Win XP and Chrome

Mountain Mama, trouble is that its those 3rd party plugins I mentioned that are what makes your XP machine vulnerable. Using Chrome won't help that. Its not as confusing as it sounds. If you must continue to use XP, uninstall Java, Flashplayer, and Adobe Acrobat reader. That won't make you completely safe, but it will help a lot.

rk911 wrote:
I presume that Google (they own YouTube) takes steps to make sure the videos are scrubbed but the same applys to them as it does to you. you don't know what you don't know.

Never make assumptions. A very large international malware ring was busted a couple of years ago. How they got malware on people's machines was they bought what appeared to be legitimate ads on well known sites like the New York Times. The ads were linked back to malware servers and automatically downloaded malicious code to people's PCs.

Mountain Mama wrote:
Ok, yes, I'm even more confused....

I have Chrome already downloaded on my computer. Can I just open it and use it like I've used IE in the past? I have AVG free virus scan that runs daily and will add Malawarebytes. I've used it in the past but think I deleted it due to it slowing down PC and it never found anything. My DH watches a lot of music videos on youtube so I don't know what to do about that. Can he not access it thru Chrome and it be safe?

well, you're safer than if you were not using AVG. be sure that AVG updates itself at least once per day. same for MalwareBytes. I presume that Google (they own YouTube) takes steps to make sure the videos are scrubbed but the same applys to them as it does to you. you don't know what you don't know. if you, or Google, don't update the signature file (AVG in your case and whatever Google may be doing) you'll never detect the nastys that will make it through.

Ok, yes, I'm even more confused....

I have Chrome already downloaded on my computer. Can I just open it and use it like I've used IE in the past? I have AVG free virus scan that runs daily and will add Malawarebytes. I've used it in the past but think I deleted it due to it slowing down PC and it never found anything. My DH watches a lot of music videos on youtube so I don't know what to do about that. Can he not access it thru Chrome and it be safe?

MNGeeks61 wrote:

Campfire Time wrote:
And remove the malware magnets. Java, Flash Player, and the Adobe Reader.

Maybe you didn't confuse the OP, but I think I am -
Out of curiousity, I assume you mean to remove these from IE?

From Add/Remove programs. That will also remove the IE plugins.

Java - which one are you referring to? Java, JavaScript? Javascript is used on more than a few sites...can't remove it anyway. So I'm guessing Java, which isn't always installed on XP.

Java, not Java Script. They are different things. And its almost always installed by something, a game, a web site, etc. Usually more than one version is installed. Java is extremely vulnerable and is the number one attack vector. Its expected to be targeted even more in 2014. It should be removed from MACs also.

FlashPlayer - if you remove it from Chrome, no videos will play on Youtube or various sites :)

Question for you. What's more important to you, your online security, or a silly video of someone's cat? I got rid of Flash long ago and don't miss it in the slightest. BTW, Flash is also very high on the list for exploits. And its no longer being actively developed except to fix security bugs which are released almost monthly.

OP: As already stated, just keep your antivirus/antimalware updated, make sure it does an "active" scan (scanning while opening a file) and where possible automatically updates. (Malwarebytes won't auto-update unless you pay for it). Also suggested rootkit revealer or something similar. Make sure you run it all at least weekly if you're going to stay on XP :)

This is good advice. Yes, run a scanner regularly. What we've found at work that's much more effective than Malware Bytes is Rogue Killer.

I would add that using a DNS service like Open DNS can help block known malware sites as well as other nasty places you probably don't want to be.

Computer security has become much more complex. Running a simple A/V or anti-malware program is no longer enough. You have to take a layered approach to security.

Campfire Time wrote:
And remove the malware magnets. Java, Flash Player, and the Adobe Reader.

Maybe you didn't confuse the OP, but I think I am -
Out of curiousity, I assume you mean to remove these from IE?

Java - which one are you referring to? Java, JavaScript? Javascript is used on more than a few sites...can't remove it anyway. So I'm guessing Java, which isn't always installed on XP.

FlashPlayer - if you remove it from Chrome, no videos will play on Youtube or various sites :)

Adobe Reader - agreed on that one, I use Foxit Reader myself.

OP: As already stated, just keep your antivirus/antimalware updated, make sure it does an "active" scan (scanning while opening a file) and where possible automatically updates. (Malwarebytes won't auto-update unless you pay for it). Also suggested rootkit revealer or something similar. Make sure you run it all at least weekly if you're going to stay on XP :)

Mountain Mama wrote:

rk911 wrote:
there may be the odd website that is configured for IE and which may not look or work right using Chrome but beyond that you shouldn't have any issues...browser wise. but the issue just isn't the browser...it's the OS. just be sure you have a robust A/V, anti-malware suite and keep the signature file up to date. of course, you should be doing that anyway.

Showing my ignorance here....what is a signature file??

no worries.

anti-virus/anti-spyware/anti-malware programs identify those threats by the signature they leave in your OS, browser or in an HTML encoded e-mail. think of it as a "fingerprint". as the software scans your browser pages, e-mail, etc. it looks for these "fingerprints" or signatures. none of these programs can detect what they can't identify. if the signature file does not contain the signature of the 'oh my God we're all gonna die in our beds' virus then it won't be detected.

I don't know of any A/V,A/S,A/M software that doesn't include the ability to keep it's associated signature file up-to-date. and that function can usually be automated. I have my software to automatically check for signature updates daily, usually after midnight. downloading a signature file is very quick and doesn't consume much data.

Mountain Mama wrote:

rk911 wrote:
there may be the odd website that is configured for IE and which may not look or work right using Chrome but beyond that you shouldn't have any issues...browser wise. but the issue just isn't the browser...it's the OS. just be sure you have a robust A/V, anti-malware suite and keep the signature file up to date. of course, you should be doing that anyway.

Showing my ignorance here....what is a signature file??

Sometimes referred to as a DAT file, its an updated file of known malware signatures. Usually updates to these come out 3-6 times per day. They should be automatic.

rk911 wrote:
there may be the odd website that is configured for IE and which may not look or work right using Chrome but beyond that you shouldn't have any issues...browser wise. but the issue just isn't the browser...it's the OS. just be sure you have a robust A/V, anti-malware suite and keep the signature file up to date. of course, you should be doing that anyway.

Showing my ignorance here....what is a signature file??

And remove the malware magnets. Java, Flash Player, and the Adobe Reader.

Yes, you definitely want to use either Firefox or Chrome browsers, as IE security updates are no longer supported in WIN XP. Browsers have become among the top applications for vulnerabilities which can act as a gateway to exploit your system. Do it now!