Contrary to popular belief, anti-virus software is only protecting you from half of the malicious content that you’re likely to find on the Internet. The other half comes in the form of Malware; an umbrella term for spyware, adware and several other disruptive applications.

It was only just recently that the top anti-Virus suites implemented scanning software to tackle the new problem. But despite the improvement of actually recognising the issue, it’s still important to have anti-Malware software installed if you wish to effectively wipe out the threat.

Viruses, understandably, take much of the media’s attention with their ability to spread like wildfire and cause severe disruption on a global scale. Yet Malware is much more common and can have a similarly disastrous impact on an operating system’s ability to function properly.

Even with the latest version of Internet Explorer, Malware makes it possible for other web users to hijack your browser and re-direct your every request to a third party website, usually one which sells an affiliated virus removal package.

Indeed, almost all Malware instances point to a commercial product which the user is trying to sell. They have several ways of succeeding. One of the most common is to include spyware with download packages.

An unsuspecting user might initiate a download without reading over the small print in the terms and conditions. When they install the program on their system, it will unpack several other applications. Some of these will operate in the background and the user won’t even know that they’re there. They can gather information about the user’s browsing habits, the sites that they visit and even more worryingly, bank details.

Other adware threats are less discrete and will spring up pop-ups on your desktop. You’ll even see your browser toolbar overtaken by commercial icons if you’re particularly unlucky.

One of the most popular tactics for Malware hackers is to spring up an alert box which states that the system is under attack from a deadly virus. The pop-up is dressed to look like a standard system warning, but it acts as an advertisement which will take the user to another third party website. As you can see, affiliation schemes are a popular target for the hackers.

The solution to all this, as you’ve probably gathered by now, is to protect your system with anti-Malware software. Most anti-Virus programs are extremely well designed to keep out the threat of Trojans and worms, yet they do little to fight off spyware which a user willingly installs without a second thought.

Anti-Malware products work in a similar fashion to virus protection software. They sit in the background and run a discrete check on the files that you download. If known instances of spyware or adware are detected, you’ll be confronted with an alert message and an option to either eliminate the threat or continue.

In most cases, eliminating the threat will simply mean not downloading a certain product. When software is packaged together, it becomes almost impossible for an Anti-Malware utility to sift out the good from the bad.

When you install the program, however, you should receive notification of the third party content that you might not have noticed in the zip.

By far the most popular form of Anti-Malware software is the “Search and Destroy” utility. This tool doesn’t prevent all new occurrences of malicious content, but it will scan your hard drive and sniff out the bad files. You can then opt to place the programs in quarantine and have them immobilised from operating on the system.

Inevitably, having spyware and adware running on a computer will decrease the performance. After rebooting with the files destroyed, you should notice that things run a lot smoother. It’s also a good idea to look out for recurring threats.

Some Malware programs are designed specifically to re-install themselves when a system restarts. They can be hard to remove and even with the top Anti-Malware software on the market, your best hope is to enter Safe Mode and remove the threat from there.

You’ll find that Anti-Malware software is cheaper than the better known Anti-Virus varieties. It’s now possible to get sufficient support for Malware removal through the likes of Norton and Symantec. But there are also several free utilities available on the Internet, and these can be efficient for most spyware and adware instances.

Don’t assume that just because you have virus protection, you’ll be safe from Malware. It’s a very different problem and one which the major companies are only just beginning to address.

Get a Free Online Diagnostic Scan with RegCure PC Optimizer (Download Takes 2 Mins)

No Comments »

Have you opened up Internet Explorer only to find that your browser re-directs and sends you off where you don’t want to be visiting?

If the answer is yes, the chances are high that you’ve been attacked by the notorious about:blank homepage hijacker. It’s likely that if you’ve been affected by the virus, you’ll know it as the Cool Web Search utility that appears on the desktop and in your web browser.

