Error in deserializing body of reply message for operation 'Translate'. The maximum string content length quota (8192) has been exceeded while reading XML data. This quota may be increased by changing the MaxStringContentLength property on the XmlDictionaryReaderQuotas object used when creating the XML reader. Line 2, position 9174.
With years of experience removing viruses (AKA Malware) I know first hand how difficult and impossible removing viruses can be. I have spent countless hours fighting, kicking and screaming at a computer screen in hopes of sending the virus to a violent cyber-death. However, my personal computer has never been infected with a virus. Therefore, I am writing a 'users-guide' to virus-free computing. There are many valuable sites out there who give the basic steps to staying clean but I am going to attempt to go one step further and explain some of the lesser-know techniques.
Before we get started lets ask the million-dollar question; "Why do people create viruses?"
The motivations behind the creation of viruses are numerous. Traditionally, malware was written by college kids for 'bragging rights' or by disgruntled employees. Today, the majority of malware is written for financial gain. There are many ways in which a malware author can make money off of you or your computer. Their main source of income is using rogue Anti-Virus software to 'scare' the user into inputting their credit card in order to 'clean' their computer. This is a complete scam! What starts as a seemingly innocent warning about a virus on your machine quickly turns into numerous pop-ups and nag screens to the point that you can no longer use the computer. All the screens point you to 'registering' the software to get rid of all these viruses. Once you "register the software" the computer is still infected because the program asking to be registered is itself the virus.
If you do happen to give them your credit card you can contact you financial institution and request a new credit card and a refund of the money charged. Clients of mine have done this without any major headaches, however some banks will probably be more difficult to deal with than others.
Although there are technical things you can to keep viruses from infecting your machine this article focuses on the user and what you can do to keep from getting infected. Whether it is opening an email message, downloading a music file or trying to watch a video someone sent you on facebook, (almost) all infections require the user to do something to get infected.
The Basic Steps
Avoid All Peer-to-Peer Downloads - Peer-to-Peer networks include; Limewire, Bit-torrent, Frostwire, Gnutella, Kazaa and Bearshare. These file sharing networks are used to exchange files from one user to the other. Due to their high exposure and the fact that viruses can be easily disguised as legitimate files, peer-to-peer network are to be avoided at all costs. If you are only downloading music or movie files you are still EXTREMELY exposed to infections. Once I remove a virus from a computer and the computer has a peer-to-peer program installed, I also remove the peer-to-peer program. NEVER DOWNLOAD FROM PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS.
Keep Your Anti-Virus Software Updated - New viruses are being released all the time therefore your Anti-Virus program needs to be updated on a daily basis. Most modern Anti-Virus programs do this automatically.
Keep Your System Updated - Keeping your computer's operating system up-to-date is extremely important. The 'bad guys' are always looking and finding new vulnerabilities in your computer therefore, it is absolutely vital that you install new updates as they are released. The steps to updating your system can be found here: Windows XP, Vista, Seven, Mac OS X.
The Not-So-Basic Steps
Never Open E-Mail Attachments From Forwards - I know you may enjoy the pretty PowerPoint presentations that your co-workers send you but they can get you infected. This includes all forwards that have any attachments. I will not go into details about which file types can contain malware instead, DO NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS WHICH ARE FORWARDED to you.
Never Search For 'Free' Things - This includes games, coupons, software and the like. If your children use the Internet to find free games it is only a matter of time before you get infected. If you are looking for software use the term 'open source' instead of 'free'. Searching for free games, coupons and software will not only open your computer to an infection but will heighten your chance of being involved in other types of scams.
Never View Unethical Sites - Never go to any 'unethical' sites on the Internet. This includes pornography, hacking and software piracy sites. Depending on your source most porn sites do not contain viruses but I would stay far away from any 'unethical' site. Like I said in the introduction, these are steps which I have used to stay virus free since the inception of the ARPAnet.
Never Watch Videos that Request a Download - This is a new tactic the malware authors are using these days; when trying to view a video you receive a request to "update your java/Adobe Flash/other player" or "download codec to view video". The update/codec is not a legitimate download and once it is downloaded your computer starts a downward spiral into a deep cyber-virus pit.
Always Download Drivers from the Manufactures Website - In my career I have to search and download drivers all the time. I do not have proof that the third-party driver sites contain viruses but there is no need to use them when you can download straight from the manufactures website. Once again, this is what I have been doing for years to stay virus free.
The Advanced Steps
Break Out of the Box - Use a Mac, Linux or some another system that is not the majority out there.
I am not against Microsoft products in any way. The fact still remains; the majority of all viruses are written for Windows based machines running Internet Explorer or Firefox.
If you were writing a piece of malicious software with the intention of making money, you would write the software to run on the most often used platform. Therefore, if you, the user are using an operating system or browser that is not the 'most used' you are greatly reducing (and possibly eliminating) your chance of getting infected.
These alternate options are becoming easier to use. I personally use a flavor of Linux called Ubuntu on my personal computer. An Ubuntu or a Mac OS X system will not see a virus for a LONG, LONG time. The more of the personal computer market share that Macs or Ubuntu start taking the more likely malware authors will start considering writing malware for those systems. It is not that these systems are free from infection (something techies like to debate) but rather it is just not practical for malware authors to spend time finding a venerability and then writing software to exploit that hole.
Bonus
What to do once infected - There are many resources you can utilize to clean your machine. Online resources include 'malware removal forums' where trained technicians will work with you and give you step-by-step instructions to cleaning your machine. Some popular websites that have highly trained technician to assist in removing viruses are; GeeksToGo.com or BleepingComputer.com. If you do not want to deal with removing the virus yourself, you can contact a local computer repair shop. I run a local computer repair shop who services the central Ohio areas.
Rick L Jones is the owner of Intechrity Computer Services. Intechrity Computer Services provides computer repair and network management solutions to the central Ohio area. He will graduate Western Governors University with a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology and currently holds five industry recognized I.T. certifications.
Rick L Jones
http://www.intechritycomputerservices.com/
Cisco Certified Network Associate
Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician
CompTIA Network+ Certified