Scared of using the internet

[icyplanet]

Just... don't use things like McAfee or Norton. Though they work fairly well (despite their previous reputations), they still slow your computer down tremendously in my experience. Though if I were to recommend something, I am not all that sure. I haven't personally tried all that many different ones.

I know Avast works well, even the free version, though it was kinda "ad"-y for a while (not so much anymore it seems).
Trend Micro seems old, but functions well, but this is a business solution.
Hitman Pro I've seen and heard very good things about, dunno about its price and availability.
MSE is simple but definitely good enough for casual use.
360TotalSecurity I've heard has good results, but perhaps a sketchy privacy background considering they are Chinese.
Malwarebytes is definitely a good shot, but free version is only on-demand, not active protection. But keep it around anyway!

Oh wow, I wasn't aware that McAfee and Norton had a bad rep in some cases...

I've been reading through this guide on malware https://www.1and1.com/digitalguide/serve...e-malware/ and it has mentioned completely removing malicious software from a computer. It's probably at the extreme end, but has anyone used Kaspersky Rescue Disk or KNOPPIX in the past? Would be interesting to know if they are useful.

[Slanderous]

I only used Malwarebytes and Combofix. xP

[Abion47]

Lately, I've actually been a bit worried every time I log into my email or Facebook, for fear that some sort of virus will be downloaded, or I'm going to get hacked... Am I being too irrational? I used to use a PC and seemed to get all sorts of nasty things constantly, but it's been okay so far now that I switched to Mac.

Are the hackers winning this war?

There are several misconceptions here.

First, a "virus" as you would think about is all but extinct. The only viruses that still exist are ones that are easily avoided by practicing common sense on the internet - don't open any suspicious links, don't click on ads, and don't install anything that you don't know where it came from. The latest versions of both Windows and Mac are pretty good against shielding from those kinds of attacks, but there's only so much they can do against viruses that you are deliberately (if unknowingly) installing yourself.

Second, a Mac is not the safer operating system because it does anything special, but rather there's little point in writing malware that specifically targets Macs. People who write malware generally do so because they are trying to get something out of their victims. In that sense, Windows PCs are the natural target, since the market share of Windows is far greater than that of Mac. And since Windows PCs and Mac PCs are fundamentally different, there are virtually no examples of OS-level malware that run on both.

Third, by far the greatest danger in the current age of computers is not malware, but phishing. This is where someone tries to trick you into giving up your email, your credit card number, or other personal information. They could also be tricking you into connecting your computer to their servers, which gives them your computer's address and allows them to connect to you directly. The biggest misconception about hackers is that they cannot just randomly decide to connect to your computer on a whim. They need to first know how to connect to your computer at all, and then they need to get past the computer's built-in security. This requires that A] they have installed something on your computer that grants them access (which requires that they have physical access to your computer), or B] that you have given them enough information via their phishing attempts to bypass the security measures. No hacker is going to try and brute-force their way through a firewall, since that process is far too difficult and time-consuming.

Fourth, the vast majority of major websites like Google and Facebook use encrypted connections. What this means is that all of your data, from the instant it leaves your computer to the instant it arrives at the website's servers, is a garbled mess. Even if someone was eavesdropping on your internet traffic, all they would see is a bunch of nonsense. The way that encryption works is that both your computer and the target server have a key that they use to "unscramble" the data. Without this key, it can be virtually impossible to decipher encrypted data, depending on the exact form of encryption used. (And all reputable browsers and major sites will use only current encryption methods that have yet to be cracked.)

In conclusion, your fears are justified, in that there are plenty of people out there that would love to get their hands on your computer if only to steal your financial information and add your computer to their DDOS network. Contrary to popular belief, however, this is not something that will just happen randomly, but rather as a direct result of careless browsing practices. Downloading antivirus programs is a good backup measure, but I've found that the vast majority of "malware" that those programs prevent are just tracking cookies, annoying little bits of code installed from various commercial sites but by themselves are mostly harmless.

