It is largely believed that once you have antivirus software (such as Norton, MacAfee etc..) installed on your computer you are safe…Far from the truth.
Antivirus software works by scanning what is already on your computer, its contents and files, to see if any of it is the nasty stuff. This means that if it picks up anything then you have already been infected and this is to late, you have been breached!
Yes, it can remove or quarantine it, but once something has got in, how do you know what it has done, where it has gone and what it has changed? I’m a believer that once you have been infected, your security has been breached and its time for a format – a complete wipe of your system and time to start again so you can be sure everything is as how it should be.
So why use antivirus? It’s not all bad and antivirus is important and a must have, especially if your using Microsoft windows. They can scan files to check if they are bad before you run them and they do any harm. An example of this is an email attachment: You can first scan the email and its attachment before you double click that .exe file to check if its bad. It’s is also useful to scan external media (CD content, USB drives etc) in the same manor. Even if you have been infected, it points out this fact and you can do something about it.
Just like the recent software update article I wrote about, antivirus software is only as good as what it knows is bad. As new viruses are released the manufacturers will create virus definitions, which will let your antivirus software know about these new threats. Regular antivirus updates are important for this reason!
Just because you have anti virus software and it’s updated does not mean your safe! It’s just a tool, like anything, it needs to be used correctly.
One of the most important things thing’s you can do to keep your computer secure is run regular updates on your operating system and software.
As time goes by both white-hat and black-hat hackers are finding problems and security vulnerabilities in all different kinds of software, including operating systems such as windows! When these problems are discovered software vendors generally create and release patches to fix these problems in their software to stop the bad guys using them to compromise your system. If you do not install these updates then your system will remain venerable.
Some operating systems, such as Microsoft windows, release patches on a regular basis. In the windows world this is known as patch-Tuesday. Manufacturers may also release updates out of sequence if they believe there is a need.
Many computer systems, especially in larger organisations where updating hundreds of computers can be difficult, are not updated sufficiently creating a large security risk. This was proven true with the attack of the confickr worm, which used vulnerabilities that Microsoft had already released patches for.
This problem is not just limited to operating systems, but any piece of software. Security problems often occur because software can be extremely complex which often leads to mistakes when it is created. It is also difficult to test every single possible input/output scenario of a piece of software to see if there are any problems or bugs.
Run regular updates to keep your computer safer!
A popular way for nasty people to compromise your computer and infect you with malware and viruses is to embed malicious code into websites. Their aim then is to get unsuspecting victims to visit the website, and so this code is downloaded to your computer via your website browser (such as Internet explorer of firefox). Normal website code, such as HTML and CSS, is largely harmless for this purpose but other languages such as javascript, directX and flash may not be as friendly when used in this manner. The logical solution to this problem is never visit a website that you dont trust, but what if you do?
A highly recommended way to help prevent this sort of attack from happening is using a plug-in for the web browser firefox called ‘NoScript’. What this plugin does is block this type of code from downloading and running on your web browser by default. If you do visit a website that uses these features, and you trust them, then you have the ability to temporarily allow the website or add it to an ‘allowed’ list for future reference.
NoScript also has more additional features (including cross-site scripting protection), which will make you more secure when browsing the Internet. I would consider NoScript a Must have!
Find NoScript Here
The world of computer security is ever changing. There is way to much security news for me to be able to write and update you all about it on this small website, so here is a list of places you may be interested in to get the latest security information. I will try and write updates and articles as much as I can on SecuritySurge, but if you are interested in keeping up to date here are some places you could look:
The Register - the security section of the popular ‘the register’ is often updated with the latest news of security
Security Fix - A popular security blog from the washington Post, updated by Brian Krebs
SecurityNow Podcast - A weekly podcast by Leo Laport and Steve Gibson who talk about the latest security news and topics.
But don’t forget us! 
Hello, Welcome to http://securitysurge.com
This website is about information and news regarding the world of computer security. Our aim is to educate and inform you about issues and news in an easy to understand format. We are a new website with a small but friendly community who have an interest in technology and computer security.
I am a university computer student. I hope to publish and share information that I think you may find usefull and interesting. Im also looking for people to help me out with the site, so if you think you have the technical knowledge and knowhow to contribute computer security related articles to this website email me: toby [at] securitysurge [dot] com
See you soon!