Screenshot Tour: Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Beta

Screenshot Tour: Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Beta: "
The new beta version of Microsoft Security Essentials was launched yesterday to a limited amount of users. Here we’ll take a look at what you expect from the new version of How-To Geek’s favorite PC security application.

We have already given Microsoft Security Essentials our stamp of approval. Now there is a new beta version that we’ll take a look at today. It was released through Microsoft Connect and is available on a first come – first serve basis. it’s not available in all countries either, so depending on your location you might not have access to it. It is available in both 32 & 64-bit versions.

Installation and Setup

You will need to log into your Microsoft Connect account, or sign up if you don’t have one yet. Then you can download the version which is right for your OS.



Apparently there were problems downloading the file from MS Connect yesterday and they recommended a work around is to use the Microsoft File Transfer Manager (link below).



Installation is quite easy following the install wizard. If you already have version 1.0 of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) installed, you’ll be able to Upgrade.



Decide of you want to join the Customer Experience Improvement Program or not…



It will offer to turn on Windows Firewall for you. It you use another firewall application or just don’t want it turned on you can uncheck it.



Now wait while the upgrade takes place. The amount of time it takes will vary. We installed the 32-bit version on a Windows 7 Home Premium Core2 Duo system and took around three minutes.



To finish the upgrade a reboot is required.



After getting back from the Restart you can begin setting it up. The user interface has a bit of a new look, but using it is essentially the same as the current version.



If you don’t have the current version of MSE installed, there is no Restart required, it will offer to get the latest definition updates and scan your system right away.



64-bit Version

We did experience a bit of a problem getting the 64-bit version upgraded on our Windows 7 Ultimate machine. We ended up uninstalling the current version with Revo Uninstaller Pro and when the following error came up, we restarted the machine and it installed successfully and is working great.



New Features

It still has the features you’re already used to such as scheduling scans and real-time protection, and offers new features as well. One of the new interesting features for Windows 7 & Vista (not available in XP or 2003) is you can enable network protection. This will inspect your network traffic and block any suspicious connections. A very nice feature for those with a home or small business network.



Also it includes the Firewall integration that we looked at during the installation.



It integrates with Internet Explorer to protect against web-based threats such as malicious scripts.



It also includes a new updated protection engine that offers better detection, easier cleanup, and better performance. We ran some fake test virus files and the detection was as good as the current version and cleanup was a breeze.



Running on Windows Home Server

If you’re running Windows Home Server on your home or small office network, you’ll love the fact that the MSE Beta works on WHS version 1 and also on Vail! Just put the executable in a shared folder, then Remote Desktop into your server. Alternately, if you’re using the Advanced Admin Console for WHS you can access your server desktop through the Console. Then just install it as shown above.

Windows Home Server version 1 runs on Server 2003 so the new Network Protection feature isn’t available. However, it should be available in WHS Vail beta as it’s built on Server 2008.



It will run in the taskbar even after a reboot or if you’re not logged in so you won’t need to install it as a service.



Conclusion

Remember that this is still in beta and you might experience some bugs…though we haven’t experienced any in our limited testing other than the x64-bit install. It will run on XP, Server 2003 and above, but the advanced network protection is not available in on those two operating systems. If you’re an early adopter you might want to get it while downloads are still available.

Get MSE 2.0 Beta from Microsoft Connect



Source : How To Geek

Microsoft Security Essentials Ranks as Best-Performing Free Antivirus [Antivirus]

Microsoft Security Essentials Ranks as Best-Performing Free Antivirus [Antivirus]: "

Anti-malware testing group AV-Comparatives.org not only gave Microsoft Security Essentials a top rating for malware removal, but now they've given it their best ranking in their performance test as well.

AV-Comparatives.org ran a series of real-world tests running through common scenarios like downloading, extracting, copying, and encoding files, installing and launching applications, and they also ran through an automated testing suite as well. Once the dust had settled, it became clear that not only is MSE one of only three products that both blocks and removes malware well, but it's also very light on system resources.

Out of all the products tested, Microsoft Security Essentials was the best-performing free antivirus solution, and one of only two that received 'very fast' on each of the real-world tests, earning it their top award: an 'advanced+' ranking. We've been telling you for a while that you don't need to pay for Windows security, and now with MSE ranked alongside the top paid apps in both malware removal and performance, you might want to consider making the switch.

Hit the AV-Comparatives link for the full report in PDF form, or check out the PC Mag story for the overview—if you can deal with some irritating in-text ads.

Source : lifehacker.com

Microsoft Security Essentials rated best free antivirus for Windows

Microsoft Security Essentials rated best free antivirus for Windows: "

Thousands of downloads. Countless positive reviews on software blogs around the Internet. It's been quite a ride so far for Microsoft Security Essentials.

In AV Comparative's most recent report on malware removal, MSE was the only free antivirus rated Advanced+. That ranking placed it alongside big names like Norton, Kaspersky, and F-Secure. Security Essentials also beat out technician favorite ESET, which managed only an Advanced rating.

It's also worth noting that only three antivirus apps - Norton 2010, eScan, and Security Essentials - scored marks of good or better in removal of malware and removal of leftovers. So not only has MSE beaten free competitors like AVG (version 8.5 tested, not 9.0), Avira, and Avast, it also posted test scores equal to or better than a dozen antivirus programs you'd have to pay for.

Well done, Microsoft!

[via Ars Technica]

Microsoft Security Essentials rated best free antivirus for Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

How to Secure Your Wireless Home Network

How to Secure Your Wireless Home Network: "

This article describes how you can secure your Wireless Network from hackers and you’ll also learn about free tools that people generally use to intercept your Wi-Fi signals.

Wireless Networking (Wi-Fi) has made it so easy for you to use the computer, portable media player, mobile phones, video game consoles, and other wireless devices anywhere in the house without the clutter of cables.

With traditional wired networks, it is extremely difficult for someone to steal your bandwidth but the big problem with wireless signals is that others can access the Internet using your broadband connection even while they are in a neighboring building or sitting in a car that’s parked outside your apartment.

This practice, also known as piggybacking, is bad for three reasons:

• It will increase your monthly Internet bill especially when you have to pay per byte of data transfer.


• It will decrease your Internet access speed since you are now sharing the same internet connection with other users.


• It can create a security hazard* as others may hack your computers and access your personal files through your own wireless network.

[*] What do the bad guys use - There have been quite a few instances where innocent Internet users have been arrested for sending hate emails when in reality, their email accounts where hacked though the unsecured Wi-Fi networks that they had at home. Wireshark is a free packet sniffing tool for Linux, Mac and Windows that can scan traffic flowing though a wireless network including cookies, forms and other HTTP requests.

How to Secure Your Wireless Network

The good news is that it is not very hard to make your wireless network secure, which will both prevent others from stealing your internet and will also prevent hackers from taking control of your computers through your own wireless network.

Here a few simple things that you should to secure your wireless network:

Step 1. Open your router settings page

First, you need to know how to access your wireless router’s settings. Usually you can do this by typing in “192.168.1.1” into your web browser, and then enter the correct user name and password for the router. This is different for each router, so first check your router’s user manual.

You can also use Google to find the manuals for most routers online in case you lost the printed manual that came with your router purchase. For your reference, here are direct links to the manufacturer’s site of some popular router brands – Linksys, Cisco, Netgear, Apple AirPort, SMC, D-Link, Buffalo, TP-LINK, 3Com, Belkin.

Step 2. Create a unique password on your router

Once you have logged into your router, the first thing you should do to secure your network is to change the default password* of the router to something more secure.

This will prevent others from accessing the router and you can easily maintain the security settings that you want. You can change the password from the Administration settings on your router’s settings page. The default values are generally admin / password.

[*] What do the bad guys use - This is a public database of default usernames and passwords of wireless routers, modems, switches and other networking equipment. For instance, anyone can easily make out from the database that the factory-default settings for Linksys equipment can be accessed by using admin for both username and password fields.

Step 3. Change your Network’s SSID name

The SSID (or Wireless Network Name) of your Wireless Router is usually pre-defined as "default" or is set as the brand name of the router (e.g., linksys). Although this will not make your network inherently* more secure, changing the SSID name of your network is a good idea as it will make it more obvious for others to know which network they are connecting to.

This setting is usually under the basic wireless settings in your router’s settings page. Once this is set, you will always be sure that you are connecting to the correct Wireless network even if there are multiple wireless networks in your area. Don’t use your name, home address or other personal information in the SSID name.

