How to detect malware
 

we use maids who clean our house when we are not there. my computer was used today when no one was home so presumably it was one of the maids. i have no other reason to suspect someone put anything on my computer but wonder if there's an easy way to detect any recent program load.

thanks -

matt

Re: How to detect malware
 

I would run at least a couple out of these programs: adaware, spybot s&d, avg anti-spyware or windows defender and a virus checker too. Don't log onto any pokersite, bank website etc before doing this.

I would also be password protecting my computer.

Somebody who is smarter and more paranoid then me will come along probably and tell you some additional steps to take, but that should get you started.

Re: How to detect malware
 

Matt,

Run Adaware and Spybot (both free), as well as your normal anti-virus program. But you probably already have Windows' anti-spy program which although not great is something. As far as pay programs go, Spysweeper is very good. It's also good to be familiar with the normal processes that run by looking occasionally at your task manager (cntrl-alt-delete and process tab).

And in the future, you should enable password protection of your computer and maybe even turn if off when leaving. Plus either tell those hos to stay away from your computer or clean the house yourself [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Re: How to detect malware
 

I would highly highly recommend putting a password on your computers. The easiest way to accomplish this is putting it to auto lock when your screen saver activates, then have your screen saver lock like every 20 mins or so. Then whenever anyone is away from the computer for 20 mins or longer, it will auto-lock.

Also, as far as scanning for malware. Use kaspersky's online antivirus scan. They have the highest detection rates and will detect almost everything. Also, you might want to look through your windows folder and windows system and system32 folders. These are the most common locations for bad malware such as trojans, keyloggers, and backdoors. If you see anything suspicious, upload it to virustotal.com. Also, i suspect the maids were likely just browsing the internet. You may want to check Ie/firefox's history/temp and see.

Good luck. If you have any other questions, lemme know.

Re: How to detect malware
 

those things wont help, you need details of your filesystem prior to things like this.

you need hashes of your filesystem, save them on removable media. compare old hashes with new hash values.

Re: How to detect malware
 

[ QUOTE ]
we use maids who clean our house when we are not there. my computer was used today when no one was home so presumably it was one of the maids. i have no other reason to suspect someone put anything on my computer but wonder if there's an easy way to detect any recent program load.

thanks -

matt

[/ QUOTE ]

Most likely the maid just checked her email, played solitaire or something. If you set your screensaver to require a password after it quits and set a reasonable time out for it to start -- 10 minutes or less -- you will greatly reduce the chance of random people screwing around with the computer. Don't get me wrong: Anybody with physical access can get into it if they really want to and know what they are doing, but if they knew how, they probably wouldn't be working as maids.

Re: How to detect malware
 

You can also quickly lock the pc when you get called away from it by pressing windows-key + l

Re: How to detect malware
 

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You can also quickly lock the pc when you get called away from it by pressing windows-key + l

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That is a good tip, thanks.

Re: How to detect malware
 

Things that startup with Windows.

Start > Run > "msconfig"

Check the Startup/Services tabs.

Re: How to detect malware
 

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adaware, spybot s&d, avg ... Don't log onto any pokersite, bank website etc before doing this.

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Also it's a good idea to keep Windows updated.