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prevention [2011/02/25 18:24]
gt500 created |
prevention [2020/12/13 03:25] (current)
gt500 |
| <note warning>This article is a work-in-progress. I am still adding and changing things. This warning will be removed when it is finished.</note> | <note important>This article was never finished, and is at least a decade out of date. I'll try to update it when I can, however I can't guarantee I will be able to find the time.</note> |
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| Sadly, this convenience [[http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/11/please-disable-autorun-asap.html|comes with a heavy price]]. When you plug a flash drive into an infected computer, many viruses/trojans/etc. will copy a couple of files to that flash drive. One of the files is a tiny application with a single purpose, which is to infect any computer that the flash drive is plugged into. The other file is a driver that tells Windows to load the malicious application when you plug in the flash drive. | Sadly, this convenience [[http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/11/please-disable-autorun-asap.html|comes with a heavy price]]. When you plug a flash drive into an infected computer, many viruses/trojans/etc. will copy a couple of files to that flash drive. One of the files is a tiny application with a single purpose, which is to infect any computer that the flash drive is plugged into. The other file is a driver that tells Windows to load the malicious application when you plug in the flash drive. |
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| So, what can you do do guard yourself from this? The best course of action is to disable autorun. Here are several tutorials on how to do this: | So, what can you do to guard yourself from this? The best course of action is to disable autorun. Here are several tutorials on how to do this: |
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| * [[http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/disable-autoplay-of-audio-cds-and-usb-drives/|Disable Autorun on Windows XP Professional]] | * [[http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/disable-autoplay-of-audio-cds-and-usb-drives/|Disable Autorun on Windows XP Professional]] |
| Is there never a need for P2P filesharing? That depends on which network. When it comes to the networks used by things like Limewire, there are really no good reasons to be using them. When it comes to something like BitTorrent, then it's not as bad. For instance, most Linux distributions are available via BitTorrent. There are people who make free movies and distribute them via BitTorrent. There are Churches that distribute DVD-quality sermons through BitTorrent. The list of good uses is not endless, but it's much larger than some might think. The problem is that while you are using BitTorrent for good things, there could always be people sharing parts of the file who are sending you bad/corrupt data, or any number of other dastardly things. It is important to protect yourself from these things, and while the IP Blocking in Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware will block some of it, it does not go far enough for simple P2P protection. You need more than that: | Is there never a need for P2P filesharing? That depends on which network. When it comes to the networks used by things like Limewire, there are really no good reasons to be using them. When it comes to something like BitTorrent, then it's not as bad. For instance, most Linux distributions are available via BitTorrent. There are people who make free movies and distribute them via BitTorrent. There are Churches that distribute DVD-quality sermons through BitTorrent. The list of good uses is not endless, but it's much larger than some might think. The problem is that while you are using BitTorrent for good things, there could always be people sharing parts of the file who are sending you bad/corrupt data, or any number of other dastardly things. It is important to protect yourself from these things, and while the IP Blocking in Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware will block some of it, it does not go far enough for simple P2P protection. You need more than that: |
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| * [[http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/|PeerGuardian 2]] (note that there could be issues with this and other IP Blocking techniques running at the same time) | * [[http://www.peerblock.com/|PeerBlock 2]] (note that there could be issues with this and other IP Blocking techniques running at the same time) |
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| === b. User Methods === | === b. User Methods === |
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| Since automated tools cannot possibly remove everything, there are various online security communities that have forums where trained experts will be able to assist you with manually removing infections from your computer. Here are a list of some of those forums: | Since automated tools cannot possibly remove everything, there are various online security communities that have forums where trained experts will be able to assist you with manually removing infections from your computer. Here are a list of some of those forums: |
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| | * [[http://forums.malwarebytes.org/|Malwarebytes Forums]] |
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| * [[http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/|BleepingComputer]] | * [[http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/|BleepingComputer]] |
