Last month, my niece was using one of my computers to do homework and feed her MySpace addiction. She called me to say some 'window' was on the screen and it wouldn't go away. When I checked, there were several things going on that indicated something went seriously wrong.
In the middle of the screen was a warning that told me, my computer had been infected with a malicious virus and to click the link for the antidote. The link opened a browser window and took me to a webpage selling a product to rid my computer of the virus/spyware/malware it had contacted.
I contained my Tourette's Syndrome and said "You fuc*ing Scumbags... THAT'S EXTORTION"
I thought, Hey, what a GREAT marketing tool... since we cannot afford real advertising, you probably won't buy our product, so we'll just sucker in a bunch of unsuspecting folks (typically kids) by hacking their computers. Scumbags... may you burn in Hell... (chatillion clears throat and fixes shirt collar)
In the bottom tray was a warning icon that flashed messages on the screen telling me the computer was infected and it was operating slowly because malware had been detected. Warnings were popping up all the time.
I was running Avanquest System Suite 8 Professional with Anti-virus, Anti-spyware and firewall... what had gone wrong that 'all that protection' couldn't stop the intrusion?
As best as I can tell, my niece had hit a webpage that required a plug-in to see an animation or music video. We see these things all the time. Many are totally harmless, some are minimal intrusive and (in this case) some are almost deadly.
A few years ago while car shopping, I hit a bunch of car manufacturer websites. Many had special animations that required a special plug-in. Unlike the usual Flash or Shockwave plug-ins these appeared to be proprietary. Soon after installing one, my firewall was indicating the plug-in wanted to 'talk back' to someone... even when I wasn't surfing the net. It became obvious the plug-in also contained some kind of spyware that was sending information back to another computer. Lots of websites use these things. It's 'marketing' to them it's 'intrusion' to me. I deleted the plug-in and the problem went away.
Nearly every other day, I run a scan to eliminate cookies and traces left from visiting websites... some so 'harmless' as weather.com seem to know I'm in Miami... that indicates they are reading something inside my computer (probably my area code 305 default in outlook) to get this information. I try my best to keep a minimum of 'real information' in my computers.
Back to the topic of this infected computer.
I went to the Matchdoctor computer forum to get a list of free how-to fix your computer programs. That is an experience I wish to forget. Some of the 'fix-it' programs contained their own set of spyware. So, I ran to the stationery store for the latest Panda Internet Security all in one software.
I uninstalled System Suite and installed Panda. I did all the requested scans, updates and upgrades and it seemed like a loosing battle. Panda failed miserably. The alert window was popping up constantly.
I checked the directory on C drive and found a few folders with the same date and time when the computer became infected. I deleted these folders and to my amazement, they had returned literally seconds after I deleted them.
The nag screen in the middle was actually background in the Windows folder. deleting this did nothing.. it too came back seconds later. This meant, something was in the system undetected from the anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-hacker, anti-trojan... anit-whatever. All I know is it still had hold of my computer and I wanted it back. I wasn't prepared to reformat the hard drive over this.
A friend suggested calling out the 'Big Boy' and to get Norton. At this point, it was worth a try. So I removed the Panda and installed Norton Antivirus 2008.
Norton prompted me to a dozen upgrades, fixes, service packs, patches and reboots... I was getting annoyed as the computer was still infected... Nearly every time, Norton Live needed to go out to the internet for 'something else'. What seemed like the 30th reboot, the nag screen was gone. the tray warning was gone. The network activity light wasn't in use. For the first time in 3 days everything was quiet again.
Yay Norton... but I'm not ready to end this blog just because Norton fixed my computer problems.
It got me thinking... You see... we pay Norton to be a 'good guy' We also 'trust' Microsoft with all their service updates to 'fix' their 8 year old product (XP) that they haven't figured out how to make secure. Right?
Nearly every week some software on our computers is going to the internet looking for the latest patch or update and running back to tell us what 'new thing' we need to install. I say bullshit. I don't do upgrade downloads unless I absolutely have to. Yes, I know some programs have improved their software... if it's not broke, I'm not gonna fix it. I was forced to update my Adobe Acrobat... quite frankly the new one is slick but it's got too many bells and whistles. It's annoying to use it now.
I'm veering off course here with technical nonsense...
Josuha... are you reading this??
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read more blogs!
