Three Important Ways Windows 8 Provides Password Protection

More than ever, passwords are a part of our lives, the key to our digital identity. On average, each of us has 25 online accounts, and that is beyond the internal systems you also need to authenticate to in your business. You should have unique, complex passwords for each system, but who can remember all of that? Windows 8 will include features that make it easier to manage your digital identity so your business's data stays safe.

The Problem with Passwords

In the BuildingWindows 8 blog earlier this week, Microsoft’s Dustin Ingalls said that despite each of us having 25 online accounts, on average we only have six unique passwords. Anyone trying to gain entry to your company's data knows that if they can get access to any password a user has, there's a good chance they can use it to gain entry to other services. There are generally four methods attackers will use to access a password: phishing, keylogging, guessing, and cracking. Windows 8 will address each of them in the following ways.

1. Protect Against Phishing and Keylogging

These tools protect your computer against malware, which once installed can access your entire computer and any remote resources to which you have access.
Secure Boot: Using UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), the boot-up process of your computer is protected so bootkits and rootkits are prevented.
SmartScreen: By collecting information about bad websites and software, SmartScreen can use the reputation of a URL or application to determine how safe it is to open, protecting from known attacks and cautioning about those that are uncertain.

Windows Defender: Previously thought of as virus protection, Windows Defender now protects against all types of malware, including viruses, worms, bots and rootkits.

 2. Protect Against Guessing and Cracking 

The strength of your password is critical in combating guessing and cracking. Windows 8 makes it easier to create, use and manage unique and complex passwords.
Store Accounts: Windows 8 allows you to save the login name and password for websites that allow it, similar to most web browsers. Not only Internet Explorer, but other web browsers and software can make use of it, making it easier to use unique and complex passwords that you don’t need to remember.
Sync Passwords: If you use multiple computers, having passwords stored on one doesn't help when logging into a service on another. Windows 8 can sync your account information through Windows Live to trusted PCs, making unique and complex passwords a more practical option.
Virtual Smart Card: Using the Trusted Platform Module found in many business PCs, passwords can be avoided by using a software-based version of a smart card that works wherever physical smart cards do.

 3. Protect Against Your Own Forgetfulness

Finally, users won’t use strong passwords if they are afraid they will forget them, which is easy to do when managing so many of them. Windows 8 makes recovering from a forgotten password easier.
USB Recovery: Creating a USB recovery stick before you forget your password will help you reset it should that ever happen.
Reset from Another PC: If you use a Windows Live ID to login, you can reset your password from another PC.
Two Factor Authentication: By linking your account to a secondary email address or a mobile phone, you can reset a lost password by proving you are the rightful owner of the account.

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How to Delete Your Browser History

If you share a computer with someone else, you might not want that person to be able to check your Internet browsing history. That record is easy to erase, however, in all of the major browsers. Here's how to delete your browser history in Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

Erase Your Internet Explorer History

A useful keyboard shortcut for deleting your browsing history in Internet Explorer is Ctrl-Shift-Delete. If you press this combination of keys in a recent version of Explorer, you'll bring up a dialog box that lets you specify what you want to keep and what you want to purge. Simply check the boxes next to the history you want to remove, and then click Delete. Job done.

Clear Out Your Chrome History

like this for Chrome users have access to the same slick keyboard shortcut as Internet Explorer users. Press Ctrl-Shift-Delete in Chrome, and you'll see Google's options for deleting your browser history. As with IE, simply check the boxes next to the history items you want to clear, but be sure to examine the options available to you in the drop-down menu at the top. This menu allows you to specify how much of your history you'd like to delete. You can choose to excise the past hour, day, week, or month--or you can obliterate everything since the beginning of time.

Delete Your Browsing History in Firefox

Firefox fans, too, have access to the same keyboard shortcut for deleting browser history as IE and Chrome users: Press Ctrl-Shift-Delete to summon the history-clearing options that are available to you in Firefox. If you don't see a detailed list of what you can and can't delete, click the Details arrow to reveal the specifics. As with Chrome, you have the option of choosing a time range to clear. The options are a bit different, however. In Firefox, you can clear the last hour, the last 2 hours, the last 4 hours, the last full day, or your entire Firefox history.

 

Erase Your History in Safari

Like most browsers, Safari has a ton of keyboard shortcuts, but it doesn't have one for deleting your browser history. Instead, click the gear icon in the upper-right corner, and select Reset Safari. In the resulting pop-up menu, check the items that you want to clear; then press the Reset button to purge your data

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MouseTracer Free

• Version: 1.01
• Downloads Count: 60
• License Type: Free
• Price: $0
• Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP
• Requirements: Microsoft .Net 4.0 Framework, 20MB hard disk space
• File Size: 7.84 MB
• Author: Ashampoo GmbH

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Editorial Review of MouseTracer Free