Make no mistake; there are many different homepage hijackers in circulation. They are used for several reasons, most notably for hackers to send traffic to websites of their choosing. Sometimes this’ll be to steal advertising revenue, other times it may be to fool a search engine. And of course, there are those occasions where the pesky hackers will attack for the sake of attacking.

You may have heard the about:blank problem described as a symptom of the HomeOldSP hacker. There is a simple reason for this, and to find it you only have to look as far as the Windows Registry where you’ll find the following key:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,HomeOldSP = about:blank

While you might think that it’s possible to get rid of the about:blank virus by simply deleting the registry entry, it’s not quite as simple as that. Deleting the entry will temporarily disable the virus, but the infestation is designed to undo any attempt to delete it permanently. This means that within moments, you’ll be suffering from the same about:blank problems.

The good news is that the threat isn’t severe. It won’t render your system useless, although the same can’t be said for Internet Explorer which becomes extremely difficult to use with any variation of the Cool Web Search virus in place.

The DLL file at the root of the problem can be found hidden away at the key below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\

WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Windows\\AppInit_DLLs

Once again, it’s not worth deleting the DLL because it will simply re-spawn. To remove it effectively, we need to download a copy of HijackThis and a comprehensive registry cleaner.

A good registry cleaner will scan and remove the about:blank hijacker. But it’s well known that the virus is capable of avoiding deletion across some anti-Virus platforms. Booting in safe mode is a good way of ensuring that you get to the root of the problem when you run your removal software.

It’s also possible to go in and correct the problem manually, if a little problematic to do so. You will need to use the Windows Registry Editor to locate a key named AppInit_DLLs. In its value entry, you will find the corrupt hidden DLL file that needs to be removed. The only problem is that you won’t be able to remove it unless you go through the Windows Recovery Console and rename the file first.

Before you can delete the file, you will need to lift the read-only protection that the hacker has placed on it.

Open up command prompt, find the stray DLL, and enter the following:

ATTRIB -R *file-name-here*.dll

Once the attribute has been changed, go ahead and delete the DLL file. Reboot the system and load up Internet Explorer. You should find that the about:blank problem is fixed.

We would strongly recommend that you purchase, or download, a sufficient spyware removal tool. There are many which sit in the web browser with the sole purpose of preventing intrusions such as the about:blank homepage hijacker.

Get a Free Online Diagnostic Scan with RegCure PC Optimizer (Download Takes 2 Mins)

No Comments »

As the world’s most popular web browser, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is used by over 80% of users on the Internet. This puts it way out in front of every other browser, but it also means that the software is required to reach out to the newest and obscurest of technologies.

While Internet Explorer is certainly the most popular, it’s not always the most reliable browser on the market. Each browser is different, and we’re going to look at some of the problems you could face while using Microsoft’s popular interface.

The biggest issue, and the source of most criticism directed at Internet Explorer, involves the danger of infecting your system through spyware and adware. There is no absolute way of eliminating malicious content from the web, but Internet Explorer is somewhat exposed to the dangers, more so than its rivals. This is due to the way that the program is structured, making it easier for hackers to attack your system.

It’s quite common to find the browser lagging - or even not working at all, after enabling an ActiveX control which isn’t as it seems. Whenever you load an ActiveX control in Internet Explorer, you’ll be given a warning about the content. It could seem completely innocuous, but after accepting, it’s possible for a malicious user to execute a “drive-by download” and effectively spam your computer without you so much as batting an eyelid.

Yes, this is still possible using Mozilla Firefox or any other browser. The difference is that Microsoft’s product is much more discrete about letting you know that you have a problem. Sometimes it won’t even tell you at all. The only way you’ll know for sure is by running a scan of your computer, or by using good ol’ common sense when the browser freezes up or overflows in third party advertisements.

A good spyware removal utility should clear up any issues related to the third party corruption of your browser, and believe us, there can be many. If you’ve been browsing the Net for a month without sufficient anti-Virus protection, the chances are that you’re harbouring some kind of malicious content.

