The Tech Question I'm Most Asked...

Is this: "How did I get a virus?" and/or "Why didn't my antivirus software catch it?"

I'm never really sure how to answer because I can't know for sure, but these are probably the reasons:

1. You Didn't.
Well, not really. A lot of the so-called viruses we get are actually just fake antivirus/antimalware programs that brings up a list of "infections" and then tell the user they need to purchase the program to remove them. Conveniently, most of the time this results in them calling us to remove the trojans they think they have, and then we can remove the actual problem. Unfortunately, some people do pay up.

Here's the deal. Legitimate antivirus software will never, ever charge you to remove a virus or malware. The fake scanners (often with names like Antivirus 2010 or Windows XP Antivirus) look convincing, and many copy images from Windows and actual antivirus software, and some of them actually look better than the real deal.

Legit software may require you to purchase a full license to get extra features, like real-time scanning (MalwareBytes does this) or a subscription to continue to receive updates (such as Symantec), but you will never be charged to scan and remove malicious software. A final tip: If there are spelling errors in any of the messages you get, or your desktop background is changed to alert you of an infection, it's definitely fake.

2. Your Antivirus Sucks.
Again, sort of. I know what you're thinking--"wait, didn't you say you never have to pay? Then what about buying it new in the box?" Yes, if you do your homework then you absolutely can pay for antivirus protection. Our university, for example, purchases a license to allow the entire university to use Symantec. But we pay for the initial software and continual updates. We don't pay extra to remove the stuff it finds. That's just stupid.

So if we have this fancy contract, why are people still getting this stuff? Well, it turns out the people who make the nasties, like us, have access to antivirus programs, and they can find program-specific loopholes. Symantec remains one of the most popular antivirus programs, so if they can find a way to get past only Symantec, they're still hitting a pretty large user base. So in a sense, the more effective your software, the more likely someone will make it useless.

Hey, problem solved, right? You can just get every kind of antivirus software!

Please don't do this. The more you have installed, the worse they tend to work. You can still run scans with programs like MalwareBytes, that do not run continually, but there is absolutely nothing to gain by installing more than one antivirus suite.

3. You did it.
Some really nasty viruses use a whole host of loopholes to get in, but some of them knock politely at the door, and you let them right in. (People will always deny that they could have possibly done this.) Before you use something, Google it. Find out what other people say about it, and look at more than one site before deciding. Be responsible, and you won't download something you shouldn't have.

But sometimes it's trickier than that. It's pretty common knowledge by now that you shouldn't open an e-mail attachment you can't identify, but it goes beyond that. Even Facebook and Myspace have their own brand of malware that can be send in messages, comments, and even applications. It's not like you need to be paranoid and cut off contact from everyone in fear, but pay attention to things. If your cousin that you haven't spoken to in two years sends you a comment about a photo-sharing site, you should listen to your scepticism.

4. LimeWire
God, why are people still using Limewire? Which brings me to...

5. Porn
It's a running joke at this point. "Pop-ups? Ha, must have been downloading some porn, eh?" But it wouldn't be said if it didn't happen. People want to see other people naked (and doing naked things) and they're willing to install any number of things to do it. But come on--the internet is browser-based. Meaning you don't need to download an image viewer from a shady site to get your naked ladies.

The other common trick is to claim that a video codec is required to view a video. Guess what? It's not a codec. And laugh all you want, but the first major malware outbreak for Macs happened this way. C'mon, internet. The internet is mostly porn anyway, so pay a little more attention and stop downloading this crap.

In Closing
Just pay attention. The people who make these are ultimately out for one thing--money. So for the love of God, don't give them your credit card number. At best, they're still getting forty bucks for a program that doesn't do anything, and at worst, they have your number and they're going to hang on to it. Pop-ups are registering more ad views, which means more money for the people making them, and a higher possibility (however slim) you'll go to their sites. And if you end up with a trojan that brings your computer into a botnet, it will essentially become a whore who will be sold and made to do terrible things. Is that what you want for your computer?

Kids And Their Video Games

Kotaku had an interesting article today about kids and video games, originating from an anti-gaming parent who argues:

Here's my question: When do kids ever think these days? When do they ever have brains free from electronics long enough to ponder the universe? To think of things that might someday lead them to a cure for cancer?

If Sir Isaac Newton had been playing a DS, I'm sure he never would have noticed the apple falling from the tree, so he never would have formulated the theory of gravity.

As someone who is becoming more and more distracted by shiny things, I can see where she’s coming from.  But I can’t agree with her.

