PC Pest Control

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PC Pest Control

By Preston Gralla

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Released: July 2005

Pages: 288

The Internet is rife with all kinds of creepy PC bugs. In the first six months of 2004, almost 5,000 new Windows viruses and worms were discovered that were capable of compromising computer security. But the pests that users deal with aren't limited to viruses. They're plagued with everything from spam to phishing.

But just because your computer is hooked up to the Internet doesn't mean your PC has to be at risk. In a constant battle of one-upmanship, the forces of good have devised a number of creative ways to fend off these Internet nasties in order to best protect your computer. And PC Pest Control from O'Reilly spells out how you can do just that.

Written in a friendly, engaging manner, this handy guide covers detection, prevention and cure, where you're vulnerable, and how to surf the web more safely. It also details how you can protect yourself against adware, spyware, home page hijackers, viruses, Trojans, spam, phishing attacks, and more.

For easy understanding, PC Pest Control describes each problem and its symptoms, rates the danger level, and then shows you how to solve the problem step by step. In addition, a supporting website keeps the book's content as up to date as possible, so you're always informed of the latest safeguards. And in a field that shifts as frequently as PC protection, that's a major advantage.

So if you want to make sure that your personal computer doesn't fall victim to attack-or if your system has already been infected and you want to start anew-then PC Pest Control is most definitely for you.

Overall Protection
1. Chapter 1 Your PC Is Not Your Own
  1. A Day in the Life
  2. How Bad is the Problem?
  3. A Field Guide to Pests
2. Chapter 2 Where You’re Vulnerable
  1. Basic Everyday Pest Protection
  2. An Inside Look at Where You’re Vulnerable
3. Chapter 3 Pest Prevention and Monitoring
  1. How to Keep Your System Secure
  2. Protect Yourself with a Firewall
  3. Tools for Monitoring Your System
4. Chapter 4 Killing Pests
  1. How to Detect a Pest
  2. How to Kill Pests Using Software
  3. How to Kill Pests Manually
  4. Using System Restore
  5. Using the Registry
  6. Fighting Specific Pests
Fighting Specific Pests
1. Chapter 5 Throw Internet Explorer Out the Window
  1. What’s Wrong with Internet Explorer?
  2. Lock Down Internet Explorer
  3. Get a Safer Browser
  4. Stop Pop Ups
  5. Take Control of Browser Helper Objects
  6. Crushing Cookies
2. Chapter 6 Adware, Spyware, and Home Page Hijackers
  1. Killing Spyware
  2. How Spyware Works
3. Chapter 7 Viruses, Trojans, and Bots
  1. Protecting Yourself Against Viruses
  2. How Viruses Work
  3. Protecting Yourself Against Trojans
  4. How Trojans Work
  5. Beware Of Bots
  6. How Bots Work
4. Chapter 8 Email, Worms, and Instant Messaging
  1. Protecting Yourself Against Email Pests
  2. How Email Pests Work
  3. Learn to Squish Worms
5. Chapter 9 Spam, Spam, and Spam
  1. THE DANGERS OF SPAM
  2. UNDERSTANDING THE SPAM RECIPE
  3. KEEP OFF SPAM LISTS
  4. PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM SPAM
  5. REPORTING SPAMMERS
6. Chapter 10 Protecting Yourself Against Phishing Attacks
  1. Protecting Yourself Against Phishing Attacks
  2. Protect Your Privacy by Surfing Anonymously
  3. Beware of Identity Theft
  4. Protecting Your Kids
7. Chapter 11 Wireless and Home Networking Dangers
  1. Protect Your Wireless Network
  2. How to Protect Yourself at Hotspots
  3. Protect Your Cell Phone

Appendix A Field Guide to Pests
1. Browser Helper Object (BHO)
2. Dangerous or Common BHOs
3. Spyware
4. Dangerous or Common Spyware Pests
5. Viruses
6. Dangerous or Common Viruses
7. Trojans
8. Dangerous or Common Trojans
9. BOTS
10. Dangerous or Common Bots
11. Instant-Messaging Pests
12. Dangerous or Common IM Pests