This reminds me of what I used to do...

One computer is in Kuching, Sarawak and the other computer is in KL. Connected and files are being transferred as if they were in a local network...

Make Your PC Safe for 2012

New malware is still being introduced at an alarming rate: Alone in the last five years it has been rising by about 5,000 %. Such growth rates may be any shareholder's dream at the moment but here they are evidence of the immense profitability of the hacker industry. Your personal data, online connections or even access to your PC make the cash registers ring. This makes developing increasingly sophisticated and less easily detected ways to infect your PC more and more lucrative for clever programmers. But there is no need to panic, as we are going to show you in this article how to avoid unnecessary risks and how to keep on surfing the web with your PC safely in 2012!

1 - Keep Your System up-to-date

We all know that update notifications can be annoying. Still, your PC and all installed programs should always be up-to-date. Malware programmers often use newly discovered software weaknesses (so-called "vulnerabilities") to smuggle their malware onto your PC via exploits. Therefore, update your software on a regular basis - especially if it is widely used - in order to close potential security gaps as soon as possible.

The following software on your PC should always be kept up-to-date:

OS (Windows operating system)
Your browser: MS Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc.
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe Flash Player
Java Runtime
Apple Quicktime Video Player
Your media player (VLC, iTunes, Windows Media Player)

2 - Use Secure Passwords

Your PC may be as secure as a safe, but that is useless if an unauthorized person gets their hands on the keys. No matter whether it is your Windows login, web mail or password to a website: use only secure passwords! A secure password consists of at least eight characters and contains a number, an uppercase letter and a special character, such as "ApL47bAk!". Avoid common words like names and use different passwords for all your accounts and connections. If you use one password for all, a hacker gains access to all your data by just cracking one password successfully. To keep track of several passwords, we recommend using a password manager.

3 - Use a Router

It is common nowadays for internet connection packages to include a router. A router enables several devices to simultaneously use the same internet connection. Securitywise, this is a huge advantage as your PC does not directly connect to the web, which makes it difficult to directly address and attack it. If, for whatever reason, you still do not have a router, you should consider it a good investment. The same rules apply here: always keep the router up-to-date, that is, regular firmware updates and a secure admin password are a necessity.

4 - Avoid File Sharing Websites

Apart from the fact that they are mostly offering illegal content, file sharing websites are among the most common sources for malware infections. Cracked programs or so-called key generators ("keygens") in particular are often infected with malware. It is safer to download original software from the manufacturer's website or from well-known download sites.

5 - Use Restricted User Accounts

Many Windows users are using the administrator account. As an administrator, you have unrestricted access to modifying important system settings, which allows malware executed as an administrator to settle and spread with ease. If you have Windows XP you should use an account with restricted user rights for working and browsing the web. Windows Vista and 7 come with a built-in and redesigned User Account Control (UAC). Any process likely to cause damage to or be a threat to the security of your system needs the administrator's permission to do so. Never grant administrator rights to any unknown or suspicious programs!

6 - Avoid Doubtful Websites and E-mail Attachments

Today, most malware is spread via so-called "drive-by downloads". Modern websites are using different technologies to enable the continuous communication between your browser and the web server without asking you, the user, for confirmation. Programmers of criminal websites rely on this technology to take advantage of security gaps in various browsers. We recommend staying away from any doubtful or shady websites (file sharing, warez and erotic websites in particular) and to keep your browser up-to-date as described in point 1.

E-mail attachments are still the most popular way of spreading malware. What helps best is a good spam filter. Always remain skeptic if you receive e-mails from unknown senders and pay particular attention to any attachments before opening them; executable files like .exe or .com are often disguised as documents or images. For more information on this topic and fake e-mails please refer to our article Current E-mail traps.

7 - Beware of Unsecured WiFi Hotspots

There are many WiFi hotspots free of charge available that allow you to check your e-mails and surf the internet when you are on the go using your laptop or smartphone. But whenever you log into a website or check your e-mails via an unsecured WiFi connection, others can read your log-in data. Send confidential data only if it is absolutely necessary, and even then only over a secure connection! You recognize a secure connection by the "s" which directly follows the typical "http" in the address bar, i.e. "https://" (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). This applies to online banking as well as forums, webmail accounts, ebay or Facebook log-ins - i.e. it applies generally for any log-in. If you use an e-mail client, you should also enable secure log-in in the settings.

8 - Use Security Software With Real-Time Protection

By following our advice you are already quite safe - but there will always be a small risk remaining. This is why we recommend the use of anti-virus software and a firewall. The anti-virus software checks files on your PC whereas a firewall monitors any incoming and outgoing connections. If there are any suspicious processes, a message will pop up to warn you about the risk.

Both programs should offer real-time protection. Regular scans with a virus scanner are good and important. However, they can only detect already existing infections with malware on your PC and may not always be able to remove them. Emsisoft behavior analysis, for instance, is always active and works similar to your body's immune system: suspicious intruders will be recognized even if there are no antibodies (= virus signatures) yet.

Source

Outsmart Windows spyware on your PC. Speed up your computer, protect your privacy, take control of your personal data!

Spyware is big business for criminals and less ethical organizations on the internet today. If you want to make sure your computers working for you and not spying on you, this guide is the place to start.

What is spyware?

Spyware is software that is designed to watch events on your computer and report this information back via the internet. Data on the web sites you visit, for example, is extremely valuable to marketing and market research companies. Information on the media you watch or listen to can be used by sites to build a profile of what kind of consumer you are and then used for targeted advertising. More sinister Windows spyware may even try and capture passwords, files or PIN numbers as you enter them.

