Interview with a Microsoft MVP

This is a ongoing feature based upon a previous entry here but due to time restraints upon myself and the individuals who agree to be interviewed this will now only be done a handful of times per year. This month askey127 a helper from the USA kindly agreed to be interviewed by myself online.

askey127 is a well respected member within the Anti-Malware community, an Admin/Teacher with the Malware Removal University, and also a recipient of the Microsoft MVP Award for Windows Consumer Security.

The interview as follows:-

Dakeyras:

What got you interested in the fight against malware, askey127?

askey127:

I wanted to volunteer for a useful objective after retirement. I was hoping to utilize some of the basic software experience I had used in my earlier engineering work.
Fortunately a lot of my experience was in data analysis of text files, which happened to coincide with much of the analysis used for malware.

Dakeyras:

How would you describe malware?

askey127:

I would describe malware as intrusive software written entirely for the benefit of the purveyor, but outside the ethics of normal commercial advertising.
It is also frequently in violation of most countries' laws governing fraud and theft.
The manner of intrusion varies from week to week, but is certainly becoming more and more aggressive.
A possible trend is that some malware writers are coming closer and closer to a "we will control it or we will wreck it" philosophy..

Dakeyras:

Do you think, given the current trends of various rogue applications on the market, this has a major impact on the average home user?

askey127:

It depends on what is meant by the "average home user".
It may be that less than half of users have seen any major personal impact.
Rogue (fake) applications frequently have a more insidious byproduct of infecting the computer with information-stealing software. The application offered is only a front.
Even though the number of seriously infected users may be a minority, for any user that has been infected by malicious software, the effects can be disastrous.
An identity theft can take years of hard work to clean up, and it may produce ruined credit and large financial losses.

Dakeyras:

Apart from the obvious ramifications of identity theft online via various mediums such as a keylogger or a back-door trojans/rootkits,
what advice would you give for online safety as in regard to the aforementioned?

askey127:

There are some primary protections that can be taken for online safety.
- Machines should be using one Antivirus and one AntiSpyware application, each set for automatic updating.
- Windows automatic updates should be turned on.
- A separate third party firewall should be used on mobile laptops, although installing and answering all the initialization questions may admittedly be daunting.
- A separate non-administrator User Account should be created for day-to-day use by any inexperienced users.
- Installing a HOSTS file is a highly recommended protection. The mvps HOSTS and Bluetack HOSTS files are both excellent, with Bluetack being more aggressive at blocking adware sites.
- Older versions of Java and Adobe Reader should regularly be removed and replaced with the latest versions. Obsolete versions have been major avenues for infection in the past.

Dakeyras:

Do you have any thoughts on the current trend of malware creators spreading Polymorphic File Infectors?

askey127:

Malware purveyors are paying for the services of very skilled software writers, so the intrusions are becoming more difficult to detect and remove.
Software that changes itself is just one aspect of the hiding and cloaking trickery.

Dakeyras:

How do you see the possible future for Anti-Malware fighters such as yourself? With regard to the complexity of providing assistance to individuals whom have fallen afoul of malware?

askey127:

It may be that in the future, only certain types of infections will be recoverable through online assistance.
The measures we will need to safeguard computer technology in the future may make computer usage online less convenient, and could also make malware removal more difficult.
On the enforcement front, greater International cooperation will be necessary before all malware purveyors are treated as lawbreakers. The laws and attitudes on this type of theft and intrusion vary greatly from one country to another.
Every user eventually may need to be familiar with backing up data and re-imaging the computer as a routine defence procedure.

End of interview:-

Thank you very much askey127 for taking the time and agreeing to the interview. I appreciate it! :)