Blogs by chatillion:
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| Computer Scumbags... Click here to get the plug-in |
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chatillion
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Apr 3 @ 10:14PM
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(continued)
From some old SciFi movie I learned every programmer has an intended backdoor by which they can enter any computer (via internet) just the same way Norton came into my computer to 'fix things' I strongly believe the right knowledge in the wrong hands could EASILY enter a shutdown code that would render every computer on the internet running our favorite operating system (m i c r o s o f t)
It's been professed the government made and continues to make some constitutional changes without the approval of the American people. It's also been professed there could be an uprising against the government to take back this land.
When you go to sleep tonight, consider the possibility should their be a 'disturbance in America' how would you be affected if hundreds of thousands of personal and business computers suddenly stopped working. It's been said "The most prolific computer virus in the world of PC's is in fact Windows"
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chatillion
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Apr 3 @ 10:15PM
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Actually.. I was gonna do a happy blog tonight... 
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ceecee1952
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Apr 3 @ 10:23PM
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Tech advise:(joke)
just click on remind me later.....
much much later
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TallBlonde1
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Apr 3 @ 10:32PM
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Jeesh what a pain. That's why I never let anyone else use my PC and I turn everything, even the modem off when I'm not around. And I love my Norton, it does seem to do the trick.
I'm glad you got it fixed 
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missliss78
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Apr 3 @ 10:35PM
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Hope tomorrow is a better day for you, chat! 
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JimNastics
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Apr 3 @ 10:46PM
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Sounds like a nightmare or a bad sci-fi movie. 
Perhaps we should all switch to Linux. 
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Josuha
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Apr 3 @ 10:50PM
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Chat..
There are a myrid of hacks for Windows to crack the system.
There are books written on it and could fill a library (literally).
Just some thought.
15 year old cracks NSA.
23 year old cracks NASA.
FBI Hacked
Group cracks credit card info including social security numbers and account info.
etc..etc.
Thus why I advocate not to do business, place personal info or any sensitive material on a computer connected to the net.
And your right, it would be possiable matter to either monitor or shutdown various servers, routers etc. effectively disrupting the net either in areas or whole regions.
'Techno' warfare was the preemptive strike against Iraq and not 'bombs'.
Disrupting computer and even banking of selected persons.
You may want to keep a Linux box. They are less prone to viruses and malware.
Or, go ham radio (digital) as a back up.
You can jam me..but I'll only change freqs..Ha!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAX9J_UeVH4
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alivenwell351
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Apr 3 @ 10:55PM
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I've often wondered if maybe the Nortons & Mcafees of the cyber world don't start most of the viruses themselves...
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Josuha
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Apr 3 @ 11:02PM
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This was sometime back.
But I remember it and laughed so hard my sides hurt.
Microsoft Disables Navy Ship.
http://www.langston.com/Fun_People/1998/1998APK.html
Exploits (Hacks)
http://www.darknet.org.uk/category/windows-hacking/
Use the Penguin..
http://distrowatch.com/
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whatagal
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Apr 3 @ 11:05PM
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^^^^^^^^^Good way of staying in business! Gotta love those upgrades!
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Ginstl
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Apr 4 @ 12:20AM
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There is a program called ccleaner that I used to get rid of a trojan horse. It is free and wipes it all out but you have to make sure you back up the registry with the included tool in case you delete something good from the registry.
ccleaner.com
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oppositeview
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Apr 4 @ 1:07AM
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My brother in law's laptop caught this same bug... I never did hear if he got rid of it. I'll mention to him that you got rid of it with Norton.
Thanks, but sorry you went through it all!
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wiggly
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Apr 4 @ 2:06AM
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Chat ..I do believe My -space was the culprit...Twice Norton's blocked a Portascan
for me !!! From my-space funny thing I was not logged on yet !!
Also a friend of mine's wife likes to surf my-space the worm they got there
made it's self administrator of the computer .... 
He found that out when he was denied access to his own Task manager 
side note (ccleaner.com) fool's gold
(almost) Anything that you have to back Up (because it MAY delete)
some thing you NEED is a crap shoot 
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maneater
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Apr 4 @ 8:53AM
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I've often wondered if maybe the Nortons & Mcafees of the cyber world don't start most of the viruses themselves... I have also thought the same thing. Or is it the first thing you learn while in trade school for software programming, "how to write a virus..101"?
Much like the pharmacueticals putting out the flu shot before the flu hits....How do they know which flu strain unless they deployed it?
"Hijack This" is another program I use for scanning to find culprits, like "ABOUT BLANK"... I hated that one, was infected for weeks b4 figuring out how to rid myself of it.
UNFORTUNEATLEY....They sold the company to trend micro, which I read inserted spyware in the newer updated programs....
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nah12
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Apr 4 @ 1:23PM
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don't ya just lov it....
it's all a conspircay...
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