Hackers

[metaljoiner]

Have anyone heard about the Internet Explorer attack? microsoft said they had a patch, I am not much up on computers, I would really appreciated any advice.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Errrr....which attack? There are always people finding vulnerabilities in i.e and windows then M$ release a patch for it. It's been going on for years but if your system is fully patched and you're running a good antivirus (not Norton/Symantec!), spyware detector and firewall and keep them all fully updated then you're about as safe as you can be.

 

[malcolm]

There was one in the news last week - "experts" saying don't use internet explorer before the patch was released.

The patch is MS08-078 and you can get it from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ Whether you can get the patch by itself or whether you have to download all of the security updates I don't know.

If you have automatic updates for windows switched on you should already have the patch.

 

[Wozzaaah]

I'm assuming it's this one, a bit more about it here.

 

[hotrodder]

Mine downloaded a big update a week or so ago. As Malcom said make sure automatic updates is selected ('security centre' in the 'control panel') and will run everyday, preferably at a time when you're likely to have the 'puter switched on!

 

[aero]

The answer seems to be dump the PC and buy a MAC. These don't seem to be suspectable to all these 'attacks'. You don't need anti virus software, fire walls or anything. I think, well thats what the people in the MAC shop told me. Apple do all the research and testing before realising something. Microsoft just write stuff and let us do the testing which leaves you wide open to all sorts of things.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Another answer is to dump i.e and use firefox .

 

[Drains]

Apple do all the research and testing before realising something.

Not quite true. Recent Mac issues have had problems with poor design and construction. Don't believe everything they tell you in the shop. (Drainetta's newish ibook has a crack, which is well documented on the internet, but which Apple claim no responsibility for, even though there is an obvious design flaw). I'd still rather use Macs though.

But in terms of vulnerability, Macs are not the subject of lots of viruses, if any. You still need the firewall though, to keep the ports closed, and keep those dodgy folk out of your computer.

My advice for the pc user is browse on Firefox, not IE. Far more robust and not associated with Microsoft, who are very much the attackee, rather than the user, who is no more than an innocent bystander. Ooh, Wozz got there first!

 

[aero]

You lives and learns!

 

[metaljoiner]

Thanks for the info,
That's what Ive done, running FireFox now, it does seem to be running a lot faster, I might just leave on, that's as long as it keeps on running properly and don't start messing about.

 

[Wozzaaah]

There's lots of tweaks you can do to firefox, type about:config into the address bar and hit enter "Here be dragons!"
Don't change anything unless you want to though .

 

[metaljoiner]

I just had a look, I think I will stay clear of that, I have no Idea what it's all about.

 

[Drains]

How to confuse, eh Wozz?

For a slightly less obscure take on things to do with Firefox, youcan get all sorts of goodies to add on to it, here

 

[metaljoiner]

That's better!
I have never run anything other than I.E , Do I just keep FireFox running over the top of I.E or is it that when I downloaded FireFox it's was all sorted automatically, what I am saying is will it conflict with one another

 

[chriskelland]

Hi MJ,

Do you use a router? if you do you don't need IE running at the same time. Though saying that IE does run in the background. What e-mail client do you use? If you are going to use Firefox then Thunderbird is the companion e-mail.

Chris.

 

[Drains]

They shouldn't conflict with one another M/J.

You can import all your bookmarks etc from IE into Firefox. It will do everything that IE can do and more, AFAIK. It looks better than IE I think. There's also Opera, another popular browser (which I tried and didn't like - personal opinion), and for Mac, Safari, and Camino, a Mac only version of firefox.

The only downside of Firefox is it is quite a large application compared with some other browsers, but that doesn't matter unless you're on a very dated processor/ram etc.

 

[snowcat]

My old computer running windows 2000 has been eaten by a virus, one is a worm which causes shutdowns despite running various removal programs I cant fight the little blighter off, should I just bite the built and format and whack XP on there, or has anyone know of any decent tools to repair the system...

BTW how did you change your profile Simon?

 

[Drains]

BTW how did you change your profile Simon?

I entered into secret negotiations with "The Management"

 

[metaljoiner]

Yes, I use a router, I haven't experienced any sort of trouble with them both running together, 'not sure if they are running together though' I just loaded FireFox and that was it, it did import everything I had on I.E, I cant say that anything has stopped working or is missing, so must be OK, I use Hot mail, if I go to thunder bird will it mess up in any way? my PC is about 3 year old I hardly store anything on it, Just got rid of all the wife's stuff on the PC, she just bought a little ACER laptop so all my stuff takes up a small corner

 

[Wozzaaah]

How to confuse, eh Wozz?

I don't really understand it either Si, I merely meant to show how user configurable it is compared to ie.

BTW how did you change your profile Simon?

I entered into secret negotiations with "The Management"

Yep, the correct secret handshake was given so Si was welcomed into our comfy lounge for a glass of port, a cigar and a chat about his moniker