Fortress PC
How can you patch up the holes and keep attackers at bay? Our ultimate guide to system security gives you the tools you need: antivirus utilities, firewalls, file encryptors, and other PC protectors.Stan Miastkowski
As Henry Kissinger once said, "Even a paranoid has some real enemies." And anyone who uses a computer has something to fear from the Internet's scurvy crew of hackers, crackers, and virus writers, or from companies that want to track your surfing habits. But you don't need to be paranoid; you just need the right tools to protect your PC.
We compared almost two dozen hardware and software defenses against a variety of security and privacy threats, and we designed a tool kit of both must-have and optional products for each of three computing environments:
- a home PC used by one or more members of a family;
- a group of networked PCs in a small-business setting with limited IT support;
- a laptop used for business travel (see " Portable Security Tool Kit").
To create our tool kits, we looked at five antivirus utilities, six software firewalls, three hardware firewalls, four file-encryption products, a pair of e-mail encryptors, and two anonymous-surfing utilities. (For buying information and details on all the products we review, see the table. See "Internet Security Downloads" for trial versions of some of these products and other related software.) We also looked at products for managing Internet cookies; see our review for our picks.
Most Internet threats affect both home and office PC users. Some, such as viruses, are equally important to both groups. Other threats are more prominent for one group or the other: Companies that track Web surfing habits, for example, are a matter of concern mostly for home users who are worried about protecting their personal privacy.
Every home user should first install a reliable antivirus program to help defend against viruses and Trojan horses, which can do anything from stealing passwords to reformatting your hard drive to allowing hackers to take command of your system.
After guarding against viruses, home users may want a firewall to block potential exposure to outside attacks. The danger of being hacked is fairly small if you connect occasionally via a dial-up modem, but the risks are greater if you have a high-speed, always-on broadband connection such as DSL or cable. To further protect against snoops, you may choose to encrypt confidential files such as financial records and e-mail.
Surfing the Web presents additional dangers. Many sites (and their advertisers) track visitors' browsing habits. An anonymizing service can keep your identity and surfing preferences private. Finally, recent attacks on e-commerce Web sites, such as the infiltration of Egghead.com last December, raise concerns about hackers stealing credit card numbers from customer databases. Credit card companies are offering new services to reduce these risks.
If your home is also your office, or if you are in charge of computers for a small business, you face additional challenges. You probably have a high-speed Internet connection and are therefore an easier target for snoops and troublemakers--especially if you run a Web site. You also have to manage securing an entire network against viruses and hackers. In addition, you may need to protect proprietary information by encrypting sensitive files and e-mail communications.
How We Tested
When choosing antivirus software, we considered vendors whose products have been effective in past PC World tests and independently certified by ICSA Labs for their reliability at catching viruses and repairing damaged files. We evaluated the ease of installing the products, running them, and updating the all-important virus-signature files that protect against the latest malicious scripts.
The PC World Test Center evaluated how well firewalls distinguished between hostile and friendly activities. We planted the Back Orifice 2000 Trojan horse on a test system and attempted to access it from our attacking computer. We ran a port scanner to find open access points, and we tried connecting to a shared hard drive. Finally, we tested whether the firewalls blocked TSAdbot, a component of some freeware programs that downloads and displays advertisements while sending data back to its maker.
Along with blocking harmful connections, a firewall should permit legitimate Internet usage. We tested this by separately running seven common applications: Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5.5 and NetMeeting 3.0, WS-FTP LE 5.0, ICQ 2000, Napster 2.0, RealPlayer 6.0, and Symantec's PCAnywhere 9.2.
We tested file and e-mail encryption software, noted whether the products use trusted, peer-reviewed encryption standards, and looked for extra features, such as the ability to hide files. To evaluate anonymous surfing utilities, we observed whether the products caused noticeable slowdowns in surfing speed and whether they worked with software that requires cookies (such as Web-based e-mail).
Editors' Note (4/12/01): Contrary to a statement originally made in the comparison chart, the free version of Freedom 2.0 includes a firewall and a cookie manager. The $50 Premium version adds anonymous surfing, e-mail, and chat.
