The Truth About Viruses

Welcome to the 636th meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise! Thanks to Paul Chrisco, our speaker today, for the following report and advise.

As an Information Technologist with over 15 years of experience in my industry, I have dealt with viruses, spyware and other malware on numerous occasions. Over the years, I have not only gained an immense amount of knowledge and experience from dealing with Viruses and other Malware, and I have also learned what it means to have a virus. Once I learned what it really meant to have a true virus (Trojan, Backdoor, Keylogger, etc.) I dug deep for the truth as to what is the ONLY way to be 100% a system that has had one of these is still safe to use for online banking, online purchases, etc.

The link above is to an article by a Microsoft Security Engineer and it supports what I spoke to you all today about. Spyware can be cleaned off with no residual effects to be concerned about, however viruses require a reload of the operating system; no exceptions. There is NO such thing as a quick, easy and cheap fix for them; well unless you do not value your identity, credit or financial well being. I challenge anyone reading this article to read what a true security expert says.

Where do viruses come from anyway?
Well there are the typical sources such as:
porn sites
opening e-mails that are forwarded
file sharing programs (Limewire, bearshare, bit torrents, etc.)

OK, so how else can you get viruses, even if you do not do any of the preceding? You might have been duped by a clever hacker; refer to the images below:





This one is VERY common and fools so many people. Some people think it is from Microsoft, but it isn't. It is NOT part of Windows XP. It is NOT legit.






LOL I personally love this one:


What's Next? Your computer is about to either become one of thousands a hacker 'Owns' as part of his BOT army or it will just simply get totally screwed up to the point it will no longer work. I bet the Hacker knows what's next!

Ok, I bet you are saying, "I am safe, I have Free Antivirus" or maybe "I have XXX Antivirus and it says I am not infected." If you are running ANY free Antivirus, you will soon learn that it may be free when you installed it, but it is about to cost you far more than you would ever want! As much as I hear people whine about buying Solid Antivirus software, I have to laugh as I know the typical repair for viruses costs between $90-$300 depending on how fast you need it fixed and where you take it. Lets not forget the high cost of Identity Theft (which is on a rise), bank account transfers from your account being hacked, credit card numbers (yours or your client's) being compromised.

So, is it REALLY worth using Free Antivirus or Antivirus that is not Rock Solid?

I recommend F-Secure, Kapersky or MalwareBytes. F-secure costs about $60 a year for 3 computers. Kapersky and MalwareBytes are comparable in price. Far cheaper than getting just 1 virus and they update themselves automatically, can scan your system automatically and are Proactive in that they PREVENT viruses and spyware from ever installing in most cases. Nothing is 100% and NO Antivirus is a license to be stupid online.

Use common sense, think and do NOT just download and install anything you find on the web. Use some common sense, educate yourself and if that fails, ask someone that works in my industry that you know, like and trust.

Remember, if anyone tells you they can "clean" viruses (Trojans, Keyloggers, Backdoors, etc.) off without reloading your computer system; tell them I said they need to learn how to say, "Would you like to super size that?" Was that blunt? Yeah it was, but is it accurate? Absolutely, as they have NO business in the IT industry in my humble opinion.

I sincerely hope this information helps keep at least 1 person from ever getting a virus again. Viruses are a pain in the rear and can potentially cause you great financial loss.



Paul J. Chrisco
Information Technologist
Chrisco Consulting, Inc.
50 E. 100 South Ste. 303
Saint George, UT 84770
http://www.chriscoconsulting.com