Need Help with Internet Security

Right now I am so mad,I can't even sleep.I have avg on my computer and I just renewed
it this past may for another year.This afternoon,an ad popped up from avg wanting me to
upgrade to their 2012 version.There was no way to escape from this ad and I was forced
to download the "free" 2012 upgrade.
The "free" trial uninstalled my 2011 version and I'm going to check my credit card in the
morning to see if I got charged for this.I would appreciate any ideas for security for my
computer.

I don't use AVG, so correct me if I'm being ignorant, but isn't AVG completely free? How can AVG charge you if it's...free?

EDIT: After going on the site, I see there is a pay version. Wow.

reply to post by mamabeth


There are several good free anti-virus solutions.

One of the better and least intrusive ones is the "Microsoft Security Essentials" anti-virus.

Unfortunately, there are several unscrupulous software vendors (and virus writers) who distribute look-alike products which are neither genuine nor do they do what they say. Ensure you get the program from a legitimate Microsoft site.

What the Microsoft Security Essentials misses in the way of Malware, can easily be cleaned up with other anti-malware programs.

I use the "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Free)" program, "Spybot Search & Destroy" (without the resident component "Tea Timer") and the portable edition of Superantispyware. The advantage of these products is that they are thorough, work slightly differently than each other and when you aren't running them, they do not consume any system resources.

I usually run them once a month (overnight) to ensure that my PC is clean. You might also like to look at some of the newer "on-line" scanners. The ESET one comes highly recommended.

If you do get an infection that these products are unable to clean, then go along to the BleepingComputer forums and they will be able to advise you how to locate, identify and remove pretty much any malware that exists.

reply to post by SonicInfinity


Avg has a free version and one you can buy.I had the free version at first
and I upgraded to the pay version over a year ago.

I use a Mac and have zero internet security issues.

Originally posted by chr0naut
reply to post by mamabeth

 

I use the "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Free)" program, "Spybot Search & Destroy" (without the resident component "Tea Timer") and the portable edition of Superantispyware. The advantage of these products is that they are thorough, work slightly differently than each other and when you aren't running them, they do not consume any system resources.

I usually run them once a month (overnight) to ensure that my PC is clean. You might also like to look at some of the newer "on-line" scanners. The ESET one comes highly recommended.

If you do get an infection that these products are unable to clean, then go along to the BleepingComputer forums and they will be able to advise you how to locate, identify and remove pretty much any malware that exists.

edit on 7/9/2011 by chr0naut because: For the joy of edit!

Agreed 100%, I use the same software but scan weekly becasue I download everything under the sun.

However when it comes to an antivirus, you get what you pay for. I have seen problems with all the "free" software. I Have three PC's one runs Kaspersky just to check it out, and the other two run ESET NOD32 which have been problem free for over three years.

In the past I have used all the major brands and Norton, McCaffey, Webroot and Trend Micro, ESET rules them, The verdict is still out on Kaspersky, no problems so far though.

But if you want to be truly problem free switch to Linux. Its FREE!

reply to post by mamabeth


Well, there would have been an opt out option, I think you may have just missed it. I know AVG, I use them also, and in that area of their software, someone was literally huffing paint as they designed it. It's a clutter of things and not very obvious, it has frustrated me a number of times.

But it has thrown those UPGRADE NOW!! popups and I've closed them and carried on with the free one.

Also, have you any reason to assume AVG could have access to your credit card? Why is that a concern? You shouldn't have been required to use it whatsoever to download and install the free AVG. If you were, I'd look into who exactly you used it with.

AVG for me has worked better than most others, in terms of catching dodgy items. It can be a royal pain should you have an app you know is safe but it refuses to care.. Thankfully there is xp-mode in w7 or vmware.

If you're ever unsure, you can always use HouseCall from Trend Micro. An online virus scanner that runs from your webbrowser, should your AV become compromised.

But for me, AVG has been good.

Originally posted by ecoparity
I use a Mac and have zero internet security issues.

That you know about.

There are viruses, worms and hackers affecting all platforms.

Last year during the black-hat security challenge, they compromised the Macs in seconds, every other platform took significantly longer with some not cracked at all during the challenge.

So, you might just be lucky!

reply to post by KicknAndScreamin


Total agreement about NOD32 being the best AV in general (also lowest system resource user for an "on demand" AV scanner), but unfortunately, in my country, its' also the most expensive.

If AVG has kept the OP's PC clean then they aren't doing too much "at risk" stuff and the free products (like the AVIRA or Microsoft products) are probably sufficient. I prefer the Microsoft one as it's less intrusive (but that's my personal preference).

Spybot is free and is really good to use.

Originally posted by ecoparity
I use a Mac and have zero internet security issues.

lol I'm a mac and have zero internet security issues "cough" lol. Anybody remember the mac and pc commercial where the Mac guy stated they didn't have viruses then a month later macs had 100,000 new types of viruses so they came out with their new OS system. truth is pc users outnumber mac users its not the software or programming of the mac. Sadly most Mac people don't understand this and think they are paying for a superior system lol that's why its so overpriced its not funny. The truth is you have a better chance of finding a Pc user then a mac user that's all so viruses are talored for pc users

I use Avast, its free and I have never had a problem!

reply to post by mamabeth


I don't run any antivirus. I know that sounds crazy but I work around it very easily.

1. Dump Microsoft Internet Explorer. Install Firefox with AdBlocker Plus and No Script add ons. This will disable all sorts of scripts that run in the background of which you are unaware. Google Analytics for one Many of these scripts run from the ads so you are just stopping them. Since we all agreed to the T&C for this sight be sure to disable these features for this website. I cannot stress this enough.

2. Use a web based mail service like Rocketmail, still Yahoo, but not as common. Never use Outlook, or Outlook Express which loads the emails directly to your hard drive, and never open an attachment in your email from someone you don't know. I know this is common sense, but it is important and has to be said. I will actually open some of them but that is because I am cocky and because of numbers 3 and 4 below.

3. Make friends with a computer repair techie type. I do not mean use him, but become actual friends with him. These guys are some of our greatest assets in America today since they know a lot of crapola. I learned this move when I was a Field Engineer for WorldCom, God rest it's soul. Now these guys can be a little odd from time to time, but they generally have a good heart and decent scruples.

4. And this is the most important one of all. Get a copy of your OS (#3 can come in very handy for this) and learn how to reload your hard drive with Windows by yourself fdisk and all. Learn to understand what you are doing and why. Now install another hard drive into your PC. You can get hard drives cheap, or #3 might have one on hand he will give you for free. Use one hard drive for storage and one for OS and programs. This way if you lose your OS hard drive everything you want to save is still intact. Be reasonably sure that what you have downloaded is ok before you transfer to your storage hard drive. Download to your OS hard drive and let it sit there for a while and make sure you don't have any goofy stuff start happening. If it does, this brings us to step 5.

5. Download and install PeerBlock, Spy Bot, and Ad Aware, let these serve as your Anti Virus substitutes. If goofiness ensues, run Spy Bot before you reload Windows. It will probably solve any problems below a full blown trojan or mega virus. But if you get one of those it is time to reload your OS anyway.

6. Stay off the porn sites and Warez sites. Let #3 deal with the Warez sites, they are very dangerous if you do not know exactly what you are doing. Going to either of these types of sites will cause you to reload your OS.

The reason I do not use anti-virus software is exactly because of your OP circumstances happening to me. Also on my laptop I had a short lunch hour to get on the internet at the local cafe. AVG for free would slow the poor little guy down so much I could only surf for about ten minutes. Meh...

Also I found them to be divisive and liars. One day one of them was trying to get me to buy it - I think it was AVG in fact - that showed me I had something like forty-two viruses, in the course of an hour. I started to freak a little. But soon I realized that though AVG for free was offering to fix these errors I would have to pay to do it in each case. After a cigarette outside I realized that it was all lies. I went back in and uninstalled AVG for free, and went back to job hunting. Norton has some other tricks that it pulls like never going away until you reload you OS. Honestly I do not trust the Anti Virus people anymore.

Hope this helps. If I think of anything else I have forgotten I will post it here.

Originally posted by pcrobotwolf

Originally posted by ecoparity
I use a Mac and have zero internet security issues.

lol I'm a mac and have zero internet security issues "cough" lol. Anybody remember the mac and pc commercial where the Mac guy stated they didn't have viruses then a month later macs had 100,000 new types of viruses so they came out with their new OS system. truth is pc users outnumber mac users its not the software or programming of the mac. Sadly most Mac people don't understand this and think they are paying for a superior system lol that's why its so overpriced its not funny. The truth is you have a better chance of finding a Pc user then a mac user that's all

so viruses are talored for pc users

Fortune - Why are there no Mac Viruses?

May 2011 - Are Macs under attack?


I think you've been sadly misinformed. I've been a systems admin for quite a long time, have never had a server compromised and no, there are not "hundreds of thousands" of Mac viruses out there.

I'm aware of a handful of vulnerabilities which were patched so quickly it took longer to create them than they were able to make use of them.

The only weak Mac based platform out there, and the one that was actually hacked at Black Hat was IOS, the iPhone operating system. (Thanks to a default root password on the older, non jailbroken devices).

