pc.builder98 said:
message
If I tone it down to this is it OK:
Hmm, not really, for the most part. I am glad you
aren't -openly- spamming though. But what I do still
mind is your recommendations for unverified URLs with
no reputations for competence of any kind but with lots
of spam references in their past and current histories.
If I were you, I'd distance myself from these places
and move on to more reputable sources for your
applications. Unless of course, this was actually a
spam, in which case ... well, you know that drill.
Spyware and Malware defensive techniques.
Good practices:
Stop using Internet Exporer.
Unnecessary, confusing to newbies and no good reasons
to do so, especially since they cleaned up the
defaults. Users won't like others because of the
limitations if they know the limitations, which they
will eventually learn anyway, and in no way addresses
the real problem: Education.
Find another browser.
See above
If you want to
experiment with a free browser that needs no install
then try Off By
One:
http://www.OffByOne.com This is likely the
fastest browser you
will ever try. It doesn't do everything but many
times you don't need
everything.
One of several available that I know of. Not having
ever heard of this one, I'm loathe to do the research
it would require bothering with to determine whether it
was even a safe download let alone functional enough to
be useful. Same for the other mentions.
It's rather trivial to write a text-only browser
using an API and a few supporting lines of code these
days. OTOH since I know what I want; I don't want the
attendant limitations period.
They CAN be useful though if one uses them thru a
proxy - and never wants to render anything graphical,
if they're sourced from reputable sources. I
occasionally use them a couple of them in my spam
fighting efforts when I need to verify something about
a spamvertised site or even the spammer's site itself.
Use a HOSTS file and keep it up to date. Learn how
here:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/
Now that is outstanding advice, IFF it's coupled with
the knowledge of how to keep it from slowing a system
down. MVPS fortunately provides same, IFF a reader
will read, which all too many don't and end up with
silly questions about even the MVPS version with its
excellent documentation. No, I am not an MVP.
Stop using Outlook or Outlook Express. Find another
email client.
You said that already.
If
you must use these email clients then send and
receive in plain text
only and turn off the preview pane.
OK.
Better yet, learn how to use what you have. Burying
one's self in 3rd party crapps and rumors is useless.
Education again is the key.
Never open email unless the
subject line is relevant and compelling to you NEVER!
Unless you
specifically request someone to send you an
attachment then do not
open attachments NEVER!
Most newbies and lots of longtime users find the
phishing schemes and porn adds pretty compelling to
them and also relevant when it's a phish about their
own bank. The Subject line isn't the most important
data: The From line AND the Subject, and whether or
not you might expect that person to send you an e-mail
are much better to judge things on. About 99.999% of
cold contacts are spam, the rest just junk.
Stop downloading, running or installing things you do
not absolutely
need.
Good, though I don't know that the need has to be
"absolute". It's more important to "know who" you're
downloading from and whether or not they have a decent
rep. Education again. And a little research. I don't
"need" all of the applications I have and could do
without some of them if I had to. But I don't have to,
and I don't do without them. I do however know where
they came from and the rep of the place they came from
in all but one, which I researched first and ended up
quite happy with. That little app was WinPatrol.
If you do download scan it here:
http://www.virustotal.com/ or
here:
http://virusscan.jotti.org/ before you install
or run.
Nonsense. I'd scan it right here on my machine as it
arrives at my incoming port, before it hits my hard
drive. I use relevant, reliable and up to date
applications to do so. Eductation again, not taking
the advice of some unknown entity.
I'd never go to unknown URLs to check anything in
that way but apparenlty, even though I should never
read an e-mail, you say it's OK to go to sites I've
never heard of because they were recommended by someone
I've never heard of. Even if it had a decent rep like,
say, Yahoo, realize that Yahoo allows spyware through
their malware detectors AND virus detection, on purpose
which other scanners do not. I'm talking specifically
about GAIN and its repertoire here, but that's not the
only one.
Scanning just for viruses is completely
unacceptable. Spyware and malware are a must to keep
track of and off your machine. Some viruses can even
be "invited" to come in as a result of spyware on your
machine. Nothing should e ver be allowed to run
covertly on a machine; never. It needs to ask for
permission or it doesn't run. And that's where
education comes in again.
Consider the possibility that every time you buy or
use a Microsoft
product you are making yourself a little less safe,
your life more
complicated and the world a little worse off.
Consider buying, using
other alternatives.
Not half as unsafe as I'd feel taking your advice and
using any of those new to me, unknown URLs and what
they might or might not deliver in the form of viruses,
spyware and malware.
This is better advice than you will ever receive from
Microsoft or
from many support people.
I take it you include your MVPS HOSTS file
recommendation in that too, since you include
"support".
No, actually, if you can read, you'll find
Microsoft' advice very good and very useful for
avoiding viruses and malware. Their information is
much more inclusive than yours here, doesn't insist on
single points for such protection, and makes several
recommendations about how to manage the computer
systems.
I'm not necessarily in love with MS but I will admit
that they document everything well and without
misinformation. Their information can be verified if
one wishes to, and is very consistant.
Now, if the following list of lookups on your
information isn't interesting from a white/black hat
color, I don't know what is:
Parsing input: 4.124.52.30
Routing details for 4.124.52.30
De-referencing (e-mail address removed)
abuse net level3.net = (e-mail address removed),
(e-mail address removed)
Report routing for 4.124.52.30: (e-mail address removed),
(e-mail address removed)
(e-mail address removed) redirects to (e-mail address removed)
Parsing input:
www.OffByOne.com
Routing details for 74.208.48.100
[refresh/show] Cached whois for 74.208.48.100 :
(e-mail address removed)
Using abuse net on (e-mail address removed)
abuse net 1and1.com = (e-mail address removed), (e-mail address removed)
Using best contacts (e-mail address removed) (e-mail address removed)
Routing details for 74.53.201.162
[refresh/show] Cached whois for 74.53.201.162 :
(e-mail address removed)
Using abuse net on (e-mail address removed)
abuse net theplanet.com = (e-mail address removed)
Using best contacts (e-mail address removed)
Parsing input: virusscan.jotti.org
Routing details for 209.160.65.87
[refresh/show] Cached whois for 209.160.65.87 :
(e-mail address removed)
Using abuse net on (e-mail address removed)
abuse net hopone.net = (e-mail address removed)
Using best contacts (e-mail address removed)
Parsing input: jotti.org
Routing details for 24.132.142.63
[refresh/show] Cached whois for 24.132.142.63 :
(e-mail address removed)
Using abuse net on (e-mail address removed)
abuse net chello.at = (e-mail address removed),
(e-mail address removed)
Using best contacts (e-mail address removed) (e-mail address removed)
while a lookup reports:
Reporting addresses:
(e-mail address removed)
Except for this last entry, each of those are known to
be friendly to spammers and to have anything but white
hats. That last one, being .at, would never get
through to me anyway; it'd be blocked and forced to ask
permission; which it wouldn't get. Again, it's all
about education.
So if you really want to provide some great
information, begin educating the masses instead of
sending people to god know what content at the URLs you
give.
Cheers