Some people would call this software useless, but not me. Nope. Ashampoo's MouseTracer software only seems useless to people without imagination. You know the type. They drive reliable sedans and have productive day jobs. It’s hard for them to see the brilliance behind an app that tracks, in real time, the speed and distance a mouse travels. They can’t grasp the excitement of an interface that reports results, rally-race style, on a desktop scoreboard, complete with speedometer. It’s a smaller world they live in. They aren't like you and me.
For example, most people never give a thought to how often strangers--or worse yet, co-workers--might be fondling their mouse. Me? I think about it all the time. Now, without either a webcam or motion detection software, I can be sure my mouse remains cootie-free when I am away. Move my li'l buddy so much as an inch and I'll know. Thanks MouseTracer!
While we're on the subject of mouse abuse, this software also happens to be an excellent wrist speed and endurance training tool. How fast can you move your hand back and forth? How many miles can you keep it up? Jokes aside, if your mouse is traveling several miles, so are all the muscles and ligaments in your mousing wrist and arm. When the mouse training starts to hurt, don't push through the pain: Consider making keyboard macros with software like AutoHotkey.
Still, there are some things about MouseTracer that cheese me off. To start, no, I don't want to install your taskbar, Ashampoo. No, I don’t want MouseTracer's URL to be my homepage either. Yes, I am sure. This is freeware installation tomfoolery. I'd like to think it's here for a laugh, but the joke ain't "haha" funny. Neither are the occasional “service messages” that pop up during settings adjustments that amount to little more than Ashampoo advertisements. Tsk. I'd also like to see a breakdown of distance by direction. Do I move my mouse more left than right? Do I move it more up than down? People who collect string want to know.
This aside, I like MouseTracer. Sure, it does nothing of consequence, but the same is true of many elected officials who have less style and cost more. I invent a new use for it every day. Give it a try. You probably will too.

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Google+ Rolls out New Features this Week

A quartet of new features will be rolled out this week for users of Google's social network, Google+.
The service is making what is says are improvements in how Google+ handles material in news feeds, notifications, and photo views, as well as better management of business pages.
One of the new features allows you to control the "volume" of your main news stream by managing the flow of posts into it from your "circles." Using a slider control at the top of a circle, you can determine how much of that circle will be displayed in your main feed. For example, you can chose to show most of the posts from the circle, fewer posts from it or cut it off entirely.
"That way you’ll never miss a post from that special someone, and you can tweak these settings to form your own 'perfect stream,'" Google+ Vice President Bradley Horowitz writes in a company blog. How perfect you can make your stream, though, is not readily apparent because the slider control doesn't appear to be a very precise tool for controlling the flow of information from a circle to the main stream. And while the new control may make missing a post from that "special someone" less likely, it could increase the likelihood of missing an important post from a circle that you're throttling.

A quartet of new features will be rolled out this week for users of Google's social network, Google+.
The service is making what is says are improvements in how Google+ handles material in news feeds, notifications, and photo views, as well as better management of business pages.
One of the new features allows you to control the "volume" of your main news stream by managing the flow of posts into it from your "circles." Using a slider control at the top of a circle, you can determine how much of that circle will be displayed in your main feed. For example, you can chose to show most of the posts from the circle, fewer posts from it or cut it off entirely.
"That way you’ll never miss a post from that special someone, and you can tweak these settings to form your own 'perfect stream,'" Google+ Vice President Bradley Horowitz writes in a company blog. How perfect you can make your stream, though, is not readily apparent because the slider control doesn't appear to be a very precise tool for controlling the flow of information from a circle to the main stream. And while the new control may make missing a post from that "special someone" less likely, it could increase the likelihood of missing an important post from a circle that you're throttling.

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Chrome Edges Firefox for Second Place in Browser Battle

Google’s Chrome Web browser has leapfrogged Firefox to claim the number two slot in the browser battle, according to Web analytics firm StatCounter.
Chrome held 25.69 percent of the worldwide market in November 2011 compared with Firefox's 25.23 percent. Internet Explorer remains the top browser globally with a 40.63 percent share of the market.
Of the top five browsers, only Chrome is seeing rapid growth -- in November 2009, it held just under 5 percent of the market. Firefox and Internet Explorer have been slowly losing market share the past two years, while Safari and Opera have been more or less flat.
Chrome has often been cited for its superior speed and stability over other browsers. Each Chrome tab is assigned its own process, so one buggy site won't crash the whole browser. Recent versions of Firefox, by comparison, have seemed a bit slow and bloated. Word of mouth about Chrome seems to have slowly accelerated over the past few years, according to StatCounter data.

NetMarketShare, another Web analytics firm, shows Chrome still in third place, but on a similar trajectory to overtake Firefox soon.
In the United States alone, StatCounter finds Chrome still in third place, but also not by much.
Technically, it's still Microsoft's world on the Web, but not quite like it was in the days when Internet Explorer had more than 90 percent of the browser market. Perhaps by the time Windows XP is no longer a dominant operating system, Chrome may have a shot at the browser crown.

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Chrome 15 Beats Out IE8 As World's Most Popular Browser

Google Chrome 15 is the most popular web browser in the world overtaking Internet Explorer 8, according to web analytics firm StatCounter. Chrome 15 just barely beat out its Microsoft rival for the first time between November 21 and 27 with 23.63 percent of the global browser market share compared to IE8's 23.5 percent. Mozilla's Firefox 8 trailed behind at a distant third with 12.12 percent of worldwide usage during the same time period.



Chrome 15 Continues Global Surge

Chrome 15's worldwide popularity doesn't appear to be slowing since stepping ahead of IE8 in late November. Between the week of December 5 and 11 (StatCounter's most recent numbers), Chrome 15 not only beat out IE8 overall but was also more popular during the regular workday. "Chrome 14 and 15 have been overtaking IE8 at weekends since the beginning of October," StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen said in a statement announcing the Chrome 15 findings. "It looks as if people [favored] Chrome on weekends at home, but office commercial use has now caught up.”
StatCounter's latest weekly count (December 5-11) has Chrome 15 at 24.55 percent of global market share and IE8 at 22.16 percent.
In the U.S., IE8 is still more popular than Chrome 15, according to StatCounter. IE8 recently accounted for 27 percent of the American browser market between December 5 and 11, compared to Chrome 15's 18.1 percent.

IE Still Bests Chrome By Brand

While Chrome 15 may be gaining steam worldwide, Internet Explorer is still more popular overall when you count all browser version numbers in use such as IE 6, 7, 8, 9 and Chrome 14 and 15. During the period between November 21 and 27, IE owned 40.09 percent worldwide usage while Chrome accounted for 26.31 percent, followed by Firefox at 25.07 percent. Earlier in December, StatCounter reported that Chrome beat out Firefox to become the second most popular browser in the world

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Bring Back Internet Explorer 8

Uli Mrose updated Windows Explorer to version 9, but didn't like it. Here's how to bring back IE8.
 
If you don't like Internet Explorer 9, you can uninstall it, which will automatically bring back version 8. (Of course it will. Microsoft would never let you uninstall Internet Explorer entirely.) But the option to remove it isn't where you'd expect it to be--even if you're a seasoned Windows user.
The process actually starts like a conventional uninstall. First, close Internet Explorer. Then click Start, type programs and features, and press ENTER. This brings up a list of installed programs that can be removed, but you won't find Internet Explorer on this list. So much for a conventional uninstall.
Click the View installed updates link in the left pane. Scroll down the resulting list of updates to the Microsoft Windows section. There you will find the option Windows Internet Explorer 9. If you have trouble finding it, click the Name column heading to alphabetize the list. Once you find it, double-click it (or select it and click Uninstall). Then simply follow the prompts.
I'm tempted to suggest that, if you don't like Internet Explorer, you might consider switching to another browser, such as Firefox or Chrome. But I'm not sure that's the best idea if you prefer IE8 to IE9. All the new browser versions have a minimalist user interface like the one in IE9.

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Chrome Beats Rival Browsers in 2011

Google's Chrome 15 has jumped into the number one spot, replacing Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) as the world's most popular browser edition.
Ireland-based StatCounter announced the passing of the baton last week, citing data from the last three weeks that put Chrome 15 ahead of IE8 starting the week of November 21.
It was the first time that IE8 had not held the top spot since early 2010, when it replaced IE7 as the most-widely-used browser, and the first time a non-Microsoft application has led the list in StatCounter's tracking.
During the last two weeks of November and the first week of December, Chrome 15 accounted for 24 percent of the global browser usage market, compared to IE8's 22.9 percent. Mozilla's Firefox 8, meanwhile, held a 14 percent share during that period to take third place, and IE9, Microsoft's newest version, had the fourth position with 10.4 percent.
Overall, IE retained its aggregate lead over Chrome, with Microsoft owning 39.5 percent of the market those three weeks compared to Google's 26.5 percent and Mozilla's 25.3 percent.
In the U.S., IE8 retained its top ranking, with 27 percent for the week of December 5, nearly nine points higher than Chrome 15's 18.1 percent, StatCounter said.
But Chrome 15's global fame will be fleeting. Google released Chrome 16 on Tuesday , and with the browser's automatic upgrade mechanism, most users of 15 will soon be running version 16. (See also "Browsing Tips: Slow-Loading Sites, Google Chrome Tweak.")

Overtaking Firefox

Google's latest coup was the second this month: According to StatCounter, Chrome pushed past Firefox in November to snatch the second cumulative spot behind IE.

U.S.-based Web measurement company Net Applications -- which does not publicly release weekly stats -- had a slightly different take on Chrome 15's market share.

Net Applications' data showed Chrome 15 with 14.6 percent of the worldwide market last month, in second place, but with only about half IE8's 28.2 percent share. Behind Chrome 15, said Net Applications, were IE9 (10.3 percent), IE6, of all things (8 percent) and Firefox 8 (7.3 percent).
Those IE numbers will change if Microsoft new IE upgrading practices take hold. Today the company said it will automatically upgrade IE6 and IE7 on Windows XP to IE8, and upgrade IE7 and IE8 on Windows Vista and Windows 7 to IE9.
The new scheme kicks off next month in Australia and Brazil, and will be expanded to other markets, including the U.S., over time, Microsoft said.
Microsoft characterized the change as a way to push users to more modern browser, a move that will make "the Web overall better -- and safer."
If users don't opt out of the auto-upgrades, IE6 and IE7 shares will decline, something Microsoft has been aggressively promoting for IE6 since mid-2009, and amped up last March with the debut of a special IE6 "deathwatch" website .
Chrome 15 edged past IE8 late last month to take the top spot among browser editions. (Data: StatCounter.)
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer , on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.
 
See more articles by Gregg Keizer .

Read more about browsers in Computerworld's Browsers Topic Center.

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Record Cable TV on Your PC, Easily

Is your DVR overloaded? Use your PC to record shows, and you can store as much as you want and watch it on anything--including your TV, phone, and tablet.

Want to turn your Windows 7-powered PC into a killer DVR, one that requires no monthly fees and has potentially limitless storage? Three new products will pipe your high-definition cable TV signals into your PC without even requiring you to open the computer's case.
When you use your PC to record shows, you’ll have a lot more freedom to do what you want with them. If you want to keep shows forever, you can. If you want to watch them on your phone or tablet, converting them is easy. And with (in most cases) a simple HDMI cable, you can watch them on your big-screen TV.
These three products--the Ceton InfiniTV 4 USB, Hauppauge WinTV-DCR-2650, and SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime HDHR3-CC--each use a CableCard TV tuner from your cable provider. All are external, and all offer plug-and-play simplicity.
The Ceton and Hauppauge models require only a USB port, while the SiliconDust unit connects to your home router, allowing you to use it with more than one PC. They’re excellent products, one and all, able to supply two, three, or even four digital tuners for your multichannel viewing and recording pleasure. And all support SDV (Switched Digital Video), a bandwidth-saving technology that cable providers increasingly use (and require). Each device will record digital, HD, and premium channels, but not on-demand or pay-per-view programming.
Before you buy, however, call your cable provider and make sure that the company can give you a multistream (aka M-Card) CableCard--the essential requirement for all of these adapters. I ran my tests with a Comcast-supplied M-Card, which worked beautifully with all three.

Likewise, check your PC’s specs. At a bare minimum, your system should have a dual-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and a DVI or HDMI connection to whatever display you wish to use. You also need a graphics card that supports HDCP copy-protected content. Fortunately, the Digital Cable Advisor tool found in Windows Media Center’s Extras Gallery will tell you in advance if your system has sufficient horsepower for this amazing extension of your HDTV.

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Twitter Launches TweetDeck as Web App

An application near and dear to the heart of Twitter fanatics everywhere, TweetDeck, is now available as a Web application.
Twitter announced the new version (built with HTML 5) of the popular program Friday. A nice feature of the Web edition of the software is it will sync itself with releases of the program running on other platforms so accounts, columns, layouts, and settings remain consistent whether you're using the app on a PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Android device.
Anyone familiar with TweetDeck should have no problem negotiating its online counterpart. Tweet streams, as well as Facebook feed, are organized into columns. Default columns include tweets from your home page feed, tweets mentioning you, and tweets in your inbox; but you can add or remove columns as you like.
A button for adding new columns is located at the top of the TweetDeck screen, along with controls for writing a new tweet, navigating among columns, and searching Twitter. When you perform a search, an "add column" button appears in the pop-up window of the search results, so you can quickly add a column to the main screen based on the search.

Tweets within columns can be sliced and diced in a number of ways. You can filter a column based on a trending topic, hashtag, individual user, mentions, or favorites, just to name a few.
If you want to see profile information about the author of a tweet, you can click on their photo and their profile will appear in a pop-up window. Along with the profile are thumbnails for displaying the person's tweets, mentions, lists, timeline, and favorites.
Double-clicking on a tweet in a column expands the item. From the expanded item, you can open a menu to perform tasks such as replying to the tweet, sending a direct message to its author, blocking the person from your tweet stream, report the person as a spammer, or follow (or unfollow) the tweeter.
Also from the expanded tweet, you can reply to a tweet, re-tweet it, add it to you favorites or e-mail it to someone through controls at the bottom of the item.
You can compose your own tweets from TweetDeck, too, as well as upload photos. The software also lets you schedule when a tweet should be sent to your followers, similar to what's offered by Buffer.
TweetDeck was purchased by Twitter in May for $40 million and although there were some fears that the company would gut the program, those anxious feelings appear to be unfounded. As this web release suggests, Twitter seems determined to keep improving the product.

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F-Secure Internet Security 2011

Simple, simple, simple. That's the marching order of F-Secure Internet Security 2011 ($60 for one year, three PCs, as of 12/2/2010), an antimalware utility that focuses on safeguarding the computers of novices and especially families.
You'll see this approach right from the start: Even before the software is installed you are asked to configure parental controls and set an access password, which is used to change settings. And once you do get F-Secure up and running, that aim to make things simple continues: The F-Secure home screen has only six real options to choose from, and even the most oblivious novice should be able to figure out how to get around its interface. Our only quibble: Clicking the Scan button only runs a quick scan by default; you have to use the pull-down arrow to run a full scan of your PC.
You might think that this focus on newbies would result in stripped-down security levels, but although F-Secure has been an also-ran in prior years, for its 2011 release, the company has stepped up its game to compete with the big boys. In our tests, the software fully blocked 22 of 25 real-world attacks (it partially blocked an additional two) and detected 98.1 percent of known malware. False positives? Absolutely none. And F-Secure's 80 percent success rate at disinfecting active malware components on virus-ridden systems was among the top performers.
Operation speed was another issue: While F-Secure barely slowed our test systems during background operation, it was terribly slow at on-access scans, pulling a dismal last place in the time it takes to scan a file as it opens. Things were marginally better, but not much, with on-demand scanning; the app was still in the bottom tier of performers though at least it wasn't camping out at the end of the list.
F-Secure's approach to hand-holding is that you don't need it. Internet Security 2011 has one of the most Spartan help systems of any application we tested, just a handful of entries in a typical help tree, and zero documentation aside from a browser-based tutorial. F-Secure, fortunately, is basically correct: We can't imagine actually needing to refer to the documentation for the app, unless you're dying to know, say, what "DeepGuard" is and what it means to turn it on and off.
It's inspiring to see a company which has languished as an unimpressive performer for years finally get back on the horse and take a leadership position in the security software space. While its speed problems are seriously troubling and it left behind some code remnants after we uninstalled it, those are really the only sore spots in what is otherwise an impressive and worthwhile security suite.

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Google Chrome Update Addresses High-Severity Flaw

Google has released an update for Chrome 15 which addresses a high-risk vulnerability. The security issue is the result of an out-of-bounds memory write in the browser's JavaScript engine.

Under normal circumstances such a vulnerability would allow remote code execution and would be considered critical. However, because Google Chrome uses a native sandbox that prevents attackers from executing malicious code, the severity of the bug was downgraded.
The vulnerability was discovered by Mozilla security engineer Christian Holler, who was paid US$1000 through the Chromium Vulnerability Rewards Program for reporting it.
The new Google Chrome 15.0.874.121 for Windows, Mac, and Linux also addresses a non-security issue that causes SVG elements loaded within iframes to ignore specified dimensions. This is actually a regression bug introduced by recent code modifications.
Other fixes contained in this release deal with the browser's behavior on Chrome OS, Google's cloud-oriented operating system, and include changes to the default NAT traversal policy used by the Chromoting remote access feature, the downloads folder display, the login process, and the GPU blacklist. The update also includes some minor bugfixes in the V8 JavaScript engine.
Home users are advised to upgrade to the new version by using the built-in Chrome update mechanism, which can be triggered by restarting the browser. Corporate network administrators can deploy it by using the Google Update for enterprise policy.

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G-Data Internet Security

Novices will want to run, not walk, away from G-Data Internet Security 2011 ($40 for one year, one PC; $60 for one year, three PCs, as of 12/2/2010). While it's more than capable at stopping viruses, its complexity, cluttered interface, and overly scary warnings make it less appropriate for more casual users.
G-Data Internet Security's interface is instantly confusing, overpopulated with too much information and organized haphazardly. The home screen is organized into panels cluttered with data (does the average user need to know immediately the version of the program being used, down to the third dot in the release number?), and is confusing when it comes time to make changes. It's not hard to figure out how to run a manual system scan, but if you want to tweak your settings, good luck. The main screen features three different "Options" buttons plus three "Change settings" options, the latter buried under a couple of hazy tabs at the bottom of the screen. An unseasoned user could get lost in all of this for hours--except for the fact that, once clicked, one discovers there really aren't that many options or settings to be changed.
Compounding matters is the issue that G-Data seems to use more than its fair share of system resources while it's working. A full system scan--which took nearly a full hour in my hands-on tests-- led to fans whirring at full tilt, louder than we've ever heard them run before, in fact. G-Data's own CPU load readout verified this: The CPU monitor is often pinned at 100 percent usage during scans. That said, in our formal lab testing, G Data landed about in the middle of the pack when considering scan speed and overall impact on system resources, so results may vary widely from one machine to the next.
Other quirks bugged us. We couldn't use the program without getting a scary warning that the WPA2-PSK wireless network we were accessing was "unsecure," because G-Data deemed the passphrase used on it too short. When clicking "Why are these wireless networks unsecure," G-Data acknowledged that we're using the best security available... but that our passphrase needed to be at least 20 characters long. Talk about overkill for your typical home user.
And then there's the issue that not only does G Data require new users to register before you install--even paying customers--but by default it opts you in to receiving promotional offers.
All of this would relegate G-Data to a position as an also-ran were it not for the fact that it really does offer a superior level of security, turning in the some of the best performance figures in our tests. The numbers don't lie: G-Data fully blocked a solid 21 of 25 real-world attacks, and zapped 99.4 percent of known malware--one of the top scores on this test. False positives? None. And its 80 percent success rate at disinfecting active infections was near the top of the chart. On the whole, there's virtually nothing to complain about when it comes to G-Data's security credentials.
We also appreciated the software's extras, which include parental controls and a secure data shredder app (it writes over deleted files several times to make them impossible to recover). The only catch is that you must choose to install these when you initially set up the program--you won't be able to enable them later.
Ultimately, G-Data Internet Security is affordable and works well, but it's just too difficult to use, system speed under its thumb is questionable, and it features several poor design quirks that are hard to overlook.

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Remove Hard-to-Kill Malware

Jane13434 asked the Antivirus & Security Software forum about removing a malicious program that has defeated AVG, SUPERAntiSpyware, and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware.

Are you sure the problem is malware? People often jump to that conclusion when there's something wrong with their PC, and in my experience that conclusion is more often wrong than right. There's a lot of malicious code in this world, but there's even more code that's merely incompetent. There's also a fair amount of worn-out hardware.

On the other hand, if you're experiencing any of the following symptoms, you quite likely have malware:

• Your security software doesn't work properly, or refuses to update.
• Common programs for configuring and repairing Windows, such as MSCONFIG and System Restore, don't work.
• Messages from a program you never installed pop up and tell you that your computer is infected, your hard drive is dying, or you have some other serious problem. (See Watch Out for Rogues for more on this issue.)
• Your browser's home page keeps changing to something you don't want, and/or your search results aren't what they should be.
• Your computer slows down sometimes for no apparent reason. (This may not be malware. See Very Slow PC for more on this.)

But what if you've got one or more of these symptoms, yet nothing in your battery of malware-fighting programs finds something evil?
The solution is to use a Linux-based malware-fighting program that boots off a flash drive or CD-ROM. By working outside of Windows, and outside the hard drive's boot sector, these programs can better get around the malware's defenses.
I'm going to recommend two of them, both of which can boot off flash drives or CDs. They're AVG Rescue CD and Dr.Web LiveCD or LiveUSB. If one doesn't do the trick, try the other.



 See more like this:malware,viruses,trojan horses,spyware,worms

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PC Tools Internet Security

Does slow and steady win the race?

PC Tools' answer to this question is a definite yes: Get it clean, no matter how long it takes.

Sure enough, PC Tools Internet Security 2011's scanning performance is quite good, with 24 out of 25 real-world attacks blocked (tied for tops in this test), and an above-average 97.7 percent of zoo malware detected. In our tests, there were virtually no false positives to be found, and, best of all, PC Tools had the best rating of all 13 applications we reviewed at fixing infected systems, removing active malware components 80 percent of the time--tied for the best score--and removing all traces on infections 70 percent of the time--the best overall performer in this test.

The downside is that PC Tools generally takes its time with all of this. Its on-demand scan speed (which measures how quickly a product can scan files when you manually start a scan) was 12th out of 13, and PC Tools had the biggest overall impact on our PCs' performance out of the products we tested, slowing your system down considerably.

Perplexingly, that's not the end of the story: Unlike on-demand scanning, on-access scanning with PC Tools Internet Security is really quite spry. In fact, it was the fastest at these automatic file-by-file scans among all the apps we tested, a stark contrast to its other speed metrics.

In practice, the slowness of PC Tools' on-demand scanning was definitively noticeable. Running a full system scan took more than an hour--not including when my test system crashed in the middle of a scrubbing--and PC Tools is fond of numerous update operations and mandated restarts. We were also not thrilled with the lack of information PC Tools provides during its scans. In our hands-on tests the progress bar would very quickly jump to "90%"... then it'd stay there until the scan was nearly complete.

Getting around PC Tools Internet Security is a simple affair. Four big status buttons tell you if you're safe from malware and spam and whether your firewall is engaged, and settings are easy to access, offering an appropriate, moderate number of configuration options.

On the other hand, some of PC Tools' decisions are curious. We're not at all sure why a security tool would need an integrated registry editor, and dropping the log file viewer into the settings menu is a strange place for it.

Given PC Tools' bargain-bin pricing--at $50 for a one-year, three-PC license (as of 12/2/2010), it's nearly the cheapest application we tested--as well as its solid security performance, it's tempting to give this suite heavy consideration. And to that, we say go for it--provided you don't actually want to use your computer for anything else while scanning it for malware.

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How Facebook Timeline Could Influence Your Next Interview

Facebook rocked the social networking world with a number of major announcements at the F8 developer conference, but the biggest of them all is the Facebook Timeline. The Timeline is a significant departure from the traditional Facebook Profile page, and the information on it may influence your ability to get a job.
The Facebook Timeline, combined with other changes unveiled at F8, may result in a little TMI (too much information) being shared. The new Facebook makes it easier to share the book you're reading, the movie you're watching, the song you're listening to, the meal you're cooking, and other information with your social network in real-time.
The concept seems to have tremendous potential to help you actually be more social with your social network. The problem is that prospective employers will be checking out your Facebook Timeline as well, so you'll need to devote some effort to making sure it paints the portrait of you that you want others to see.
When your current profile is converted to a Timeline, it might reveal pictures, events, and status updates from your past that you forgot about--and perhaps wish you could forget. Facebook will be "automagically" going through your Facebook existence to extract relevant bits to populate your Timeline.

If you've been using Facebook for a while, there's no telling what sorts of smoking guns and skeletons in the closet might be revealed. Thankfully, Facebook gives you an opportunity to identify the information you want to promote on the Timeline, and to hide or delete entries you'd rather not have exposed to the world.
The information displayed on the Timeline will have the same privacy controls and restrictions as the same information currently has on your Facebook Profile and Wall. You can choose to allow some elements to be seen by the general public, while limiting other entries to just family and close friends.
Employers routinely check the social networks of applicants as part of due diligence during the hiring process. If you are using the Facebook security and privacy controls effectively, prospective hiring managers won't be able to see much--if anything--unless you actually add them to your Facebook social network. But, if you're not careful you might expose facts and events that could influence whether or not you get the job.
If done right, the Facebook Timeline can be a glowing tribute to your life and accomplishments. It can be a sort of living résumé that lets prospective employers learn about the type of person you are. If done wrong, your Facebook Timeline could be a minefield of embarrassing bombshells that reflect poorly on you as a candidate for employment.
The Timeline is scheduled to roll out on September 30. The longer you've been using Facebook, the longer and more detailed your Timeline will be; consequently, it will also require more time and effort to organize and clean it up. It will be well worth the effort, though, to make sure your Facebook Timeline tells your story the way you want it to tell.

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Facebook Timelines: How to Get Started

Facebook Timelines are now available worldwide, allowing users to tell their entire life stories through the social network.
Facebook announced Timelines in September, but rolled the feature out slowly. If you're just getting Timelines now, or want to speed up the switch from your existing profile, here's what you need to know.

What are Timelines?

Timelines are Facebook's attempt to tell the story of your life, based on your social networking activity. Presented in reverse chronological order, your Timeline shows status updates, photos, life events and new friends.
Timelines also summarize your activity from Facebook apps. For instance, if you've allowed Spotify to automatically tell Facebook what songs you're listening to, a summary of your tastes in music will appear in the Timeline. Or if you've been using Nike+ GPS, your friends will be able to see where you've been running.

How to tweak Timeline information

Of course, some Facebook activity is best forgotten. To remove a status update, photo or other activity from your Timeline, float your cursor over the top-right corner of the update, click the pencil icon, then select "Hide from Timeline."
Adding information to the Timeline is also pretty simple. Just hover your cursor over the line down the center of the page, so it turns into a "+" icon, then click on the kind of update you want to add. You can add events all the way back to your birth, making for a complete life story.
[SEE RELATED STORY: Facebook's New Timeline Layout: A Getting-Started Guide]
If you really like something that's on your Timeline, you can blow it up into a feature-size post by hovering over the update and clicking the star icon.

Controlling who sees what

Your existing privacy settings will still apply in your Timeline. For example, if only friends can see photos in which you've been tagged, no one else will see those photos on your Timeline. And if you've hidden a status update from a specific user, that person won't see the update on your Timeline page. Use Facebook's privacy settings page to make adjustments. You can also adjust privacy for anything you've posted, such as status updates and photos, by clicking on the gear icon near the top of the update.

