Recent research report published by Matousec revealed a list of affected products which could be attacked by KHOBE technique. This list included many of the famous Windows security softwares. MSE was not present on this list. Microsoft reveals that their product is not affected by the recent attack technique due to the design of their real time protection system.

MSE does not use SSDT hooks, which is used by many security softwares, so its real time protection can not be disabled by this method. As per the research, only the softwares using the hooking technique are vulnerable to this attack. Only some antivirus products implement hooks but many antivirus products do not use hooks at all.As told by Matousec spokesperson ” The major group of software that is affected are not antivirus products but HIPS [Host Intrusion Prevention System] software, behavior blockers, various Internet Security Suites with host protection features etc.”

Usually the security softwares implement self defense techniques using hooks, but they are not part of the Microsoft’s solutions. As the hooking mechanism still works with newer versions of Windows, vendors prefer to stick with the older hooking mechanism. Microsoft, on the other hand, had used the newer methods to enable self defense mechanisms. Thus MSE is considered to be safe from such attacks.

The list at the time of publishing had 35 vulnerable products and Matousec is continuously updating the list. This has been a major boost for MSE, which shows that their approach at developing the security software was positive and better than many of the other vendors. This adds to the positive user feedback MSE has received till now.

[via : arstechnica]

System optimization is a critical activity that not many users implement. The reason to optimize your system is because Windows gets bloated up as time goes by and it’s a good idea to clean and optimize your system for better performance and to have some free space. Clearing or cleaning temporary file is one such step that could make your system perform better by speeding it up.

Windows comes with some native applications to clean up temporary files. However, there is a small utility called as CleanMe that can make this job easier by cleaning system’s temporary files such as recycle bin, temporary system files, temporary internet files, temporary application data, application logs, system logs, history, cookies, recently opened, office temporary files and downloads.

CleanMe comes both as an installable application and as portable file depending on the needs of the user.

CleanMe can clean:

- Recycle Bin
- Temporary System Files
- Temporary Internet Files
- Temporary Application Data
- Application Logs
- System Logs
- History
- Cookies
- Recently Opened
- Office Temporary Files
- Downloads

Download CleanMe

• CleanMe
• CleanMe (Portable Version)

The process to scan the file is quite simple. Simply go to the website, browse and select the file that you need to scan and click on the Submit File button. The site will then scan your file using more than 20 different scanning tools. The only flaw that i found with this site is that the maximum size of the file that you can scan in only 15 Mb

Click Here to scan your files.

The virus files are VirusRemoval.vbs and autorun.inf.  It infects all the drives and its route of infection is email, USB drive etc. One of the easiest way to remove the virus is to use a scanner specialy built for it – sujin.np scanner. It is specially made for this virus and infact this customization leads many to believe that the creator of the virus may have in fact created the scanner also.

SOLUTION

1. Download Scanner. (download here : scanner )

2. Download vb6sp6rt4.lzh, if you don’t have the library of VB6. Although it must already be there in while you installed VB.

3. Execute Scanner.exe

4. Take backup of your registry if you want to be on the safest side, but it is not a problem using the scanner.

5. It will automatically search for and remove the virus by itself.

6. Restart the computer and it would be free from Sujin.com.np virus.

The installation is pretty easy, you simply need to follow the instructions provided by the installer and the application would be installed.

After you have installed the software, first of all you need to create a new database to store all your passwords. For this click on the “File” and then “new ”

When you click on new you will be asked to create a master password, it is this password that you need to remember. Try on keeping a strong password which is difficult to guess and contains a combination of letters(both uppercase and lowercase) and numbers. The software by itself will tell the strength of the password chosen by you

Rather than choosing your own password, you can also use a random password generated by the software itself.

Now that you are done with the password you can start entering your password. To begin right click on the open window and click on add entry

Now when you are done with adding all the passwords. click on the close button, the following window will open asking you to save all changes. Click on save and all your passwords are stored in a single secure file.

Now if anyone else tries to open your database , then he/she would need the master password as depicted in the screen shot below

Thus you need not worry about the safety of your passwords anymore. Thus in all KeyPass is a smart and easy way to secure all your passwords at one place.

Click here to download KeyPass

This new version of AVG Antivirus offers various features and capabilities to present in most of the antivirus in the market. These features are more than enough for daily use of antivirus and has proved to be effective even the most dreaded virus attacks.Some of the basic features of AVG antivirus are  :

• Surf, and search with confidence, while LinkScanner® keeps you safe from harmful sites.

• Get online and offline protection from viruses, spyware, and other nasties.

• Enjoy consistently high-speed PC performance with our new enhanced virus scanner.

• Automatic updates keep your protection current.

• Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

The only deficiencies with this version is that it does not have all the features , you may notice some features missing. Also there is no support provided by the company directly for the product but there forums where you can discuss your problems with experts and other advanced users.

It is easy enough to install and use , so I am not posting screenshots. Try out this free version, it might reduce your RAM usage by a considerable amount as compared to your existing Antivirus without much depreciation in features.

Download here : download

Neowin has reported that a phishing scheme was responsible for stealing of most of these passwords. The list of passwords were uploaded and displayed on a code sharing site PasteBin. The passwords are believed to be uploaded by some anonymous user. the list uploaded consisted only of those between letters A and B. One shudders to think what may be the actual size of the list of stolen passwords.

“The details have since been removed but Neowin has seen part of the list posted and can confirm the accounts are genuine and most appear to be based in Europe. The list details over 10,000 accounts starting from A through to B, suggesting there could be additional lists. Currently it appears only accounts used to access Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail have been posted, this includes @hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com accounts,” the site reports.

Microsoft has also confirmed the happenig and also denied any leakage on its part. The company has also issued certain advisories for the users :

• Renew their passwords for Windows Live IDs every 90 days
• For administrators, make sure you approve and authenticate only users that you know and can verify credentials
• As phishing sites can also pose additional threats, please install and keep anti-virus software up to date

This has come as a setback to the already ailing prospects of the email service of Microsoft. Microsoft has seen its market share been eaten away by Google’s email service. This events marks another instance which may end up loosening the grip of Microsoft on the email service industry. Google has been constantly increasing customer base and that is on account of Microsoft. Such events confirm the choice of users to go for more reliable Google even if it may have certain technical glitches not present in Microsoft’s service.

So hurry up and change your passwords….!

Most of us receive virus through unsafe sites and are not sure which sites to surf and which to avoid. This tool comes in handy here and guides us to visit only safe sites and warning us to omit unsafe sites. This offering is available to the users free for a period of six months.

Home Page

http://www.bitdefender.com/

Description

BitDefender Antivirus 2009 provides advanced proactive protection against viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and identity theft, without slowing down your PC.

Request for a free license

First, we’ll get our selves a free license. Remember this is only for personal use and if you are using it for office use please buy the product. Go to the following page:

http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-80-en–BitDefender-Antivirus-Scanner-for-Unices.html

and click Request a free license. Enter the details and select I agree and click send. You’ll get your key in the email.

Download Bitdefender AntiVirus

1. On the same page as above, click Download.
2. On the next page enter all the details and click submit.
3. You’ll receive another mail, this time with the link to the download page.
4. Go to the link and click BitDefender Antivirus scanner for Unices (Linux, FreeBSD).
5. On the next page click Download.
6. Click EN_FR_BR_RO/ on the next page.
7. On the following page click Linux.
8. Finally click BitDefender-Antivirus-Scanner-7.6-4.linux-gcc4x.i586.deb.run to download the executable deb file on your Desktop.

Installing BitDefender Antivirus

1. Open a terminal window

2. Go to the directory where you download the file (In my case it is Desktop).

3. All you have to do now is type the following:

sudo sh BitDefender-Antivirus-Scanner-7.6-4.linux-gcc4x.i586.deb.run

4. Enter your password and type  accept once you have gone through the license agreement.

5. In order start BitDefender go to Applications > System Tools > BitDefender Scanner.

6. Enter the key that you received your mail to extend your subscription by clicking set new key.

Have fun using one of the very good Antivirus on your Ubuntu machine.

The point is most of us are not ready to invest $50 per year for a better computing experience. I am not saying that having a good anti-virus is a foolproof method but it certainly is much better option than not having one. So just in case you wanted an anti-virus or Internet Security suite for which you don’t have to pay a single penny then you can download PC Tools Internet Security 2009 for free with a license of 12 months.

PC Tools Internet Security includes Spyware Doctor, the most awarded anti-spyware protection worldwide. Spyware Doctor alone has been downloaded over 110 million times, with a million more downloads each week. Spyware Doctor is trusted by millions worldwide to protect their identity and PC against spyware, adware and other malicious threats.

Features

• Offers powerful anti-spyware, anti-virus, firewall and spam protection in one application.
• Detects, removes and blocks all types of spyware, adware, viruses, Trojans, worms, keyloggers and other online threats.
• Email Anti-spam solution
• Regular updates
• Protection from hackers, intruders and other unauthorized software or network attacks.
• FREE friendly support for all customers.
• Intelligent automatic protection makes it simple to use for novices but configurable enough for expert users.

I have not used the software myself so cannot comment on it’s effectiveness. But as it comes from the house of PC Tools I am sure it is a state of art product. You’ll have to register to receive the activation code.

Register here to get 12 months of free PC Tools Internet Security 2009. You can also download a 15 days evaluation version of PC Internet here.