Combating Viruses
(Computer)
Combating Viruses, Beyond The PC
By now most users are aware of the need to implement antivirus software
on individual systems. But a large percentage of the hardware and
software used to provide something for those users to use resides
outside them. What are they and what can be done to protect them from
virus attacks?
Computer viruses attack servers - web, file, ftp and e-mail, along with
routers and other network gear - along with individual PC's.
Servers are usually substantially the same as PC's only with more
memory, disk space and processors. Web servers house web pages and
programs for Internet users, e-mail servers store, send and receive
e-mail, and file and ftp servers make possible storage and distribution
of all manner of files for other systems. Routers are simply specialized
computers, with proprietary operating systems, for routing network
traffic.
Most operate much like an individual's system and are subject to the
same kinds of attacks. They can therefore be protected by many of the
same means - regular use of reliable antivirus software and being
firewall guarded to shut down vulnerable entry points on the Internet.
What else can be done?
Since servers and routers provide services to multiple, sometimes
thousands, of user systems they're more frequently attacked. Users can
help administrators of these systems by keeping their own systems clean
and refraining from passing on viruses to others across them.
Administrators can help themselves by forgoing the temptation to use
them as personal computers with full e-mail clients, word processing
software, and fully enabled browsers.
Users can help administrators and themselves by being more careful in
browser selection and configuration. Most could profit from better
self-education in how to minimize the 'target area' for hackers by
changing browser settings. Users and computer professionals have made
strides in voicing concern over security vulnerabilities in Internet
Explorer. Adopting other browsers in greater numbers will help to get
the message across.
Users and administrators should avoid using bootable CD's and DVD's that
haven't been virus scanned after being burned with desired software and
files. Sometimes the process that creates them propagates viruses, just
as floppy disks did some years ago.
FTP servers, used to store and provide sending and receiving of files
over networks, should become a thing of the past. Vanilla ftp (File
Transfer Protocol) can't be secured since passwords are passed in clear
text (unencrypted) over the network where they can be picked up by
sniffers. Sniffers are software and/or hardware used to spy on networks.
Secure FTP versions should be used instead.
Users should take an active role in encouraging administrators to lock
down systems. Most admins do a very good job with limited time and
resources, but security is usually well down their list of priorities.
Users who show an interest can alter that in a constructive way by
showing that they care. Very few servers have a thorough check by a
skilled security expert at any time in their serviceable lifetimes. That
would change if users didn't passively assume by default that everything
is fine until things go sour.
The Future
Microsoft and other large vendors are making strides in designing
hardware and software which is better protected 'out of the box'. Just
as one example, one common virus exploit is called a 'buffer overrun'.
Memory is used by all programs and it's divided into areas called
buffers of a certain size.
Hackers use a well-known technique for causing malicious program
instructions to 'overflow' those buffers providing them with more access
than the legitimate program intended. A large percentage of security
fixes involves securing these buffers. Hardware and operating system
designers are addressing this by making 'buffer overrun' a thing of the
past, through fundamental design changes.
Much more sophisticated ideas are on the drawing board. Once they become
a reality, everyone will benefit.
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