It’s also good practice to delete your temporary Internet files on a regular basis. Every time you visit a website, a cookie is downloaded on to your computer. As you allow these to mount up, they can clog the system and ruin what was once a fresh browsing experience. They’re also very important when it comes to maintaining privacy in the websites that you’ve accessed.

Sometimes you’ll access websites and click on links which fail to load. This isn’t usually a trait of Internet Explorer, but of a toolbar that’s attached to it. Check to ensure that you have pop-ups enabled, since some sites will use the target=”_blank” key to open a page in a new window.

Other problems such as failed applets and scripting malfunctions can often be a sign that you’re Internet Options have been adjusted. Try going to Tools then Internet Options and under the access permissions, make sure that the three scripting boxes are checked. If they’re not, JavaScript will not run in the browser. This, as you can probably imagine if you have a web background, can cause a lot of difficulties.

With the release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, many of the security issues have been taken care of. But that’s not to say we should neglect the likelihood of opportunist attacks on the web. Be sure to browse safely with anti-Virus protection and clean your system regularly.

1 Comment »

“A Runtime Error has occurred. Do you wish to Debug?”

If you have been receiving this message while browsing the Web, it’s likely that you’re suffering from scripting errors caused by configuration options or malicious malware.

Runtime errors can arise out of many things. Maybe you have a pop up blocker installed. When a window opens to execute a script, the pop-up blocker terminates the script before it can complete its command. This leads to what is known as a runtime error.

With every runtime error, you’ll have the chance to debug where the problem is in the code. Of course, as a casual web browser, this isn’t really any of our business. So instead we end up clicking through “OK” messages until the alerts disappear. As such, it can take several clicks to load a single page!

Another problem involves the configuration of anti-Virus software. While it’s certainly advisable to browse with protection, always make sure that you have the right permission levels within the application. If you switch off scripting, you’re likely to get quite a few runtime errors. It’s also important that your anti-Virus suite is configured NOT to scan the Temporary Internet Files. This can lead to all kinds of problems.

Some people find themselves flooded with annoying runtime errors, yet the website itself seems to function properly. To fix this, follow the steps below.

• Go to Tools and Internet Options in Microsoft Internet Exporer
• Click on the Advanced Settings.
• Disable script debugging.
• Disable the script error notification box.
• Save changes and relaunch your browser

This will prevent reports of errors being returned when you load a page. Note that it won’t prevent the actual collision. But you won’t have to click OK several times before a page actually loads.

It’s possible that runtime errors are the result of a spyware infestation. Many malicious users design software which sits under the browser and springs up pop-ups. Due to the rough cut nature of most malwares, they can lead to an unhealthy number of errors. Ultimately, they’re not designed with the end user in mind and in desperation to blitz your browser with third party ads; you’ll be fighting off many errors.

To deal with spyware, there are many excellent free system cleaning utilities available on the market. These will tear through your computer and eliminate the bad apples. They’ll also clean the registry and improve the overall performance of your computer. Most runtime errors are born from collisions with the code. If you’re getting them persistently on reputable websites, the problem is most likely spyware or a spreading virus.

It’s not out of the question, however, that the runtime error is the fault of the developer who created the page. Programming languages aren’t a walk in the park by any means and there is plenty of scope for errors. If the site is using bad code, there’s nothing you can do other than to find a different website. You can eliminate the error reporting however, as we mentioned above, and this is often enough to make a website usable.

You can usually tell when the problem is on the part of the developer. If the errors are occurring on innocuous websites designed for the masses, it’s likely a fault at your own end. Remember that most reputable businesses and organizations are forced to design tidy code that won’t clash with pop-up blockers and anti-Virus software. Still having problems? Remember the three most likely reasons;

• Spyware
• Pop-up blockers and anti-Virus software
• Script configuration settings in Internet Options

 Get a Free Online Diagnostic Scan with RegCure PC Optimizer (Download Takes 2 Mins)

2 Comments »