Anti-Malware Software & It’s False Sense of Security

Published: May 12, 2010

For years and years I have not used any antivirus, anti-malware, anti-spyware or any sort of security software on my Windows PC. Not once did I ever get infected with any type of malware. Yet just recently … just hours ago … for the first time in years, I get infected by Antispyware Soft.

Antispyware Soft is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as Antivirus Soft and Antivirus Suite. Just like its predecessors, AntispywareSoft reports false system security threats to make you think that your computer is infected with malicious software. Usually, this fake program is promoted through the use of Trojans or other malware, but it can be also installed on your computer without your consent and knowledge through software vulnerabilities.

This infection was a shit-storm of things I already knew before hand … that

  • The best antivirus is the user.
  • Anti-malware in most forms are a waste of money.
  • Internet Explorer should die a horrible death.
  • Your regularly visited site or it’s DNS can get compromised and begin giving you great offers!
  • Listen to Firefox when it tells you that a site is a suspected malware site. Seriously.

So now comes my tale …

Some months ago, after not using anti-malware software for years, I decided to install Norton. It was free as long I stayed with my ISP and who doesn’t like free, amiright? Unfortunately, Norton sucks donkey balls that all the spiffy “technology” with such names as “Insight Protection” or “SONAR Protection” that Norton users are no match against such awesome spyware infection tools like Internet Explorer.

Now fast forward to the present and I visit a regularly frequented site and Firefox pops up a warning that the site may be a malware site. I thought … hey, this must be a mistake … so I choose to ignore it. Firefox fails to load the entire site after my repeated attempts to ignore the warning. Damn you Firefox! You cannot tell me what to do! … I thought. Little did I know that the said site wasn’t my beloved site at all, but a compromised copy of original site served up using compromised DNS entries.

I did not want to hear Firefox’s complaints. I was in control of the computer and if Firefox did not want to load the site, Internet Explorer would without complaint … so to the Start menu I went. Internet Explorer loaded up the site fine and lo’ and behold, I am prompted to clean my computer for viruses and all hosts of other malware. The problem was, it was malware asking me to clean my computer. The malware also conveniently installed itself without my permission and refused to let me run any administrative programs. To make the long story short …

  • Norton failed to detect the attack.
  • Internet Explorer allowed the attack to happen without any input on my end aside from visiting a compromised site.
  • I should not have let Norton make me feel safe to ignore Firefox’s warnings.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. I will not be fooled twice. I will not be led into a false sense of security again.

PS. Kudos to Malwarebytes for removing the infection that a widely popular piece of shit software like Norton couldn’t even detect.

Posted in Rant, Software | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Re-enable Flash in Ubuntu 10.04

Published: May 1, 2010

What is this, this is all so new … oh wait, it’s my blog.

Ubuntu 10.04 was just released and except for fucking around with my Apache2 settings and Flash not working from a straight upgrade, it seems to work great. I still don’t know what all the hubbub was about with the window buttons being moved to the left side. Get over it people!

On to something more informative … if you upgraded from 9.10 to 10.04, Flash might have stopped working for you. In this case, just remove it and re-install it with the following commands …

sudo apt-get remove flashplugin-installer

sudo apt-get clean

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer
Posted in Linux | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Enabling wireless on a Dell Inspiron 1545 in OpenSUSE

Published: December 21, 2009

This process is normally trivial and would have been automatic in Ubuntu, but OpenSUSE seems to make it a little harder … but not too hard. This should work with every other laptop that uses the Broadcom BCM431* chipset too, but I can’t be sure.

YaST Software Repository

First off, you will need to add community package called Packman. So fire up the YaST Control Center (Computer -> YaST -> Software Repositories).

Packman Community Repository

Now add the Packman community repository (click on Add button on the lower left). Check the Community Repositories radio button. In the new screen, scroll down and check the Packman repository.

You will be prompted to import a key. Choose Import.

With the repository added, we now need to install the driver (Computer -> Install Software).

broadcom

Search for broadcom in the search box and check broadcom-wl broadcom-wl-kmp-desktop. Once installed, restart your system and proceed with configuring your wireless connection

Posted in Guides, Linux | 1 Comment

Awesome of the Day

Published: December 14, 2009

I Love xkcd from NoamR on Vimeo.

Posted in Awesome, Media | Leave a comment

All Your Star Trek Are Belong to R2D2

Published: December 8, 2009

R2D2 In Star Trek
Click on image for a higher resolution image.

Yes it’s apparently real and unequivocally awesome.

Posted in Media | Leave a comment

Rest in Peace, Cory Aquino

Published: August 1, 2009

cory-aquino-headshot

I have never cared for Filipino politics. The modern day Filipino political scene is corrupt, petty … and resembles a Filipino Hollywood than it does an institution working for the people. Growing up as a young boy was different. When I came into this world, Marcos’ dictatorship had just ended. The Philippines had hope … and a face that it could proudly show to the world that after centuries of colonialism … that yes we are Filipino and yes we are free. Rest in peace Cory Aquino. Your country owes you a debt that can only be repaid by being good stewards of a gift you have given. I can only hope that the Filipino people step back and reflect on the kind of leadership the Filipino people need and deserve.

Below is a short excerpt of a 1996 TIME article that made Cory Aquino the 1986 Woman of the year.

Less than 24 hours after Marcos had had himself inaugurated, he was being helped off a plane in Hawaii, sickly, exiled and bewildered. His former home, Malacanang Palace, was now a melancholy tableau of abandoned power, overrun by thousands of revelers. The new leader of the Philippines was the reserved housewife who had worn plain yellow dresses every day of her campaign. For her determination and courage in leading a democratic revolution that captured the world’s imagination, Corazon Aquino is TIME’s Woman of the Year for 1986.

Whatever else happens in her rule, Aquino has already given her country a bright, and inviolate, memory. More important, she has also resuscitated its sense of identity and pride. In the Philippines those luxuries are especially precious. Almost alone among the countries of Asia, it has never been steadied by an ancient culture; its sense of itself, and its potential, was further worn away by nearly four centuries of Spanish and American colonialism. The absence of a spirit of national unity has also made democracy elusive. Even Jose Rizal, a political reformer shot by the Spanish and a national hero, called the Filipinos “a people without a soul.” Yet in February, for a few extraordinary moments, the people of the Philippines proved their bravery to the world, and to themselves.

Aquino’s revolution with a human face was no less a triumph for women the world over. The person known as the “Mother of the Nation” managed to lead a revolt and rule a republic without ever relinquishing her buoyant calm or her gift for making politics and humanity companionable. In a nation dominated for decades by a militant brand of macho politics, she conquered with tranquillity and grace.

Posted in The Philippines | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments