[Disclaimer: this message is not advice and conveys no rights to any reader.]

Hi,

A free antivirus tool (free for noncommercial use, that is) is Avast! ( http://www.avast.com/ ). We use it on one of our computers and like it a lot (do your due diligence as always, for example by checking google groups for comments about Avast!). Additionally, some words of wisdom about computer protection are:

[quote]

This is no news to many readers, but hopefully this whole Blaster thing has woken many up to the need to keep things up-to-date!

Oh, but don't install SP4 for Win2k - it's cr*p. Stick with SP2, or SP3 if you can live with the few extra bugs it introduces. Both very stable and not causing the huge problems like SP4.

- Prevention: the best weapon against the Blaster worm -

The Blaster worm continues to wreak havoc in users PCs, and it is still the virus most frequently detected.

However, the epidemic currently being caused by Blaster could easily have been avoided. The vulnerability exploited was reported by Microsoft almost a month and half ago and was widely reported by the international media. The same advise was repeated time and again: to avoid problems, simply apply the Microsoft patch.

Seemingly this advise fell on deaf ears, judging by the number of computers affected by Blaster. The situation also highlights the general lack of security awareness among home users, who have been affected more than any other user group Users with personal firewalls installed have escaped the effects of the worm, as port 135, used by Blaster to enter computers, is protected by these kinds of programs.

Likewise, the high number of incidents still being caused by Blaster is also largely a result of the failure by users to keep the antivirus software in their PCs completely up-to-date.

Similarly, the RPC DCOM vulnerability continues to cause problems, with the appearance of a new worm/Trojan called W32/RPCSdbot which exploits the Windows vulnerability to take control of the infected computer and spread via e-mail.

However, protecting against Blaster, W32/RPCSdbot and other viruses that could emerge in the near future can be simple, provided users take a few basic precautions:

- Find out about and apply patches to correct vulnerabilities detected in the software installed on your PC. Vendors websites will normally have this sort of information and the downloads.

- Keep your antivirus updated. The simplest way is to install solutions that update automatically when users connect to the Internet

- Install a personal firewall in your computer, with both broadband and modem connections, as just a few seconds is all it takes for a malicious code like Blaster to infect your PC.

[unquote]

Link to the "Top 10 Ways to Secure Your PC" article is below.

Best,

- Boyd


http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/a...452576,00.html