Bit-Defender Internet Security Review

Art — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:34:06 +0000

It’s that time of year again, all of the various security suites are coming out with their 2012 versions and redoing interfaces and making it all bigger, stronger and faster. Of course, Bit-Defender is no exception to this rule. As we begin to evaluate our internet security options for this year, we can certainly see that this program, while a bit on the touchy side, may possibly be a way to turn.

Changes, Changes

The interface will be one of the places where you begin to see the wide host of differences that have been made with this year’s edition of Bit-Defender. Now showing a dark minimal interface that lacks the options of the past for their intermediate and advanced options panels, they have cut down on clutter and chaos by deciding for you which options you need available right at hand. You can, of course, change this in the options panel and make sure that you have your advanced tools there as well, but starting out, this is it. However, finding the menu to do so if you choose to change these options might prove a bit tedious and confusing.

While definitely lower priced than its competitors, the thing that their competitor has that this program lacks is the ability to install alongside or with other security programs also installed. Bit-Defender is so anti-social that it will refuse to install when there are even any remnants of other security sources installed. So it is recommended that you use an uninstall sweeper program to make sure that every last bit of your old security and anti-virus programs are gone first or install only on a fresh computer, otherwise it simply will not install.

Some of the new tools that have been added include:

Chat scanners
Phishing protection
Firewall
Parental Controls
File encryptions
System optimizer
Online backup

It is safe to say that while other programs offer these kinds of tools, they do so at a much higher price and a much longer installation time. With install time (and this includes registration) clocked at just under 2 minutes, Bit-Defender definitely has the market cornered on efficiency.

Interestingly enough, Bit-Defender now has an application that is also free for all FaceBook users: http://apps.facebook.com/bd-safego/. Having tried this little application, we definitely would have to say that it is non-invasive and trustworthy having caught and filtered out the infamous “Facebook Pornography Spam Attack” of last week. That little catch in and of itself was quite impressive!

Does not play well with others

Once installed, Bit-Defender does a preliminary scan and makes certain that it is not being put on an already infected machine (sorry, you folks who bought this as the answer to your virus problem, no go, here). Then, you can go into choosing one of many levels of scans available for your needs from the basic levels to the highly paranoid. Best to make sure you read the help files about the one you chose though. If you do not currently have time for a forced boot time scan, you need to choose full, not complete, or you will wind up having to do this tedious bit of work.

Once uninstalled, you’d think that a program so anti-social would make sure to clean up after itself, but unfortunately this is not the case with Bit-Defender and is perhaps our biggest issue with it. When the program is uninstalled it leaves behind traces in your registry that will need to be fixed in order to ensure proper running of your machine or of any other security program that you might choose to install. Once you uninstall the program, you should, to be safe, make sure that you use a registry fixing tool in order to ensure the health of your machine and its proper running.

All in all, if you can put up with the quirks of this program or you are installing it on a brand new, just built system, then you will be in heaven with this program and it’s relatively small cost. The tools that it offers are indeed extensive and will protect your computer from even the harshest of viruses and malware.7. However, if you are looking for help for an already infected machine, best to look elsewhere for the program that will best suit your needs.

Domain Keys in the Fight Against Phishing

Art — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:33:45 +0000

Anybody with an email address is likely to have countless amounts of phishing messages in their inbox, and they may not even realize it. This type of threat usually doesn’t come at you with the attention-grabbing headlines of advertising spam or the unbelievable plots attached to the fraudulent messages carrying Nigerian scams. In many cases, a phishing message doesn’t look much like spam at all, even though it is a well crafted plan to steal your money. Believe it or not, a large number of people have fallen victim to this clever scam so it is important that you know how to recognize and avoid it.

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a sophisticated scam based on social networking. Unlike other attacks where intruders rely on vulnerabilities in a server or website application, these scam artists would prefer that the system remain intact. Instead, they look for vulnerabilities in the actual person themselves, hoping they can find someone who is trusting enough to believe the alarming message in their inbox and respond or follow the provided link.

There are essentially two types of phishing. One approach involves a scam artist sending you an email and purporting as a representative of an institution you do business with. This could be any type of company from a bank to someone pretending to be affiliated with PayPal or eBay. They will inform you that there is problem with your existing account and that your login credentials are needed to fix it.

The second approach is similar yet distinct from the method above. A phony representative attempts to alarm you by stating that there is a problem with your account. However, they don’t ask for you to respond with your login credentials, but simply follow the provided link so they can either verify your personal information or correct the problem. After clicking the link, you are not redirected to an official online banking or PayPal website, yet a rogue site that looks strikingly similar, so much that distinguishing it from the real deal might be difficult. Upon entering the requested information, you are essentially handing over the keys to your valuable assets and possibly your identity.

So, what role will DomainKeys play in the fight against phishing? As a product owned by Yahoo and integrated into its web-based mail system, the technology will help to protect you against email scams in the following ways:

Website owners register their Domain Name Servers with the DomainKeys system from which emails are required to be transmitted from a registered server.

DomainKeys incorporates an additional header to message, identifying the sender’s domain name server to verify where the message originated.

The message is then verified by the web-based mail system which analyzes the header to ensure that it originates from where it claims. If the header isn’t validated, the message is automatically sent to a spam folder.

Yahoo has been working to push DomainKeys as a standard for web-based anti-phishing for sometime now. With Gmail recently picking up the technology, it’s very likely that it will become standardized in the very near future. Unfortunately, internet criminals are quite persistent and seem to find a way around the most efficient security mechanisms. Whether you use a free web-based mail system by Yahoo, Gmail or through your own website, the best advice is to never respond to a suspicious email or click on any links. If a message appears legitimate, contact the company personally and speak with an official representative. This will determine if someone was trying to bait you with a phishing scam.

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Bit-Defender Internet Security Review

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