Damphir08's Security Config
- Thread starter damphir08
- Start date
- Feb 17, 2015
- 824
- May 7, 2015
- 37
Well, there are a lot of changes you gotta do if that is all. Imma say a few.
1 - Download Malwarebytes - https://www.malwarebytes.org/
2 - Move to Google Chrome if you want better access to multiple extensions as (Lastpass, Ghostery, Https everywhere, uBlock)
3 - Start using tools as Adwcleaner, Junk Removal Tool etc.
4 - Start using any of those - Zemana, EKK, Eset online scanner (Tip from FireShoot)
5 - QUIT DOWNLOADING MALWARE SAMPLES, you are not ready for it yet from what you told us.
6 - Turn on Uac.
To turn UAC on or off:
7 - Choose a program to use as backup/recovery.
1 - Download Malwarebytes - https://www.malwarebytes.org/
2 - Move to Google Chrome if you want better access to multiple extensions as (Lastpass, Ghostery, Https everywhere, uBlock)
3 - Start using tools as Adwcleaner, Junk Removal Tool etc.
4 - Start using any of those - Zemana, EKK, Eset online scanner (Tip from FireShoot)
5 - QUIT DOWNLOADING MALWARE SAMPLES, you are not ready for it yet from what you told us.
6 - Turn on Uac.
To turn UAC on or off:
- Open User Account Control Settings by clicking the Start button
, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type uac, and then click Change User Account Control settings.
- Do one of the following:
- To turn off UAC, move the slider to the Never notify position, and then click OK.
If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. You will need to restart your computer for UAC to be turned off.
- To turn on UAC, move the slider to choose when you want to be notified, and then click OK.
If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
- To turn off UAC, move the slider to the Never notify position, and then click OK.
7 - Choose a program to use as backup/recovery.
- Feb 17, 2015
- 824
- If u want testing samples install sandboxie and Shadow Defender or use Virtual Machine
- Backup your important data to external hdd/usb or use cloud(Dropbox,Mega...)
- Install PrivaZer
Hello @damphir08,
I see some room for improvement with your security configuration. Always remember what any changes must be approved in your decisision - if you do not want to change something, then I respect your decision.
To start off, if UAC is disabled on your system I highly recommend you enable it. Even on the default settings, it can be a great addition to your protection. In case you were wondering how it worked, it works by presenting an alert confirmation to the user when a program is going to be ran with privileges which will allow it to do things which programs not running with administrative rights may be able to do. In a lot of cases, a program running with administrative privileges opens up a big opportunity of ways for it to attack your system. (You can still be infected through samples which do not require administrative privileges. Although, it was an example).
To check if UAC (User Account Control) is enabled: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/turn-user-account-control-on-off#1TC=windows-7
Secondly, I recommend you only use ONE Antivirus product on your system. Using multiple Antivirus software can cause them both flagging each other, system performance issues and/or system lockups. I recommend you uninstall McAfee and keep Avast on your system - in my opinion, Avast is far superior to McAfee. However, this is just my opinion based on my personal experience and testing - if you like McAfee more and want to keep it then I suggest you uninstall Avast.
If you would like to change your Antivirus/Internet Security product to another vendor for one reason or another, I recommend you try out Trend Micro. You can find more information about their products on their website: http://www.trendmicro.co.uk/
An alternative to Trend Micro could be Emsisoft: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/ (Emsisoft Antimalware and Internet Security was specifically designed to run alongside another AV/IS product).
If you would like to change, I recommend you test different products and see how they run on your system, and then decide - uninstall any Antivirus/Internet Security products before installing another one. Make sure not to execute any malware on your main system even for testing purposes. Should you wish to test the detection of a product, stick to using a Virtual Machine. Vendors usually provide a 30-day trial.
Do you use McAfee/Avast Antivirus or Internet Security? If you use Antivirus, then I will assume you do not have their firewall/another third party Firewall installed on your system. If you do not, then I either recommend making sure Windows Firewall is enabled on your system or installing a third party firewall.