[icyplanet]

Wow! Thanks for the post Abion Has cleared up a few things

[CrashHeadroom]

I outright agree with Abion. I have to fix-(I say fix it mostly just ends up as a format XD) a few people's computers here and there and most of the time, a virus has come from...I dunno here are some examples:

Trying to download an mp3 from randomly looking around google...and not noticing its a .exe XD

Trying to find old games...and the file they have download is only 1 meg large...then open it >_<

Downloading "software" from a video site so you can watch videos on it.....which is a scam (a decent video site will be nothing but putlocker.com, watchvideo and so on xD)

CLICKING ON ANY ADVERTISMENTS! Never doit, just don't XD

Old demo discs (but thats mostly for retro PC gaming)

As for security and "hacking", most of it is a myth in order to scare people into buying security :/. Take Brute Force Cracking, the program literally cycles through MILLIONS of different combinations, millions. It can take years sometimes to crack a hard password and im sick of this hollywood/nwo crap saying THEY CAN DO IT IN 5 SECONDS FLAT!! No, they can't, well not unless they have literaly ALL your details and password in the first place and if so THEY ARN'T HACKING YOU AT THAT POINT XD. Saying this though, those type of hackers arn't and won't be after you or I...they are trying to F!"$ with major systems elsewhere (bigger fish to fry as it were) and getting paid to do it.

Most hacking cases for the everyday joe come from TERRIBLE passwords...and I mean bluddy terrible, or a script kidding taking advantage of the fact our society creates poor security on alot of these sites IN ORDER TO KEEP THE SALE OF ANTI VIRUS' AND FIRE WALLS UP. OH! That's something else i'd like to go over...hacking isn't just sitting down at a keyboard there is also psychology behind it and fits neatly into my next point.

Hackers use psychology (sometimes) in order to better get to know the person. This can be usefull as (in mine and many other peoples experiences while fixing it) MANY people use crap passwords. People will literaly make one of their GF/BF/familiy member/pet/something they like and the hacking comes from someone they know as a lol :/ they have guessed the persons VERY easy password and away they go. So always make it something that ISN'T RELATED to you. Hell one of my exes would NEVER, EVER change her PW, "Lennox". She adored that horrible dog XD and due to that relationship the hacker will use (and did XD) that as a start point.

1 last thing, I said it earlier and I'll say it again. The BIG hacking stories you hear about are almost on purpose. Take the huge sony hack..."OUR NEW SYSTEM IS UNHACKABLE!" within minutes hackers realised it was a giant lie (there was next to none) and took hundreds of thousands of peoples bank details. They were never used to my knowledge but it was done to prove a point of you are being lied to.

Still don't believe me? Gary McKinnon. Not sure if many of you will know this name but a few years ago, Mr. McKinnon hacked NASA. Now, I say hacked but both me and him say differently XD, he basically logged onto a computer in their head offices. The computer had NO password, no firewall, HUNDREDS of security holes and McKinnon also realised alot of other places didnt either (and he must have found something because america's government want him like he's a new kind of meat).

My point after all this is, be aware. be observant. be wise. BE WELL! and remeber the hackers that can destroy your life and too busy waging a cyberwar between themselves and everyone in powa' to bother with us.

[Marvel]

My solution is using two machines:

1. Trust Box: This is my laptop that I use for business, financial transactions and private stuff.
2. Dust Box: This is my PC which I use for gaming and browsing all kinds of fishy websites! Nothing serious to compromise here. If need be, I'll throw the whole HD away any day and get a brand new one!

[Mudbill]

Sounds like a robust solution, if you can afford it.

Another suggestion I thought of is to use Sandboxie. It lets you run programs in a sandbox, basically isolated from your system, which makes sure it won't access anything it shouldn't. Useful for things you may be suspicious about.

Also to add to my list of antivirus software: Sophos is an enterprise grade software and recommended by my senior IT leader. The enterprise version is extremely expensive, but the home version is free because they do not target that market.

[laniana]

My solution is using two machines:

1. Trust Box: This is my laptop that I use for business, financial transactions and private stuff.
2. Dust Box: This is my PC which I use for gaming and browsing all kinds of fishy websites! Nothing serious to compromise here. If need be, I'll throw the whole HD away any day and get a brand new one!

This was a well framed answer. Thank you!