Look Out For Drive-By Pharming Of Your PC

Symantec just released a report on how they've discovered how hackers can easily steal your bank user ID and password when you bank online. It's pretty ingenious, and because so many of us fail to protect ourselves against this type of attack, about half of us are at risk.

Here's how it works: The victim visits a Web page on the hacker's Web site (and it could be a Web site that the hacker has attacked, not just one he owns). Unbeknownst to the victim, the Web page contains JavaScript that changes the DNS (Domain Name Service) server setting for the victim's router, so that instead of requesting the IP address of the URL's typed into the browser from the ISP's DNS server (to go to the real Web site), the router requests the IP addresses from the hacker's DNS server. Unfortunately for the victim, the hacker has already set up his fake DNS server to point to his fake bank Web sites that look like the real McCoy. Next time the victim wants to do some online banking, he types in the URL or uses his bookmark, and the router sends the request for the IP address to the fake DNS, and the Web browser goes to the fake bank site. The unsuspecting victim types in his user ID and password, the fake Web site saves them both and now the hacker has all he needs to get into the real bank account and transfer the money elsewhere. Evil, huh?

You can prevent this from happening to your router by changing the default password, which according to reports, about half of us have failed to do. Yikes! If the hacker doesn't know the router's password, he can't change its DNS setting. If you haven't changed the password on your router, do it today before it's too late. The most common routers are D-Link, Linksys, and NETGEAR. If you have one of these, go to the manufacturer's Web site to find out how to change your router's password.

• D-Link router
• Linksys router
• NETGEAR router

See the video explaining this all in more detail if what I've explained doesn't make much sense. You'll be glad you did.

Free Scan For Malware

VirusTotal offers a free online scan if you have any files you suspect may contain malware. They use several popular antivirus engines to scan each file for you, so you don't need to rely on only one antivirus software package any more. Files can be uploaded with an unsecure connection or with an SSL connection if your files are private. VirusTotal also offers a free scan if you have multiple files and want to E-mail them, instead of using the online scanner. VirusTotal will return a free report indicating the scan results.

Don't Use Public Wi-Fi Hot Spots Without Protection

Those free public Wi-Fi hot spots look convenient, but don't hook up to one with your laptop without protecting it first. Hackers are just waiting to grab unprotected data that you may send from your laptop, or which may be stored on your laptop that the hacker can read from his own laptop nearby, because when you connect to the Wi-Fi hot spot, you're on an unprotected network. Your firewall needs to protect your laptop from any would-be intruders. Read Preston Gralla's article, "How to protect yourself at wireless hot spots," to find out what you need to do to protect your laptop from those intruders.