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Malware

lionking

In the Peanut Gallery
lionking
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
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Location
Melbourne
Just the other day a piece of malware got past my up to date virus protection and completely disabled the computer by not allowing me to open executable files. It demanded that I buy a virus protection package.

My son, who is a IT professional came around and fixed it by running an anti-malware program. His point, though, was that standard virus protection software does not always block malware and that I should purchase additional malware protection. Is he right?

BTW, he also said it was the most sophisticated piece of malware he's seen.
 
I don't know if you have to buy one, the free version of malwarebytes works pretty good. I just cleaned out my girlfriend's father's computer of one of those fake antivirus programs with it.

Yeah, he was fooled by it and clicked it. I didn't comment on the porn cookies I saw. :p
 
Did you click on something? I got the nastiest virus ever by clicking on something that pretended to be a Windows alert warning me I was getting a virus.
 
Loss Leader said:
Did you click on something? I got the nastiest virus ever by clicking on something that pretended to be a Windows alert warning me I was getting a virus.
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Yes I did. I think it was a virus warning as well. I really thought my virus protection would at least warn me that something bad was about to happen.
 
lionking said:
Yes I did. I think it was a virus warning as well. I really thought my virus protection would at least warn me that something bad was about to happen.
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You may have got the same one my girlfriend's father did, it sounds just like it.

You couldn't click anything without it going to the "antivirus" pay page. I got around that by starting in safe mode, then loaded the free version of malwarebytes. Had to uncheck some things in the startup menu too to keep it from coming back. I think I finally killed it, last few scans came out clean.
 
LTC8K6 said:
MS Security Essentials is a nice little add on real time protector.
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Thanks for that. Is that a free update from Windows 7 or do I have to purchase it?

Sorry if some of my terminology might not be right. The last time I was really up to date with computer technology was when using DOS.;)
 
lionking said:
My son, who is a IT professional came around and fixed it by running an anti-malware program. His point, though, was that standard virus protection software does not always block malware and that I should purchase additional malware protection. Is he right?
Click to expand...

Virus writers, driven by profit, are in a running battle with all the different virus packages, from Windows Defender to McAffee to Symantec and the freeware ones. So you, evil virus writer, target one or two, and you'll catch a big chunk of the hundreds of millions of computers on Teh Intertubes. Universal penetration capability not required.

The likelihood a particular virus can simultaneously get by all of them is fairly small. It's a statistical argument, of course, but this is born out by every single anti-virus comparison test I've ever read, which pointed out there were test infections some could catch that others could not, and none were ever exclusively best in being able to stop everything all the others could, and more.

How nicely anti-virus/malwear/spyware programs get along on one particular machine, I have no idea, but from a prophylactic point of view, the more the better.
 
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Hi,
Some of the malware is getting quite sneaky - click-throughs and the like. The social engineering ones are my personal favorites though, and sometimes the only solution is better education and a paranoid mind...

I stopped using AV software 3 years ago when I changed to an iMac for home use, but the work machine AV software spends it's life slapping things about and killing clock cycles. I like the Kaspersky stuff if you don't mind paying for it.
 
My GF caused our only infection in years on her pc recently, for one of the various anti-virus malware scams out there. Was a bit of a mission to clear, but got it out eventually.

Was spoofing windows enough to fool her that she clicked on it, and she's a pretty savvy interweb individual, even if I am household tech support.

Running something like malwarebytes is always a good idea, but in general I just go with a simple AV like avast or avg and use the windows defender/security essentials.
 
I like avast a lot. I use it in conjunction with Comodo and I haven't had a virus since installing both programs. I visit dodgy sites often so I can vouch for them. They have caught several viruses and trojans.
 
The malware somehow changed my user settings, so I had to create a different account. All working now, but it was a real bugger.
 
Always keep your anti virus software up to date. This means that yesterday's version is no good. Even then do not go to porn sites or other dubious sites.

Even the above is not a guarantee you will not be a victim of a virus.
 
rjh01 said:
Even then do not go to porn sites or other dubious sites.
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Let's not go crazy. There are very high-quality porn sites that wouldn't dream of hitting you with a virus. Of course, they tend to cause money. I'd suggest avoiding sites advertising free porn. :)
 
lionking said:
...standard virus protection software does not always block malware and that I should purchase additional malware protection. Is he right?
Click to expand...

WildCat said:
don't know if you have to buy one, the free version of malwarebytes works pretty good.
Click to expand...


But the free version of Malwarebytes does not prevent an infection. It works by detecting and removing malware after infection. Even so, their forum has many posts by people who have become infected even though they use the paid protection version.
 
Folks, do not run two anti-virus, if you have one, keep it up to date. Keep your Java and Flash up to date as well, always run MS Updates if you are using Windows.

Most really bad malware comes with some sort of trojan, free movie tickets, free movies, free translators. Be sure that any freeware you download is fron Cnet of a place like File Hippo.

Run Malwarebytes or Superantispyware every now and then.

If you get rouge-malware, try turning off the machine, do not click on any of the windows it puts up. Bleeping computer can tell you what files to look for for most Malware.
 
William Parcher said:
But the free version of Malwarebytes does not prevent an infection. It works by detecting and removing malware after infection. Even so, their forum has many posts by people who have become infected even though they use the paid protection version.
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No virus program protects you from your own stupidity.

My girlfriend's father had an active paid anti-virus program, webroot. But webroot didn't stop him from clicking the button to download the virus. And it couldn't get rid of it once infected. The free version of malwarebytes got rid of it.

I think it's ideal to have one paid, active anti-virus and at least one free one to deal with whatever slips through. You can't really have more than one active anti-virus anyway, they'll conflict with each other.
 
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Malwarebytes does haev a real time protection you can pay for. :)

Trojans are getting slick, MyWebSeach has joined some evil alliances in their time, and Yahoo gets really questionable.
 
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