Is 64bit ie8 safer to run than 32bit?

[Anak]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Is 64bit IE8 safer to run than 32bit?[/FONT]

I am sure this has been touched on in previous threads, but I will be darned if I can find anything specific in search.

The reason I ask is because today I have been hit with a couple of trojans that used java as a carrier, at least that is what it looks like. (See attachments)

• My OS is up to date.
• I use MSE. I check for updates, and scan daily. These are not new trojans, but when I clicked on the "More Information Online" link MSE had no Information on them.
• As far as I can tell Java is up to date.
• mbam is updated, and ran semi-weekly.
• Strange that I ran it right before MSE, and it did not find these two trojans, but MSE did.
• I use Open office, and that is up to date.
• I use the WOT add-on for IE8, and only do green.
• As far as I can remember I did not enter any yahoo. com sites.
• Ran windows live one care, and that came up clean.

I am probably paranoid at this point, and my brain is a little mushier than usual :shock: because I have been working on making sure our system is clean since this afternoon, and I could use some suggestions on trying to avoid this in the future.

I even googled my question, and I could only find differences not safety.

Would 64bit IE8 be safer to run than 32bit?

 

[richc46]

A good article for many areas of 7

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_ff_x64.asp Vista and Seven are the same

http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...uggestions-proper-maintenance.html#post764471

 

[Anak]

Thank you richc46. I will go, and give that a read now.

I fogot to mention in my OP that we (The DW, and me) are networked to our older XP Pro SP3 system with a Network Everywhere router.
Not sure if that would have a bearing in our situation or not.

If for any reason, this would have happened on my watch because I use the machine more than she.

 

[richc46]

You should like the articles, good bit about security and I like mine on maintenance. Feel free to use any part of it.
Your situation should not change anything regarding Seven.

 

[Night Hawk]

MSE won't prevent trojans from getting on. You need to add some additional IE protection that will filter bad sites.

Adding on a good firewall as well as something like the IE security bar option AVG offers or the optional Crawler toolbar seen with Spyware Terminator will alert you to bad sites where you can back out or close the IE window before anything is placed on your system.

In fact when first looking at MSE and then not having the IE security bar in AVG enabled the first Bing search result's link saw a trojan stuffed on here! That was the last straw! But those were the free options available.

 

[Anak]

My question was answered after reading Paul's remarks:

When taken together, these features ensure that the x64 versions of Windows Vista are the most secure and reliable desktop versions of Windows ever
created. Likewise, they are more secure and reliable than the 32-bit Vista versions.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...sta_ff_x64.asp

I am using the 64bit flavor of IE8 right now.

~ ~ ~​

There was something in the responses in your second link on maintenence that jogged my memory........

I have an ol' work buddy that is a hub for group emails, and as part of keeping in touch he sends me the "Humour du jour".
I am going to call him tomorrow to ask him if he has checked his system lately to see if it has been hosed.

I normally open his emails, but if I see anything attached that pertains to youtube or flash I delete [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]immediately.[/FONT]
Another thing I do not like is none of the subsequent addresses are bcc'd.

In any event I will be asking him to stop sending me emails.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
​

Hi! Night Hawk,

I have the WOT add-on, and have had the WOT warning page interupt on green sites, and then tell me I could either continue, close or back-out.
I always close or back-out.

Do you feel WOT is not as good?
​

 

[richc46]

I thought they were real good articles.

I Use WOT and like it. Dont bet your life on accuracy, may be dated; but better than nothing.

 

[Anak]

I agree on the articles.

Do you have a 64bit version of WOT?
The last time I was at their site they did not have that version listed as a download.

 

[richc46]

I am using Windows 7 64 bit. WOT works great.

 

[richc46]

More free advice.
I have 64 bit, but everyone has 32 bit and 64 bit on the computer if it is IE. The browser must be 32 bit. You can downlod from here.
Download the WOT add-on | WOT Web of Trust

 

[Anak]

That's what I mean, I am running win7 x64 with IE8 x32 x64 also, and I would like to run the IE8 x64 browser, but WOT only comes in x32.

I mis-understood you, at first it sounded like you were running the IE8 x64 browser with WOT.

Your running the IE8 x32 with WOT on your win7 x64, correct?

 

[richc46]

That's what I mean, I am running win7 x64 with IE8 x32 x64 also, and I would like to run the IE8 x64 browser, but WOT only comes in x32.

I mis-understood you, at first it sounded like you were running the IE8 x64 browser with WOT.

Your running the IE8 x32 with WOT on your win7 x64, correct?

Yes correct, I misunderstood you, too. I thought that you felt that you could not use WOT.

 

[Anak]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Had to laugh.....Now that we have that out of the way..........[/FONT]

I could mark this solved as you have helped me answer my original question......x64 is safer than x32, but now the question is, what does one use to guide the user when using the x64 version of IE8?

