Computer Corner

Welcome to Cathy's Computer Corner - by Cathy Holden

As Christians, we know that we should be good stewards of those things that God has given us, this includes our computers. We all need to keep our computers clean and safe. An infected computer doesn't just affect your own computer, but could be affecting and infecting the computers of others. Providing criminals with access to your computer is simply abetting their criminal activities. There are ways to HELP keep your computer safe and clean, which I will detail in an article below.

We also need to be good stewards in our online activities. No Christian should be using their computer to spread lies, gossip and rumors. The Master called Satan "the father of lies," so we have no business helping him in the work of his doomed and hell-driven kingdom. I have been researching internet hoaxes for the last 10 years now. The article below will talk about why it is sin to forward information that is not accurate and may be outright false.

Further, we need to be vigilant in what we look at online, not only for ourselves and our life in Christ, but for the sake of others. The seemingly anonymous nature of online porn viewing has created a temptation that did not exist when the only way to get it was to go into an adult store. In the article below, I will talk about the the dangers of online porn and why it ALWAYS harms others, not just yourself.

I hope these articles will be helpful.

Bearing False Witness in Email Form

Did you know that much of the email we receive on a daily basis is based upon lies, rumors, myths, and urban legends? The following types of messages usually contain lies:

	inspirational stories presented as true stories
	virus warnings
	pleas to help sick or dying children by forwarding email
	messages that say that you can get money or gift certificates for forwarding email
	email petitions
	cautionary tales of kidnappings or abductions
	health scares or caution about using particular products
	tales of vast conspiracies
	political mud-slinging

Many well-meaning people forward these type of messages on a daily basis without a second thought. So, what's wrong with that? Plenty. First, it bears false witness against real people, companies and organizations. Second, these people, companies and organizations may be directly harmed by these hoaxes. If you don't believe that, please read the article in the next column.

Some people might still say, "oh, but this is just a small thing." Most of these "small" lies can actually hurt real people, real companies, or real organizations and bear "false witness." Even if it doesn't hurt any person or company, our God is not the author of lies of any sort, so we should not be involved in them. The first lie ever told had a bit of truth behind it, but even that truth was skewed into sounding like something that it was not. As servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, we simply have no business with a lie of any kind.

Christians are not only the main sources for spreading internet lies, but they are frequently the target of them. No wonder people think that we are gullible fools who will believe anything we are told without bothering to question it (including our faith in God!). We must learn to be 100% truthful and learn how to discern the truth from lies. God gave us minds to question and discern, so let's start using them. If we start with truthfulness while online, maybe it will filter down to ALL areas of our lives.

So, What's The Harm In Forwarding This Stuff Anyway?

1. It hurts our Christian witness. A lie is a lie. A half truth is a lie. A so-called white lie is a lie. If we truly know THE TRUTH Himself, shouldn't that make us truthful? "...and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." 2 Tim. 4:4 "Therefore, put away lying, 'let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,' for we are members of one another." Eph. 4: 25

2. It harms REAL people, organizations and companies. Just ask actress Cindy Williams, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the American Cancer Society, Tommy Hilfiger, the United States Congress or even an average person:

	A fellow at MIT by the name of Cindy Williams writes an article about military pay raises vs. civilian pay raises. A young airman writes a rebuttal letter. Someone who has not read the original article and does not know what it really says reads the airman's letter and jumps to the conclusion that any woman by the name of Cindy Williams must be the actress of Laverne & Shirley fame. This person begins an email campaign against actress Williams. Williams, who says she is very patriotic, is deluged by hate mail and her patriotic reputation ruined. What's the harm?
	The Make-A-Wish Foundation has been the target of several hoaxes claiming that they will give money to a sick or dying child if people forward email. They get loads of phone calls from concerned people wanting to verify the message. Paula Van Ness, the President and CEO, says that these hoaxes are a drain on their staff. "These calls divert our staff and resources from fulfilling existing wishes." What's the harm?
	According to LA Weekly, Bruce Huges, an anti-virus lab manager at the International Computer Security Association, believes that virus hoaxes cause more damage than the real thing. He says that in some cases, entire company email systems have have collapsed after dozens of users forwarded false alerts to everyone else in the system. This is as bad as spam. What's the harm?
	Several clothing companies have been harmed by false rumors of racism including Tommy Hilfiger. Emails claimed that he appeared on various talk shows and claimed he did not want minorities wearing his clothing. Liz Claiborne got the same treatment. Troop Sport actually went under after persistent rumors by email that they were owned by the KKK. The owners were Jewish and Korean! Liz Claiborne, McDonalds and Proctor and Gamble were all claimed to be Satanist companies or Satanist owned and run at one time or another. The Procter and Gamble rumor was started by an overly ambitious Amway representative in the 1980's. The rumor was sent to churches and copied and recopied so many times that it was practically unreadable. Thousands and thousands of church members boycotted P & G over a lie. What's the harm?
	A few years ago, thousands of people (especially elderly people) were frightened over the "Klingerman Virus" rumor. This rumor claimed that a virus that had already killed people was being mailed to people in an blue envelope (this was pre-9/11) and that the government was keeping it quiet to avoid a panic! Even after 9/11, when it became quite clear that every little possibility of anthrax letters got national attention, people were still frightened. One lady in a senior housing area said that although she posted the true information, people did not believe it. What's the harm?

