McAfee, like all computer security companies, see spam as one of the main enemies in the computer age.

Spam is a waste of everyone’s time, clogs up the ether with its pointlessness and is it a major carrier of computer viruses. It serves no purpose whatsoever and if the world were rid of it, then 80% of the email traffic would drop overnight.

So what can you do to avoid spam? Here’s some top tips.

Top tip is do not spread your email around. Never post your e-mail address in an unobfuscated form on the Internet. But if you have to post your internet address, make sure you obfuscate it in such a way that it cannot be harvested. Better still, create a small graphic image that contains your email address, as the harvesters cannot read this. Bear in mind that spammers play the numbers game. They trawl for millions of addresses out there and guess others with specially created computer programmes. Don’t make their life easy.

Another top tip is checking to see how visible your email address is. Type it into a search engine and see if it has been posted into in any newsgroups, or discussions forum, and see if you can remove it, as this might be a good way to cut spam down.

Also consider using a number of email addresses, say one for friends and family, and one for business. This way you can greatly reduce your chances of spam. You could easily create an address that you only use for newsgroups and such places, and then, if it become burdened with spam, drop it altogether. Don’t be afraid of changing your email address as a way of avoiding spam.

Another good way of foxing the spammers is having a complicated email address made up of numbers, as well as letters, and a part of it made up of random sequences. This works against dictionary attackers.

When it come to completing web forms, always have a look at the website’s privacy policy, as avoid giving your email address, or indeed, any other personal details, to a site which admits that they sell them on to third parties. If you can, check the box which opts you out of third party mailings.

A very important rule this – never respond to spam, ever. Because a spammer lives for a reply and even if you innocently send a request saying you’d like to be removed from the list, this confirms to them that the address is valid, you have seen the email and indeed, you have replied. This means that your email address is basically in-play. Your name could then be added to a list of working email addresses which could be very valuable to the spammer and sold between them.

Along the same lines as the last point, never, ever buy anything from a spammer, or goods which have been brought to your attention via spams. Once sending spam become unprofitable, then it will die.

Get into the habit of as soon as you see the spam message, delete it. Do not open it. By using graphics within the spam email, spammers are able to track who received it and who opened. This is why many email providers give you the option of opening the graphic image within the email – resist that temptation. Simply bin it.

Do not use links within emails (always go to a site via your web browser, or your own bookmarks), and never reply to emails, purporting to be from a site you know, asking for financial information, or personal details. Guard such data vigorously.

Above all else, ensure that your anti-virus software is up to date and that your firewall (designed to stop people not only breaking in, but taking goods out), is also doing its job.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

McAfee maintain a list of the current top tracked viruses and their characteristics.

The current list of prime suspects is most illuminating. Most are trojans, but two are worms:

• Exploit-ObscuredHtml
• Exploit-MS06-006
• Generic!atr
• HTML/FakeAV
• Exploit-PDF.b.gen
• Generic PWS.ak
• W32/Conficker.worm!inf
• W32/Rimecud
• Generic FakeAlert!cr
• Bredolab.gen.d.

As to which are trojans and which are viruses, the clue is in the title of one, but it’s not so easy in the other. The infamous W32/Conficker.worm!inf is one and the other is W32/Rimecud.

But lets have a look at one of the trojans first. Exploit-ObscuredHtml. To remind ourselves, this is a trojan and it’s so-called because its takes it lesson from ancient Greece mythology. They are spread inadvertently by people who think that they are downloading, or swapping to someone else, a file which is of some use. In reality, it’s an illegal gateway to someone’s computer. And because unlike viruses they don’t replicate, they rely on manual distribution methods such as email, malicious, or hacked web pages, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), or peer-to-peer networks.

Now Exploit-ObscuredHtml is an exploit by sub-type and it exists as code in an email message, web page, or HTML document.

Interestingly, certain non-ascii characters are ignored by Microsoft Internet Explorer, allowing an attacker to obfuscate malicious code. And still have it rendered by Internet Explorer. But the detection of this particular trojan covers HTML documents that have been crafted with the intention of evading antivirus detection. And there are other documents that mix HTML with non-ascii characters which could also trigger this detection.

Now lets take a brief look at the W32/Conficker.worm!inf. The Conficker caused virtual panic in the media earlier in 2009 and its was dubbed the mother of all viruses. Actually it has been around for some years, although this version was particular virulent.
The sub-type is a worm and it is a file which is usually dropped onto the root of all removable drivers and mapped drives in an attempt to autorun an executable when the drive is accessed.

IT people can spot infection when they see the prescence of autorun.inf files on the root of all removable drives or mapped network drives containing specific information.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

When it comes to finding out about the top malware and spam trends, then the latest report from computer security giants McAfee, covering the first quarter of 2010, is a great place to start.