To check if Windows Firewall is enabled on your system: Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall. Select "Turn Windows Firewall on or off" on the left hand panel. Details will be listed there. If it's disabled, I recommend enabling it.
You may also be interested in running Windows Firewall Control and Glasswire alongside Windows Firewall.
If you do not wish to use Windows Firewall but would like to use a third party Firewall, I can recommend to you: Comodo Firewall.
Next up, we need some on-demand scanners. An on-demand scanner is software which will allow you to run a scan of your system without using features like Real-Time protection or BB/HIPS, etc. I recommend using 2 or 3 of the following scanners: MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Free, Emsisoft Emergency Kit (if you use Emsisoft for Real-Time protection on the AM/IS this is unnecessary), HitmanPro, Zemana Anti-Malware or ESET Online Scanner. I do not recommend just leaving your main AV/IS product down to protect you for on-demand scanning. If you have your Real-Time protection enabled and setup correctly, it should protect you with this. Using on-demand scanners will give other products a chance to help catch out malicious objects that your main security software does not catch.
Now we got that out of the way, let's advance over to Privacy software. I recommend you use CCleaner - in my opinion it's a great piece of software and based on my testing, my personal experience on my main system I can vouch for the product and tell you that I doubt it will ever mess something up. Of course make sure to keep a backup of your Registry (CCleaner does offer support for this) before doing anything related to cleaning with the Registry. It also has other features like cleaning browsers and other programs to clear your tracks, getting rid of junk files, etc.
For Backup & Recovery you could maybe think about using Paragon Backup & Recovery Free. As well as this, you can always store personal documents on an external Hard Drive/USB and/or cloud storage such as: Dropbox, MEGA, Google Drive, BOX.
I cannot suggest Browser Extensions since my recommendations are not supported on the Web Browser you currently use.
NOTE: If you are someone who is a high risk user (always opens new programs without checking or doing research on them, visits suspicious links regularly, ...) then you may be interested in Shadow Defender. If you became infected with malware, then you are more protected with Shadow Defender since the actions would not change your main system.
You can scan new programs at https://www.VirusTotal.com/ before running them on your main system. If one vendor detects it, it may not mean it's malicious as False Positives are possible.
You can also use a Sandbox (sandboxie). A Sandbox is where a program is executed in an virtual environment. The actions it takes will not affect your system. If you executed malware in it, it would protect you from your system actually becoming compromised as it would happen inside the Sandbox instead. You can also sandbox your browser for additional protection. Please bear in mind that Data Theft can occur in the Sandbox, and to make sure to clear the contents should it become infected.
Another idea could be a Virtual Machine. However, this is a lot more hassle in some cases than a Sandbox, especially for installation and setup (since with a Virtual Machine you'll need to install the OS etc).
If you are on Windows 8 and above, make sure Windows SmartScreen is enabled. It's a good feature, and will help you stay better protected.
Always use your brain. No product can protect you fully.
Check these topics, they may provide new information to you to help you stay safe when browsing online:
http://malwaretips.com/threads/always-check-your-links.45370/
http://malwaretips.com/threads/is-it-a-scam-site-how-can-you-tell.28507/
http://malwaretips.com/threads/verified-dropbox-domains-how-to-avoid-phishing-scams.40807/
Cheers.
I see some room for improvement with your security configuration. Always remember what any changes must be approved in your decisision - if you do not want to change something, then I respect your decision.
To start off, if UAC is disabled on your system I highly recommend you enable it. Even on the default settings, it can be a great addition to your protection. In case you were wondering how it worked, it works by presenting an alert confirmation to the user when a program is going to be ran with privileges which will allow it to do things which programs not running with administrative rights may be able to do. In a lot of cases, a program running with administrative privileges opens up a big opportunity of ways for it to attack your system. (You can still be infected through samples which do not require administrative privileges. Although, it was an example).