I have to go now, but I will let you know tomorrow how I made out with my work buddy, and I am going to look around to see if I can find anything to answer my new question.

I went to give you some rep for your kind assistance, but I still have not reached the limit until I can get around to you yet.

I have to give you a virtual.......

 

[richc46]

Helping and having a good time is better than rep. When you reach the limit 15, if I help again you can remember me.

 

[roncerr]

...what does one use to guide the user when using the x64 version of IE8?

You can use the HOSTS file for both 64 and 32 bit:
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File
Two advantages:
1) No program to install.
2) It's part of Windows not your browser.
3) You can add your own unwanted stuff to the list (like perfectly safe ad servers that just clutter up your view of frequently visited sites).

They make it sound more complicated than it needs to be since they are trying to install it with a script. All you need to do is download their hosts.zip file, unzip it, and make it replace the HOSTS file on your system by drag and drop. (The only tricky part is locating the file on your system and making it visible and replaceable, which only needs to be done once. From then on just download, drag, and drop.)

 

[logicearth]

If you are concerned about IE, are you running with UAC on or off?
Does IE have Protection Mode on or off?

 

[malexous]

what does one use to guide the user when using the x64 version of IE8?

A DNS like Norton's.

 

[Night Hawk]

The drawback when going to use the 64bit version of IE is the present problems of no 64bit Flash Player and a few other things readily available and found for the 32bit default. This has been one sort of setback where people have elected to use another browser instead.

For total isolation without even a Hosts fiile script there's one site featuring a virtual desktop and working version of IE! You simply browse with that. SilveOS.com - Silverlight operating system

 

[Anak]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]First things first.....[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Rich....I talked with my ol' work buddy about taking me off his list until I can nail down how I picked up those trojans, and I asked him what type of AV he uses. He has comcast cable, and he uses the free norton package that comes with it.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I then asked him how often he receives updates, and he thought it happens once a week. He really did not know for sure, but he told me that he has had norton flag some group emails recently, and he immediately deletes them.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I then told him that it is possible that he could of picked up a virus in between update cycles. He is going to check his system, and re-scan the emails from the beginning of this month (August). [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]As of this post I have not heard back from him.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]As an aside.....[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I searched the comcast security page, and I did not see any information on how often they update norton, just that it is automatic system wide.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I found another recent (081609) link on the norton forums: Re: Downloader Infection - Norton Community, and floplot's second post struck a chord with her/his advice about disabling temp files in java; java updater, and java script in adobe reader........Both of the trojans I picked up were associated with java, and I am trying that advice now.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The only thing I have noticed so far that uses it is the clock on the national weather services' page.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]So...That is where I stand for now. I will contact the mods to mark this thread solved, but on-going, especially after I answer the following four replies. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~[/FONT]​

You can use the HOSTS file for both 64 and 32 bit:
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File
Two advantages:
1) No program to install.
2) It's part of Windows not your browser.
3) You can add your own unwanted stuff to the list (like perfectly safe ad servers that just clutter up your view of frequently visited sites).

They make it sound more complicated than it needs to be since they are trying to install it with a script. All you need to do is download their hosts.zip file, unzip it, and make it replace the HOSTS file on your system by drag and drop. (The only tricky part is locating the file on your system and making it visible and replaceable, which only needs to be done once. From then on just download, drag, and drop.)

Hi! roncerr,

I had been reading up on the HOSTS file a while ago, but I got off on a siding, and have not been back.
Thank You for jogging my memory, Do you use it? You may see a post by me asking for help!

If you are concerned about IE, are you running with UAC on or off?
Does IE have Protection Mode on or off?

Hi! Logicearth, On to both questions

what does one use to guide the user when using the x64 version of IE8?

A DNS like Norton's.

I will have to check with my verizon ISP if they offer any free packages, being on a fixed income (retired), my DW and me need to watch our budget.

The drawback when going to use the 64bit version of IE is the present problems of no 64bit Flash Player and a few other things readily available and found for the 32bit default. This has been one sort of setback where people have elected to use another browser instead.

For total isolation without even a Hosts fiile script there's one site featuring a virtual desktop and working version of IE! You simply browse with that. SilveOS.com - Silverlight operating system

If that is your browser desktop, I like that! I will have to look into that.
I already have some type of Silverlight installed. Thank You Night Hawk.

 

[Night Hawk]

That site I thought was originally named or nicknamed the "Windows4All" site when first seen a few years back. Notice that the SF main page shows me logged in already while I never signed into anything at the site there!

Comcast eh? I know that one as well as Verizon but never use any of their av programs to start with! No Way! I hand pick rather then jumping on what any ISP promotes as a rule. Again the software companies tend to work hand in hand with the ISPs there too.

You may want to run some other system sweepers anyways even if you track one particular bug since one may bring others later! Lately when getting one older system up and having recovered files from a first drive a good scan revealed a downloader along with several other trojans. The I-Worm left the system wide open for them that had been cleaned off!