Tools for Safe Surfing: Features Comparison (chart)
| Antivirus utility | Price | Best pick | Comments |
| McAfee.com Clinic 888/622-3331 www.mcafee.com | $30 | Small office | Proven McAfee antivirus engine sold online provides full-time protection, automatic updates for $30 per PC per year. Discounted 20 percent with the purchase of five or more licenses. |
| McAfee VirusScan ASaP 877/796-9246 www.mcafeeasap.com | 1 | This ASP version of the McAfee antivirus engine is easy to set up, effective, and automatic (including updates). Designed for networks with broadband, it is comparatively expensive. | |
| Network Associates McAfee VirusScan 800/338-8754 www.mcafee-at-home.com | $29 | Effective, but not as easy to set up as other antivirus products. Provides scheduled automatic scans, but not automatic updates. Free engine and virus-signature updates in first year; $5 per year thereafter. | |
| Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2001 800/441-7234 www.symantec.com | $40 | Home | Effective protection from a past PC World Best Buy. Easy to set up and use. Five-user pack sells for $160. Includes one year of virus-signature updates; additional updates are $4 per year. |
| Trend Micro PC-cillin 2000 800/228-5651 www.antivirus.com/pc-cillin | $402 | Home | Great interface, automatic updates, and fast virus scans. Includes a content filter for objectionable Web sites. No discount for multiple purchases. |
| Software firewall | Price | Best pick | Comments |
| McAfee.com Personal Firewall 888/622-3331 www.mcafee.com | $40 | Easy to set up; includes a small list of preapproved apps. Automatically downloads updates. Discounted 20 percent with the purchase of five or more licenses. | |
| McAfee PC FireWall ASaP 877/796-9246 www.mcafeeasap.com | 1 | Designed for networks, it is effective and easy to set up. Automatic updates require minimal user intervention. Relatively expensive. | |
| Network ICE BlackICE Defender 2.1 650/532-4100 www.networkice.com | $40 | Home | Needs minimal user input. Provides detailed information on attacks, including source IP address; logs suspicious network activity and displays information graphically. Does not monitor applications. |
| Symantec Norton Personal Firewall 2001 800/441-7234 www.symantec.com | $50 | Easy to set up and use; customizable security levels. Alerts let you screen traffic on the fly. Filters cookies and malicious scripts, and blocks Web-site attempts to harvest personal info from your system. | |
| Zero-Knowledge Systems Freedom 2.0 514/286-2636 www.zeroknowledge.com | Free | Includes effective Web-based personal firewall, form filler, cookie manager, and ad manager. Works with common e-mail clients, but can be difficult to install and set up as well as finicky to uninstall. | |
| Zone Labs ZoneAlarm Pro 415/341-8200 www.zonelabs.com | $403 | Home | Highly configurable, network ready; stops outside attacks and lets you selectively allow or disallow Internet access by application. MailSafe quarantines potentially harmful e-mail attachments. |
| Hardware firewall and router | Price | Best pick | Comments |
| Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router 800/546-5797 www.linksys.com | $149 | Small office | Inexpensive; includes router for up to four networked PCs (and is expandable to 253 users). Overcoming some limitations on incoming services in the default configuration required extensive tweaking. |
| SonicWall Tele2 888/557-6642 www.sonicwall.com | $450 | High-priced for a unit that handles only four PCs, but advanced features include a virtual private network. Preset services allow for easy setup, but other services (such as ICQ) are difficult to configure. | |
| WatchGuard SOHO 2.2 800/734-9905 www.watchguard.com | $450 | Includes dynamic packet filtering; allows full outside access to one PC (useful for a Web server). Base price is for ten users; expandable to 50 ($510 more). Can be tedious to install. | |
| File encryptor | Price | Best pick | Comments |
| CenturionSoft Steganos Security Suite 202/293-5151 www.centurionsoft.com | $60 | Home/small office | Easy-to-use 128-bit encryption suite includes password management, file shredder, password-protected system lock, and encrypted e-mail. Considerable discounts for multiple licenses. |
| CyPost Navaho Lock with Voice 3.0 877/297-6781 www.cypost.com | $504 | Provides up to 168-bit encryption to scramble files, text-based e-mail, and voice messages for e-mail attachment. | |
| Network Associates PGP Personal Privacy 800/338-8754 www.mcafee-at-home.com | $19 | One of the first readily available encryption utilities, PGP provides 128-bit encryption and supports VPNs, but it is complex to set up and use. Does not support Windows Me. | |
| Panda Software Panda Security 800/603-4922 www.pandasecurity.com | $60 | Supports 448-bit file encryption and provides PC access control including secure log-on, limits on access to software and hardware, and auditing of PC use. Not designed for Windows Me, NT, or 2000. | |