It discovered that top of the list for top malware and spam trends is a USB worm that has grabbed number one position for top malware worldwide. Furthermore, it concluded that spam trends differ considerably from country to country. What’s more, spam originating out of China and other Asian countries is on the increase. And, early 2010 has been marked by major events, such as earthquake news, which has led to many web searches being poisoned.

The top malware and spam trends report also concluded that most malicious URLs are hosted by US based servers.

High up in the top malware and spam trends report is the fact that the increasing use of removable devices, the majority being USB drives, is acting as a beacon for the most popular malware. Infections that are related to AutoRun held the top and third places. In fifth place are password stealing Trojans which include generic downloaders, gaming software and unwanted programmes, all designed to collect statistics anonymously.

Looking at spam, the report concluded that whilst rates are steady, the subjects differ from country to country. The report shows that the most significant amounts of diploma spam come out of China, South Korea and Vietnam. Diploma spam is all about buying bogus job qualifications in order to get jobs.

Whereas countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan – says the report – are known for high rates of Delivery Status Notification spam.

Mike Gallagher, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Global Threat Intelligence for McAfee, said:
“Our latest threat report verifies that trends in malware and spam continue to grow at our predicted rates. Previously emerging trends, such as AutoRun malware, are now at the forefront. We were also surprised to find some of geographic difference in spam related topics, such as the volume of diploma spam coming out of China.”

The top malware and spam trends report also discovered that Brazil, China, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Romania and Thailand, do have a higher proportion of malware infections and spam. McAfee says this may be down to the rapid increase in computer and internet use that these countries have experienced in the last few years, and that as a result, they lack a proper appreciation of security awareness.

The top malware and spam trends report that hackers continue to make use of bad news events, such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, in order to bump their malicious sites up the site engine rankings.

As to where most of the new malicious URLs are hosted, the top malware and spam trends report concludes that 98% are hosted in the US, mainly because this is where most of the Web 2.0 services are provided.

So, when it comes to the top malware and spam trends report, use it to help keep yourself from the hackers out there.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Rumours circulating the industry are claiming that a recent McAfee update for Windows XP has caused thousands of corporate computers to shut down.

The rumours started to appear on Twitter and there have also been claims that McAfee’s own support site has been down.

The number of computers affected could run into the millions on a worldwide scale.

It would appear that DAT update 5989 deletes what’s known as the svchost.exe file which in turn then triggers a false-positive in McAfee. This then causes not only a chain of uncontrolled restarts, but a loss of networking functionality.

McAfee has apparently issued some fixes, although experts claim this is a classic case of bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted. It’s believed that McAfee has pulled the update from its corporate download servers and therefore will not affect consumers’ computers.

McAfee told the US website ‘engadet’:

“McAfee is aware that a number of customers have incurred a false positive error due to incorrect malware alerts on Wednesday, April 21. The problem occurs with the 5958 virus definition file (DAT) that was released on April 21 at 2.00 PM GMT+1 (6am Pacific Time).

“Our initial investigation indicates that the error can result in moderate to significant performance issues on systems running Windows XP Service Pack 3."

“The faulty update has been removed from McAfee download servers for corporate users, preventing any further impact on those customers. We are not aware of significant impact on consumer customers and believe we have effectively limited such occurrence."

“McAfee teams are working with the highest priority to support impacted customers and plan to provide an update virus definition file shortly. McAfee apologizes for any inconvenience to our customers.”

Figures from the industry say that thousands of computers have already been knocked out by this ‘bad’ update. What’s more, it has been suggested that the fixes on offer require technician time in order for them to be effective, so McAfee can expect some serious grumbling from its corporate customer base.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

McAfee Antivirus is one of the most well known brand names in the antivirus software market. The company was founded back in 1989 as McAfee Associates and is the world’s largest dedicated security company. McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010 is their most recent antivirus software release and it offers full PC security to protect you while you browse the web giving you the confidence to download files as you please. 

With McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010 you are always up to date as the software continuously updates with the latest virus definitions all without interrupting your computer use. McAfee provides the fastest protection against malicious threats. New and emerging threats are analysed and blocked in milliseconds.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus offers total pc protection to block as well as remove spyware, adware, malware and rootkits (dangerous programs designed to alter your PC). You are protected while you surf online as McAfee AntiVirus Plus warns you of suspicious websites before you even click.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus added features

With McAfee AntiVirus Plus you are not only getting an antivirus software which protects you against Trojans, spyware and all sort of threats but you get a range of added features including a firewall, disk cleaner, disk defragmenter and a network security manager.

The McAfee firewall is a neat added feature as it protects your computer from hackers whilst you are online. It does this by monitoring your activity and can protect you from identity thieves and malware that hijacks your system with the ultimate goal of stealing important personal information.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus can be purchased to cover multiple computers there are licences which cover 1, 2 or 3 PCs.

Has our McAfee Antivirus Review whetted your apetite? Get 50% of McAfee AntiVirus Plus click here to go to the latest offers on antivirus software.

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein