According to this article, it appears that criminals are taking a geekier approach to finding and stealing laptops.

They are using wifi detectors to seek out wifi signals coming from laptops.

So think of your wifi like a light, if you are not using it shut it off.  This will also increase the battery life of your laptop.

As I was looking for some cool freeware on download.com, I sorted the list by downloads and to my dismay Limewire was the 5th most downloaded program last week. I could not believe that 567,044 people downloaded this vile piece of software last week.

For those who are new to Limewire, you need to know that Limewire is one of the worst pieces of software that you can have on your computer. Limewire is a file sharing program in which people can trade files. Most of the sharing that goes on is illegal music and movie downloads but some of the sharing is legal. Being that most of the traffic is pirated music, you can almost expect that you will be infected with malware at some point in the near future.  I highly recommend that you uninstall the program if you have it installed.

To find out if you have Limewire on your computer:

1. Go to add/remove programs in your control panel
2. Find Limewire in the list
3. If you see Limewire in the list click remove
4. Follow the instructions and uninstall it
5. Run your antivirus and antispyware scans to make sure you are not infected.
6. Relax, you are now safe

Should you need help with this, we can do it remotely for you.  Just click here to contact us.

The best way to get rid of spyware and viruses is to not have gotten them in the first place. I know that is easier said than done but I think there are a few simple steps that you can take to help prevent infections. These steps range from being careful with what you click to adding an internet only user account.  These steps are fairly easy to implement but you have to change your behavior for them to really work.  Some of these you may have heard before but may have forgotten to implement and some will be new to you.  Lets get into it.

Switch to a more secure internet browser

Internet Explorer is widely known as the least secure browser.  The main reason for this is that it is the most attacked browser. Because it holds the majority of users it is attacked the most.  The other part is that the code is inherently insecure and while Microsoft updates it often, the users do not and thus are vulnerable.

How do you remedy this problem?

Use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to surf the net. They are free and you can get them both from http://www.dweebsonduty.com/recomended-software. The install is easy and quick and when you first run one of those programs they will import your settings from Internet Explorer and you will be ready to go. Then you will just surf the internet as you always have, you just click on a Chrome or Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.

Create A Limited User Account In Windows

Another good way to prevent spyware and viruses is to create a limited user account in Windows and use that to surf the internet. The limited user does not have the ability to install programs and some spyware and viruses will simply not be able to install themselves because they do not have the rights.

This link from Microsoft shows you how to add a new user in XP:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/accounts.mspx

This Link From Microsoft shows you how to add a new user in Vista and 7:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Create-a-user-account

Do not click on links or open attachments in your emails

This is an oldie but a goodie. You should never click on a link in your email, no matter who it is from and what it says. If you get a notice from facebook, paypal, ebay, your bank… you need to type the address in your self to get to those sites. This will prevent phishing attacks, where hackers get your username and password by making you think that you are at one site but in fact your are at another.  Links can also install malicious software on your computer.

As far as attachments just do not open them without scanning them with your virus scan first. If you cant scan them, do not open them.

Run Windows Update Automatically

There are people that still think Windows Update will break your computer and that is simply not true(Most of the time). If you are not updated the day the update comes out you are ready for an attack. The hackers get the list of updates and write viruses to attack those items that were fixed in the update because they know that many people do not update Windows and will be vulnerable.

Microsoft tells you how to make sure you are updating here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/windowsupdate/automaticupdate.mspx

Use A Firewall

Firewalls offer another layer of protection against malware. Windows has a firewall built in and if you have a router, your router will have one built in as well. Firewalls block unwanted and uninvited network requests. The don’t even allow the connection to be made and thus the malware doesn’t even get a chance to run. I highly recommend that you get a router if you do not have one.

This one is one of my favorite routers:
Linksys by Cisco WRT54G2 Wireless-G Broadband Router

This link from Microsoft tells you about Xp’s firewall:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/Internet/sp2_wfintro.mspx

This link from Microsoft tells you about Vista and 7′s firewall:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/firewall.aspx

Have updated Antivirus and Antispyware

You need to have both and Antivirus and an Antispyware. In fact I recommend that you have at least 2 Antispyware programs installed.  Head over to http://www.dweebsonduty.com/recomended-software and look in the security section and download and install what you need.  Just and FYI, you cant have more than one Antivirus but you can have more than one Antispyware as long as they are not running all of the time. The Antispyware programs that we list on our page do not run all of the time unless you upgrade them to the paid versions.

With that being said, these programs are no good if they are not run properly. You need to make sure to scan at least once a week with each program.

Conclusion

Just implementing 1 of these steps will make you many times less likely to get a virus, use them all and any virus that gets in deserves to get in .

Of course if you need any help you can head over to http://www.dweebsonduty.com/contact-us and we can help.