| E-mail encryptor | Price | Best pick | Comments |
| Hush Communications HushMail 801/990-3490 www.hushmail.com | Free | Easy-to-use Web-based encryption. Offers limited integration with POP3 e-mail programs (expanded coverage is in the works). Recipients of encrypted e-mail must also be registered HushMail users. | |
| Sigaba Secure 650/572-6100 www.sigaba.com | Free | Home/small office | Highly secure encryption keeps keys separate from messages by generating the keys at Sigaba servers. Easy to set up and use, but currently lacks support for some major e-mail clients. |
| Anonymous-surfing service | Price | Best pick | Comments |
| Anonymizer 888/270-0141 www.anonymizer.com | $50 | Home | Easy to use and works with any browser. Allows the secure use of cookies with sites that require them. URL encryption hides browsing history from prying eyes. Secure tunneling version is $110 per year. |
| Zero-Knowledge Systems Freedom 2.0 514/286-2636 www.zeroknowledge.com | Free | Free version includes a firewall and a cookie manager. Premium version ($50) adds anonymous surfing, e-mail, and chat. Requires tricky installation of application. |
Home Tool Kit
We evaluated four home antivirus programs with proven track records: the ASP-based McAfee.com Clinic, plus the shrink-wrapped products McAfee VirusScan from Network Associates, Norton AntiVirus 2001 from Symantec, and PC-cillin 2000 from Trend Micro. We chose two PC antivirus tools--Norton AntiVirus 2001 ($40) and PC-cillin 2000 ($40 shrink-wrapped or $30 as a download).
Last year's version of Norton AntiVirus took the Best Buy award in our February 2000 antivirus roundup, and it remains one of our favorites. Like other leading antivirus products, Norton combines the tried-and-true method of scanning for known virus signatures with a process known as heuristics, which attempts to intercept new, unknown viruses by examining programs for viruslike behavior.
The product is easy to set up and, like any effective antivirus utility, has a real-time scanner that runs in the background. Norton's LiveUpdate engine checks for new virus definitions whenever you are connected to the Internet and automatically downloads the latest updates.
PC-cillin has a more graphical and intuitive interface than Norton's, it's a bit faster at scanning your entire PC for viruses, and it can more easily be set to automatically download virus updates. It also provides a basic password-protected content-filtering mechanism for blocking URLs of Web sites that home users may consider dangerous or inappropriate for children.
Home Firewalls
Many home users--especially those with high-speed connections--should set up a software firewall. We tested the ASP-based McAfee.com Personal Firewall along with BlackICE Defender 2.1 from Network ICE, Norton Personal Firewall 2001 from Symantec, Zero-Knowledge Systems' Freedom 2.0 (which includes anonymous surfing and cookie management), and Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm Pro.
Overall, the software firewalls were impressive and effective--each passed all or nearly all of the tests we threw at it. We chose our two favorite tools--BlackICE Defender and ZoneAlarm Pro (each a $40 download)--based on how easy they are to set up and use and how effectively they provide information to the user (such as details on blocked hack attacks). Earlier versions of both products shared the Best Buy in our September 2000 firewall roundup, "Make Your PC Hacker-Proof."
BlackICE Defender is a no-frills utility: It's easy to set up, it has an intuitive interface, and it doesn't need much attention. Resembling an antivirus program, it quietly checks all the Net traffic coming into your PC against a database of known hacking methods and scans for known Trojan horses. (Updates can be set to run automatically.) It stopped all the attacks in our tests.
If you want to know precisely what BlackICE Defender is doing, you can review a detailed list of suspicious probes and their originating IP addresses. Defender also provides an intuitive graphical display of all network activity, the intensity of outside probes, and their severity over a period of time.
ZoneAlarm Pro is considerably more complex. It not only filters incoming data but also watches which programs on your system attempt to access the Internet. You can allow connections on a case-by-case basis or tell ZoneAlarm to remember your preference every time the application runs. By watching individual programs, ZoneAlarm Pro can catch and block Trojan horses and "spyware" programs, which send information about you and your PC back to their makers.
Pro includes a feature called MailSafe, which allows you to quarantine e-mail attachments that may carry viruses or Trojan horses. And if you opt to set up a small home network, Pro can also filter traffic passing through a gateway PC that uses network address translation or Internet connection sharing. With Pro installed on every PC, the gateway computer can monitor all traffic and applications.
Zone Labs offers home users a free version of ZoneAlarm that provides similar protection but fewer customization options and no network support. It also includes a simpler version of MailSafe. For home users who don't need Pro's extra features, the free download is a great choice.
File Encryptors
We looked at four file-encryption products--CenturionSoft's Steganos Security Suite, CyPost's Navaho Lock, Network Associates' PGP Personal Privacy, and Panda Software's Panda Security. Steganos Security Suite ($60) wins our recommendation. It protects your data with extremely secure 128-bit encryption, which you activate by simply dragging and dropping a file onto an icon of a safe. You then unlock the data with a password.
But Steganos stands out because of the many additional security features it offers. For example, you can use a process called steganography to create a hidden drive letter for encrypted data or to hide one data file inside another. Steganos also has a handy password-management utility for storing all your passwords in an encrypted folder; a virtual shredder, which ensures that deleted files cannot be retrieved; and a feature called SysLock that password-protects access to your computer.
Steganos even lets you encrypt e-mail, although, as you'll see later, we preferred another product for this task. Steganos doesn't come with a manual, but it's so intuitive, you don't really need one.
Must-Have
Antivirus utility: Norton AntiVirus 2001 or PC-cillin 2000
Optional
Firewall: BlackICE Defender 2.1 or ZoneAlarm Pro
File encryptor: Steganos Security Suite
E-mail encryptor: Sigaba Secure
Anonymous-surfing service: Anonymizer
Private E-Mail & Browsing
Home users seldom send extremely sensitive information in e-mail, but everyone conducts some correspondence that is worth extra precautions to keep private. We looked at two e-mail encryption products that provide an additional measure of security. Hush Communications' HushMail and Sigaba Secure are both attractively priced: They're free. But we were most impressed with Sigaba for its ease of use and its support of multiple types of e-mail.
To use Sigaba Secure, you first download a small plug-in for your e-mail utility. At the time of our testing, Sigaba supported the POP3 e-mail clients Microsoft Outlook and Eudora, as well as the Web-based e-mail services Yahoo Mail and Hotmail. According to Sigaba representatives, plug-ins for Outlook Express, Lotus Notes 5.0, and Novell GroupWise should be ready at the end of April.
HushMail, in contrast, supported only Web-based e-mail at the time we conducted our tests, although we learned at press time that Hush Communications was preparing to launch a new free version called HushMail Professional that will integrate into Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, Microsoft Internet Mail, Eudora, and Lotus cc:Mail. HushMail says the Professional version should be available by the time you read this.
Sigaba uses 128-bit encryption based on the well-known Blowfish algorithm in a unique, extremely secure scheme that keeps the message and the decrypting key separate until they reach their destination. Sigaba's servers generate a onetime key when you send an encrypted message, and your recipient retrieves the key from Sigaba via a Secure Sockets Layer connection after receiving the e-mail. Your message never passes through Sigaba's servers.
In addition, with Sigaba you can find out if the recipient has read your e-mail, and at what time. Recipients need a Sigaba account to decrypt the message. If they do not already subscribe, however, they get a prompt and instructions for signing up when the encrypted e-mail arrives. (Recipients enter their e-mail address and password to retrieve the key.) With HushMail, in contrast, messages are sent unencrypted to any recipients who are not registered users.
Whether tracking of online surfing habits is truly harmful or merely annoying, it is a concern for a significant number of Internet users. It's easy for companies to do, even if you have a firewall installed. But anonymizing services put an end to that practice by routing your surfing through intermediate proxy servers, making it impossible to trace where the connection is coming from.
We tried out two products--Anonymizer and Zero-Knowledge Freedom 2.0--and we chose the venerable Anonymizer, which has been around since 1996. There's nothing to install with Anonymizer; you just sign up for the service and start surfing using your regular browser. A box appears at the top of each Web page showing that you're surfing anonymously, with all your Web traffic being routed through Anonymizer's proxy servers.
Freedom 2.0 works similarly, although it offers a few more bells and whistles, such as a built-in firewall. Freedom 2.0 also requires that you use its software, which we found difficult to install and configure.
Like any anonymous-surfing utility, Anonymizer slows down your browsing slightly. The delay is most perceptible during peak Web-surfing hours, and with a dial-up connection--the lag is not as noticeable over a broadband hookup.
In a world of often-free Internet utilities, Anonymizer is relatively expensive ($50 per year). It's a proven and useful service, however, and it includes some handy features: Safe Cookies allows you to use Web sites that require cookies in order to function (such as Yahoo Mail). Anonymizer also encrypts URLs, ensuring that those with access to your machine won't be able to retrace your surfing steps.
The truly paranoid can opt for a $110-per-year version of the service that includes a "secure tunneling" encrypted connection between your PC and the Anonymizer servers to protect against the remote chance that a hacker may be intercepting your surfing activity.
Credit Card Security
Finally, for people reluctant to use their credit cards on the Internet, or afraid their families will bust the budget shopping online, three major credit card companies offer solutions.
American Express Private Payments is a free service for Amex cardholders that creates a temporary card number for each transaction. Hackers who break into a Web site's customer database will get only this number (which expires after 60 days), not the real credit card number. Discover Card offers a similar service. And Visa Buxx is a card with a preset spending limit designed specifically for teenagers, so you can let the kids do a little online shopping without fear that they'll blow their college fund on EBay.
All-in-One Home Toolbox?
No single package includes all of the tools you need for complete home PC security, but some companies offer bundles with many of the key elements.
Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2001 ($70), for instance, combines Norton's antivirus and firewall applications with its Privacy Control utility, which blocks cookies and banner ads; it also blocks Web sites from retrieving personal information from your computer. The $80 Family Edition adds a Parental Control content filter that lets parents block access to Web sites they consider inappropriate for their children.
At press time, we learned that Trend Micro was planning to integrate the basic version of Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm into its PC-cillin product. As noted previously, PC-cillin includes a content filter.
Finally, Network Associates sells a boxed version of McAfee Office that includes the company's antivirus and firewall utilities, the PGP file-encryption application, and the Internet Guard Dog suite, which includes a content filter, a cookie manager, and an ad blocker. (Office also includes system maintenance tools such as diagnostic and repair utilities and a program uninstaller.)
None of these packages incorporates all of our tool-kit selections, but the upcoming Trend Micro package--which will feature our recommended antivirus utility and a basic version of our recommended firewall--comes the closest.
Small-Office Tool Kit
Although any reputable antivirus package is appropriate for a small workgroup, keeping each user equipped with the latest updates and virus signatures can be a never-ending battle. So we gave special weight to ease of installation and maintenance in our evaluations, and as a result, we chose the ASP McAfee.com Clinic as the friendliest product for a workgroup to use. At $30 per PC per year (or $24 for orders of five or more), McAfee.com Clinic is priced competitively with shrink-wrapped products. Clinic also includes additional services, such as file-cleaning utilities.
Installation is simple--just sign up and download the engine. The unobtrusive, browser-based interface allows users to easily configure automatic scans and updates (but doesn't allow central administration). Clinic uses the same core antivirus technology as the shrink-wrapped McAfee VirusScan, but the ASP offering is considerably easier to use.
Of the three small-business hardware firewall/routers we examined--the Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router, SonicWall Tele2, and WatchGuard SOHO 2.2--we chose the Linksys. It's inexpensive ($149) and is both a firewall and a router that lets up to four networked PCs use one broadband Internet connection. You can expand your network to as many as 253 users by adding hubs or switches to the router.
The Linksys passed all our attack tests and was relatively easy to use. The default setup--essentially plug and play--works fine for most uses, although you'll have to do some tweaking if you want to use two-way communication apps, such as PCAnywhere, over the Internet.
The same encryption products we recommend for home are the best choices in an office as well: Steganos Security Suite and Sigaba Secure. Anonymous surfing is unlikely to be a concern for businesses. But if employees have a legitimate business reason to cloak their surfing--and if managers feel it is worth the investment--we recommend Anonymizer.
Prudent, Not Paranoid
However you access the Net, you'd be wise to safeguard your security and privacy. If you don't have minimal protection--an antivirus utility and (for many people) a software firewall--you're living on borrowed time. Security threats are on the rise, and your online privacy isn't guaranteed. You can protect yourself.
Must-Have
Antivirus utility: McAfee.com Clinic
Firewall: Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router
Optional
File encryptor: Steganos Security Suite
E-mail encryptor: Sigaba Secure
Stan Miastkowski is a contributing editor for PC World, and Seán Captain is an associate editor for PC World.
Safety Tips: Security Advice From a Pro
George Kurtz, CEO of the security firm Foundstone and coauthor of the book Hacking Exposed, helps major corporations protect their systems from attack. He assisted PC World in developing a list of basic safety tips for PC users. For more advice, see our interview "Three Minutes With George Kurtz."
