Be prepared for any rootkit that might get into your Windows 7 system

Posted on March 12th, 2011 in Windows 7 | No Comments »

When you are dealing with most malware, you pretty much know how they are going to act on your system. Even the worse of them seem to follow a pretty steady pattern that will help you to get rid of them. But there is one piece of malware that even security researchers hate to hear the name of. When you know that you have one of these on the system, it is going to be a long day of trying to get it out. The piece of malware that we are talking about is known as a Rootkit and it is one of the most damaging pieces of malware out on the internet right now. We will go over the basics of what a rootkit is and look at what kind of damage it can do to your system.  We will also look at the tools that you need to do to get it off of your system.

What is a rootkit?

A rootkit is program that is able to get into the kernel level of our system which means that it is able to hide from scanning programs that is on your computer. For those programs to be able to sniff it out they need to be at kernel level as well. For the people who might not know, the kernel level of the computer is the part where a lot of the sensitive things that your computer can do, happens. It is basically the part of the operating system that communicates with the hardware of the machine. You do not want user level access programs to communicate with the hardware directly so the kernel is the break off point. While we know a lot more about rootkits now than we did before, they can still be a pain to get rid of off of your system.

The damage that it can do

A rootkit, once it is in your system, can give the attacker unlimited power over your computer. They are able to assume the rights as a power user and they will have the same administrative rights that you have, maybe even more. This is because they are able to access the kernel. This is the main objective for any attacker that is trying to get into someone’s system. When an attacker is able to get this deep, most of the time, they will turn your computer into a simple node. This means that anything illegal that they want to try and hide, they will do on your computer. This means that if someone is going to get into trouble, it will be you.

How can I get it off my system?

In the past it was very hard to get an infection like this off of your system. Formatting the system was the only way that you can get it off. Now there is plenty of software out on the market that will help you get the rootkit off of your system. Download one of these programs and hopefully you will be back to normal.

Is windows 7 a game changer when it comes to security?

Posted on November 23rd, 2010 in Security, Windows 7 | No Comments »

When you talk about security these days, you really have to add Windows 7 to the discussion. I know that it seems really weird to do so but Windows 7 is one of the most secure consumer grade operating systems on the market right now and you would be doing a disservice to you and your customer base if you did not discuss it. The security when it comes to the Windows operating system is really top notch compared to how it was in the past and the rest of the security community is starting to realize it. But if you are talking about purely the security aspects of Windows 7, is it truly able to be called a game changer? Is the security of the system any different than the other consumer grade operating systems that are on the market right now? In this article, we will take a look at that question and we will analyze to see if it is truly a game changer. If it is not, then does at least stay with the competition on that front.

The new security offerings that come with Windows 7

When we take a look at the system, we are looking at things that the Windows operating system did not have in the past. This is why so many security professionals like this version. They feel as if the system has caught up to the rest of the pack. There were so many things that were missing in the earlier iterations of Windows. When it came to security people were starting to wonder if Microsoft lacked the necessary tools on purpose. The one thing that changed their mind is when Windows started to offer a real firewall on the system. The firewall’s that the Windows operating system had in the past was barely functional. It would only monitor a certain section of the traffic that came in your system and not all of it. This changed with the last version of the Windows firewall. Now there is no need to download and install a third party’s firewall unless you just like it better.

Another thing that has changed recently for Windows is that Microsoft is now offering a fully functional antivirus suite on their web site. All you have to do is to go to their web site and download the product and the next thing that you know is that you are now protected. The people who make the antivirus suite also work with the operating system kernel creators so that they can make sure that their product is able to offer you full protection.

The last thing we will point out is that the premium version of Windows 7 now offers a new and improved version of Bitlocker. Bitlocker is a technology that allows you to lock down the hardware on your laptop. If the person who accesses the laptop does not have a proper password and username combination, they will not be able to use the machine. This is a huge leap forward when it comes to the security of your machine. Bitlocker is truly a game changing feature when it comes to the Windows operating system.

Is Windows 7 a game changer when it comes to the security of the operating system? In some ways yes it is and in some ways it is not. What we can say is that it is able to stand head to toe with everyone else on the market right now.

Are system level attacks still a concern with windows 7?

Posted on November 17th, 2010 in Security, Windows 7 | No Comments »

It has been out to the public for almost a year and the reviews are in. Windows 7 is one of the most popular operating systems that Microsoft has ever released. And not only is it popular, it is the most secured operating system that they released as well. In the past, when you used Windows products there was always a hesitation when you went online that you were going to become infected by something out there. While it is still possible, you are nowhere near as vulnerable as you used to be. But there are still some concerns when it comes to Windows 7 security. It is actually a problem with all operating systems and not just Windows 7. You have to wonder to yourself if low level system attacks are still a problem that you have to worry about. While there are all sorts of attacks out there, low level system attacks are some of the most dangerous.
 

What is a low level system attack?

There are several layers to a computer system. During your use of the computer throughout the day, you probably only see two layers that you worry about. You see the software side, which includes the operating system and all of the programs that are running on it. You also see the hardware side, which if you ever open up your computer is the motherboard, hard drive, and all of the other things that are under the cover. But these are not the only layers of the computer. They are just what you would call the base layer. They both have several layers inside of them as well. The layer that we are going to focus on now is the system level of the operating system. This is a layer that is able to control the inner parts of your operating system. This why attacks on this layer can be so damaging. When you take control of a person’s operating system, you can do a lot of damage. Better yet, if the black hat hacker is smart, they can get a lot of information as well. System level attacks are a real problem.

Does Windows 7 solve this problem?

Windows 7 does not eradicate the problem but they make it a lot harder for attacks like this to happen. Microsoft has implemented several security features that will allow you to defeat such intrusions in your system. Form the antivirus programs that they allow you to download and install for free, to the permission based installer on the system; these are all things that have helped the fight. Now, whenever a file that can be damaging, is changed by a program, Windows 7 will ask you permission first before the change is allowed. This is a great way to stop most of the system level attacks that happen. They usually go after low level operating system files and if you are notified beforehand then you can stop it. 
 
Windows does help a lot when it comes to this problem. If you want to make sure that you are safe, keep the permissions turned on in Windows 7 and install an updated antivirus program.