3. People you do not know (some of them spammers) are given access to your email address through forwarded email. Internet Scambusters says, "If a spammer gets a hold of one of those, do you think they won't grab every address in the message? (We've seen one case in which a message had been forwarded so many times as attachments that it included over 1,100 addresses!) Internet Scambusters, Issue 41, January 18, 2001. Hoaxbusters says that some spammers are deliberately starting chain letters and hoaxes to gather email addresses. What's the harm?

4. Hoax letters may frighten people. I've already detailed what happened with the Klingerman Virus hoax. A similar hoax was started after 9/11 which said that poison was being mailed to people in perfume samples. Other messages offer scary tales of abductions, kidnappings, robberies and unsafe places. What's the harm?

5. You may harm your own computer! Two messages that began in 2001, asked people to delete files, claiming that the files were actually viruses that anti-virus software could not detect. Without any proof, without any articles, without a shred of evidence that the message was true, thousands of people did exactly as they were told. It turned out that the files were necessary Windows system files! What's the harm?

6. You could endanger the lives of others. Some of these forwarded messages contain very bad medical advice. One message said that coughing during a heart attack could save your life. It turns out that this is true ONLY with one type of heart attack and it should only be done under medical supervision. Another message contained false information about what rapists look for. Following the advice in the email could cause death! What's the harm?

SO, WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

I hope it's crystal clear now that forwarding hoax email is not a harmless past time. I got started doing this because when I first got on the internet, a Christian lady I knew began forwarding me messages that I knew could not be true. I began to look up information on the messages, then to send her the true information. After a few truthful replies, the lady became upset. She claimed that she didn't believe all that stuff, but that she just sent them on "for fun." She offered to remove me from her list rather than give up forwarding these hoaxes.

Friends, there is nothing fun or funny about this business of forwarding hoax email. Check it out before sending it on it's way.

What Can I Do To Protect My Computer?

I now have to recommend a multi-layered set of protections. No one product will do the job. In the past, I have recommended many fine, free programs, but most of these can only help to clear the computer AFTER the infection. You are simply going to need at least one subscription based program now. I now have two. Here are my recommendations (see links in the bottom section - purchasing from this link gains a few dollars for the church).

(1) Have a good anti-virus program. I have been successfully using both AVAST and AVG free for some years, but have recently switched to the combo program by Sunbelt called Vipre (see more info below). Norton is fine, but a system hog. I don't recommend McAfee, but Trend Micro seems to do well in tests, though I have never tried it. HOWEVER, no anti-virus program will be useful if it is not updated at least weekly!! I can't emphasize this enough. I've known many who bought a computer with Norton or McAfee installed, then never updated or checked on the program. These are usually 3 - 6 month subscriptions. Updates stop at that point, even if they are applied automatically. With new threats coming out constantly, no updates means no protection. Dial-up users should just get used to doing a manual update daily.

(2) Keep your system patched, both your operating system and your software. Those on dial-up will have a dilly of a time with this. Best to let updates run at night. DSL users will find that they can set patches to run automatically.

(3) Get a subscription based anti-spyware program and run a few free ones as well. While you can't run more than one anti-virus program, you can run as many anti-spyware programs as your memory will allow.

My top recommendation is Vipre or Super Anti-Spyware. Vipre is the replacement product for Sunbelt's Counter-Spy. It includes BOTH anti-virus protection and anti-spyware/malware/adware protection. The best part is that it won't eat up system resources the way most combo products do. If you choose to get Vipre, please use the link in the next section. By using this link, a portion of the fee goes to Midway.

I have a subscription to Vipre and I have paid the recommended donation for Super Anti-Spyware. Super Anti-Spyware saved my bacon from a particularly nasty bit that Counter Spy (at the time) couldn't seem to remove. I tried a manual remove, but it just came back. Super Anti-Spyware was able to scrub it. The free version offers no real-time protection, but its better than nothing.

Vipre is a comprehensive anti-virus/anti-spyware program that is not a memory hog. It is called Vipre. I am very pleased with it. This is a program that has a subscription price. It has enabled me to get rid of having BOTH an anti-virus and anti-spyware program.