To see what your Timeline looks like to the public or to specific users, click the gear icon on the top-right side of the page (next to the "Activity Log" button), then select "View As."

How to get Timelines

Head to Facebook's "Introducing Timeline" page, and click "Get It Now" to activate the feature. Or, you can wait to see an announcement for Timelines at the top of your profile page.
Once you make the switch, Facebook will generate a Timeline on its own, but won't immediately publish it. You'll have seven days to make adjustments -- say, to remove references to jobs you hated or significant others you'd rather forget. After that, there's no going back to the old profile.

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Coming Soon to Firefox: Quick Background Updates

It's been predicted for some time now that Google's Chrome browser would catch up with Firefox in market share before year's end, and it looks like that may finally be happening.
As of Thursday, the two browsers were more or less matched in share, with Firefox at 25.41 percent and Chrome at 25.34 percent of the global market, according to StatCounter. On several days over the past few weeks, in fact, Chrome has already pulled ahead a few times, only inching back slightly afterward.
That doesn't appear to be having any kind of a dampening effect on Firefox users, however, who have apparently been upgrading to version 8 of the software with gusto. Less than a week after Firefox 8's Nov. 8 release, in fact, the new version already accounted for a full 35 percent of all Firefox traffic, analytics firm Chitika reported on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mozilla's Firefox team is continuing its push with new features for the popular browser. I've already written about the new Firefox 9 beta versions and the browser's current memory “diet”, but just the other day Firefox engineer Ehsan Akhgari described a new effort now under way to make Firefox updates take place in the background.

'This Is Clearly Less Than Ideal'

“The goal of my project is to minimize the amount of time it takes for Firefox to launch after downloading an update,” wrote Akhgari in a blog post on Mozilla's Future of Firefox site.

Currently, Firefox updates are downloaded in the background and then staged in a directory until the next time the software starts up. When that next time comes, Firefox launches an updater program and applies the update on top of the existing installation, with a progress bar to show the user how much time remains.
Only when the update process is finished will the updater program restart Firefox, causing users to have to wait until that's done. “This is clearly less than ideal,” Akhgari wrote.

'Swapping Directories Is Really Fast'

With the new process--explained in detail on the MozillaWiki--it will be much less visible to users.
Specifically, when Firefox finishes downloading an update, it will launch the updater program in the background and apply the update in a brand-new directory that's completely separate from the existing installation directory. There, it will stage an entire updated version of Firefox rather than just the update itself, Akhgari notes.

So, the next time Firefox starts up, the existing installation can then simply be swapped with the new, updated one without any progress bar or interruption for users.
“Swapping the directories, unlike the actual process of applying the update, is really fast,” Akhgari explained. “We are effectively moving the cost of applying the update to right after the update has been downloaded while the browser is running. This leaves only the really fast copy operation to be performed the next time that the browser starts up.”

Time for Testing

The new background updates are still in the testing stages, and Mozilla isn't yet sure in which version they'll make their debut. In the meantime, though, the team welcomes testing help, and has set up a temporary channel called Ash in which the latest builds can be downloaded. Directions for testing are spelled out at the end of Akhgari's blog.

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BitDefender Internet Security

Are you a casual computer user who wants a streamlined security software experience? Or are you a dyed-in-the-wool computer pro who wants access to every configuration option, security alert, and log- file entry?

With BitDefender Internet Security 2011 ($50 for a one-year, three-PC license as of 12/2/2010), BitDefender's goal is to cover you either way: Unique among security applications, it offers three different user interface views, one showing the absolute basics, another an intermediate view with a moderate amount of information, and third, an expert view with everything laid bare.

We expect most users will find the basic view too basic, while true novices may have difficulty finding the option to immediately scan their PC (it lurks beneath a large box labeled "Security"). The intermediate view is unique, reminiscent of an icon-based smartphone interface, with a series of boxes where various "tools" ("Update Now," "Configure Firewall," and so on) can be arranged by the user, much like app icons on an iPhone. And then there's the overwhelming expert mode, where I spent most of my time, if only because it offered the best access to advanced configuration options.

Organization could be better here--if nothing else, we'd appreciate the option to run a scan from the main dashboard without digging into the tabs--but on the whole, it isn't too much trouble to find what you need.

BitDefender's overall protection levels are very good, but short of the topmost tier of products we reviewed. In our examination, the suite stopped 22 of 25 real-world attacks and turned away 97.5 percent of known malware in traditional detection tests. Those figures sound good, but top products blocked 24 real-world attacks, and hit 99 percent or higher on the latter measure.

BitDefender excels in the realm of avoiding false positives: It had absolutely none in our tests, and it tied with PC Tools Internet Security as having the best overall success at fixing infected PCs, removing active malware components in 80 percent of infections, and removing all traces of malware 70 percent of the time. Unfortunately, BitDefender has a serious sore spot when it comes to system speed: While on-demand and on-access scan speeds were acceptable, simply having BitDefender installed slows your computer down considerably: Of the 13 products we tested, BitDefender was third to last when it came to its impact on our test PC's performance.

We had other issues with BitDefender that merit mention. Registration and activation are required during install, and setup seemingly takes an eternity of clicking through screen after screen. We loved that BitDefender hunts for old security applications on your machine and can uninstall them for you, avoiding the headaches that can be caused by having competing antimalware software on one system, but having to reboot and start the installation from scratch after removing the old antivirus software was a nagging pain.