While video games can be a tremendous distraction, the same could be said for other forms of media.  Before video games, TV rotted the brain.  And yes, I knew kids in elementary school who were frequently disciplined for reading.  Kids shouldn’t be playing video games non-stop because they shouldn’t be doing any one thing non-stop. 

But in the article, they also highlight a comment that jumps to the defense of kids and video games.  Another parent claims that video games have resulted in his son being more creative, teaching himself to use Photoshop to participate in a gaming community.  Growing up, I think my experience is closer to this.

Granted, when I was growing up, video games still weren’t an established part of modern culture.  The rapid evolution from Pong to Mario to 3D gaming must have been a pretty questionable thing for parents, but their effects were not purely negative.  I was kind of an antisocial kid anyway, but gaming was something I could do with other kids.  The first game I ever played (or remember playing) was a Pinball game for some Atari console.  The graphics were terrible, the controls were awful, and I was absolutely hypnotized.  I remember playing Mario on the NES with some other kids and learning about the magic of the Game Genie.  And then, Pokemon (yep, more Pokemon talk).

As you already know, I was hooked on that game.  But around the same time, I was also discovering the internet, and I was a member of several on-line Pokemon communities.  I had a Pokemon site that received fan art and fan fiction from others.  I had readers.  Personal websites would eventually evolve in to blogs, and at twelve, I was already becoming part of it.  This still weirds me out to think about now.

Then came the N64, and Star Fox 64.  It’s still one of my favorite games of all time.  I joined a forum called Outside the GreatFox, a Star Fox forum that amazingly is still active today.  I was an active member and a regular in the IRC chat, from which I logged over a thousand pages of chat.  I really discovered fanfiction, and started writing it.

So you see where I’m going with this.  I played video games, but I spent more time writing and developing a sense of community (if online) than I did actually playing the games.  What I learned setting up my own sites is still valuable today, even if all I ever learned was the most basic of HTML.  I understood, long before mainstream media caught on, that there was a web culture, although I didn’t realize the significance at the time.  And gaming even pushed me to explore my creativity—in fact, one of the ideas I came up with (back in eighth grade) is an idea I still hope to someday write, although it has since evolved quite a bit and is obviously no longer a Star Fox fanfic. 

So yes, games have the potential to become brain-draining obsessions, but they also can have unexpectedly benevolent effects.  Like anything, they are what we make them. 

My Pokemans

Oh, the wonderful time of the new year when I start posting again.

This week’s topic is childhood.  I’m 22 years old, and I’d like to think that I’ve reached some semblance of adulthood.  I have my own place, my own income, my own health insurance.  I’m getting married in a few months.  I finally have a freakin’ graduation date.

But still, I thought I could make it to a solid 24, maybe 25, before getting nostalgic.  And yet, in my grown-up bedroom, a huge tub of Legos can be found under the bed, and there are stacks of Pokemon cards (organized by type, no less) on my desk.  Apparently, my maturity level peaked at 20.

Pokemon.  I want to look back from a logical standpoint; a company made a successful video game, and then milked it for all it was worth.  That’s all there is to it, right?

But damn those little bastards were awesome.

I was hooked.  I played Pokemon Blue, beat it, and then spent hours browsing the web to see if there was a legitimate Mew code out there, or if I could move that damn truck (remember how ridiculous some of those “codes” got?).  I pre-ordered Pokemon Silver.  I bought the figures.  I watched the movies (and even the show, which part of me even then thought was bad).  And I collected the trading cards.

I still can’t figure out what made those cards so popular with my friends.  Because most of them didn’t realize that it was called the Pokemon “Trading Card Game.”  It was a game!  It was a dumbed down version of Magic: The Gathering (which a few friends were getting in to) but at the time, it was easier to get into, with only a couple different sets of cards to choose from.  To me, it was like the original game, but with real, physical collectables.  And all my friends collected them too, so there should have been tons of people to play with.

Except nobody else knew how to play.

They bought the expansion packs, and they traded for their favorites, and then their cards just…sat there.  It was mindboggling.  And I think that’s why I can’t fully denounce my Pokemon-addled past.  Sure, I was caught up in the hype, but I really liked the games.  I was legit, if it was even possible.

And now?  Now, I still want to play it.  I still have the cards.  Hell, I even found a card swapping site just to see if I could get rid of some extras to pick up some that would be more useful.  Some days, I’m tempted to grab one of the newest expansion packs, just for kicks.  Apparently you’re never too young to remember your youth.

One last note on Pokemon; My fiance and I both had the same favorite Pokemon: Vaporeon.  It was meant to be.