IE drive by Exploit and Zone Alarm Extreme Antivirus
Many people have misconceptions about viruses. They believe that one has to open an infected email attachment or download a program. However, as viruses are becoming more sophisticated, virus writers are also finding new ways to infect Windows systems. The latest malware are referred to as drive by downloads. What this means is that a user will visit, whether knowingly or not, a malicious website. The website will then automatically download the virus onto ones computer. The user doesn't even need to click on or download anything from the website. The virus is automatically installed regardless of the user's action. The latest drive by virus affects Windows XP and Windows 2000 users but thankfully not Vista or Windows 7 users. The virus uses an exploit in Direct X which is the Microsoft graphics subsystem through a malicious Quicktime video. Once the Quicktime video is executed, the hacker can gain complete control over a windows system. Luckily there are several ways that one can avoid this virus. The first way is that the virus only affects Internet Explorer users. Firefox and Chrome users are not affected. Next, consider installing a free antivirus with phishing or malicious link detection. These antivirus software will scan all of a website's links for malicious intentions.
Zone Alarm is an excellent freeware firewall and is recommended by Free antivirus help on the main homepage. Recently, the firewall was purchased by Checkpoint firewall which is an enterprise company who wanted to make a foray into the consumer market. The latest zone alarm product is the Zone Alarm Extreme Security 8.0 which incorporates multiple security features into one. The first is antivirus. The antivirus solution is provided by none other than the venerable Kaspersky Antivirus company. In tests, the product was excellent at detection and easily detected all of the test viruses. According to PC world, the software excelled at root kit detection, which are some of the most devastating viruses in the wild. Zone Alarm with Kaspersky was also able to detect all of the current root kits and easily disinfect them. The next features that the security bundle includes is a product called force field. This security program will block exactly what was causing problems in the previous article; drive by downloads. The software also includes free identity theft monitoring for a year and an online back up service. Zone Alarm Extreme Security is an excellent total pc security antivirus.