17 replies to this topic

[DarkSerge]

Greetings.

Like many people, I have parents that don't fully understand how computers and the Internet work. What's a good malware program to recommend to my dad?

He almost got scammed by someone posing as an HP support rep claiming it's because he did a bing search after 5pm when HP was closed.

Edit: Anti-malware, of course

Also, he's used Malwarebytes in the past. Keep using it or are there better suggestions?

Edited by DarkSerge, 17 June 2018 - 07:48 PM.

[raymac46]

Malware Bytes is good but I recommend getting the paid version. It runs in real time and protects you from cryptoviruses. You can combine it easily with Microsoft's anti-malware suite Windows Defender. It also works well with ESET.

[Pete!]

raymac46, on 18 June 2018 - 07:12 AM, said:

Malware Bytes is good but I recommend getting the paid version. It runs in real time and protects you from cryptoviruses. You can combine it easily with Microsoft's anti-malware suite Windows Defender. It also works well with ESET.

I agree, but if you choose to have a commercial anti-virus. (I was also impressed by ESET, but there are others), you can still take advantage of the Windows Defender database by setting it for "Periodic Scanning".

Edited by Pete!, 18 June 2018 - 08:46 AM.

[Corrine]

DarkSerge, on 17 June 2018 - 07:41 PM, said:

Edit: Anti-malware, of course

Title edited.  

Malwarebytes real-time protection would be needed in order to have Web Protection to block known malicious webpages.

[DarkSerge]

Thanks for the into everyone! (And for the title edit too)

[raymac46]

I think it is important to run Malware Bytes alongside whatever antivirus program you have. In my case it's ESET but Windows Defender should do fine. That said you still have to keep your wits about you, not fall for phone scams or scareware, and don't click on email attachments you can't trust. No security solution is foolproof if you are the fool.

[ebrke]

To echo others here, I run ESET and paid version of Malwarebytes on my mother's win7 laptop. No troubles to date.

[goretsky]

Hello,

I'm not really sure how effective anti-malware software is going to be of assistance in this particular instance.

While it is a good thing to have, predatory scammers like the one that attacked your father work in a large part through buying paid advertisements on search engines, and social engineering victims once they call in.

Now, anti-malware software can be useful for doing things like blocking the remote access software used by support scammers, but if the support scammer is already on the phone with the victim they may be able to convince the victim that this is part of problem with the computer and walk them through disabling or uninstalling the anti-malware software.  So, at best, it may be a only part of the solution.

I would also suggest looking at ad-blocking technologies.  There are various ways to do this (at the browser level, OS level, via software, outside the computer at the router, etc.) so you would need to do some research as to what works best with your parent's network connection.  It also is going to require maintenance and updating, just like any other security or privacy tool.

The biggest part of this, and the most challenging, is going to be user education.  Educating one's parents about fraudulent ads and social engineering is not for the faint of hearts, but giving older, pre-Internet examples of fraudulent behavior that they might be familiar with can help them to draw associations with the modern perils.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[zlim]

Quote

He almost got scammed by someone posing as an HP support rep

Was this a phone call? Tell your parents to hang up. No company associated with computers will call a customer. It is hard enough to talk to tech support when you call a company.

My husband and I are in our 70's and get calls from "microsoft" claiming our computer is infected. My husband calls them liars then hangs up. If I get the call, I don't waste my time talking. I hang up.

Also warn him to NEVER let anyone control the computer remotely. In fact, do your parents a favor and turn off remote access unless you need it to help them remotely.

[Corrine]

Continuing on what Aryeh said regarding user education, there is a recent discussion on another forum related to this.  What seems obvious to many people when they receive spam/malicious email, slips past way too many others.   If you have friends/family who tend to be gullible, are not "Internet savvy" or just plain click-happy, consider sharing with them.  

Five easy ways to recognize and dispose of malicious emails

A good tip by Digerati in the discussion I mentioned above regarding spelling/grammatical errors (4. The language, spelling, and grammar are “off.” in the article) is to actually read out loud the email.  It is amazing what we skim past when reading that jumps out at us when we speak the words.

