Webupon

I fix computers. Viruses, spyware, network issues, general system issues, upgrades, the whole lot. I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now, and one recurring theme I always seem to notice is that 85% of the time, I seem to be unable to re-create the issue that I was originally called for. Now while most people would see this as a good thing, I don’t. If I cannot duplicate the problem, then was there ever a problem in the first place? The owner of the computer will almost always say yes, there was, while I would say that the problem had nothing to do with the computer in the first place. In the computer technichian industry, we have a little lingo we use for such a problem: There is an error between the keyboard and the chair. The user is what we are talking about when we say that. Any issue that appears on a computer SHOULD be replicatable, and if it isn’t, then that leads me to believe that the user wasn’t doing something right.

The other day I was called because a girl I know couldn’t get her Blackberry to hook up to her computer, she plugged it in and turned it on, but the machine would never recognize the phone. I popped the driver disc in (that came with the phone) and did the install of the drivers. Instant success. It should have taken a couple minutes to install, but when it took over half an hour, I started to get concerned. The install was going fine, but it was just taking way too long. I popped open a web browser to find Google Maps directions for the girl’s sister, and as soon as I opened the browser, I figured out why it was that the installation of the Blackberry drivers was taking so long.

There it was, smiling happily at me: the coolweb search bar.

Now I cannot fault ignorance, because if you do not know something is viral, why shouldn’t you install it? But at the same time, if you just install every toolbar and application that pops up, chances are pretty high that you get a virus. The coolweb search bar is a little piece of nasty that while it is not entirely viral on its own, it opens the floodgates to the internet so all of its viral buddies and just slip right in. So I’m sitting there wondering why it is that a simple driver install was taking nigh-on 45 minutes now, and there was my answer. As I was installing support for the Blackberry, the computer was throwing its own little malware party. I disconnected the net and spent the next 4 hours cleaning viruses off the machine, which was by no means what I originally intended to be doing. So I’m here today to try and teach you all a little something about offline internet security.

No matter what anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, rootkit checker, etc, etc that you have, if you install something, you are giving it permission to be on your computer. While some programs might set off your security software, not all of them will. The coolweb search bar is a prime example of this. Since it is not viral, it does not set off your security software, yet it will make a safe haven to allow all nature of viruses in. Your security software will probably not pick up on this, since you originally allowed the installation of the search bar. Remember, you are most likely the administrator of your computer: Windows defaults the first user created at installation time as the admin. If you do not have to pick a user when you start your machine, then you are the admin. Administrator means you have unlimited rights on your computer. This being said, if you don’t know what you are doing, or you are ignorant to the fact that you might be installing a virus, you can cause serious harm to your system. The admin is allowed to do anything, which means when you install a program, you are giving it your adminstrative rights. To give a virus full administrative access to your system translates into it being able to do anything it wants, burying itself deep in your system so you cann’t find/remove it easily, or allowing other viruses to infect your computer. This may not sound as bad to you as it does to me, but I have spent a few years now cleaning viruses that were installed by the actual user of the system.

If you install something, it is fully allowed to do pretty well anything it pleases. Offline internet security comes in to play all the time. If you are safe about your browsing and isntallation of software, you should never get a virus. I used Windows Vista for over a year without ever being infected once. As long as you have reasonable security software, and you don’t just install everything you find on the ‘net, you can live the same virus-free lifestyle. No viruses means your information is safe, your computers resources are your own (most viruses like to hog your CPU or memory in the background, causing a 5 minute install to take 45 minutes for example), and you needn’t worry about what you type in, since you don’t have anything monitoring all the little things you do on the web. If you find a new program that you want to use, Google it before you install it. If in the top 10 you see no mention of the software being related to a virus, you can probably go ahead and install it. Just check first, don’t assume everything is safe.

In tests that have been run by other people in the past, it has been found that a Windows based computer can get infected by being unprotected on the internet for only a couple hours… Do you think that means that there are few viruses out there, or have people figured out all kinds of fun ways to infect you if you aren’t paying attention/don’t know better? Exactly. If there are that many viruses out there, surely you will be vulnerable to something. But as long as you keep safe browsing habits, and don’t just install everything you see, you can stay 98% safe 99% of the time. The only reason I will not say you are going to be 100% safe lies in the fact that mistakes happen, and if you don’t keep your security software up to date, then you might get infected with the “latest and greatest” viruses. Yes, you have anti-virus, but if it is not up to date, how will it know how to find the newest viruses that just hit the ‘net yesterday? Yes, sometimes your Windows Update might take forever, and it may mean restarting your machine multiple times, but thos updates are there for a reason. Most updates that are released for Windows are security updates. This means that someone has made a plug for a hole that has been found in your OS. Do you leave all your doors and windows unlocked at home? Do you put up big old banners annoucing this? Of course not, nobody does. Except for Windows. If you don’t have the latest patches and updates, then you basically have a giant sign saying “Infect me! I’ve left the back door open so that you can slip right in and start a party!” Not exactly a comforting thought, is it? Hence why you ALWAYS update your computer EVERYTIME it tells you it has updates. Installing these updates will close the doors that have been found, making your machine yours.

One last topic that I want to touch on before we get to the solutions part of this article is cable internet. One thing that many people don’t seem to understand is that as long as your computer is connected to your cable modem, it IS on the internet, whether you have a browser open or not. If you have no browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc..) open, and your computer tells you that Windows has found updates, how did it do that if you have no browser open? You are connected to the web. Most people refer to cable connections to the internet as “always on” connections for that exact reason. As long as your connected to the modem (or router as the case may be) you are ALWAYS ON the ‘net. This means that even though you are not browsing the web, your computer might be doing it without your knowledge. Now that I have given this little lecture, I hope that you know a little more about how your computer interacts with the internet. You can find other articles that I have written that go into more detail on the various things we have disscussed today, from good anti-virus apps to safer web browsing. If you have any questions or comments, as always, feel free to drop a comment below and I’ll do my best to get back to you ASAP.