That's where antivirus applications come into play, especially if they use heuristics. It would be, except for those nasty things called zero-day exploits and zero-day viruses. Remember when I said, "It's simple: No vulnerabilities, no malware"? Well, it's not exactly that easy.
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They usually offer a link to the application's Web page, where the update can be downloaded.
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But unlike MBSA, Secunia products also scan hundreds of third-party applications, which gives Secunia a distinct advantage.Īll the Secunia scanners, online and client-side, have an intuitive way of determining what is wrong and how to rectify it. Secunia's scanners are similar to MBSA when it comes to Microsoft products. Making a case for needing a vulnerability scanner is sometimes easier if the product is from the OEM. I recommend using MBSA when upper management needs convincing. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) is a vulnerability scanner that detects insecure configuration settings and checks all installed Microsoft products for missing security updates. I'd rather update applications than chase malware any day. Vulnerability scanners proactively detect vulnerabilities so that malware can't gain a foothold. It's simple: No vulnerabilities, no malwareĪnti-malware includes any program that combats malware, whether it's real-time protection or detection and removal of existing malware. Next, I'd like to discuss two vulnerability scanners. It requires in-depth knowledge of operating systems or being able to compare before and after scans. Be careful: As I alluded to earlier, removing processes suggested by the scanners is not for the faint of heart. GetSystemInfo, like the other scanners, is a good way to keep track of what's on the computer, and if need be, it can help find any malware that happens to sneak in. Just upload the log file and the parser will point out any disparities. I like the fact that Kaspersky has an online parser. Kaspersky has an application similar to HiJackThis called GetSystemInfo. If you would rather have trained experts help, I would recommend 's HiJackThis forum. Several Web sites offer online applications that will automatically analyze the log file from HiJackThis, pointing out possible conflicts. If it's too late to run a baseline scan, do not fear. Still, running HiJackThis before having malware problems creates a great reference baseline, making it easy to spot changes.
HiJackThis is Process Explorer on steroids, making the application somewhat daunting to those of us not completely familiar with operating systems.
Any differences will be good places to start looking for malware. If for some reason the computer starts behaving poorly, run Process Explorer again and compare the scans. More important, you can use Process Explorer to create a baseline of the running processes used by the computer when it's operating correctly.