To check if UAC (User Account Control) is enabled: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/turn-user-account-control-on-off#1TC=windows-7
To turn UAC on or off
- Open User Account Control Settings by clicking the Start button
, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type uac, and then click Change User Account Control settings.
- Do one of the following:
- To turn off UAC, move the slider to the Never notify position, and then click OK.
If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. You will need to restart your computer for UAC to be turned off.
- To turn on UAC, move the slider to choose when you want to be notified, and then click OK.
If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Secondly, I recommend you only use ONE Antivirus product on your system. Using multiple Antivirus software can cause them both flagging each other, system performance issues and/or system lockups. I recommend you uninstall McAfee and keep Avast on your system - in my opinion, Avast is far superior to McAfee. However, this is just my opinion based on my personal experience and testing - if you like McAfee more and want to keep it then I suggest you uninstall Avast.
If you would like to change your Antivirus/Internet Security product to another vendor for one reason or another, I recommend you try out Trend Micro. You can find more information about their products on their website: http://www.trendmicro.co.uk/
An alternative to Trend Micro could be Emsisoft: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/ (Emsisoft Antimalware and Internet Security was specifically designed to run alongside another AV/IS product).
If you would like to change, I recommend you test different products and see how they run on your system, and then decide - uninstall any Antivirus/Internet Security products before installing another one. Make sure not to execute any malware on your main system even for testing purposes. Should you wish to test the detection of a product, stick to using a Virtual Machine. Vendors usually provide a 30-day trial.
Do you use McAfee/Avast Antivirus or Internet Security? If you use Antivirus, then I will assume you do not have their firewall/another third party Firewall installed on your system. If you do not, then I either recommend making sure Windows Firewall is enabled on your system or installing a third party firewall.
To check if Windows Firewall is enabled on your system: Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall. Select "Turn Windows Firewall on or off" on the left hand panel. Details will be listed there. If it's disabled, I recommend enabling it.
You may also be interested in running Windows Firewall Control and Glasswire alongside Windows Firewall.
If you do not wish to use Windows Firewall but would like to use a third party Firewall, I can recommend to you: Comodo Firewall.
Next up, we need some on-demand scanners. An on-demand scanner is software which will allow you to run a scan of your system without using features like Real-Time protection or BB/HIPS, etc. I recommend using 2 or 3 of the following scanners: MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Free, Emsisoft Emergency Kit (if you use Emsisoft for Real-Time protection on the AM/IS this is unnecessary), HitmanPro, Zemana Anti-Malware or ESET Online Scanner. I do not recommend just leaving your main AV/IS product down to protect you for on-demand scanning. If you have your Real-Time protection enabled and setup correctly, it should protect you with this. Using on-demand scanners will give other products a chance to help catch out malicious objects that your main security software does not catch.
Now we got that out of the way, let's advance over to Privacy software. I recommend you use CCleaner - in my opinion it's a great piece of software and based on my testing, my personal experience on my main system I can vouch for the product and tell you that I doubt it will ever mess something up. Of course make sure to keep a backup of your Registry (CCleaner does offer support for this) before doing anything related to cleaning with the Registry. It also has other features like cleaning browsers and other programs to clear your tracks, getting rid of junk files, etc.
For Backup & Recovery you could maybe think about using Paragon Backup & Recovery Free. As well as this, you can always store personal documents on an external Hard Drive/USB and/or cloud storage such as: Dropbox, MEGA, Google Drive, BOX.
I cannot suggest Browser Extensions since my recommendations are not supported on the Web Browser you currently use.
NOTE: If you are someone who is a high risk user (always opens new programs without checking or doing research on them, visits suspicious links regularly, ...) then you may be interested in Shadow Defender. If you became infected with malware, then you are more protected with Shadow Defender since the actions would not change your main system.
You can scan new programs at https://www.VirusTotal.com/ before running them on your main system. If one vendor detects it, it may not mean it's malicious as False Positives are possible.
