Activity Unbecoming
12 Mar 2006 7:10:36 UTC
Topic 190894
(moderation:
From reports it looks like spyware/malware/etc may have targeted E@H. Credit card 'phishing' ( ? ), Party Poker and spooling so far. In the case that this may be significant, I've created this sticky thread for reports of any suspicious behaviour. In any case please avail yourselves of protection software, otherwise you won't know! Some suggestions ( more welcome ):
SpyBot
AdAware SE Personal
Trend Micro's PC-cillin
Cheers, Mike. :-)
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Activity Unbecoming
)
Additional software:
Spywareblaster. Install, update and it'll block a load of nasties.
AVG Free Edition for Windows and Linux. Anti-virus product. Free.
Anyone who thinks that Microsoft's Defender needs a mention? I never liked the program that much. It could never find anything extra after a sweep of Spybot & Adaware, so... it's up to you. Formerly known as Anti-Spyware Beta 2.
One more... Avast
)
One more...
Avast Antivirus
Kathryn :o)
Einstein@Home Moderator
I'd like to add that while it
)
I'd like to add that while it is a good practice to have at least 2 anti-spyware/malware apps on hand and run them consecutively, do not do the same with anti-virus software. Keep and run only one AV program. Running two AV apps will make them conflict with each other, may lock up your computer or greatly slow it, and will result in less protection than one good AV program.
Michael
edit - If you want the latest news about virii, etc., and good regular comparative test results of current AV programs, link to and possible register at Virus Bulletin, the definative AV site.
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
I'd like to add that
)
I'd like to add that Outlook/Outlook Express are probably the worse e-mail programs out there. Please look into programs like Thunderbird or others. Many of these help block "hidden" viruses/worms/trojans that come through mail.
E-mail is never safe, even from your friends. I had a friend receive a worm that actually turned his virus software into a SPAM mailer/worm mailer. It took all address books on the machine and kept sending crap. It is best to be as cautious as you can on all e-mail. Also links to websites (I know I just put on in this message), please use your browsers built in status line to see if the page looks valid before clicking. How you do this is point your mouse over the link, it should show where that link is going to go on the status line of your web browser.
Viruses/worms/trojans are going to keep getting smarter and smarter. As things get fixed, people look for more holes. This is a non-stop job to work on keeping your machine clean.
Thank you Mike for starting this thread. It is an awesome way to keep people informed of the bad, and help people learn of helpful programs to keep their systems clean.
RE: I'd like to add that
)
That depends on how you use them. Have only one continually 'on guard', monitoring running apps and vetting incoming data, certainly. But I can't see any harm in having others installed to run occasional or scheduled scans of your drives.
RE: RE: I'd like to add
)
No great harm, except the risk of reporting false positives, but otherwise just a waste of drive space and registry keys.
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
RE: No great harm, except
)
Are you implying that all AV apps are identical, in that there's none that will find a problem that any of the others can't?
I don't see how having more than one would cause false positives either—assuming you exclude each from the others' scans so the examples, 'signatures', or whatever data they use to recognize viruses won't be found.
I will confess to a lack of practical experience with AV apps, though: it's been several years since I've had any running on the Macs I use. The last infection I can recall seeing was from the Autostart Worm, ca. 1999, and that was easily detectable (likewise preventable and removable) without any special software. The Windows systems here at work have been running a free program called AntiVir for the last couple of years, scanning daily and updating weekly; it has yet to detect any problem at all on either of them.
RE: RE: No great harm,
)
No. If they were all identical, there would be no purpose in running more than one, and it could be any of them, with no difference.
What I am saying is that there are two, Spybot and AdAware, that stand head-and-shoulders above the rest, in important areas. One, they, between them, are widely considered to be all-but-perfect in detection, the sole exception, I believe is the "CoolWebSearch" bug, which SB and AA will detect, but cannot remove. Two, they use little system resource while scanning, and do their job quickly - efficiency. Three, they do not give false positives, the failpoint of most other AntiSpyware apps, and false positives can have a very negative impact on your system, causing you to delete innocent and necessary files. I don't think that is something that you want to happen, right? Check around the authoratative sources, PCWorld, CNET, Extremetech, Tom'sHardware, etc. - those two apps are recognized industry-wide to be the best.
[
edit:
By the way, if any of them detect CoolWebSearch, it is an extremely difficult one to eliminate. There is one app known, CWShredder that will deal with that one. :-)
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
Another (free) useful
)
Another (free) useful application is HijackThis.
A general homepage hijackers detector and remover+. You can post logs and receive free help to fix your problem(s) if unsure of what to do.
RE: Another (free) useful
)
Agreed!!! An excellent diagnostic-tool/reference/helpforum setup.
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK