Immunizing portable HDD

Yes I've looked at those test results before and compared them against other methods that only measure how successful they are against real world zero day (unknown) threats rather than relying on virus definitions databases and the results are interesting.

You'll never get everyone to agree on which protection to use so it's a matter of using what you're comfortable with.

Sorry for the delay. I just tested a tool that claims to remove all infections from external drives and it also scanned my windows partition and removed stuff from the registry that it shouldn't have removed. I've restored most of it but I need a reboot and need to compare current registry against a saved snapshot.

It removed custom entries that actually enhance security! So that's one tool to avoid. [USBFix dot net] - not recommended.

Will be busy for a while. If you say that shortcuts didn't exist on your external drive but were somehow created then I'd suggest that it shouldn't happen. Try searching that drive for any files with a .lnk (note LNK not INK) extension and see if there are any that you do remember.

Some on demand tools that I use. (Other than MBAM and Emsisoft Emergency Kit). Let us know if you're interested.

Crystal Security Cloud Scannner. Can scan your external drive and flag up anything suspicious:



Comodo Cleaning Essentials - Slow but as some useful tools.





CrowdInspect checks and rates anything that's currently connecting.



SigCheckGUI checks file signatures and checks against VirusTotal. Any malware is likely to be unsigned and detected on VirusTotal but an unsigned file isn't always a problem so care is needed.



I don't know if you kept that SecureAge Application Whitelisting software but if you did - it would certainly warn you if an unsigned file attempts to run (including when you plug in an external drive) and will scan it against the VirusTotal database. It's pretty effective at keeping malware out.

From post #1

Ofcourse I know I should be careful but sometimes you have to connect your devices to a system because you really need to/have to ...

I surly don't understand that statement.

I can think of no reason why one would hook anything to a computer that is or might be infected.

Where are you getting these infected devices. Where ever it is don't do it any more.

Hi, again:

Getting back to the OP's original question about protecting/immunizing a USB external hard drive, I spotted this authoritative, expert and detailed list of USB Protection tools over at bleepingcomputer.com -- the entire thread may also be valuable for you:

Is there a way to safely get data from SD and USB - Page 2 - General Security

Cheers,

gabe22 said:

Finally do you guys have any suggestions about good AV combo's for possibly win8 as I'm thinking to switch to 8.1?
Currently I have .. default windows firewall+avast free+malwarebytes free
They are doing ok but lately some virus/other malicious stuff seem to bypass them ... so I'm looking for a possible better solution.

Hi:

There are many fine AV choices. 10 computer users will offer at least 11 opinions about what's "best".
The choice depends on many variables for the system and for the user, his/her budget, his/her computing practices and needs, etc.
Sadly, most of the free ones now come with toolbars and other junk.

No one security application or combination thereof can possibly protect against 100% of all malware.
Many (most?) computer infections originate in the part of the computer between the chair and the keyboard.
Here are a few links with some suggestions and discussions:

What's the best anti-virus
Answers to common security questions - Best Practices
List of well known antivirus products
The complexity of finding, preventing, and cleanup from malware
So how did I get infected in the first place?
How did I get infected?
Six tips to help you stay safer online

However, just for the record, MBAM Free is only a manual, on-demand, anti-malware scanner.
It does not feature real-time protection.
It can only REMOVE infections that have already made it past your AV onto the system.
If you want to help PREVENT malware infections from getting onto the system in the first place, you need to have the paid, Premium version of MBAM. The paid version provides real-time protection alongside a robust anti-virus.

Cheers,

Hi:

You likely "still got infected" because you were only protected by Avast Free.
MBAM Free did not, does not and cannot "protect" you because it is only a manual, on-demand scanner.
It can only try to remove an infection that already made it past Avast onto the system.

So, yes, as the links in my previous reply point out, one does need a layered approach to defense.
One robust, real-time Anti-Virus, with one robust, real-time Anti-Malware, and other measures, such an Anti-Exploit application (e.g. Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit or EMET), a custom hosts file, etc..

To some extent, "you get what you pay for" with security software nowadays -- it costs money to develop and support robust products. There may be a couple of decent free anti-viruses left. But AFAIK, there are NO good, free anti-malware applications that offer real-time protection (both MBAM Premium and Emsisoft Anti-Malware are paid products).
So there will be only so much protection you can achieve with only free software.
A few $ for good security software is much cheaper than the time, effort and aggravation of trying to recover from data loss, identity theft or other malware-related catastrophe.

Regardless of one's choice of security software, the first and last line of computer defense is the part of the computer between the chair and the keyboard. The links in my previous reply explain how to modify one's computing practices in order to help prevent infection.

Cheers,