Virus warning

[greenman]

I know most of my friends are reasonably tech literate (especially the ones who might be reading my LJ), but I wanted to remind everyone to make sure that they've got up to date antivirus software, and to run a virus scan. I've seen more machines infected with trojans in the last few weeks than I've seen in the last few months, and for some reason, Symantec's antivirus products seem to be hit-or-miss about catching them, or at least removing them.

I've been having good luck removing a number of them using AVG Free 8.0, which is a free (obviously, from the name) antivirus application available from Grisoft.com (specifically, http://free.grisoft.com/). My only caviat about installing it is to make sure that you do an advanced installation, and tell it NOT to install the AVG Security Toolbar, which will significantly slow down your machine as it scans all the links on any website you happen to be visiting. Without that, the installation is fast and the footprint is small.

I generally also recommend Trend Micro's Housecall, an online virus scan tool available at http://housecall.trendmicro.com. It will require you to install a java application to run, but Trend Micro is an established hardware and software vendor, they've been around for years, and I've never had a problem with them.

This is probably unnecessary for most people, but if I can help even one person make sure their system is clean, I'll be happy.

Comments

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

I've had to fish out many people over the years from problems - and I've found that the worst situations are when

(1) they like to d/l a ton of crap that is FREE-FREE-FREE which screws with their systems, usually dumping various bits of spyware that collectively slows the system to a standstill
(2) they turn off whatever protection systems they have because they get tired of the warnings
(3) they decide that they can't afford a good spyware / virus protection software but they can pay for Pr0n or some damn silly game that costs more
(4) It's all so complicated, so they don't like systems they have to take care of. I feel for their cars and their pets.

[greenmansgrove.livejournal.com]

There are a couple of things that I see that none of what you mention cover...

(5) A pop-up comes up warning the user that they've been infected with spyware, and recommends that they go to X site to clean it up. They click through the pop-up, and immediately are infected with any number of malware applications, even though they were trying to be careful.
---NEVER install anti-virus or anti-spyware software that hasn't been recommended to you by someone you trust. There are loads of unscrupulous companies out there that advertise software to clean up your "infected" machine, that are nothing more than sources of more infection.
(6) A pop-up (or what appear to be two pop-ups, one smaller and in front of the larger window) appears. Since most people would close the smaller window, and then then larger window, they click on the "x" on the smaller window to close it. Unfortunately, the smaller windows is actually just an image that is part of the larger window, and clicking on the "x" just ends up causing you to click through the pop-up, rather than closing it. And thus, you're infected with malware.
---Always close pop-up ads by right clicking on the tab in the menu bar at the bottom of your screen, and choosing close. If you accidentally close your web browsing session, you're probably still better off.

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

Good points!

[le-trombone.livejournal.com]

I've been using AVG for years (replaced the Norton home system that came with the computer after Norton started blocking Thunderbird). Very good system. But yes, version 8 has that idiotic toolbar which isn't just slow, but also manages to interfere with Firefox plugins. Don't install the toolbar!

[huashan.livejournal.com]

Linux and Solaris FTW!

[greenmansgrove.livejournal.com]

Blah, blah, blah...

When (if) some distro of Linux gets the same amount of market share that Microsoft has, you'll see nearly as many exploits (though almost certainly of different types) that you do currently for Windows machines. Same goes for Macs. Hackers and malware writers focus on Windows platforms because they can hit the most people that way. Well, and because there are the most script kiddie tools out there for Windows, which means there are more morons out there who think they're 733+, dirtying up the gene pool.

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

I love Ubuntu myself, but there are situations that force me to use a dual boot system. Such as essential job software (like Adobe CS3) that simply don't run on Linux, regardless of Crossover or Wine. Some of the software that I like a lot for burning DVDs or Cds works far better on Windows.

[huashan.livejournal.com]

Adobe CS2 does run under wine, I don't know if that helps. We have the lovely people at Google to thank for that.

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

yeah, I know, but I got a wife and a work that like CS3 better, so I'm Scrod.

[wiebelstez.livejournal.com]

i have avast///will that protect my computer?

[greenmansgrove.livejournal.com]

Avast is also a good anti-virus application. Just make sure you've got the lastest version, and the latest virus definitions. Older versions of anti-virus applications can't catch the most recent malware, especially if the definitions are out of date.