In order to prevent abuse through the recently announced Quicktime vulnerability, I’ve disabled the TV screen on the Sim Information Point. However, let it be clear that while your Second Life viewer seems vulnerable, it actually is the underlying Quicktime software that is being exploited. Remember that both your Real Life as well as your Second Life is only as safe as the weakest link. If you are browsing your virtual world on an unpatched computer prone to all kinds of infections or exploits, it’ll be only a matter of time before something bad happens.
In order to help everyone be and stay as safe as possible, I’ll point out some tools that will help you stay safe(r) or lessen the risk of being online.
- (free or commercial) Have a (software) firewall enabled on your computer. Windows XP has one built in, so does Vista. Linux users can use IP tables if I’m not mistaken. Mac users probably have something similar.
- (free or commercial) Install a virus scanner and keep it updated. If you don’t want to pay for a scanner, try the grisoft AVG scanner (http://free.grisoft.com)
- (free) Download and install the Secunia Personal Software Inspector and let it scan your system. You’ll probably be very surprised to see how much obsolete or discontinued programs reside on your system. Update and replace those that you can. Each program you can remove or update usually lessens the attack vectors considerably. (https://psi.secunia.com)
- (free) Consider installing and running Lavasoft Ad-Aware or Spybot S&D on regular intervals. Don’t click on mails or attachments you didn’t ask for, use some common sense!
- Consider switching to an alternate internet browser, such as Firefox or Opera. While those too suffer from vulnerabilities, not using the mainstream browser IE often has it’s advantages. If you go for Firefox – which I can definitely recommend! – install the NoScript extension for increased security.
I admit that some of the links may appear to be a little too technical for some, and the benefits not all that visible, believe me : it will pay off to invest some time in the health of the computer that runs your Second Life!
Tags: exploits, patches, safe, secure, security, updates, vulnerabilities
