Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock
Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock

If you listen to my weekly radio show, have had your computer in to Schrock Innovations, or generally have not been living under a rock for the past ten years, you know that you need to have security software on your PC.

You probably know that you need anti-virus software and you might even know you need a firewall program.

However, Secunia.com reports that many security suites attempt to detect threats when they arrive at the PC rather than preventing those threats by closing the doors they come through.

Your Computer Can Catch H1N1 – Here’s How

Most security software works in a similar way to your immune system. Your immune system sees a new intruder, fights it and defeats it. It then creates a set of detections based on that infection’s signature. Your detections are supplemented by inoculations (definition updates) to teach your body how to fight intruders it has never seen before.

Now imagine that a new intruder comes along and smacks your immune system. Imagine this infection is H1N1. Your body has never seen it before. Your body will probably beat the infection, but there is a chance it could get through and cause all kinds of problems, even death.

To help reduce the risk of being exposed to the virus you are told to prevent infection by reducing the number of infection opportunities – wash your hands, cover your cough, etc..

When is the last time you reduced the risk of being infected by washing your computer’s digital hands with some serious anti-exploit soap?

So Why Don’t We Do That With Our Computers?

We are all told to get our Microsoft Updates and update our security software. While these sound practices help reduce some infection opportunities, Secunia.com reported recently that 28% of the applications on your computer are probably insecure.

That means that common programs that most of us use every day like Flash, Java, Skype, iTunes, and more may be out of date. Software programs are constantly under attack by an ever more sophisticated culture of digital thugs seeking to use your computer for their purposes.

Recently these thugs are finding it easier to attack your insecure programs to gain access rather than your more heavily fortified Windows Operating System.

If you keep all of your applications patched with their most recent security updates, you are in effect reducing the possibility that any viruses or malware infections will find a way into your computer – you are in effect washing your computer’s hands with some really good anti-bacterial soap.

Think You Are Up To Date? Scan and See

I own and run a computer repair company. I read all of the boring stuff online about trends, infections, updates and the like. I would consider my computer to have one of the cleanest sets of hands around.

I decided to run a free scan from Secunia.com to see how many of my computer’s programs are not up to date with the most recent security patches. I was stunned:

Run the scan yourself and see how your computer does!

Antivirus 2009, XP Antivirus and XP Antivirus 2008 infections may be using a new exploit to get into PCs that are not equipped with the latest anti-virus software.

A previously unknown security flaw in Microsoft Word 2000 was discovered today as malicious attackers used it to execute code on infected computers. The vulnerability only impacts computers running Windows 2000 AND Microsoft Word 2000.

The Trojan MDropper.Q virus started exploiting the security flaw on Tuesday and uses a 2-step assault to take control of a computer.
The virus uses the security vulnerability in Microsoft Word vulnerability to place a second Trojan virus on your computer, Backdoor.Femo.

Easton Herd and Andrew Garroni, the men behind the MoviePass spyware infection, have spun their software off under a new name in an attempt to lure more unsuspecting victims into 3-day trials of the new Popcorn.net Download Manager service. You can view complete Popcorn.net removal instructions on the Schrock Innovations website.

MoviePass has earned a reputation across the Internet as deceptive software that collected unreasonable information about the computers on which it was installed. The MoviePass software was distributed by luring visitors with a free 3-day trial of the movie and video download service. If the user failed to cancel their subscription before the end of the trial, they would be billed for the service whether they wanted it or not. Those who refused to pay were haunted by near continuous pop-up messages that plagued their PCs and slowed their productivity.

A new security loophole has surfaced in Microsoft Word 2002 and greater that could leave your computer open to any number of attacks. Microsoft acknowledged the threat today and explained a work around that does not immediately fix the problem, but would limit some of the effects if you were hit by a bug that exploited this vulnerability – run Microsoft Word in Safe Mode.

Running Word in safe mode is a little like running Windows in Safe Mode. It will restrict some of its higher-level functions such as integrating with Outlook as your email client.