Check your doors when you leave

Got an unusual text from my sister -- the Mean One -- the other night.

Mean Sister (8:54 PM):
Are you in town?

Me (8:54 PM):

Yes

Mean Sister (8:55 PM):
Can you come to my house with your gun. I just got back in town, and my front door is open.

Me (8:55 PM):

On the way

Mean Sister (8:55 PM):
Thank you.

That's not a very common request from her ... or from anybody, actually. At least, it's not a request I get very often.

I threw some clothes on, grabbed the gun, got my sister on the phone, and rushed that way.

A room to room search determined no one was there ... or had been there. The front door was locked, but wide open. The conclusion was that she had pulled the locked door to but didn't properly close it, and that it has blown open.

She admitted that she never checks the door when she leaves because she "always keeps the door locked." I tried not to be too much of a jackass, but I did suggest that she change her habits. And, just in case you have ... well, sloppy, to be honest ... habits regarding securing your residence, rethink things.

Always check your doors when you leave. Go to every door, and make sure they're locked. Check your windows regularly. If you ever open them, check them before you leave or before you call it a night.

When you leave out a door and you pull it to, turn the knob to ensure it's locked. Push on the door to ensure it's latched. And, if you have a deadbolt, use it. Sure, it's a pain to do every time you leave. And it takes anywhere from 2 - 6 seconds. Take that extra time. Please.

The problem isn't that my sister didn't do these things and get me out. It's that she wasn't being safe. I'm hoping she changes her habits. I want her to be safe.

You be safe too, okay?

Virus removal

Because so many people use a Microsoft Windows operating system, most viruses and other malicious software ("malware") are targeted for Windows users.

So, because of the large number of viruses out there targeting Windows, it could happen that you get a virus.

Three reasons

There are three primary reasons (in order) you could get a virus:

1. Bad computer habits
2. Missing or outdated security applications
3. Bad luck

Not much can be done about the bad luck. However, many will blame bad luck first. But, if you haven't taken care of the first two, bad luck isn't the reason. Bad decisions would be more likely.

I've written about the bad habits and the security applications. You need to understand the importance of those.

If you don't think they're important, you're wrong. And that's experience talking.

I've had bad computer habits. Cutting down on those has helped. It's called learning from experience.

I've run without (or with outdated) security applications. I learned my lesson. It's called learning from experience.

I've also encountered bad luck. It happens. But if you haven't corrected bad computer habits or aren't running up-to-date security software, bad luck's the least of your problems.

Shut up and help

Alight, let's assume you have a virus on your Windows computer. If it's because of bad habits, or because of lack of security protection software, or because of bad luck, you're in the same situation: You have a problem and need to fix it.

How?

First, you need to use an anti-virus software package to clean things up. Or try to, anyway.

I have had success with the AVG and with the Avast! packages. Get one of those.

How?

If you can connect to the Internet, you can download AVG or Avast! by clicking on either link.

But sometimes, the virus will intercept your attempts to go to one of those pages and redirect you somewhere else. AntiVirus 2009 Pro (not to be confused with legitimate packages like the similarly-named Panda package) is one that does this.

If you can't access the Websites, you need to go to a safe, protected computer, take a USB key ("flash drive"), and download a package. If you must use another computer, go ahead and download both to the flash drive. You may need them both.

Attempt to install one of the packages on the infected computer. If one fails, try the other. I have always had success with one or the other; however you may find neither works. If that's the case, try other packages on this list. I've not used them all, so I can't speak to all of them.

Once you've installed and run the antivirus package, have it clean or remove everything it finds. This may take a while. This may take hours. Do it anyway.

Once you've cleaned the computer, you're not done. Scan it again. Then, if everything is still clean, you're still not done.

There's more?

Reboot your computer. Then, scan it again. Yes, I said scan it again.

You see, some viruses can reconstitute themselves after a reboot.

Keep scanning and cleaning and rebooting until everything is gone. If you find you're stuck in a loop -- the same virus keeps being removed but keeps coming back -- try another antivirus package (Avast! or AVG).

Eventually, one should do the job.

Next, you need to keep your computer safe. Microsoft actually has a good summary of things to do here.

They'll try to sell you their security package, Microsoft Live OneCare. It's a good package. But keep in mind what you just used to clean your computer. You may want to consider giving that application the job full-time. And, you may want to buy their full suite of protections software as a reward for a job well done.

The final step

The last thing you can do is prevent problems in the future. You can help by following the suggestions here.

The best way to get a virus off your computer is to not let it on to start with.

Virus protection

Most computer users are running computers with a Microsoft Windows operating system. That, all by itself, makes a computer susceptible to a virus or other dangerous or malicious software ("malware").

I'm not trashing Microsoft; I'm stating a fact. Microsoft Windows is so prevalent that it's a target for those that create viruses or other malicious software.

