LAKings_Fan
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I am trying to further my knowledge in Viruses. Is there any books or material anyone would recommend me reading to familiarize myself on the subject?
A start
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When it comes to viruses there are so many different topics. Are you looking to learn about removal, how they affect a system or some other aspect? A good start on removal is to go to sites like Bleeping Computer and read about their stuff there like HiJack This and Combofix. There is also Malwarebytes Antimalware as well that is used often. There are also things like LSPFix, Virtuondo among many other types of infections out there that have specific fixes as well. So really it just comes down to what your looking to learn about.
LAKings_Fan
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Good point. I guess it was a very Broad question. I guess I would want to start at the Basics how they affect a computer what exactly they do, Then how to remove them. I use Malwarebytes also. Its a great program. Thanks for the advice on such a broad question.
Well to learn how they affect a system is still very broad. But the main thing is that a virus is coded to modify the system in such a way that it takes control. How this modification is done depends on the virus. Some are targeted specifically toward a specific program while others attach the Operating System overall, I should say they target a flaw in the OS overall.
What that means is that when you read of a new flaw in Adobe Flash or Reader, that means that the infection targets that program and exploits some aspect of that program in order to obtain access to your system and do what ever the virus is programmed to do. It could be disable your Antivirus, it could be to try and steal your personal information when you go onto websites, it could just be that it is turned into a Zombie Machine that will be used in an attack on another system. But the infection targets that specific program and you have to use that program and do that exact thing in order for the infection to harm your system.
Now other infections that target a flaw in the OS itself, those exploit a bug in the OS that allows them to install onto the system and do what the infection is programmed to do. It is for such reasons that you get Windows Updates that patch the OS itself. There are bugs or flaws found in the OS which could be exploited, those flaws are then patched by Microsoft and the update is sent out to patch affected systems. At this time there could not be an infection out there that exploits such a flaw, but it is still patched to prevent such an infection from doing any harm.
There is so much that any infection can do, but it all comes down to what the person who programmed it intends for it to do. Without diving into each infection specifically there is no way to answer what they can do to a system. But the truth is that no matter what, it has to target either a flaw in the OS itself or a program that the OS is running in order for you to get infected. Yes there are some infections out there that can harm a system by simply just viewing a Flash Video. They do exist. But it is a specifically designed flash video and they are hard to just happen upon. It is for such reasons that it is highly recommended that a person uses a browser in which such extensions like Flash Block can be used. Chrome and firefox have such an extension. These extensions prevent flash items from being viewed until you click on them and allow them. So if you are on a site you are not to sure of, then you cant really be harmed.
Another great extension is WOT or Web of Trust. People install this extensions and rate websites they visit. This way you can get a user based grade of a website in order to get a user opinion on how well the site truly is. There is also the McAfee Site Advisor which is another extension to use to do the same thing.
In Firefox the last extension I would suggest would be NoScript. This extension blocks the website from executing just about everything. Yes it can be a pain at times since you will visit a site, not realize the extension is active and not be able to click on anything or input anything cause of the extension. But a simple click on the icon and you can allow such sites to temporarily or permanently allow scripts to be run. So you can have the extension installed and running, allow sites such as this to allow scripts but go to another site and not have anything bad happen. There are some similar extensions like this for Chrome as well as Opera. They are not as fine tuned as NoScript is, but they get the job done.
The best practice is to know the sites you visit. Dont click on any random links sent to you via email or IM without first checking them out with WOT or McAfee Site Advisor. If you get them in an email, reply to the email and ask the person who sent it if they have checked the site out and know it to be good. You never know if they got an email sent to them that was garbage and it sent the same email to all their contacts which is how you got it. IM links are the worst. Cause such things as Windows Live Messenger are notorious for sending out IM's to people on contact lists when the person didnt know they were sending anything out at all. That is why I say to take the time and do research before just clicking the link to ensure that the person did send it and it was intended to be seen.
I know I kinda went off on a tangent there. But I hope that the information provided was at least useful and offered up some new ideas for you.
What that means is that when you read of a new flaw in Adobe Flash or Reader, that means that the infection targets that program and exploits some aspect of that program in order to obtain access to your system and do what ever the virus is programmed to do. It could be disable your Antivirus, it could be to try and steal your personal information when you go onto websites, it could just be that it is turned into a Zombie Machine that will be used in an attack on another system. But the infection targets that specific program and you have to use that program and do that exact thing in order for the infection to harm your system.
Now other infections that target a flaw in the OS itself, those exploit a bug in the OS that allows them to install onto the system and do what the infection is programmed to do. It is for such reasons that you get Windows Updates that patch the OS itself. There are bugs or flaws found in the OS which could be exploited, those flaws are then patched by Microsoft and the update is sent out to patch affected systems. At this time there could not be an infection out there that exploits such a flaw, but it is still patched to prevent such an infection from doing any harm.
There is so much that any infection can do, but it all comes down to what the person who programmed it intends for it to do. Without diving into each infection specifically there is no way to answer what they can do to a system. But the truth is that no matter what, it has to target either a flaw in the OS itself or a program that the OS is running in order for you to get infected. Yes there are some infections out there that can harm a system by simply just viewing a Flash Video. They do exist. But it is a specifically designed flash video and they are hard to just happen upon. It is for such reasons that it is highly recommended that a person uses a browser in which such extensions like Flash Block can be used. Chrome and firefox have such an extension. These extensions prevent flash items from being viewed until you click on them and allow them. So if you are on a site you are not to sure of, then you cant really be harmed.
Another great extension is WOT or Web of Trust. People install this extensions and rate websites they visit. This way you can get a user based grade of a website in order to get a user opinion on how well the site truly is. There is also the McAfee Site Advisor which is another extension to use to do the same thing.
In Firefox the last extension I would suggest would be NoScript. This extension blocks the website from executing just about everything. Yes it can be a pain at times since you will visit a site, not realize the extension is active and not be able to click on anything or input anything cause of the extension. But a simple click on the icon and you can allow such sites to temporarily or permanently allow scripts to be run. So you can have the extension installed and running, allow sites such as this to allow scripts but go to another site and not have anything bad happen. There are some similar extensions like this for Chrome as well as Opera. They are not as fine tuned as NoScript is, but they get the job done.
The best practice is to know the sites you visit. Dont click on any random links sent to you via email or IM without first checking them out with WOT or McAfee Site Advisor. If you get them in an email, reply to the email and ask the person who sent it if they have checked the site out and know it to be good. You never know if they got an email sent to them that was garbage and it sent the same email to all their contacts which is how you got it. IM links are the worst. Cause such things as Windows Live Messenger are notorious for sending out IM's to people on contact lists when the person didnt know they were sending anything out at all. That is why I say to take the time and do research before just clicking the link to ensure that the person did send it and it was intended to be seen.
I know I kinda went off on a tangent there. But I hope that the information provided was at least useful and offered up some new ideas for you.
LAKings_Fan
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Wow thanks for taking the time to explain all of that. What you wrote is going to help me research the different topics you touched on and I can dig deeper into the subject. So I would assume that you use McAfee anit virus. I have been looking at maybe getting ESET security, Ive heard some good thing about it?
I dont use McAfee at all. I prefer Microsoft Security Essentials when I am within Windows. But I have been working within Ubuntu Linux for some time so there isnt a dire need for an antivirus to be installed due to the fact an infection targeting Linux based distributions are slim and far between. With the community work that is done within Linux, by the time an infection can spread there is an update and it is pushed out to the users. Linux doesnt use the same time frame for updates as Windows.
LAKings_Fan
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Okay ill have to check out Microsoft security essentials, I've also heard good things about that. That is free right?
Anyways it's funny that you mention Ubuntu Linux, I know its the totally wrong sub-forum on this topic, but I've been looking into getting into that OS. I just got done building my first machine and now am going to try and get Ubuntu Linux. Now I know this is once again a pretty broad question and sorry for all the questions, but you seem very knowledgeable. Before I dive into Linux, would you have any advice. I have seen some books on the subject and am planning on posting in the forum on this site. When you use the OS do you use along with Windows or do you keep them on separate Hard drives?
Anyways it's funny that you mention Ubuntu Linux, I know its the totally wrong sub-forum on this topic, but I've been looking into getting into that OS. I just got done building my first machine and now am going to try and get Ubuntu Linux. Now I know this is once again a pretty broad question and sorry for all the questions, but you seem very knowledgeable. Before I dive into Linux, would you have any advice. I have seen some books on the subject and am planning on posting in the forum on this site. When you use the OS do you use along with Windows or do you keep them on separate Hard drives?
Yes Microsoft Security Essentials is completely free for life of the product.
