Computer Virus Infection

[David]

In 10.5 years of PC use and most of that online, I've never had a computer virus. Almost al. of that time, I've not even had anti-virus software installed.

What's your experience?

Rgds,
David

[Anth]

once, i got the blaster worm because i was stupid enough to not keep windows updated. now i run norton and zone-alarm and all updates are done automatically

[YODA]

Once or twice - when I didn't know better.

David: You're obviously not visiting the right (or wrong) sites :D

[Shaolin Dragon]

Since being connected via broadband I seem to be constantly under attack from viruses, hackers and spyware!

[YODA]

Since being connected via broadband I seem to be constantly under attack from viruses, hackers and spyware!
Me too - that's why I have ZoneAlarm Pro & Sophos - and I'm sat behind a router.

[Anth]

Since being connected via broadband I seem to be constantly under attack from viruses, hackers and spyware!
Zone Alarm Pro here too for my broadband

[YODA]

Zone Alarm Pro here too for my broadband
I hope you bought it - I'd hate to think you were hanging the security of your system on something "obtained" from who knows where.

[Cain]

Me too - that's why I have ZoneAlarm Pro & Sophos - and I'm sat behind a router.
Including me, my ip is not what it appears in here, I had only zone alarm at the time and yet I was being keylogged and had about 4 different viruses and a trojan scattered all over my HDD, that's when I got hold of spybot and AVG and now use tiny personal firewall, in addition to TPF I regularly use tcpvew to check all ongoing connections and TSD for the trojans.....still I don't think I am away from hackers - damn kiddies do everything either way and the win2k source leak ain't helping things either :woo:

|Cain|

[Anth]

I hope you bought it - I'd hate to think you were hanging the security of your system on something "obtained" from who knows where.
i downloaded it from the site given in a link here in the computing section of MAP, if you think i obtained it by "illegal" means :p

[YODA]

If you downloaded it from Zonelabs and you didn't pay for it - then you have Zonealarm - not Zonealarm pro.

[Anth]

when i open it it says "welcome. you are protected by zonealarm pro!" so it must be and i know i didnt pay for it, unless the mother did it without telling me

[YODA]

when i open it it says "welcome. you are protected by zonealarm pro!" so it must be and i know i didnt pay for it, unless the mother did it without telling me
How long have you had it? Maybe it's a trial that will die :D

Mine doesn't say anything - it just runs at startup. I don't get any messages of welcome.

Hmmmm

[Anth]

i think its a free trial, it says that when i open it from the system tray. if it dies it'll be another firewall downloaded for me

[nekogami13]

I have broadband. I am behind a router, run norton antivirus, xp firewall is on, run adaware twice a week, only touch my computer while wearing gloves.
Haven't gotten any virus, have had norton tell me it detected some stuff trying to download.

[Saz]

I've had a trojan a couple of times, but never had a virus let loose on the system.

[xplasma]

In 10.5 years of PC use and most of that online, I've never had a computer virus. Almost al. of that time, I've not even had anti-virus software installed.

What's your experience?

Rgds,
David
Then how do you know? You easily get a trojan or other under lining virus that has imbeded itself in you system32 dll through an IE or Windows File Sharing Bug, there are only like 50 millions of them.

And no I never got a virus, I have a locked down Linux box, thats how I am sure.

[David]

Linux rocks, but I haven't got time for it anymore :(.

How do I know? Because I occasionally install anti-virus to see if anything's happened to me. It's like part of my spring-cleaning ritual. I installed it the other day on my machine (XP installed fresh 18/03/03) and it came up blank.
I bet myself the PC was clear: ifit found anything, I was going to give £10 to charity if . Now I feel guilty about not giving to charity.

BTW, when ZoneAlarm is telling you that hackers are scanning your system, it's usually BS. Anyway, pleased to see we're all savvy and safe :).

Rgds,
David

[Andy Murray]

In 10.5 years of PC use and most of that online, I've never had a computer virus. Almost al. of that time, I've not even had anti-virus software installed.


David, you clearly need to be led astray. ;)

I'm positively disease ridden since one of these worms destroyed £30 of Norton AV.

[Anth]

If you downloaded it from Zonelabs and you didn't pay for it - then you have Zonealarm - not Zonealarm pro.
my mam has now paid for zone alaram pro so its now full version and perfectly legal :)

[shipto]

get them often but anti virus get em most of the time.

[YODA]

my mam has now paid for zone alaram pro so its now full version and perfectly legal :)
Excellent! Your system is in good hands.

[craigwarren]

The major problem with things like Zonealarm and Norton, are that the people that need protecting (ie have very little id on how to avoid getting viruses through email and sites) and very unsure of how to effectivly use norton or zonealarm. People who have the understanding needed to properly use norton and zone alarm could probably protect their PC's themselves outside of something like a maliciouse hacker specifically targeting them.

[Saz]

Ooops...

Got halfway through a MooSoft Trojan Scan... 15 of the blighters! :mad:

[KickChick]

New email virus spreading like wildfire....

Do not open any ZIP files being sent to you even by someone you know!

I was sent a bunch that my virus protection intercepted.... from none other than members from "another" forum (I forwarded them back to the evil administrator since it was his email service)

Then I got another today from Yahoo which I reported....
from staff@yahoo.com
Check full headers in email program to see the full address of the sender :)




"Dear user of e-mail server "Yahoo.com",

Our antivirus software has detected a large ammount of viruses
outgoing
from your email account, you may use our free anti-virus tool to clean
up
your computer software.

Please, read the attach for further details.

For security reasons attached file is password protected. The password
is "31381".

Cheers,
The Yahoo.com team http://www.yahoo.com"


Included an attachement

TextDocument zip.file

And don't believe the ploy that the sender hates to use plain font!! :woo:

[Saz]

A new variant of the Bagle/Beagle worm is being sent around in an encrypted zip file, with the password in the body of the email. That looks like it to me.

This means it's getting past a LOT of AV scanners, even coporate gateways, as they can't scan the encrypted file.

Be careful with ANY attachments, even ones that seem clean. And never ever run an "AV scanner" you get sent in the mail.

[Greg-VT]

I'm currently getting a lot of virii through hotmail. Last few day sI keep getting emails with the *.pif extention. Hotmail blocks it out.... so no drams.

Was on the Symantec #1 page last I looked.

[hongkongfuey]

I'm blocking around 150-200 viruses per day at the moment. Definitly the worst outbreak yet. Feb this year accounted for almost half of the viruses I have received in the past 4 years.

The encrypted zip is a very clever technique, but Messagelabs are still able to block them as the body of the text follows a predictable pattern. Might result in a few genuine messages getting blocked (and both parties notified of this), but worth it.

I'd recommend anyone in charge of a network look at the MessageLabs service. (I also believe they offer a million pounds if a virus finds it's way through their system to a customer.)

[La Mancha]

Had a version of Nachi32 sneak through when I was on a file sharing service. Antivirus missed it firewall never even blinked.
Downloaded a removal tool from the web and no problem now

David

[Greg-VT]

How do I know? Because I occasionally install anti-virus to see if anything's happened to me. It's like part of my spring-cleaning ritual. I installed it the other day on my machine (XP installed fresh 18/03/03) and it came up blank.

Rgds,
DavidNo good bud.

Alot of virii and trojans etc, need the AV software on first, before the infection, as a preventitive measure. If your computer was infected before you installed AV software, chances are, the scan may not have detected everything/anything.

You'll proberly find if you hooked up your PC's hard drive to another computer (one that has had AV on it since day 1, and updated everyday since day 1), that virii have indeed infected your system.

[KickChick]

Question: Is there a virus that "attacks" your AV program?

Reason being that I had a situation last week where my AV had found 3 ... unfortunately before I could delete them my computer froze and I rebooted and started the scan again. However, the scan would go to 99% completion and fail to complete. When I went to end task ... it would say Norton AV not responding.
After several several several attempts ... the infected files were deleted.

In this case ... I'm assuming you need to download a new copy of AV?

[TheBorderer]

Hi KC, as for your question...

Question: Is there a virus that "attacks" your AV program?

The answer is... "yes", indeed more than one! :eek: But it would appear that it maybe more Windows that could be misbehaving... but also I'd suggest that if your not doing so making sure that Norton gets all the updates its needs.

Maybe things to try is to get Windows to do a diskcheck(I assume its Win XP), go to My Computer and get into the "Tools" tab of the discs "properties" box... right click "Local Disc" > properties). Also looking up Windows help on how to start in "Safe Mode" might help as then you could try to run Norton again and see what happens.

Maybe check their Support pages (http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/support_options.html) see if there is a similar problem (maybe you may need to get Norton AV again, at the last straw)

Also of course you could try Trend Micro's (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp) online AV scanner if you wanted to 'double check' that Norton did it's job.

Hope those suggestions are helpful and Norton decides to behave itself! :)

[KickChick]

Thanks very helpful ... and for the link too!
I found what I thought was a free online AV but after the scan (which it indicated 4 major trojans), requested a payment in order to delete. :woo: .... after getting Norton up and runningm those virus's weren't even detected (and my list is updated) Scam??

[CodeRunner]

Most people don't even know when they have a virus. And the way to keep from getting a virus is to be carefull what you click on and if you use windoze update it. To me computer virus software is a waste of clock cycles.

[TheBorderer]

Thanks very helpful ... and for the link too!
I found what I thought was a free online AV but after the scan (which it indicated 4 major trojans), requested a payment in order to delete. :woo: .... after getting Norton up and runningm those virus's weren't even detected (and my list is updated) Scam??

Anytime, glad to be of service! :)

As for the payment thing it's not uncommon, very few free anti-virus scanners are indeed free Grisoft's AVG Free version (http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php) is indeed free, and so are demo's from Symantec for Norton (albeit only a demo so require some of the old pennies/cents to get it). As for scam, maybe so althought anti-virus programs in general do need their 'virus definitions' (basically a virus/sympton 'chek list') updated regularly(and usually after a year with Norton you have to pay them, but personally it's wort it) so that might have been the case, but then it could well as been.


To me computer virus software is a waste of clock cycles. Hmm... can't say I'd entirely agree with you on this one, as I don't think it's as easy as to just 'be vigilant' and keep windows (or whatever OS) 'up to date'... you could get a brand new PC get on the net, try to update windows and get Blaster before the update is done... Ironic?

Granted a few of the e-mail worms (like Sircam) do seem at present to follow the same way of doing things, granted people can still be fooled and most anti-virus software seems to be a case of just 'fire fighting', but then are you ever going to be able to develop 'intelligient' anti-virus software? Granted vigilance is a big part in stoping threats and even with "Super fantastic AntiVirus version 12 billion and 1 point 77" a slightly 'catious' approach is a "good thing". http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Saz]

Thanks very helpful ... and for the link too!
I found what I thought was a free online AV but after the scan (which it indicated 4 major trojans), requested a payment in order to delete. :woo: .... after getting Norton up and runningm those virus's weren't even detected (and my list is updated) Scam??


Trojans aren't always picked up by AV scanners, as they don't display the same signs as a virus, and are usually implanted on your system deliberatly rather than by accident like a virus.

Moosoft's 'The Cleaner' gives you a 30 day trial. I recommend using an AV scanner, then running that every so often by getting a new trial version :D

[Ash]

Moosoft's 'The Cleaner' gives you a 30 day trial. I recommend using an AV scanner, then running that every so often by getting a new trial version :D

Alternatively you could get Lavasoft's Ad-aware and Spybot 1.2. Ad-aware has a trial version but Spybot is free and picks up quite a lot that Ad-aware won't.

Very useful...

[Kenpo Kicker]

yeah, I have gotten viruses just going to websites and not downloading anything! I always catch them though.

[Mordred]

I've had quite a few, from slightly annoying to destructive, like code red.

Who still remembers virusses like jerusalem, stoned, ping pong and exebug? Ah, takes me back to my DOS days.

[JohnnyX]

Who still remembers virusses like jerusalem, stoned, ping pong and exebug? Ah, takes me back to my DOS days.

Aye. Back when I started working with computers there weren't any viruses.

That was back in 1984. :eek:

The first virus is widely acknowledged to be the "Brain" virus that emerged in 1986 from Pakistan and was, apparently, written to help its creators monitor piracy of their computer programs.

[Saz]

Alternatively you could get Lavasoft's Ad-aware and Spybot 1.2. Ad-aware has a trial version but Spybot is free and picks up quite a lot that Ad-aware won't.

Very useful...

For spyware yes, but those programs won't remove or even detect a trojan horse.

[CodeRunner]

TheBorderer-
Well I am a gamer and into performance and I have no anti-virus software and I have no problems with viruses that I can't fix. And I have a hard drive just for storage and it is no problem for me to format if I need to and as far as getting the Blaster Worm while trying to get the updates (Which is unlikly if you go straight to windows update) I have the fix for it on a cd. I usually format my windows partition every 2 months or so. Its no big deal since it is all backed up on another partition. And anti-virus software is a way to get money from people who think that if the get a virus its the end of the world. And if you don't update your antivirus software often then it is pointless. Another thing that helps me also is that i am behind a router, so you can't ping my computer from the internet, just my network Unless I am using a DMZ host conifguration which i use when i do online gaming.

[JohnnyX]

Well I am a gamer and into performance and I have no anti-virus software and I have no problems with viruses that I can't fix.
You can remove viruses. However, you can rarely undo the damage that they have done.
And anti-virus software is a way to get money from people who think that if the get a virus its the end of the world. And if you don't update your antivirus software often then it is pointless.
Ooops. Try telling that to the large corporation, that relies heavily on IT, and has just been hit by a Server virus and now has 1000 employees sat around twiddling their thumbs. - I've seen it and had to fix it.
Another thing that helps me also is that i am behind a router, so you can't ping my computer from the internet, just my network Unless I am using a DMZ host conifguration which i use when i do online gaming.
Doesn't stop e-mail based viruses though.

Cheers.

[Saz]

Ooops. Try telling that to the large corporation, that relies heavily on IT, and has just been hit by a Server virus and now has 1000 employees sat around twiddling their thumbs. - I've seen it and had to fix it.


As have I. Each virus outbreak that needs to be wholly repaired costs our company £88,000 on average. This would be even higher in a mission critical situation.

Not much cost to a home user agreed, but Johnny is right, virus's cause havoc on coporate machines/systems.

[JohnnyX]

...... Each virus outbreak that needs to be wholly repaired costs our company £88,000 on average. ......
Hey, I'll come and fix that one anytime.

However, I'll only charge half that. ;)

[Kenpo Kicker]

I cannot believe you have no virus protection. I am a gamer as well and need anti virus software in order to catch a virus before it does it's job. I have had no problems in my games because of anti virus software.

[CodeRunner]

I just don't have a problem with viruses thats all there is too it and as far as email goes I don't get junk email. I have a special account that i use when i sign up for stuff and then i have my main email account that i use for communication. I get absolutley no junk mail. and in a large corporation yes anti-virus software is important but for me its not a problem you just have to click smart on the internet

[Nrv4evr]

the worst part is, you can't scan files being sent. my friend sent me a photoshop app, and it self opens...bam, infection. and just asking, what WAS the most lethal virus, in terms of chaos and hard-drive distortion?