Trojans

Noobie_2

"There's no such thing as a stupid question on here".  Ah well, this is a comment, so reply if it's stupid.  (And if I've posted in wrong place, etc, etc, I apologise - but let me know, that's how we learn.)

Excellent post from Fran all about free software re virii, firewalls, anti-adware/spyware - but no specific mention of Trojans.  A few people have posted about Trojans / suspected Trojans on their pc and the common consensus of opinion seems to be:  run an AV prog, a firewall and anti-spyware prog and all should be OK.

I'm far from an expert (on anything) but I've read quite a lot and the impression I get is that AV progs are pretty useless against Trojans, not because the particular AV prog is no good but because they are designed to fight virii, not Trojans, which are something completely different.

Very basically, a virus may **** your pc, a Trojan may leave it functioning perfectly well (by all outward appearances) but in fact it may be reporting all your personal financial details (that are on your pc, if any) to the person who controls the Trojan.  Yes, some spyware does this as well, but Trojans go much further. So a spyware / adware remover may not be much use either against Trojans.

That your AV / anti-spyware prog doesn't detect Trojans on your pc doesn't, unfortunately, mean that you haven't got any - it just means they either aren't designed to detect and delete them, or they can't.

Various programs (I think Norton AV is one, Pest Patrol another) will scan for and remove SOME Trojans but, unfortunately, Trojans are very complex and so Trojan-detection and removal programs also need to be pretty complex.  Generally, this means they are not always easily useable by newbies like me.  

For more infro, this site is easy to read and informative: https://www.anti-trojan-software-reviews.com
(and I think it's a 'genuine' site) (sorry, doesn't appear to link).

If ignorance is bliss (yup), this is everything (well, enough for now, anyway) you never wanted to know about internet insecurity:
https://www.vanish.org
(can't vouch for it, but v. interesting read - LOADSA info).

Noobie

PS Anyone still running CookieWall from AnalogX? Seems OK? (for cookies)

blinky

TDS-3 (trojan defence system 3) is very good anti trojan software http://tds.diamondcs.com.au/

There new product Process Guard looks quite interesting, controls the starting, modifying and exiting of programs and tasks. In operation it's abit like Zone Alarm but instead of controlling internet access it controls programs/ tasks by allowing them or not allowing them to run.

PS. NO affiliation to this company other than I have a TDS-3 licence.

Noobie_2

By all accounts, THE best anti-Trojan program, BUT - makers say it CAN be easy to use, just about every review says the interface is naff and that you have to be an advanced rocket scientist to use it...

I'd be interest to know what your proficiency level is and how you rate it (for ease of use, that is - I accept there's none better for detection and deletion).  Unfortunately, I'm a newbie and I'm struggling with Trojan Hunter (luckily it's the free trial, I haven't bought it yet).

(Actually, diamondcs say its easy to use, but if you quiz them they'll amend that to CAN BE easy to use.)

blinky

Fortunately I rarely get troubled by any infection, probably a combination of good A/V (NOD32 setup with hourly updates), TDS-3, dedicated A/V on my works email at server, SpybotSD, Spyware Blaster and a good bit of common sense

Yes, the user interface of TDS-3 is poor but most of the time you don't need to use it. When it starts up it scans anything in memory, downloads the databases and then sits in the system tray quietly monitoring. It has a lot of useful network tools built in (ping, traceroute/tracert, whois queries).

Wilders Security forum is a great place for any spyware/virus/trojan or any general security information.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/index.php
The official TDS forums are there.

I did read an editorial saying that the current commerical antispyware tools are worth the money because they all miss things. I'll try and find the link tomorrow.

This site looks quite useful http://www.netrn.net/spywareblog/

Noobie_2

Yup, I’m running NOD32 (free time-limited trial version), Zone Alarm (freebie), Spybot S&D, Spywareblaster, Ad-aware SE (free version) so, hopefully, I’m pretty safe. However, you may be interested in these, if you haven’t already seen them:

A few snippets from Eric L. Howes via https://www.spywarewarrior.com:

At: http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm#conclusions

“No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. (1) Even the best-performing anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one quarter of the "critical" files and Registry entries.”

“It is better to use two or more anti-spyware scanners in combination, as one will often detect and remove things that others do not.”

Following this advice I downloaded the free Webroot Spy Sweeper scan (http://www.webroot.com/products/spysweeper/) and it ‘found’ four spies that Ad-aware (freebie) and Spybot S&D and Spywareblaster haven’t detected / kept off my pc.. As you’ll know, Webroot Spy Sweeper is generally considered a ‘genuine’ product, unlike some which are either plain crap or actually infect you with spyware. So maybe we do all need (at least) two anti-spyware scanners?


On the subject of TDS, you might find this interesting (also by Eric L. Howes)
http://netrn.net/spywareblog/archives/2004/10/11/more-anti-spyware/

“…some especially nasty software that proved difficult, if not next to impossible to remove for the anti-spyware scanners. In particular, the key processes for the following adware/spyware was not killable at all:
IBIS Toolbar/Websearch
IBIS Toolbar/WinTools
The executables were simply too well protected in memory. Even the DiamondCS process tools APM and APT could not remove those processes and modules from memory.“

Abandon hope all ye who enter the internet??

Noobie_2

Just downloaded free trial (15 day) version of Giant.  it 'found' a compeletely different set of spyware to Webroot's test.  (Including a commercial keylogger that it reckons someone probably physically put on my (home) pc - WHAT!?!)

blinky

Here's the article I found about the commercial anti spyware stuff.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118362,00.asp

Noobie_2

Thanks, blinky - very interesting.  Pretty much confirms what's on this site - although this list is more comprehensive and also has a link to trustworthy anti-spyware software:

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Definitely worth a look at this before anyone buys an anti-spyware app.  If you compare the list of rogues with the list of trustworthy stuff, its soon apparent there's more crap out there than genuine products which give any chance of defeating spyware.  Sorry state of affairs?

The guy who wrote the article (Eric L. Howe) seems to be VERY well respected in this area and his list of trusted apps is five. Quote from site list of trustworthy apps:

These include (but are not limited to):

Ad-aware
GIANT AntiSpyware
Pest Patrol
Spybot Search & Destroy
Webroot Spy Sweeper