There is usually no point in a firewall reporting intrusion attempts unless you are the IT guy and can track them down to the infected PC and do something about them. They are always present on the Internet these days. If the firewall is working then they can be ignored and the firewall told to stop reporting them.
In a campus environment you can expect that there will always be someone with a worm on his or her computer which will try to spread via the Internet (or via infecting USB flash drives - so don't share them). Too many people can't resist downloading "free" music and programs via P2P programs like limewire, utorrent, frostwire etc.
For general safety you need to keep your MS updates on automatic and make sure your anti-virus is up-to-date. If your anti-virus expires switch to the free Avast.
http://www.avast.com...ivirus-download
They recently hired the guy who wrote the GMER rootkit detection program and he has really improved their software. Avast doesn't have its own firewall so install Online Armor first then download the Avast installer, uninstall Trend and install Avast. Make sure you only have one anti-virus or they will fight each other. (Microsoft Security Essential is also an anti-virus so can't be run at the same time as your Trend. You can run their Safety Scanner:
http://www.microsoft...s/default.aspx. It doesn't update so you have to download it each time you want to use it.)
Make sure you have the latest Java (6.26) and that all old versions of Java have been removed. These may call themselves: Java Runtime, Runtime Environment, Runtime, JRE, Java Virtual Machine, Virtual Machine, Java VM, JVM, VM, J2RE, J2SE. Do not depend on Java to remove the older versions. (They have started removing the later versions but they ignore the oldest which are the most dangerous to have.)
Also make sure you have the latest versions of any adobe.com products you use like Shockwave, Flash or Acrobat. Flash Player recently came out with a new version which fixes an exploit hole. See
http://aumha.net/vie...&st=0&sk=t&sd=a Adobe is fond of foisting GetPlus on you. You can let them install it and then afterwards, go into Control Panel, Add/Remove Software and remove it. It probably doesn't hurt to leave it but I don't see the need for it and it has caused problems in the past. Apple software like Quicktime is also being exploited so make sure you have the latest versions of any you use on your PC and if you don't use it remove it.
Whether you use adobe reader, acrobat or fox-it to read pdf files you need to disable Javascript in the program. There is an exploit out there now that can use it to get on your PC. For Adobe Reader: Start, All Programs, Adobe Reader, Edit, Preferences, Click on Javascript in the left column and uncheck Enable Acrobat Javascript. OK Close program. It's the same for Foxit reader except you uncheck Enable Javascript Actions.
I recommend you install the free WinPatrol from
http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html
It's a small program that will sit in your systray and warn you if something tries to make changes to your system.
If you must share USB drives you might want to install Autorun Eater v2.5.
http://download.cnet...4-10752777.html
It will prevent an infected USB drive from infecting your PC. MS finally turned off Autorun on these but it's not hard to turn it back on and a lot of people do.
If you use Firefox (must be the latest version of course - 4. something) then get the AdBlock Plus Add-on. WOT (Web of Trust) is another you might want to try.
The equivalent to AdBlock Plus for IE is called Simple Adblock and you should install it too: Adhttp://simple-adblock.com/
For the paranoid there is another add-on for Firefox called NoScript. This will require that you authorize a website to run Javascript so is a lot of trouble to use but will certainly make your surfing safer.
If Firefox is slow loading make sure it only has the current Java Console add-on. (Java seems to have a real problem removing the old consoles and they slow down Firefox startup quite a bit so you should always Disable the older Java Consoles in Firefox, Add-Ons, Extensions.) Then download and run Speedy Fox.
http://www.crystalidea.com/speedyfox. You can run it any time that Firefox seems slow.
If you have a router, log on to it today and change the default password! If using a Wireless router you really should be using encryption on the link. Use the strongest (newest) encryption method that your router and PC wireless adapter support especially if you own a business. See
http://www.king5.com...-120637284.html and
http://www.seattlepi...ted-1344185.php for why encryption is important. If you don't know how, visit the router maker's website. They all have detailed step by step instructions or a wizard you can download.
Your hard drive will eventually fail since it is a moving part so backing up files you don't want to lose (pictures, your term paper, etc) is essential. If you can't afford an external hard drive (just connect it up once a week and make backups - don't leave it connected and don't connect it if you get infected) the poor man's solution is to get a free gmail account then zip up the files you want to keep and email them to yourself. This has the advantage that you can access them from any computer so if you go somewhere and need a file you can log on to gmail and get it. If you didn't get the Disks with it, most PC makers will send them to you for a nominal cost or give you the chance to burn your own. Once you get the disk(s) store them somewhere safe. Dell and HP like to put their restore to factory on the hard drive but if the hard drive fails you are dead in the water so you need the disks and you need to know where they are stored. (I don't know how many times people have told me they have the disks somewhere but can't find them.)
Ron
. Yes I have hidden my computer and hidden encrypted drives for my sensitive stuff.
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