On a recent trip on Hong Kong, my wife wanted to check her e-mail. So we went to the common room in our hostel to use the shared computers there and found that the computers had no anti-virus! So out of curiosity, I did a scan with Clamwin Portable and found the following:
Scan Started Tue May 14 17:15:07 2002
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*** Scanning Programs in Computer Memory ***
*** Scanned 26 processes – 344 modules ***
*** Computer Memory Scan Completed ***
C:\WINDOWS\System32\fjnbv.dll: Trojan.Spy-33339 FOUND
C:\WINDOWS\System32\sperls.dll: Trojan.Spy-33339 FOUND
C:\WINDOWS\System32\winplay.exe: Trojan.Spy.Banker-5858 FOUND
C:\WINDOWS\System32\c4.exe: Trojan.Agent-4538 FOUND
C:\WINDOWS\System32\c5.exe: Trojan.Agent-4538 FOUND
C:\WINDOWS\System32\4.exe: Trojan.Ceckno FOUND
———– SCAN SUMMARY ———–
Known viruses: 280948
Engine version: 0.93
Scanned directories: 0
Scanned files: 370
Infected files: 6
Data scanned: 225.24 MB
Time: 62.297 sec (1 m 2 s)
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Completed
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… oh boy
So I thought it would be good to tell remind people how to be safe while you are away from home. These same tips also apply for public networks / computers in North America.
1. Make sure that the computer you are using has up to date anti-virus software installed. If you do not see it, don’t use it for anything more then checking your e-mail. And even then, consider changing your e-mail password when you get back home. Trojans and keyloggers can steal all sorts of data and passwords from you. Only use your own laptop computer for anything personal like banking or using a credit card.
2. Shields up! Make sure your firewall is up to prevent unwanted access to your laptop on the public network.
3. Use a SSH tunnel on a public network to encrypt your data. This step may be a bit much for some but it is definitely worth it for that extra security.
SSH tunneling how to from Engadget
Safe journey!