Modify The Hosts File

Windows uses what is called the "hosts file" to look up IP addresses before going out on the Internet to use the Domain Name Service. A hosts file is used because it is stored on the PC and, therefore, fast. If the IP address is located within the hosts file, there is no need for the computer to use the DNS system. What does this mean and why do we care? From a security standpoint, we can modify the hosts file to protect our PC from sites that promote the spread of malware and spyware. So if your we browser tries to locate one of these sites, in theory, nothing should show up because the hosts file has blocked it.

There are a couple of ways to modify the hosts file. One is to do it manually. In Windows 2000 or XP, you can navigate to it by logging in as Admin and going to the C: drive, then windows \system32\drivers\etc\. You may see some listings in here already like this:

127.0.0.1 www.sureseeker.com

127.0.0.1 wethere.com

127.0.0.1 www.wethere.com

127.0.0.1 wowsearch.or

These are sites that have been blocked by the hosts file before your browser even attempts to access them on the Internet.

So you can modify this manually, if you already know of the thousands of sites on the Internet that can infect you with spyware. Or you can use the popular anti-spyware program Spybot Search and Destroy. Spybot has a hosts file filled with nasty sites, already, and they provide a way to import this list with only a few clicks.

Each time you run Spybot, click "Check For Updates." To import its hosts file into your own, look in the left menu for TOOLS, then HOSTS FILE. Across the top you will see + Add Spybot-S&D hosts list. Click this and it will import this list into your hosts file.

1. Free Antivirus Programs
2. Rookkits Explained
3. Checking For Spyware
4. Erase Hard Drive
5. Computer Security Tips
6. Phishing Scams
7. Realistic Computer Security Threats
8. Email Worms
9. Secure You WiFi Network
10. Secure Passwords Policy
11. The Bittorrent Protocol, How it Works, and Legal Issues
12. The Kerberos Authentication Protocol
13. Implementing Kerberos
14. How to Remove Viruses and Spyware