Gibson Research
Gibson Research is the undisputed leader in Internet and PC security issues, this is a must visit site for anybody interested in their privacy while surfing the Internet. If you have downloaded and run the Evidence Eliminator program described above you now know Microsuck cannot be trusted. The below utilities are very quick and easy to download and run to turn off many of the unnecessary security aspects of the Windows operating system.
Must do FREE download utilities from Gibson Research Include (all very easy to run exe files):
Please note these utilities need be run only once, I suggest you download to your desktop or a temp folder so you may easily delete them after they have accomplished their mission in life on your PC.
Shoot The Messenger Even before the latest DCOM/RPC vulnerability, many Windows users were being annoyed by "pop-up spam" notices appearing on their desktops. This intrusion is also facilitated by an exploitation of port 135. Our free "Shoot The Messenger" utility furthers the security of Windows by quickly and easily shutting down the "Windows Messenger" server that should never have been running by default in the first place. You may access the download page for Shoot The Messenger.
The DCOMbobulator allows any Windows user to easily verify the effectiveness of Microsoft's recent critical DCOM patch. Confirmed reports have demonstrated that the patch is not always effective in eliminating DCOM's remote exploit vulnerability. You may access the download page here for DCOMbobulator.
XPdite - A Critical Security Vulnerability Exists in Windows XP. (Surprise) Actually, as we know, there are many, but we'll handle them one at a time. This particular vulnerability allows the files contained in any specified directory on your system to be deleted if you click on a specially formed URL. This URL could appear anywhere: sent in malicious eMail, in a chat room, in a newsgroup posting, on a malicious web page, or even executed when your computer merely visits a malicious web page. It is already being exploited on the Internet. You may access the download page for XPdite.
UnPlug n' Pray - As originally urged by the FBI, and still urged by prominent security experts, our UnPnP utility easily disables the dangerous, and almost always unnecessary, Universal Plug and Play service. If you don't need it, turn it off. (For ALL versions of Windows.) You may access the download page for UnPlug n' Pray.
ID Serve - Since not all Internet servers are equally secure, knowing which server software a web site is using can be important to your security. Ultimately, the security of your personal data is your responsibility. This free utility can help. FYI - JeffOtto.com is not hosted on a Microsoft IIS Server! You may access the download page for ID Serve.
Leak Test - Ensure that your PC's personal firewall can not be easily fooled by malicious "Trojan" programs or viruses. Thanks to this first version of LeakTest, most personal firewalls are now safe from such simple exploitation. You may access the download page for LeakTest.
SocketLock - As part of my struggle to convince Microsoft not to ship Windows XP with full raw sockets, I created this "SocketLock" utility. It easily enables and disables the system's raw socket capabilities to show that, contrary to Microsoft's claims, raw sockets are not, and never were, needed by any applications or users. You may access the download page for SocketLock.
A Free Service offered through Gibson Research to check your Internet vulnerability:
Shield's Up - The Internet's quickest, most popular, reliable and trusted, free Internet security checkup and information service. And now in its Port Authority Edition, it's also the most powerful and complete. Check your system here, and begin learning about using the Internet safely. Access the Shield's Up service here.
Ad-aware
Ad-aware standard edition is the award winning, free, multi-component detection and removal utility that consistently leads the industry in safety, user satisfaction, support and reliability. With its ability to comprehensively scan your memory, registry, hard, removable and optical drives for known data-mining, aggressive advertising, and tracking components, Ad-aware will provide the user with the confidence to surf the Internet knowing that their privacy will remain intact. Let Ad-aware protect your privacy. If you have the Evidence Eliminator program described above the free version of Ad-aware is adaquate.
Download the current free version of Ad-aware, you may upgrade at any time to the paid version.
ZoneAlarm Firewall Protection
ZoneAlarm is an excellent personal firewall and recommend by Steve Gibson of Gibson Research above. If you have the highly recommended Evidence Eliminator installed along with the free Ad-aware software you really do not need any more protection than the free version of ZoneAlarm. For the really paranoid the ZoneAlarm Pro is only $39.00 as of this writing, for some it may be worth the additional piece of mind, I personally use the free version of both Zone Alarm and Ad-aware. Do not trust the built in firewall protection in Windows XP!
While the incidence of online fraud and identity theft is on the rise, consumers are still left to their own devices when it comes to storing sensitive financial and personal information securely. And existing data protection utilities with simple encryption are too weak to provide real security. Now, ZoneAlarm Pro 4.5 adds a new layer to our multiple-layer security to protect data on the PC and prevent it from being stolen or unintentionally leaked.
Download the free version of ZoneAlarm, you may upgrade at any time to the paid version.
Run the Shield's Up service again after installing ZoneAlarm and see the difference for yourself :-) !
