TCS - You're not paranoid if they're really out to get you

You're not paranoid if they're really out to get you

by Don Singleton
Tulsa Computer Society
From the June 2004 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter

You're not paranoid if they're really out to get you. I have reported on most of these in previous I/O Port articles, but I thought it might be interesting to show how many spam messages I got this past month, how many viruses I was sent this past month, how many times my firewall protected me this past month, and how many security updates I needed to apply this past month to protect my system.

Spam Inspector

I use Spam Inspector to protect me from most spam. Spam Inspector protects me from an average of 481 spam messages a day (562 yesterday), and it identified 36,578 spam messages since I installed it in February.

Norton AntiVirus

I use Norton AntiVirus to protect me from viruses. I actually use Norton AntiVirus 2002, with the Virus Subscriptions kept up to date. This month Norton AntiVirus protected me from 31 viruses: 30 copies of Netsky.P (7 copies of W32.Netsky.P@mm and 23 copies of W32.Netsky.P@mm!enc) plus 1 copy of W32.Netsky.Z@mm. Last month (April) Norton AntiVirus protected me from 341 copies of W32.Netsky.P@mm.

Zone Alarm Pro

I use Zone Alarm Pro as my firewall to keep my personal data and privacy safe from internet hackers and data thieves. This month Zone Alarm Pro logged 26,495 attempts to break into my computer, and it looks like the hackers must have been really busy on May 21, and on the few days before and after it.

BixFix

I use BixFix to automatically notify me when yhere are security updates I need to install for any of the programs (including Windows) installed on my computer. Home users can download BigFix from http://help.bigfix.com/. Richard K. deJongh wrote an article on BigFix in the November 2002 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter. This month BixFix did not notify me of any updates I needed to apply, but in April I had 7 updates to apply:

April 19
- Security Update for Microsoft Windows - Windows 2000 (fixlet:401107)
- Cumulative Update for Microsoft RPC/DCOM - Windows 2000 (fixlet:401201)
- Cumulative Security Update for Outlook Express 6.0 SP1 (fixlet:401301)
- Vulnerability in the Microsoft Jet Database Engine Could Allow Code Execution - Windows 2000 (fixlet:401401)
April 12
- URL Script commands - WinXP, Win2000, Win2003 Server (fixlet:83235301)
April 9
- Update for Windows Media Player Script Commands (fixlet:82802601)
April 8
- Update for Wininet Retries POST Requests - IE 6.0 SP1 (fixlet:83116701)

In a perfect world we would not be bombarded with spam messages, viruses, attempts to break into our computers, or need to be absolutely up-to-date with all security updates to our software. But obviously we don't live in a perfect world. Now do you see why I say You're not paranoid if they're really out to get you.

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Tulsa Computer Society 6/01/2004