A clean install from disc of any Windows OS w/ an active connection will be compromised within 5-10 minutes thanks to the thousands of scripts constantly scanning for the platform. This does not happen w/ Macs or even Linux OS installs.

Windows is vulnerable by design. Keeping it secure will require constant updates, patches, etc which most users do not apply which is why there are millions of compromised PCs in use by hackers, spammers, etc.

Unix, BSD, Linux, Mac is too secure to be worth the time and effort for the general compromises. The number of people who work on developing compromises for these platforms is not just because they are a smaller percentage of users (which is no longer the case, check your stats) its because they are much harder to compromise w/ far lesser success rates. I have to secure all OS platforms on a daily basis. Only Windows requires hours and hours of work to patch and secure.

I have a Mac antivirus program, by the way. In the past 5 years the only viruses / trojans I've found were in downloads and were Windows specific. They couldn't infect my mac no matter what I did or didn't do. I have never downloaded or seen a Mac virus / compromise to date.

reply to post by mamabeth
Hi mamabeth, looks like you've already got some great advice here, but I'll thow in my bit since I've never had issues.

I personally run Comodo Internet Security (includes a firewall, antivirus, and real-time defense with included sandboxing), FireFox browser with a range of security add-ons some have already mentioned above, and I have Malwarebytes Anti-malware installed for occasional backup scans to support my Comodo AV.

In the past (OK, fine, I tend to be heavy on defense sometimes), I've also had Avira AntiVirus installed - it's one of the top-rated - but got tired of the nagging 'upgrade' screens that pop up daily, but they just require clicking "OK" to get rid of.

I used to run Avast antivirus and really liked it as it also includes sandboxing and came with a defensive suite (real-time network guard, anti-spyware, email scanner, etc.), but after they released an update some time back, my computer started having consistent issues with Windows Explorer locking up on bootup that I sometimes couldn't get past, and it doesn't seem they've fixed this yet.

All of these are free and I've never had any issues since using them. I tend to get all my software at CNET's download.com, but lately they've started putting the software in their own installers and including other options that you need to pay attention to unselect so you don't change your homepage, web search default, or install various toolbars.

Plenty of good free options out there and I'm happy with my current setup, so hope the thread has done some good for you. Stay safe out there!

I received an email from AVG apologizing for the inconvenience...
"Our engineers are aware of it and are currently working on fixing
the issue".
Thank-you to those who gave me advice and replied to my "rant"...
love,Mama

reply to post by ecoparity

The only weak Mac based platform out there, and the one that was actually hacked at Black Hat was IOS, the iPhone operating system. (Thanks to a default root password on the older, non jailbroken devices).

But.. It's a Mac...

I mean in the last place I lived I used to deliver Apple laptops to Flextronics for DHL. I made friends with the guy who they escalated serious problems to. One day at his house I asked him why he didn't use a Mac. His response was; Because it is a Mac...

I asked around at Flextronics, no one there owned one either, even though they repaired them. To me that said something.

Talking about Windows one day, my friend said the problem with Windows was not Windows, it was Microsoft.

Also I remember the beating I took through the Betamax affair. Think I'll stick with what I got, been burned too many times through trying to be trendy and hip. Besides I cannot overlook the Ipod/Ipad lemming rush to be globally pinpointed in yet another way. They already have too many RFID chips on us now without willingly buying another one.

It's all a "no-brainer" to me, but you guys go ahead if you want.

reply to post by mamabeth

I received an email from AVG apologizing for the inconvenience...

"Our engineers are aware of it and are currently working on fixing the issue". Thank-you to those who gave me advice and replied to my "rant"... love,Mama

No Mamma, don't turn to the darkside, not when you are this close. Sorry couldn't resist.

Sure they apologized, but they will do it again. Mark my words. Let 'em go broke, if they weren't they would have never sent you the email.

Now, I have a new problem...I can't watch youtube videos.
They will play for a minute or two then stall.I didn't have
this problem before this avg mess.
HELP!!

Originally posted by mamabeth
Now, I have a new problem...I can't watch youtube videos.
They will play for a minute or two then stall.I didn't have
this problem before this avg mess.
HELP!!

Get the Flash uninstaller, completely remove it and then reinstall clean.

This should fix your YouTube issues.

Also, note that some video's can use a trick to install malware. They modify the header on the file so that your system cannot identify the codec to play it, but they insert a link to an executable file on their site which purports to be the correct codec to play the file. Instead of a real codec, it is a "dropper" that downloads and installs malware. Generally you won't find these "infected" videos on a legit site like YouTube but you may get them from torrent sites & other Warez'y type sites.