A bigger concern was how noticeably sluggish BitDefender was at everything from simply loading its management interface to running scans. Full system scans took well over an hour, and during one full scan our test computer crashed. We also weren't fans of all the oversized system tray pop-ups that BitDefender is fond of. The information they provided was never of much use and could safely be hidden from even an expert user.

BitDefender is something of a budget option, and while it has its issues--and its security capabilities could use an upgrade--it's still a good fit for almost any class of user.

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Kaspersky Lab Internet Security

Known for being a power user's antimalware tool, Kaspersky has quietly evolved its Kaspersky Internet Security software ($80 for a one-year, three-PC license, as of 12/2/2010) into a somewhat kinder, gentler application more suitable for the masses.
While it's eased up on the geekspeak--some earlier versions were more geared toward advanced PC users--the company has not traded down its well-known rock-solid security. Its overall performance rating in our tests earned it second place, behind only Norton Internet Security 2011's top score.
Across the board, the figures were good but not exemplary. Kaspersky managed to block 23 out of 25 of real-world attacks--a very good score, but behind the leaders. It also detected 95.7 percent of known, recently released malware. These numbers don't flirt with 100 percent detection as some of its competitors have, but they're about par for the course. Kaspersky was better at avoiding false positives, and it was nearly tops when it came to removing malware from an already infected machine. Finally, Kaspersky operates at quite a clip, earning it solid marks for performance in both on-demand and on-access system scanning. (The on-access scanner kicks in when you open or save a file to disk; you start the on-demand scanner manually.)
Turning to the main Kaspersky interface, the look is clean and well-designed, and it feels inviting to the novice. That said, the way the company splits up its home screen is curious: What will the average user make of the differences among "Files and Private Data Protection," "System and Applications Protection," and "Online Security"? After all, we live in a world where these three things are rapidly blurring together, and I can't fathom a user who would want, say, his documents protected from viruses, but not his applications. Kaspersky muddies things further by putting IM, Mail, and even Web settings in the System and Applications Protection section, as well as Online Security. Will users wonder if they need to configure things twice?
Then there is Kaspersky's bizarre decision to include a Windows Gadget as part of its install. This large orb sits on your desktop but basically just takes up space. Fortunately, it's easy to turn off.
Installation is another sore spot. After downloading an initial 100MB file from the company's Website, we were prompted in the middle of the installation to download an update--another 100MB file--via a somewhat convoluted process. Updates during the install process are common in this market, but you shouldn't have to download an entirely new set of installation files. Even less excusable: Kaspersky won't install at all unless you register it with an e-mail address.
These quibbles aside, we were thrilled to see a couple of uncommon add-ons as part of the default Kaspersky Internet Security installation. First is a Safe Run for Applications mode, a sandbox system that lets you run potentially dangerous applications without fear of infecting the machine. This isn't the fastest process around, but if it's a tool you think you'll need--as when mom sends that holiday e-greeting card and you just can't bring yourself to hit delete--it can be a real savior. Also worth noting is the app's Anti-Banner system, which effectively scrubs ads from your Web browser while you surf.
All in all, Kaspersky is one of the more expensive applications in this roundup, but its solid security and thoughtful extras arguably make it worth the extra cash.

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Symantec Norton Internet Security 2011

A solid solution, Symantec's venerable Norton Internet Security ($70 for a one-year, three-PC license, as of 12/27/2010) continues to incrementally update and advance both its interface and detection rates.
If you haven't looked at Norton in the last few years, you're in for a surprise. No longer the bloated, slow, and crash-prone monstrosity of yore, Norton Internet Security (NIS) is now a streamlined and extremely effective anti-malware application that demands consideration.
Delving into the Norton command center at first feels a bit like wandering into a jumbo jet's flight deck, with all manner of toggles that let you control what's up and running. And just like trying to fly that airliner, this interface can initially be quite overwhelming. "Insight Protection," "SONAR Protection," "Download Intelligence"? Why, NIS is filled with enough buzzwords and acronyms to keep a middle manager happy for weeks.
Hovering over each item gives you some clues as to what each one is, but frankly, you needn't bother yourself with much of it. NIS turns just about everything on by default, and under default settings it's remarkably effective--one of the most secure antimalware apps we tested.
The numbers are solid across the board: It fully blocked 24 out of 25 real-world attacks--tied for the best of the pack--and detected 98.7 percent of samples of known malware--also a very good result. False positives were next to nothing, and overall speed, while not exemplary, was not overwhelmingly behind the rest of the pack. And it tied for the top score in removing active malware components 80 percent of the time. In no single technical area did Norton show anything other than very good results, and its overall combined rating for security and performance put it at the very top of all the products we reviewed.
For casual users, Norton can still be a bit much. The "activity map"--which shows where computer infections are taking place worldwide in real-time--is neat to look at, but it adds little for the user who just wants to make sure he can continue tending his FarmVille crops. For power users, however, all these bells and whistles can offer an immense amount of insight into the operation of your PC. Curious how your PC's performance is being impacted by Norton's operation? A detailed graph will show you what's happening to your CPU and memory when it's actively scanning and when it's idle.
Another great add-on is Norton's Identity Safe password manager--part of NIS's Web browser toolbar, installed by default. It's a small thing, but it becomes one of those utilities that you can't live without once you start using it. (It even remembers passwords when your browser won't.)
Are you also curious as to what the riskiest apps on your computer are? Norton shows you, in alphabetical order, how many vulnerabilities each program on your PC has--and which attacks NIS is protecting you against. It's features like this that can take you down the tech rabbit hole to the point where you might forget you should probably be doing actual work. It's also number one on our Top 10 chart of security suites.

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