[DarkSerge]

The number he called that got him to a scammer was something he found in a search. Basically, he needed computer support and did a search on "HP support" and called a number that came up in the search results, that's how he got on the phone with a scammer. I told him always check the official site or the documentation that came with the computer and not just search it. Nobody called him or got his info.

The thing that makes me think he needs good protection was he told me of this site he visits for music (probably not totally legal I told him) that has a suspicious pop-up and he was on another site where he clicked a link and got the same pop-up ad, thinking whoever made the pop-up is taking over the sites he likes but usually I figured that sounds more like something's in his system if these sites are giving the same pop-ups.

He just got this computer about a year ago, and I don't want it to already need me to make trips home to fix it. The last computer died because he kept doing system restores for every little problem until one day the system hung during a restore and he unplugged it and it never started after that. He's already done one system restore on this new computer and I don't want him in that habit again every time he finds a problem or something doesn't work how he expects it.

[Corrine]

In addition to needing appropriate security programs, it sounds as though he may not have an ad-blocker program installed.  My current favorite is uBlock Origin which is even available for Windows 10 in the Microsoft Store.  It includes customizable filters, accessible from the extension's dashboard, including the hpHosts file.

[raymac46]

(Moan) my wife's friend Shari got one of those Microsoft Technical Support spam calls where the scammer took her through the Event Viewer and showed her all the "malware" on her laptop. Fortunately, she stopped short of letting him take control of her PC or paying him anything. I have told her many times to hang up on these jerkweeds but nooooo.
This same lady has been turning down Classic Shell updates for months because she's afraid that will hack her computer. Looks like the spirit of Lillian still is out and about.

[Corrine]

I finally gave up my land line last winter because those scammers kept calling.  It was a basic service without caller ID.  Hanging up on them didn't work, speaking in the limited Ukrainian that I know didn't work, saying the computer wasn't turned on didn't work, nothing did and I finally had enough getting at least one or two calls a week.

[raymac46]

Telling them you run Linux usually works.

[Pete!]

Corrine, on 27 June 2018 - 06:40 PM, said:

I finally gave up my land line last winter because those scammers kept calling.  It was a basic service without caller ID.  Hanging up on them didn't work, speaking in the limited Ukrainian that I know didn't work, saying the computer wasn't turned on didn't work, nothing did and I finally had enough getting at least one or two calls a week.

Only two calls a week?
They were being easy on you...

My dog has noticed my annoyance with over 90% of the calls on my landline.
When the phone rings he barks angrily.

If it's a legit caller, I have to get the dog out of the room, so I can hear.

If it's a robocall, all I can do is hang up.

If it's a live scammer, I put it on speaker phone and let the dog handle it.

[zlim]

Quote

one or two calls a week

That's mild. I think it was Monday or Tuesday that we got a call every hour!
Most of the phones in the house have the ringers turned off because now they've taken to calling around 8:15 am.
I rarely answer. Legitimate callers leave a message.

I rarely keep my cell phone on but when I do turn it on, either it starts ringing (no one knows the phone number) or I check like yesterday for missed calls or messages. Some persistent jerk left 9 messages.

Every since electricity got deregulated in our state, we get calls about changing electric suppliers. The call starts, "I'd like to speak to the person who handles the <insert name of electric company> bills." The problem is, the electric companies named aren't even companies that service our county! So they have no idea who they are calling or they'd know our electric company.

[Corrine]

Yes, it had gotten to be more than two calls a week.  As to telling them you use Linux, I'll never forget Sue D's post and kept a copy of it, always referencing SNF when I've shared it, of course.  Her post in 2011 is here.  She wrote:

Quote

"Hello Mrs. D., I'm calling on behalf of Microsoft"
"Uh-huh", I said.
"I'd like to discuss your Windows with you..."
"I like blinds on mine"
"Excuse me?"
"Blinds. I like blinds on mine. That way I can let just the right amount of light into the room and it doesn't wash out the picture on my TV."
"No madam, I mean your the operating system"
"I'm not a doctor"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not a doctor so I can't operate"
"No madam, the Windows operating system"
"I've also got curtains over my blinds. It frames the windows so nicely!"
"Mrs. D., I wish to talk to you about your computer"
"I use Linux...will that be a problem?"
Click
Some people just have no sense of humor.