BB OK!

curly · Oct 13, 2007, 09:21:33

Hi Rik and every body.

Have shaken off the lurgi whatever it was, and more or less back to normal.

Have been on IDnet BB for three days now and it is wonderful! Checked the speed yesterday morning and it was:-

At about 0650 12Oct by BT Checker

IPprofile 6500kbps
DSL connection rate 448 upstream and 7615 downstream
Actual IP achieved 6100

My distance from exchange is about 0.8 KM straight line and probably a bit less than !.5 Km cable length.

At present I am using a long cable (15 metres) between router and PC. Intend to stay on that for a week or so and then change to wireless. I shall probably need help to do this as it is venturing into the unknown jungle!

All the many moons I was on dial up I used two or three different kinds of Anti virus (not all at the same time!) and never had a sniff of any nasties. Today after just three days on BB, AVG Free came up with a Trojan I didn't note the name but it had Dell at the end. Avg seems to have dealt with it OK, another sweep came up clear. I suppose this is due to having the line open for much longer periods. I'm set to check for updates every morning and then sweep. Should it be more often? or am I being a bit too paranoid or what ever it's called!

Any way I am delighted with the speed and with the set up of the router by ID staff.

Robert

Noreen · Oct 13, 2007, 09:34:42

Robert, I don't think that you can be too paranoid about viruses and other nasties. Make sure that you have anti-spyware protection too.

Rik · Oct 13, 2007, 10:02:21

Hi Robert

Glad you're among us - you'll understand why we sit here and purr most of the time.

BB makes you more exposed to the web's nasties - because content-rich sites are now more accessible, it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll meet more issues. Quite often, trojans are delivered in a drive-by attack by graphics on a site, often banner ads.

As Noreen says, make sure you keep your AV up to date, and keep an eye out for spyware by sweeping once a week or so.

You may want to install something like McAfee Site Advisor, to give you extra warning.

colirv · Oct 13, 2007, 10:19:31

Quote from: curly on Oct 13, 2007, 09:21:33
I shall probably need help to do this as it is venturing into the unknown jungle!

That's how I felt before I did it, but it was actually easier than I feared. You'll be fine, I'm sure!

Gary · Oct 13, 2007, 10:25:12

Curly, as has been said here you can never be to paranoid online, at some point it may be worth replacing AVG free with another antivirus like NOD32, the free antivirus are never as thorough as the pay for ones which give much better protection and have a bigger database of nasties and better heuristics

Malc · Oct 13, 2007, 11:08:23

I also recommend to have Spybot and spywareblaster which are both free and easy to find on google.

Gary · Oct 13, 2007, 11:22:33

Spywareblaster is good for hardening IE and cookie blocking in firefox and retricted sites in IE I use myself though rarely browse with IE, but from recent tests on spybot it has really passed its prime along with the free version of Adaware they used to be great programs but now don't have the teeth imo, the people behind spybots creators cannot keep up with analysing malware as well as the bigger guns these days and Adaware 2007 turned into a nightmare with release after release to sort out bugs that should not have been there in the first place sadly. A lot of people use the free version of superantispyware awful name, but it gets a big thumbs up from users across the net. Really it all depends what AV you use to start with, and then any compatibility issues that may follow.

Inactive · Oct 13, 2007, 11:29:53

I use Avg free, Spybot, MS.Defender, SpywareBlaster, Superantispyware and Comodo firewall, oh and Comodo BO Clean, never had any problems or compatibility issues..

All are free.

Gary · Oct 13, 2007, 11:33:00

Quote from: Inactive on Oct 13, 2007, 11:29:53
I use Avg free, Spybot, MS.Defender, SpywareBlaster, Superantispyware and Comodo firewall, oh and Comodo BO Clean, never had any problems or compatibility issues..

All are free.

I meant compatibility with the AV Inactive, a lot don't mix well anymore with multiple spyware solutions

Inactive · Oct 13, 2007, 11:40:29

Quote from: Killhippie on Oct 13, 2007, 11:33:00
I meant compatibility with the AV Inactive, a lot don't mix well anymore with multiple spyware solutions

Indeed, that is why I mentioned " AVG Free ", and the progs that I use with it, it was just an example of what works OK with what for me really.

cavillas · Oct 13, 2007, 11:42:14

I use Router firewall, Avast, spywareblaster and windows defender and have had no problems for as long as I can remember.

Rik · Oct 13, 2007, 11:45:35

Go on, admit it Alf, that only takes us back as far as breakfast.

Gary · Oct 13, 2007, 11:54:43

A lot of the newer AV's put hooks and registry monitoring into windows, well XP as its harder with Vista and not needed so much, so some antispyware apps don't mix well and some became so bloated that they were unusable like spysweeper in its later incarnations (5), its like having two AV's running which is a massive no no, same with spyware applications. You should never really mix active solutions, standalone scanners fair enough. All that happens if you are not careful is you end up wasting cpu cycles and ram when a good AV like nod or Kaspersky which have excellent antispyware abilities and maybe a secondary standalone scanner like superantispyware and spywareblaster which does not actively run anyway could be all you need. But on the freebie front Inactive, your bunch proves the point on free applications

Gary · Oct 13, 2007, 11:55:19

Quote from: Rik on Oct 13, 2007, 11:45:35
Go on, admit it Alf, that only takes us back as far as breakfast.

