Spyware removal is a very tricky business. Once spyware gets into your system, it will be very hard to blast those spyware. You might need specific spyware removal tools. While some spyware can be fixed by your anti-spyware software, others are much more difficult to disinfect specially if they got installed before the anti-spyware software. In such cases, you might need a spyware removal tool for that particular spyware.

Smitfraud and Vundo, for instance, are spyware which are very difficult—if not impossible—to clean using conventional means. You have to use a specialized spyware removal tool for each. And if you’re unlucky enough, you might even have to do a manual spyware removal of these spyware. Those who are not familiar with spyware removal—much less, manual spyware removal—are normally instructed to download and install HijackThis. HijackThis is not a spyware removal tool but an enumerator. HJT is then run and the resulting HJT log is sent to forums specializing on spyware removal where a human will read the log, give instructions, and ask for a fresh log. This cycle goes on until the spyware is finally removed.

So, the next time you download free movies that ask you to install some codecs before you could watch, think of how pleasant spyware removal can be.

Forums are full of questions like: “What is the best antivirus firewall software?”. You need to know that there is NO such thing as an antivirus firewall software; much less, the best antivirus firewall software. If you peruse the archives of this blog, you’ll find out that an antivirus and firewall software are two different programs with different purposes.

An antivirus software does three main things:

• It checks new downloads and files to see if they are viruses;
• It scans your computer every now and then for viruses; and,
• It attempts to clean or remove viruses when any are found.

A firewall, on the other hand, acts as a checkpoint at your computer’s entry points. It determines which message is allowed to pass through.

There are also Internet security suites that contain both antivirus and firewall software. (Though most only include anti-spyware and antivirus software) But while some Internet security suites contain both antivirus and firewall software, they are still different programs packaged together—not one antivirus firewall software.

So, if you reached this page searching for antivirus firewall software, please let me guide you to Internet security suites instead. They provide a more complete protection for your computer and give you a safer Internet browsing experience. As to what Internet security suite to buy, there are a lot of good programs but you can’t go wrong with these:

• Eset Nod32 Antivirus System (current favorite)
• Kaspersky Internet Security (another favorite)
• Norton Internet Security (I used to hate this but after checking around, the latest versions are actually good)
• Vipre Antivirus with Anti-spyware

So stop searching for antivirus firewall software now and go get a good Internet security suite.

In a previous post, I told you to be wary if you choose to download free antivirus software. In another post, I said that just because you will buy antivirus software instead of downloading a free one doesn’t mean you’re already safe—you must buy antivirus software only from a reputable antivirus company. But how does that relate to the former president of the Philippines?

If somebody uses a particular search term about the late president in the past few days, they would have been presented with these highly optimized malware sites in the results page: (these sites had been blocked already)

• http://{BLOCKED}-gonzales.redxhost.com/corazon-aquino-death.html
• http://{BLOCKED}sa.20x.cc/corazon-aquino-death.html
• http://{BLOCKED}rank.0adz/corazon-aquino-death.html
• http://{BLOCKED}-1.0adz.com/corazon-aquino-died.html

When the user clicks on any of those links, they’d be redirected to different sites containing malware that would then lead to the download of a fake antivirus software detected as TROJ_FAKEALRT.FK. The fake antivirus software would then possibly download more malicious files and fake antiviruses. While the sites probably would not work anymore, you need to watch out for similar tactics when searching for other terms with breakout popularity.

How would you know, then, if a link would redirect you to malicious sites distributing malware? You probably won’t. That’s why it’s worth repeating that you need anti-spyware, antivirus and firewall software installed as it would only take a few minutes of browsing before you can be infected with viruses, spyware and other malware. Your security software should be able to immediately block the connection or quarantine any questionable downloaded binary or script. And if ever you’d be redirected to a site selling—or offering for free download—antivirus software, don’t buy it; or, at least, check it first. Buy antivirus software only from a trusted company.

I mentioned in a previous post how the word hacker had been inaccurately used to refer to a cracker who breaks into and compromises the security of computers and networks for personal gain or for the simple thrill of it. This confusion was started by the popular media. Given its influence and extensive reach, it’s too late to be able to do anything about that now. And while I defiantly resisted to go with the flow in the past, there are substantial reasons to give in finally.

One of the things I hope to do with this blog is to inform people about computer security, network risks, privacy, etc. With that, hopefully, they will have a better awareness of the dangers lurking in the unsavory regions of the Internet and hence, have better chances of survival. :) People do not often hesitate to visit a questionable site if they do not know, for example, that the site has the capability of storing some personal information including their browsing history and preference for a particular (ehem) cup size.

But before I could even think of informing, I need to reach out to them first. And I cannot do that if I use the correct term cracker instead of hacker because they mostly use the latter in their search queries. So, I finally decided to use the term hacker even when referring to crackers regardless of my feeling on the matter. Something’s gotta give and between me and the million, it’s not gonna be the million.

So, what do you think is the lesson in all this? For me, if enough people call a duck a dog, then that’s what it’ll be called. To the duck, all I could say is that it has my sympathy but that it should start learning how to bark. Now, imagine if enough people call you a Jedi Master… But you know I’m kidding, right? Seriously, there really are times when it’s sensible to give up even _ for a greater good.