You can also use a Sandbox (sandboxie). A Sandbox is where a program is executed in an virtual environment. The actions it takes will not affect your system. If you executed malware in it, it would protect you from your system actually becoming compromised as it would happen inside the Sandbox instead. You can also sandbox your browser for additional protection. Please bear in mind that Data Theft can occur in the Sandbox, and to make sure to clear the contents should it become infected.
Another idea could be a Virtual Machine. However, this is a lot more hassle in some cases than a Sandbox, especially for installation and setup (since with a Virtual Machine you'll need to install the OS etc).
If you are on Windows 8 and above, make sure Windows SmartScreen is enabled. It's a good feature, and will help you stay better protected.
Always use your brain. No product can protect you fully.
Check these topics, they may provide new information to you to help you stay safe when browsing online:
http://malwaretips.com/threads/always-check-your-links.45370/
http://malwaretips.com/threads/is-it-a-scam-site-how-can-you-tell.28507/
http://malwaretips.com/threads/verified-dropbox-domains-how-to-avoid-phishing-scams.40807/
Cheers.
I agree with Kram7750.
I will just add this... you have 32-bit system... depending upon your system's CPU and RAM, Kaspersky would be top-of-class protection.
You are using Java and Flash.
Recommend add at least EMET for anti-exploit protection...
I will just add this... you have 32-bit system... depending upon your system's CPU and RAM, Kaspersky would be top-of-class protection.
You are using Java and Flash.
Recommend add at least EMET for anti-exploit protection...
Last edited by a moderator:
- Oct 23, 2012
- 12,527
McAfee ???
On demand scanners besides McAfee
NO backup solution?
I am assuming your using Maxthon
Opera & Firefox should be listed under Browsers
No other Browser extensions?
A more detailed Security Configuration would be helpful
On demand scanners besides McAfee
NO backup solution?
I am assuming your using Maxthon
Opera & Firefox should be listed under Browsers
No other Browser extensions?
A more detailed Security Configuration would be helpful
- Mar 15, 2011
- 13,070
Your last infection date seems reflects from your configuration unless you stated its from another computer.
McAfee is ok but from alternatives there's no harm to change; why not consider Avast Free instead of Pro unless you're willing to purchase a license.
Follow all in detailed and comprehensive post per suggestions to improve your configuration, good thing you have Linux which better for browsing habits and other purpose for Windows.
Backup is a must, in order to save the costly time of Windows format process,
McAfee is ok but from alternatives there's no harm to change; why not consider Avast Free instead of Pro unless you're willing to purchase a license.
Follow all in detailed and comprehensive post per suggestions to improve your configuration, good thing you have Linux which better for browsing habits and other purpose for Windows.
Backup is a must, in order to save the costly time of Windows format process,
hello thank you i have 2 notebook and one mini notebook with windows xp and 8 but on notebook with winDOWS 8 i installed virtual box machine with win 7 and xubuntu i USED the antivirus, bit defender total ,bit security , AVG, MC AFFEE, NOD, SUPER ANTYSPYWARE, OF ZEMANA BETA I AM TESTER, MALWARE BYTE, I HAVE THE software LICENSE GIVEAWAY OF SOFTWARE, I USE ADVNCED SISTEM CARE AND WISE CARE FOR CLEAN AND OPTIMIZE MY PC, I AM VERy SATISFACTion
Our Avast Premier Giveaway: http://malwaretips.com/threads/avast-premier-2015-giveaway.45663/
With all relevant information is posted in thread, additionally see http://malwaretips.com/threads/replying-to-MalwareTips-giveaways.38548/
For more help, you can contact @BoraMurdar and @exterminator20
With all relevant information is posted in thread, additionally see http://malwaretips.com/threads/replying-to-MalwareTips-giveaways.38548/
For more help, you can contact @BoraMurdar and @exterminator20
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