Damn I forgot to have mine

Simon · Oct 13, 2007, 12:02:22

Quote from: Rik on Oct 13, 2007, 11:45:35
Go on, admit it Alf, that only takes us back as far as breakfast.

I have F-Secure Security Suite 2008 and Spyware Blaster running permanently, and also use SuperAntiSpyware once a month for an on-demand scan.

I have to agree with Gary about AVG Free. I have heard many instances of infections getting through it. It has to be less able that the paid for versions, otherwise, why is it free?

Gary · Oct 13, 2007, 12:09:27

Quote from: Si6776 on Oct 13, 2007, 12:02:22

I have F-Secure Security Suite 2008 and Spyware Blaster running permanently, and also use SuperAntiSpyware once a month for an on-demand scan.

I have to agree with Gary about AVG Free. I have heard many instances of infections getting through it. It has to be less able that the paid for versions, otherwise, why is it free?

I agree with Simon here, I use kaspersky internet security 7 and spywareblaster, having http and script scanning in real time with heuristics backing up signatures is the best way, but not everyone can shell out for suites or expensive standalone AV's and that's an issue that Vistas security seems to be addressing by being harder to attack which is a good thing in the long run.

Inactive · Oct 13, 2007, 12:10:16

Quote from: Si6776 on Oct 13, 2007, 12:02:22

I have to agree with Gary about AVG Free. I have heard many instances of infections getting through it. It has to be less able that the paid for versions, otherwise, why is it free?

All I can say is, I have never had any problems whilst using it over the years, maybe just lucky, but even the so called best paid for ones, cannot give a 100% guarantee against infection.

Probably get proven wrong now..

Rik · Oct 13, 2007, 12:12:40

Browsing habits and plain common sense also have a lot to do with whether we get infected. How many people here are likely to fall for a phishing scam, or open an unsolicited email when compared to the population at large?

Inactive · Oct 13, 2007, 12:15:03

Quote from: Rik on Oct 13, 2007, 12:12:40
Browsing habits and plain common sense also have a lot to do with whether we get infected. How many people here are likely to fall for a phishing scam, or open an unsolicited email when compared to the population at large?

Well I have just sent my Western Union payment off to Nigeria, so I know I will be OK.

Rik · Oct 13, 2007, 12:19:47

Right. World tours on you then?

Gary · Oct 13, 2007, 12:23:29

Quote from: Rik on Oct 13, 2007, 12:12:40
Browsing habits and plain common sense also have a lot to do with whether we get infected. How many people here are likely to fall for a phishing scam, or open an unsolicited email when compared to the population at large?

Agreed rik but with a poisoned jpeg on a legit site its getting easier to get got, and if you never scanned with a different AV you may never know you have anything anyway, a friend has avg free and just windows firewall, I told her she needed more but when she finally did get a paid for AV she had loads of spyware and other malware lurking, sadly she did not browse safely either, unlike the people here, the number of pc users who still click on banners saying "you have a virus" or open an email from names like reginald.hipster@v!@gra.com astounds me

cavillas · Oct 13, 2007, 12:25:31

Quote from: Inactive on Oct 13, 2007, 12:15:03
Well I have just sent my Western Union payment off to Nigeria, so I know I will be OK.

I'll let you know ehen it gets into my bank account, then I can pay for a real antivirus.

cavillas · Oct 13, 2007, 12:26:38

Quote from: Rik on Oct 13, 2007, 11:45:35
Go on, admit it Alf, that only takes us back as far as breakfast.

Wow! You can remember that far back?

Rik · Oct 13, 2007, 12:35:05

No, but Sue can.

Simon · Oct 13, 2007, 12:35:51

Quote from: Killhippie on Oct 13, 2007, 12:23:29
Agreed rik but with a poisoned jpeg on a legit site its getting easier to get got...

Such as on DigitalSpy recently.

Quote...and if you never scanned with a different AV you may never know you have anything anyway, a friend has avg free and just windows firewall, I told her she needed more but when she finally did get a paid for AV she had loads of spyware and other malware lurking...

Not having used any of the free versions, I wonder if active HTTP scanning and heuristics are the crucial elements missing from these? Not to mention spyware protection, of course, which is just as essential as virus protection.

Quote...sadly she did not browse safely either, unlike the people here, the number of pc users who still click on banners saying "you have a virus" or open an email from names like reginald.hipster@v!@gra.com astounds me

Just as some people shouldn't be driving a car, no matter how much people are educated, there will always be a minority who choose to be oblivious to dangers, which in turn, makes them a danger to others. I think this is where Rik's notion should be taken further, and Windows will simply not allow use of the Internet, without the user having a certificate of... (struggling for the word)... competency.