[*] What do the bad guys use - Wi-Fi scanning tools like inSSIDer (Windows) and Kismet (Mac, Linux) are free and they will allow anyone to find all the available Wireless Networks in an area even if the routers are not broadcasting their SSID name.

Step 4. Enable Network Encryption

In order to prevent other computers in the area from using your internet connection, you need to encrypt your wireless signals.

There are several encryption methods for wireless settings, including WEP, WPA (WPA-Personal), and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2). WEP is basic encryption and therefore least secure (i.e., it can be easily cracked*, but is compatible with a wide range of devices including older hardware, whereas WPA2 is the most secure but is only compatible with hardware manufactured since 2006.

To enable encryption on your Wireless network, open the wireless security settings on your router’s configuration page. This will usually let you select which security method you wish to choose; if you have older devices, choose WEP, otherwise go with WPA2. Enter a passphrase to access the network; make sure to set this to something that would be difficult for others to guess, and consider using a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters in the passphrase.

[*] What do the bad guys use - AirCrack and coWPAtty are some free tools that allow even non-hackers to crack the WEP / WPA (PSK) keys using dictionary or brute force techniques. A video on YouTube suggests that AirCrack may be easily used to break WiFi encryption using a jail-broken iPhone or an iPod Touch.

Step 5. Filter MAC addresses

Whether you have a laptop or a Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone, all your wireless devices have a unique MAC address (this has nothing to do with an Apple Mac) just like every computer connected to the Internet has a unique IP address. For an added layer of protection, you can add the MAC addresses of all your devices to your wireless router’s settings so that only the specified devices can connect to your Wi-Fi network.

MAC addresses are hard-coded into your networking equipment, so one address will only let that one device on the network. It is, unfortunately, possible to spoof a MAC address*, but an attacker must first know one of the MAC addresses of the computers that are connected to your Wireless network before he can attempt spoofing.

To enable MAC address filtering, first make a list of all your hardware devices that you want to connect to your wireless network**. Find their MAC addresses, and then add them to the MAC address filtering in your router’s administrative settings. You can find the MAC address for your computers by opening Command Prompt and typing in “ipconfig /all”, which will show your MAC address beside the name “Physical Address”. You can find the MAC addresses of Wireless mobile phones and other portable devices under their network settings, though this will vary for each device.

[*] What do the bad guys use - Someone can change the MAC address of his or her own computer and can easily connect to your network since your network allows connection from devices that have that particular MAC address. Anyone can determine the MAC address of your device wireless using a sniffing tool like Nmap and he can then change the MAC address of his own computer using another free tool like MAC Shift.

Step 6. Reduce the Range of the Wireless Signal

If your wireless router has a high range but you are staying in a small studio apartment, you can consider decreasing the signal range by either changing the mode of your router to 802.11g (instead of 802.11n or 802.11b) or use a different wireless channel.

You can also try placing the router under the bed, inside a shoe box or wrap a foil around the router antennas so that you can somewhat restrict the direction of signals.

Apply the Anti-Wi-Fi Paint – Researchers have developed a special Wi-Fi blocking paint that can help you stop neighbors from accessing your home network without you having to set up encryption at the router level. The paint contains chemicals that blocks radio signals by absorbing them. "By coating an entire room, Wi-Fi signals can’t get in and, crucially, can’t get out."

Step 7. Upgrade your Router’s firmware

You should check the manufacturer’s site occasionally to make sure that your router is running the latest firmware. You can find the existing firmware version of your router using from the router’s dashboard at 192.168.*.

Connect to your Secure Wireless Network

To conclude, MAC Address filtering with WPA2 (AES) encryption (and a really complex passphrase) is probably the best way to secure your wireless network.

Once you have enabled the various security settings in your wireless router, you need to add the new settings to your computers and other wireless devices so that they all can connect to the Wi-Fi network. You can select to have your computer automatically connect to this network, so you won’t have to enter the SSID, passphrase and other information every time you connect to the Internet.

Your wireless network will now be a lot more secure and intruders may have a tough time intercepting your Wi-Fi signals.