Build walls and lock windows. A firewall watches traffic coming into your PC and blocks suspicious activity. But on a properly secured system it should be only a second line of defense. Most users don't need Windows' printer and file sharing, for instance, and making sure they are turned off (via the Network applet in Windows' Control Panel) removes your greatest vulnerability. For detailed configuration tips, see "Unsafe at High Speed."
Really use antivirus software. A good virus scanner is your most important security tool. But it's only as effective as it is current: Enable real-time scanning and be sure to update virus signatures and scan your drives at least once a week. Many antivirus packages allow you to set automatic drive scans and updates.
Toss out mysterious attachments. If you never let nefarious scripts into your PC, your virus scanner won't have to remove them. Don't open an attachment unless you are expecting it. And before running any attachment, save it to your hard disk and scan for viruses. For further advice on closing e-mail vulnerabilities, see "Batten Down Windows' Hatches!"
Apply security updates. Software and OS vendors often release security fixes. Learn about the latest patches in our monthly Bugs and Fixes column and by checking with Microsoft.
--Seán Captain
Safety on the Road: Portable Security Tool Kit
The antivirus utilities and firewalls we recommend for home desktop PCs work just as well on laptops. You won't go wrong with Norton AntiVirus 2001 or PC-cillin 2000, or with BlackICE Defender or ZoneAlarm Pro. But laptop security has another dimension: Even if a hacker can't download your data, a thief can carry it off.
Portable but illegible: Though most thieves steal portables simply for the hardware, 10 to 15 percent of laptop thefts are targeted at valuable data, according to Gartner Group vice president William Malik.
For data protection, we chose PC Guardian's Road Guardian Survival Package. This $100 suite combines physical security--an antitheft cable with a lock--and file security in the form of Encryption Plus, which provides 192-bit encryption of files and e-mail. It's easy to use: Encryption is automatic for the files you designate, and files are automatically re-encrypted when you close them. Encryption Plus also supports e-mail encryption.
Calling for help: For an annual subscription fee of $50, Computrace provides software that periodically "phones home" (the Computrace monitoring center) when the notebook is attached to a LAN, a broadband line, or a dial-up connection. And a thief will have no idea the software is installed: It runs in stealth mode and can survive hard-drive reformatting. If you report your notebook stolen, Computrace and your local police will work to recover it.
Finally, sometimes a low-tech solution can save the day. The aptly named StuffBak provides labels that you attach to your laptop (or virtually anything else). Each label costs $2 and contains a message offering a reward for the item's return, a toll-free number, and a serial number that you register on the company's Web site. If an item is found, you pay shipping charges and a $10 service fee to retrieve it. Obviously, thieves are unlikely to use StuffBak labels to return your PC; but if it's simply lost, or stolen and later disposed of, you may get it back.
--Stan Miastkowski
PC World Recommends
Antivirus utility: Norton AntiVirus 2001 or PC-cillin 2000
Firewall: BlackICE Defender or ZoneAlarm Pro
File encryptor: Road Guardian Survival Package
Equipment security: Computrace and StuffBak
Future Threat: Your Next Virus Infection
Automatic updates aren't just for antivirus programs; viruses themselves are getting into the act. Raul Elnitiarta of Symantec's Antivirus Research Center says we can expect more scripts that download plug-ins to expand their capabilities, like the W32.hybris Trojan horse. Hybris was a "sleeper" for most of 2000, according to Elnitiarta, but by February 2001, it accounted for 40 percent of all suspicious scripts sent to SARC for analysis. "I think it sets the trend for the near future," he says.
Elnitiarta thinks that someday we may see more viruses infecting handhelds. Only three such scripts now exist (they were published on the Internet to prove their feasibility), and all affect Palm-based devices: The Trojan horse Liberty and the virus Phage delete files, and the Trojan horse Vapor hides files. Liberty and Vapor can only be synched from an infected PC, but Phage can be transmitted directly from one handheld to another when users beam files to each other.
Elnitiarta says that cell phone viruses haven't appeared because the devices don't share a common operating system--no one is writing viruses to target just Nokia phones, for example. But if a single OS becomes standard for handhelds, they'll be as hospitable an environment as today's Windows-based PCs.
--Seán Captain
Resources: Safety in Knowledge
Forewarned is forearmed. Here are a few starting points if you'd like to dig deeper.
On PCWorld.com:
- Keep Web Snoops at Bay
- How It Works on viruses, personal firewalls, file encryption, and Web cookies