How to prevent autorun viruses

General Topics
1

Dear Avast Forum Gurus,

Does holding left-shift every time prior to plugging in a removable device (eg. USB memory stick) provide 100% protection from autorun viruses and scripts?

Thanks,

Avastfan1

2

I’d disable autorun completely on USB devices.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715/

3

Hi FreewheelinFrank,

Thanks for the quick reply!

I am not an experienced computer user hence the extreme hesitation to edit the registry. :frowning:

Would holding left-shift serve as a work-around in completely preventing autorun viruses on CDs and USB memory sticks?

Thanks,

Avastfan1

4

Here is my ultimate solution (from another thread):

Here is the ultimate solution for autorun.inf problems:

http://nick.brown.free.fr/blog/2007/10/memory-stick-worms

If you follow Nick Browns simple registry mod in the beginning of his blog, autorun.inf
problems are history.

It can’t disinfect your PC, but you are protected against all malware from misusing autorun.inf in the future.

Applied it to many PCs many months ago.

This disables autorun on all devices, including the most dangerous: unknown USB’s.
In addition, IF you don’t like it, just reverse it.

Regards
HL

If you are interested in more ‘official’ info: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-020A.html
or here: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/em/ccirc/2008/tr08-004-eng.aspx

Edit: If you are afraid of modifying the registry, I think Nick’s blog is very detailed.
Take a reg backup before you start.

Autorun will be dead and so will autorun viruses on everything like USB’s , removable medias, CD’s, DVD’s.
Especially unknown USB’s are dangerous, but remember the Sony rootkit on a music-CD some time ago.

IMO the small inconvinience you encounter by not having Autorun activated is far outweighted by security gains.

5

To prevent infections from USB drives, you can install USB Firewall before using any USB drive. You can let, if you wish, the autorun as it is…

6

Hi

Another important thing is to see to it that your Operational System has all the updates, patches and ServicePacks installed, and also that all your third party software is fully updated and patched. You can check that with PSI Secunia: http://secunia.com/PSISetup.exe

Also if you use the PC with normal user rights in stead of full admin rights will make the impact that malware can have on your OS considerably less in 92% of all malware known for the Windows platform, so use SafeHex, and stay safe and secure online,

polonus

7

I believe so- just don’t forget!

8

I know it works for what it was no doubt designed for CD/DVD/Optical media, but I don’t know if it would work with USB devices. Even if it did you would have to remember to do this every time you plugged one in, so 100% isn’t something which is commonly used in conjunction with security.

9

I can confirm that it works for USB’s also IF you don’t forget to hold the shift every time.

It is NOT a recommended method for Autorun safety if you read this article in my first post in this thread:

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/em/ccirc/2008/tr08-004-eng.aspx

The solution I described is the one and only recommended solution for all Autorun problems on all media.

Regards
HL