Who is Connected to your Wireless Network

If you are worried that an outsider may be connecting to the Internet using your Wireless network, try AirSnare – it’s a free utility that will look for unexpected MAC addresses on your Wireless network as well as to DHCP requests. Another option is that you open your router’s administration page (using the 192.168.* address) and look for the DHCP Clients Table (it’s under Status > Local Network on Linksys routers). Here you will see a list of all computers and wireless devices that are connected to your home network.

*It is also a good idea to turn off the router completely when you are not planning to use the computer for a longer period (like when you are out shopping). You save on electricity and the door remains 100% shut for wireless piggybackers.

**If you ever want to let a new device connect to your network, you will have to find its MAC address and add it to your router. If you simple want to let a friend connect to your wireless network one time, you can remove his MAC address from the router settings when he or she leaves your place.

How to Secure Your Wireless Home Network

Originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal.

"

Microsoft Security Essentials is a Free Antivirus Utility

Microsoft Security Essentials is a Free Antivirus Utility: "

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free utility that provides real-time protection to identify and eliminate harmful viruses and other malware from your PC. Today we’ll take a look at how it performs and the protection it has to offer.

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is free Anti-Malware protection that replaces their previous “pay for” utility One Care. It has left beta and version 1.0 was released to the public yesterday. As with the beta we showed you before, this version provides real-time protection and runs quietly in the background. It actually runs a lot like the beta version and the user interface is the basically same.

Before installation make sure there is no other Antivirus or spyware application running on the machine. However, you don’t need to turn off Windows Defender, because MSE takes care of it for you.

You will have to validate your copy of Windows to be able to install and use Security Essentials.

The user interface is basic, simple, and easy to use. After installation it will update the virus definitions right away. After that it will update itself automatically in the background so once installed it truly is a “set it and forget it” process.

After the database is updated the computer status turns green. There are 4 tabs at the top that allow you to control different functions.

Under Settings you can choose what actions it should take with malware based on its threat level.

By default Real-time protection is enabled but if you want to disable it you want. The Real-time protection is light on system resources and doesn’t slow down other processes at all.

It shows a green icon in the notification area letting you know your system is protected.

Progress is displayed while a manual scan takes place and tells you the amount of time it takes. Scan times will vary between systems based on amount of files and hardware performance.

It works like most other Antivirus apps and lets you scan a single file.

If a threat is detected a red attention screen pops up in the Notification Area and you can clean the threat right away based on your recommended actions or find out more detail about the threat.

If you want more details, they actually provide a good amount of information on a threat. When in the details screen you can change the recommend action if you want and clean it from there.

During out tests we tried to download an infected file, but MSE stopped it and wouldn’t allow the download to continue unless manually selecting to ignore it. This is very nice so someone doesn’t ignore the warnings, click out of the screens, and try to download and install the app anyway.

For testing we ran this on the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium but it will also work with XP and Vista. It is light on system resources and runs quietly without constantly popping up messages and annoying you. It does pop up a message when it matters though. If a threat is found it will pop up a red alert to let you know about the malware and decide what actions to take. It’s nice to have a free anti-malware utility that is easy to use and effective. While Microsoft doesn’t always offer the best security solutions, they seem to have gotten this one right.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials

Did you realize some Facebook apps are being used to steal your data?

Did you realize some Facebook apps are being used to steal your data?: "

Phishing [Wikipedia] is nothing new. The bad guys have been spamming our inboxes for a long, long time hoping we'll click on some bogus link and provide them with important personal info like usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers.

Attacks like this rarely limit themselves to one avenue. So where do the bad guys go to find victims when they're not busy spamming? Why, the world's number one social networking site, of course!

Yep. Facebook, with its millions of users and juicy apps platform make it the perfect place for this type of vermin to set up shop. Trend Micro has found several phishing scams before that lured people to fake (but convincing) Facebook sites to harvest data. Now, however, they're doing it to you from the inside.

Trend researchers have discovered three applications so far that run on the Facebook apps platform. They can post notifications to your timeline, just like any legitimate app. The actual phishing is still done off-site, but the look is very, very convincing and you're returned to your Facebook profile afterward. It looks innocent enough, but once you've entered your credentials there's no telling what someone has planned for them.

Continue reading Did you realize some Facebook apps are being used to steal your data?