Is LastFM spyware? No, since it is quite clear about what data it collects. Spyware does not ask for your permission or tell you when it is gathering data.

At this point, it is worth reminding you that not all Windows spyware is necessarily bad. At Top-Windows-Tutorials.com we are big fans of LastFM, which logs what music you listen to and makes recommendations on new music based on the data it collects. The Alexa Toolbar is a popular toolbar that, amongst other useful features, uses data it collects on your surfing habits to bring back better search results for you. Both of these freely available pieces of software are considered by some people to be spyware. Unless you are concerned about keeping the data they collect confidential, there is no reason why you should not use them.

Having said that, your computer belongs to you and you only and you should decide who gets your data and who does not.

Malicious spyware, such as programs which collect private data like passwords or PIN numbers, should be removed or, better still, blocked from entering your system at all times.

Benign 'spyware' such as Alexa should only be running on your PC with your permission.

Still curious about the different types of Windows spyware? check out the wikipedia article on Windows spyware.

Why is Windows spyware such a big problem?

A long, boring EULA is the last thing most users want to read when they are eager to try out some new software

Remember the last time you installed some new software on your computer? Was it a great free application you downloaded from the web, or perhaps an application package you purchased from a store? Either way, it is extremely likely that when you installed it at some point it presented you with a 4 or 5 page long "end user licence agreement" or "EULA". These are typically extremely wordy, legal documents designed partly to cover the authors or distributors against anyone who uses the software incorrectly and then tries to sue. Now, did you actually read all of the EULA when you installed the software? If you answered No then don't worry, neither did I!

Now, remember we said before that spyware should only be collecting data on you with your permission? This isn't just a courtesy, if an application collects data on you without your permission then it is probably illegal. However, in that wordy, boring EULA, sly marketing companies added clauses that allowed them to install all sorts of Windows spyware along with otherwise useful or harmless looking free applications. Aside from violating your privacy, these sneaky applications can slow your computer or internet connection down, as they beaver away collecting your information. One of these applications you might not even notice, but if you surf around and try out lots of software, they can quickly build up until your system becomes slow or even unstable.

Outsmarting Windows spyware

To keep one step ahead of spyware, you don't need to start reading EULA's or even stop downloading free software. A few sensible precautions are all that is needed to keep your PC spyware free. Following the guidelines for keeping your system virus free that we set out in our computer viruses article will also help you in the fight against Windows spyware, but here are a few more pointers to keep your PC running spyware free.

If in doubt, Google it! If you are thinking of trying out some free software and you have not heard of the company behind it before, do a little research first. Usually all it takes is a quick look on Google to find out about any software on the net.

One search-bar is enough. If you like the facilities offered by a search bar or browser tool bar, then choose one from one of the reputable providers such as Yahoo! MSN, Google or Alexa. Resist the temptation to use every free search bar or desktop widget available on the web. Even if these programs are harmless, running software you do not use will simply slow your computer down. Do not let your PC wind up looking like the picture below!


Ensure your firewall is enabled. Use a software firewall such as the Windows firewall, Outpost, or Zone Alarm. A hardware firewall such as those that routers or broadband sharing hardware often incorporate will almost always offer no protection whatsoever against Windows spyware running itself on your PC. With a software firewall installed, programs must be given permission to connect to the internet. This is ideal for spotting potential spyware applications as they no longer can send information outside of your computer without your permission. If you want to learn more about firewalls, check out our firewall and internet security software section.

Beware of malicious ActiveX controls. ActiveX controls are extensions that work with Microsoft Internet Explorer. ActiveX controls can do all sorts of wonderful things such as play video or display PDF documents and are used by companies such as Adobe and Microsoft to extend Internet Explorers functionality. Unfortunately, ActiveX controls can also be used as a means of installing spyware or even computer viruses. Because of this you should NEVER install an ActiveX control from a site you do not explicitly trust. If you are concerned about accidentally installing an ActiveX control, consider using Firefox or Opera web browsers instead and always keep your browser up to date!

Scan your computer occasionally using one of our recommended packages. Even if you take all of the above precautions, it can't hurt to scan your PC from time to time. We'll take a look at three of the best packages now.

Spyware doctor comes highly reccomended by the Top-Windows-Tutorials.com team!
Lavasoft Ad-Aware - A firm favourite amongst the Top-Windows-Tutorials staff, Ad-Aware has been cleaning spyware for the better part of a decade and has remained a trusted and powerful spyware cleaning solution throughout its long life. Extremely easy to use and better still, free for non commercial use, there really isn't much you can say against this superb little package. Paid versions even include real-time spyware monitoring (that means it watches out for spyware in the background while you work, rather than just when you run a scan) and full technical support.

Spybot Search & Destroy - A very powerful, feature rich and effective spyware scanner that amazingly is totally free. Spybot's advanced features are much praised by computer experts and system administrators. However, its more technical interface can be intimidating to novice users when compared with Ad-Aware. Many users install both Ad-Aware and Spybot, especially when scanning systems that are already infected with spyware in order to scan for the broadest range of malicious software.

PC Tools Spyware Doctor - This relatively new addition to the Windows anti-spyware software lineup is turning heads in the industry with its excellent spyware detection and removal rates. What's more, you can now try the starter edition free, thanks to the Google pack. Click the link above for more details!

Webroot Spy Sweeper - A very powerful and easy to use package that includes a spyware scanner, a real time monitor, full technical support and a whole host of powerful features. This package is not free however, it costs around £25 or $40.

Source: http://www.top-windows-tutorials.com/windows-spyware.html