It's common for many computer users to get a virus. The most common reason is a lack of proper protection. That involves not having good, up-to-date security software. It also involves careful computer habits.

Stealth

Got to thinking about stealth recently.

No, not because I've been hiding for a couple of weeks.

Okay, I haven't been hiding. I've been busy. With work.

I made the decision when I started this little blog to not blog about work. And that wasn't a problem.

Oh, occasionally, I'd mention the Evil Corporation where I work. Not that it's really evil. But it is a large corporation. And, to hear some folks talk, all large corporations are evil corporations. Therefore, when I' mentioned the place I work, I'd mention the Evil Corporation.

I like where I work. It's, well, I don't know if "fun" is the right word, but I enjoy what I do. And the folks I work with.

But, I'm not going to blog about work. I don't blog at work. And I don't blog about work. Blog and work are separate.

So, why do I spend all this time talking about what I'm not going to talk about.

Well, if I didn't blog about work, I wouldn't have a whole lot to blog about right now.

And that explains why I haven't blogged about much lately. I haven't been in stealth mode. Not on purpose, anyway.

Tonight, though, I ran across something else about stealth.

It's my MacBook.

Or, actually, it's the wireless router.

It began when I found about about Apple's update to Leopard.

Now, being a PC Guy since, well, a quarter of a century, I'm not used to operating systems known as things like "Tiger" or "Leopard."

MS-DOS 2.11.

Now, that's a name for an operating system.

It was the first PC operating system I had.

Oh, I had a Tandy Color Computer running OS 9 before that. But, when I moved onto a "mainstream" platform, it was DOS 2.11.

And Windows 2.03.

That was the first edition of Windows I used.

So, calling an operating system "Leopard" takes some getting used to.

If you're still PC Guy, it's Mac OS X 10.5.1

But they call it "Leopard."

Same thing.

Anyway, Apple released an update to OS X 10.5 on Wednesday. But I didn't know about it, until I got an email from ZD Net talking about it.

I have the MacBook set to check for updates weekly. So, it would have caught the update in the next 5 days ... or sooner.

But, I forced an update check today. And it got it.

After reboot, I checked out the main thing ZD Net was talking about -- the firewall.

I made sure it was in stealth mode, then did something I hadn't done in a while.

I went to Gibson Research and checked out Shields Up!

And was I ever shocked to find out I failed.

Was the firewall screwed up?

No, it turns out the firewall is fine. Or at least, I think it's fine.

But a couple weeks ago, I got a new router: The Apple AirPort Extreme.

Powerful little thing. Great signal all over the house. Like it.

But, as it turns out, it's not stealthy.

The old Motorola router that cost half what the AirPort cost was stealthy.

Used to be able to go to GRC, run Shields Up!, and get a "passed" report. That meant all ports were in stealth mode.

If you're not familiar with that, it might help to know that the Internet is a bunch of computers communicating with each other. But you knew that.

When it was put together, it assumed that all machines talking to all other machines was a good thing.

They forgot one little thing: people would be using those machines.

And some people are mean people. That's why we have to be on our guard against thieves, spammers, hackers, and Democrats.

Anyhow, because some people are like some people are, we don't want our computers to always respond positively to all other computers.

Because, if they did, bad people could put bad things on your computer. And we don't want that.

One way of stopping it is to not let computers respond to all requests.

And, there are a couple of ways to do that.

One is with a software firewall. Microsoft includes a simple software firewall with Windows. And other companies sell more powerful ones. And Apple includes a firewall with OS X. Including an update in OS X 10.5.1.

The other way is with a hardware firewall. And many routers, including my old Motorola router, as well as my older Netgear one, have built-in firewalls.

But Apple's AirPort Extreme router doesn't operating in stealth mode.

Tonight, researching it, I ran across a post at the Houston Chronicle from back in May talking about the previous version of the AirPort Extreme. And they take a classical "on the fence" position.

And, I admit, I see both sides of it.

But, they bring up the same thing that concerns me.

Which is, how big a deal is it if an address -- and your computer on the Internet does have an address -- rejects a request to a port, as opposed to not responding at all.

Here's one way to look at it.

A kidnapper walks up to a house and asks, "Can I come in?"

Now, the kidnapper doesn't want to visit. He wants to kidnap someone. He's a kidnapper. But he's acting all nice and polite and asking to come in.

Now, if he walks up to two houses. One blue and one green.

He asks each house, "Can I come in?"

From the blue house, he gets no response. From the green house, he hears a voice say, "No, you can't come in."

Now, tell me, which house is he more likely to keep trying to enter?

I think he'll keep trying the green house. He knows there is someone there.

And, to me, that's the difference in a firewall responding with a refusal or just not responding at all.

And the not responding? That's "stealth" mode.

That's what I'd prefer.

But, Apple says it's okay.

Me? I'm not so sure. I think I'd rather be stealthy on the Internet. And not by going two weeks between blog posts.