I also run Spybot Search and Destroy. Make sure to use the immunization program that comes with it.

(4) Run a firewall. I finally paid the fee to Sunbelt for their firewall. I used it free for years. Since they practically threw it in for $10 with the Counter Spy program, I bought it. Zone Alarm is also good, but hackers also like it better because it is popular. The windows firewall is not helpful.

(5) Have an anti-spam program. There may be a bit of a learning curve, but these program can keep the spam out of your inbox completely. The biggest problem is false positives, that is when the program detects an email you want as spam. The programs that let you check at server level prior to allowing mail in are the best. These programs are designed to work with email software, not with online services like Hotmail or Yahoo. They have their own anti-spam programs. However, as anyone using these programs knows, quite a bit of spam still gets through and mail you want is thrown into the spam file. Worse, AOL and Yahoo are notorious for deciding to block whole domains, leaving you without some of your subscription services. They choose, not you. The advantage of using an email application is that all email resides on YOUR computer, not someone else's server, and you make your own choices. The downside is that if your computer fails, you lose your email unless you do backups.

FREE PROGRAMS

For those who feel that they cannot afford subscription services, these recommendations are better than nothing, but I can't assure that they will keep infections out any longer.

(1) Anti-virus: AVAST or AVG. The one big advantage in AVAST is that it will do a boot level scan after installation to try to get an infection out prior to the loading of Windows. AVG now has some anti-spyware/malware protection. However, it does seem to be a bit of a memory hog. Also, if something goes wrong in the free version (which it did recently on a computer I service), it just has to be uninstalled and reinstalled.

(2) Anti-spyware: Get the free versions of: Super Anti-Spyware - you have to do updates manually; Spybot Search & Destroy - some real-time protection; Ad Aware - no real-time protection, but some good detection & cleaning.

(3) Sunbelt firewall free version.

(4) Run a program that shows what is running on your machine. I use WinPatrol

(5) Finally, stop using IE. It's not that Firefox is perfect, but it is better than Internet Explorer. I guarantee that once you are used to it, you won't want to return to IE. It's also not that Firefox is inherently safer, but hackers aren't writting as many malware programs for it.

DO NOT uninstall IE! It is a necessary part of the Windows system, but you just don't have to use it for internet browsing. The exception is when browsing in Microsoft and, on occasion, some programs cannot use anything else. But this is rare and Firefox can be used most of the time. Set it to update itself. It's too bad that we are stuck with IE as a part of the Windows operating system. Whenever a trojan, worm or back-door does get installed and contains ad-ware, IE will constantly pop-up with ads, whether or not you're using IE or not. Hopefully, by having good protection, this will not happen to you.

Computer Infections: viruses, worms & trojans - oh my!

Just trash any "virus" alerts you get by email unless they come directly from your anti-virus company. Viruses are just one kind of infection. In fact, most virus writers have now taken to writing trojans and backdoors as there money in doing so. Old style viruses gave them satisfaction, but no money.

Traditional anti-virus programs only take care of certain kinds of infections like viruses, worms, some trojans and backdoors. The most prevailing problems in 2008 need anti-spyware programs operating in the background to help keep the computer free from infections.

As I write this, it is May 2008. Malware and adware is winning the war against the anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. Estimates are that 1 in ever 10,000 webpages is infection, usually without the knowledge of the owner. Spam is another source of infection.

I never engage in any kind of internet behavior that would precipitate my getting an infection. In fact, up until May 2008, I had never had one. I wasn't even running a real-time protection anti-spyware program. All that has changed.

In May, just after a difficult time of cleaning 2 different computers of the most massive infections I had seen to date, I ended up with the same thing. I have no idea where they could have come from. Worse, the website at my business had been attacked and was full of it. This new crop of malware/adware is one step or more ahead of the anti-spyware people.

This malware/adware doesn't harm your computer in that it won't crash anything. However, it will just about take it over and seriously reduce your internet capability. What is worse, the infected computer is then used to take over and harm other computers. It is fairly easy to determine whether or not your computer is infected.

The type of people creating these codes are criminals and they sell their wares to criminals. It's all about the money nowadays. Getting to people's personal information and stealing it is the eventual goal.

Knowing this, it is wise to protect your computer. I have always urged people to do just this, but perhaps for more selfish reasons. After all, a computer is a tool, not a toy. Although prices have come down significantly, it is still a hefty investment. We should be good stewards over the things God has given us.

I now have more of a sense of urgency about protection. Thieves may be stealing your personal identifying information or using your computer to steal the information of others. It just galls me to think about helping them in their quest.

Please note that there are only a handful of legitimate anti-spyware programs out there. Please do not use something you just see an ad for. Many are spyware/adware/malware themselves. They will cause you no end of headache.

Current Threats

http://research.sunbelt-software.com/