computer to get it running more efficiently.

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2. Defragment
Note if you have never defragmented your hard drive, this could take a VERY long time (many hours) so you may want to run this over night.

The following steps should work for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7:
1. Right mouse click (abbreviated RMC) on the [Start] button and select the “Explore” option.
2. A window’s explorer window will launch.
3. RMC on your C: drive and select the “Properties” option.
4. The disk properties dialog will launch.
5. Click on the [Tools] tab.
6. You should see the “Error-checking”, “Defragmentation”, and “Backup”.
7. Select the [Defragment Now…] button.
8. The Disk Defragmenter application will launch.
9. Select the [Defragment] button.
10. When the defragmentation is complete, you should notice that many applications run much faster.

If your computer has not been defragmented in a long time, you should repeat the defragmentation process multiple times to ensure your disk is optimized.

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3. Turn on automatic update

For Windows XP:
1. Left mouse click (abbreviated LMC) on the [Start] button.
2. Click on “Settings >”
3. Click on “Control Panel”
4. Double click on “Security Center”
5. The “Windows Security Center” window should launch
6. Click on the link for “Automatic Updates”
7. Select “Automatic (recommended)” and then the [OK] button.
8. Your system should now update automatically.

For Vista and Windows 7:
1. LMC on the [Start] button.
2. Click on the “Programs >” selection and then select “Microsoft Update”.
3. The “Microsoft Update” tool will launch (note that it will not be Internet Explorer).
4. In the left pane, click on “change settings” link.
5. Select the option to “Install updates automatically (recommended)”.
6. Next set the updates to occur every day and then set the time (the default would be 3 am and this should be OK).
7. Click the [OK] button.
8. Your system should now update automatically.

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4. Schedule defragmentation
For Windows XP:
1. Left mouse click (abbreviated LMC) on the [Start] button.
2. Click on “Settings >”
3. Click on “Control Panel”
4. Double click on “Scheduled Tasks”
5. The “Scheduled Tasks” window should launch.
6. Double click on “Add Scheduled Tasks”
7. On the “Task” tab, enter the text “C:\WINDOWS\system32\defrag.exe c: /f” into the run field
8. On the “Task” tab, ensure that the “Enabled” check box is checked at the bottom of the page.
9. On the “Schedule” tab, select the scheduled task to run “Weekly”
10. On the “Schedule” tab, select a start time (I select a time shortly after midnight).
11. On the “Schedule” tab, select the number one in the “Every” box and select a day (I selected Monday).
12. On the “Settings” tab, you may choose your own settings but I would enable the ability to “Wake the computer to run this task.”
13. When done click the [OK] button.
14. You may be prompted to enter your username & password. If you are, enter them and click [OK] again.
15. Your computer is now set to defragment your hard drive every week.

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5. Download and install Firefox
For all Windows operating systems:
1. Use your current web browser (likely Internet Explorer) to navigate to the www.mozilla.com web site.
2. Click on the button to [Download Firefox – Free].
3. Firefox will download onto your computer.
4. When the download completes, click on the [Start] button.
5. Select “Documents >” -> “My Documents”
6. Your “My Documents” folder should contain a “Download” directory. Double click on this to open the directory.
7. You should find your Firefox installer file in that folder.
8. Double click on the Firefox installer and follow the Firefox installation directions.
9. If your installation requests that you reboot your computer, then follow its directions.

Congratulations! You have installed Mozilla Firefox which I have found to be both more secure and faster than Internet Explorer!

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6. Download and install selected Firefox Addons
Firefox developers and users have created a huge selection of utilities which supply all sorts of extra functionality to Firefox. Feel free to browse and download utilities that meet your needs but be sure to check the reliability of the people who make them.

I highly suggest downloading and installing a few add-ons which will improve the safety of your web browsing. Specifically I use a program called “NoScript”. NoScript prevents web site scripts from running on your computer (which can improve the speed at which pages load). However, the real reason to load it is NoScript prevents any script from running unless you specifically grant it access. This does mean that some pages won’t work properly but you can selectively grant access the scripts on pages you trust until it does work properly. Once you’ve enabled the proper set of scripts for a page, it’ll work properly ever after.

1. Double click on the Firefox icon to launch Firefox
2. At the top of the browser, select the “Tools” menu.
3. Then select the “Addons” option.
4. The “Addons” dialog should appear.
5. Select the “Get Add-ons”.
6. In the search window, enter the text “noscript” followed by hitting the “Enter” key on your keyboard.
7. You should see “NoScript” in the results, but if you don’t click on the link at the bottom that says “Show all results ()”.
8. From whichever screen you see NoScript, select the “(+ Add to Firefox)” button.
9. NoScript should install and when completed it’ll ask to restart your browser - allow it to restart the browser.
10. Now navigate to your favorite sites (e.g. Facebook).
11. The first thing you’ll note is that your site (e.g. Facebook) doesn’t load properly and a bar with a button called [Options] will appear in the bottom of the browser window.
12. Click on the [Options] button and select the “Allow Facebook” option.
13. In general I permit scripts to run if they are from sites to which I’ve navigated. By default I leave the scripts not from that site off. This will work for over ½ of the sites you’ll regularly visit.
14. For other sites, you’ll have to permit the other scripts one-by-one (I use the “temporarily allow” option if I’m not sure).
15. I recommend *AGAINST* using “temporarily allow all this site”, “Allow all this page”, and “Allow Scripts Globally”.

If used properly this simple add-on can prevent a lot of VERY nasty stuff from getting into your computer and prevent a lot of very bad problems later for you.

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My next blog on this topic will be how to install and run spyware protection.