Well I do have knowledge, but it is mainly Windows based. I used Windows for well over 25 years of my life. I only recently dove into Linux full time without the hint of going back to Windows like I always previously did. I have a massive topic going about it in the Linux sub-forum.
Making a change
You will see some people are shocked that I jumped like I did when I have so much knowledge on Windows. But like most, I got tired of the same old thing and needed the change.
The main thing to know is that Linux is different. Yes that is a common statement to make and it is broad, but when you try it out it may look like Windows, it may act like Windows in some ways, but it is far from it. You cant just download an executable from a website and have it work. You have to make sure that it is in the right format that will work with the distribution that you are using. Ubuntu uses .deb packages since it is based off of Debian.
You also have to realize that while some programs are similar, they will operate differently. I maybe using Chrome within Ubuntu, but it isnt the same exact Chrome that I was using within Windows. Again changes to reflect the differences in OS's.
The main difference is playback of your media. It isnt just like loading up a media player and listening to music. The files maybe in a format that isnt recognized so you will have to get codecs to play them. Not utterly difficult, but can be annoying.
I dual booted and installed Ubuntu on a different partition so that I could easily switch. There is a way to install Ubuntu right within Windows using a item called Wubi. Honestly just get a Live CD and try it out. By far the best to use is Ubuntu 12.04 Beta, yeah it says beta and there are some bugs, but the options are far greater than any other version. You can eliminate the Unity bar till you want to see it, that alone makes it worth it.
Going into Linux can be fun, educational, trying, difficult and annoying. But if your willing to stick with it and learn, then by far you will be able to do all that you do in Windows and more.
Well I do have knowledge, but it is mainly Windows based. I used Windows for well over 25 years of my life. I only recently dove into Linux full time without the hint of going back to Windows like I always previously did. I have a massive topic going about it in the Linux sub-forum.
Making a change
You will see some people are shocked that I jumped like I did when I have so much knowledge on Windows. But like most, I got tired of the same old thing and needed the change.
The main thing to know is that Linux is different. Yes that is a common statement to make and it is broad, but when you try it out it may look like Windows, it may act like Windows in some ways, but it is far from it. You cant just download an executable from a website and have it work. You have to make sure that it is in the right format that will work with the distribution that you are using. Ubuntu uses .deb packages since it is based off of Debian.
You also have to realize that while some programs are similar, they will operate differently. I maybe using Chrome within Ubuntu, but it isnt the same exact Chrome that I was using within Windows. Again changes to reflect the differences in OS's.
The main difference is playback of your media. It isnt just like loading up a media player and listening to music. The files maybe in a format that isnt recognized so you will have to get codecs to play them. Not utterly difficult, but can be annoying.
I dual booted and installed Ubuntu on a different partition so that I could easily switch. There is a way to install Ubuntu right within Windows using a item called Wubi. Honestly just get a Live CD and try it out. By far the best to use is Ubuntu 12.04 Beta, yeah it says beta and there are some bugs, but the options are far greater than any other version. You can eliminate the Unity bar till you want to see it, that alone makes it worth it.
Going into Linux can be fun, educational, trying, difficult and annoying. But if your willing to stick with it and learn, then by far you will be able to do all that you do in Windows and more.
Ste
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Along with everything KSOD said.
Wikipedia and search engines will be your guide, if you don't know something look for it, read it, relate it to other things in the article or page.
Starting learning about how the windows Registry functions, purposes, reasons how it works, locations of core system files and how different utilities like MSCONFIG and services work, learn what different default processes are running on your computer and which ones you can mess around with in task manager.
Make sure all important data is backed up to at least hard copy, like DVDs.
that should be a good start..
Wikipedia and search engines will be your guide, if you don't know something look for it, read it, relate it to other things in the article or page.
Starting learning about how the windows Registry functions, purposes, reasons how it works, locations of core system files and how different utilities like MSCONFIG and services work, learn what different default processes are running on your computer and which ones you can mess around with in task manager.
Make sure all important data is backed up to at least hard copy, like DVDs.
that should be a good start..
LAKings_Fan
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Thanks KSOD for all your advice and help. When I begin to get into Linux I am sure you will see me on here posting question and advice in the Linux sub-forum of course. As far as the live CD goes, can I just get that on the Linux website?
Ste
Thanks for the advice I have found that knowing what task arw supposed to running in your task manager is a great way to help with viruses. I got rid of a pretty crazy virus using the task manager and Malwarebytes.
Ste
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