Geeksters #118 – Clonezilla, CryptoPrevent And Emails

Hosts:
Tim Bowermeister
Mitch Haman
Martin Obando

* Clonezilla
http://clonezilla.org/

* dUninstaller v3.1 out
http://www.foolishit.com/posts/duninstaller-v3-1/

* CryptoPrevent v4.4.1 Released
http://www.foolishit.com/posts/cryptoprevent-v4-4-1-released/

* eBay Hacked
http://thehackernews.com/2014/05/ebay-hacked-change-your-account.html

eBay revealed that attackers compromised customers’ database including emails, physical addresses, encrypted passwords and dates of birth, in a hacking attack between late February and early March, but financial information like credit card numbers, as well as PayPal information were stored separately and were not compromised.

* Most Antivirus Software Is Lousy At Detecting Advanced Malware
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2014/05/21/duck-test-antivirus-software-wont-detect-advanced-malware/?utm_campaign=techtwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

*****************************
* Email

You guys ROCK with the best podcast with real world helpful info!

I just wanted to let you know that my previous email was more of a rant based on the podcast that Martin wasn’t on in late March or early April.  That particular podcast seemed “less” informative and more opinionated than normal(see comments about “geeksters” and tips)… although the banter between everyone is entertaining.

Also, I wasn’t very clear, but when I spoke of “paid for” products, I was talking about Avast Internet Security(AIS) vs Avast Free and Malwarebytes Pro vs Malwarebytes Free since both of these “paid” products seems to do a much better job of real-time protection versus cleaning up the mess afterwards.  IMO, the paid for products are worth it if you can get them for the right price!  Shop around!

10 user-3yr AIS for $180.

$15 lifetime Malware Bytes Pro.

******

Martin, since you are using Avast now and you are talking about it more and more….. let’s talk about feature and configuration for the listeners…. this will be fun and below is my how-to guide.  Please feel free to add anything you want that I missed below:

Avast Free on a new system

After I install it, go to:

·        Status Tab: I add Software Updater and Remote Assistance

·        Scan Tab:  Select Quick Scan, and Settings…..

o   Actions Tab: Automatic-Check

§  Virus Tab: Fix Automatically

§  Options: (middle option)Try to remove the packed file, if fails, remove whole container

o   Scheduling Tab: I use Wednesday weekly for Quick Scan and Sunday for Full Scan

§  Wake-up option for laptops, otherwise it seems they never get done.

o   Click OK and repeat for FULL Scan, but pick a different day.

·        Setting Tab:

o   Antivirus Tab: Enable Hardened Mode Aggressive

o   Appearance Tab: Adjust

§  Popups times to 5 seconds for Info and Updates

§  Community Features: uncheck both options

Other Features:

Tools: Browser Cleanup is very helpful and can be downloaded and used on any system, even without AVAST installed!

Boot-Scan: great for dirty systems or peace of mind(I use option 4 if it finds a virus).

Software Updater keeps your system up to date with important updates, but I like NiNite too!

Remote Assistance works pretty good in a pinch, but not a good as Teamviewer!

Overall, a very nice set of tools for a FREE product.

Let’s talk about the paid product (AIS) and it’s features:

·        Settings Tab:

o   Sandbox Customize

§  Expert Settings – check Drop Admin rights and run as limited user

·        Tools Tab:

o   Sandbox feature is very handy(Mitch eluded to this in #116 but faded fast).  So as an example, I generally have three browsers installed, Chrome for my google stuff(gmail..apps..etc), IE for compatibility and Firefox which I use with the Avast Sandbox.  If you right click on any program, you should be able to “Start in Sandbox”.  There are other ways to “always” start a program in the sandbox, but this was easier to explain.  Obviously when you add security, you lose performance and compatibility, so don’t have too high of expectations for the sandbox, but I feel safer when researching items in a browser.

o   SafeZone is a great idea and probably not used enough. The only way I can explain it is that it’s a VM for surfing that can’t be monitored from the host computer(keystroker loggers…etc).

·        Anti-spam and Firewall services are added as well.

Malware Bytes Pro:

Unlike Avast, there is no configuration to the free product, let’s jump right into the paid product.

·        Realtime monitoring Web access.

·        Settings:

o   Automatic Scheduling:

§  Threat Scan – pretty sure you need to do this because it wasn’t setup automatically for scanning but was scheduled for Updates.

I’ve seen both paid products of Avast and Malwarebytes block access to websites.  The best part is when you install these on infected systems and they start popping up right away with alerts to websites and you aren’t even in a browser!

John

geeksters@podnutz.com

To send a voicemail call 707-6PODNUT (707-6763688)

www.facebook.com/geeksters.tv