Trojan Horse tried to get me today!

[Monty]

But I headed it off at the pass! Luckily! I started getting these crazy popups that wanted to sell me some software to speed up my computer. Every time I would hit the X to get rid of it , another would come right back. After 4 or 5 of these were cancelled with no luck, my Spyware Doctor came on with a warning. apparently every time I exed out the bad guy it opened a gate for him to sneak in. I ran a full system scan and found one Trojan Horse virus and it had stuck 6 spyware bugs into various parts of my computer. Spyware Doctor caught and killed them all before they could get into my personal accounts or so it says. So, beware folks , they are getting sneakier and sneakier. Monty

 

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[Cynangyl]

In this day and age it is insane not to scan your computer frequently for spyware, as you say, they are very sneaky and can do a lot of damage. I am sure glad your system caught it and took care of the issue!

 

[stefen]

Son! If you'd stay off of the damn porn sites, you wouldn't have this problem.

 

[Blacksheep]

adaware once a week helps keep puters clutter free.

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

 

[Shortstack]

I use 2 different anti spyware applications (both freeware downloads) because what one might miss; the other gets. I got that tip from Kim Komando.

 

[Shortstack]

Monty
here's a free one that one of my techs at work recommended..does a great job of finding hidden stuff
http://www.superantispyware.com/

I tried downloading the free version and got a fatal error because it wanted to download to drive G:\ . Since my "G" drive is an external drive that I normally keep unplugged; and my normal hard drive is "C", I cannot / will not download this app. It does not allow a choice of folder location.

 

[BIG61AL]

I think there is a special place in hell for the scum that create viruses....they need better ways to track them and put them in jail!

 

[Monty]

I've got two kinds of antivirus protection too, but I think I picked it up from a url I found in one of our old posts. I was running through some old posts at the time and accidentally let it in by opening one of the threads given in one of them. I was expecting something about detecting but got warnings and bells and whistles instead! Monty

 

[Shortstack]

I use Norton's Antivirus and think it's great. Whichever you choose, the best insurance is to update it everyday. I disabled the "auto update" feature and do it manually everyday or at least everytime I turn my computer on. That way, I know what it is updating. Plus, I have the Windows Defender that stops the automatic ghost loading of apps to the computer and asks you if you want it to be loaded. That little dude has nailed things that try to slid into your "Start" menu as a rider on other downloads.

My Norton's updated it Worm Firewall with a new code last night. That's the second one in less than 2 weeks. It seems that the assh---s are picking up the pace on writing those things. I'd like to see those pukes caught, get their fingers broken, asses kicked, and then jailed. The problem, though, is that most of those things come from other countries such as China, Iran, and Russia; to name just a few. It comes under the heading of Virtual Warfare. The US Air Force has dedicated people fighting against hackers everyday who try to access their computers. I presume the other branches of the service have like units.

 

[Saturna]

A large part of these types of problems can be the browser that is used. I don't know if you use Internet Explorer (IE) or not, but Firefox seems to have better security than IE. The add-on options for blocking ads and unwanted Flash are features that I couldn't live without now.

I see that Google now has a new browser called Chrome, but Firefox will be my choice for the time being.




Jay

 

[greydigger]

I have used AVG and Nortons, this 'puter has McAffee preinstalled so I use it and AVG.
My son says because I go through a router it is also a firewall. Is this true?

 

[allen]

that has been happening to me for the last several days and my wife has been running the scan, is there a good protection out there to keep them from getting to our computers

 

[Shortstack]

that has been happening to me for the last several days and my wife has been running the scan, is there a good protection out there to keep them from getting to our computers

About the best protection is to start with the best antivirus you can get. In my opinion that's Norton's and I am sure there are others just as good. Then, keep it up to date. I update mine everytime I turn on my computer. I disabled the Windows firewall because Norton says that it works best if it is not conflicting with the Windows firewall. Also, get the Windows Defender. Between those 2, you should be safe.

 

[Smee]

I have used AVG and Nortons, this 'puter has McAffee preinstalled so I use it and AVG.
My son says because I go through a router it is also a firewall. Is this true?

Using more than one AV at a time is inviting trouble. Instead of increasing security, using 2 at the same time will weaken your overall security.

Your router may have a firewall, but a professional solution is always better -- or at a minimum, Zone Alarm's free firewall.

Panda Platinum Internet Security is the best I've found. I spend a lot of time cleaning up customers' computers since I'm the computer tech in our store . . . most are running Norton, AVG, McAfee, and others are running nothing. Not one running Panda, so far. Excellent program.

At newegg, you can get the OEM version for less than $20. Protects from viruses, spyware, adware, pups (potentially unwanted programs), etc. and has a killer firewall. Always receives a perfect stealth rating from GRC's "Sheilds Up".

If you can't afford $20, Avast is the best free AV I've used. In fact, it is the best one for cleaning up what Norton misses. That is why we keep the latest version on our repair disks and thumbdrives. It is unique in that you can have it scan your computer during startup, before the bad programs get hooked into memory. This is a feature that I wish more AV's implemented.

Hope this helps.

 

[Shortstack]

Smee:

I respect that you work in the computer field, but you didn't point out a couple of things about people and their antivirus apps.
As stated before, I use Norton's Antivirus and Windows Defender with the Windows Firewall disabled. I update the Norton's everytime I turn on my 'puter. The big thing alot of people don't do is renew the AV every year. Periodically, Windows will send out an update for its Defender.

I "surf" the web all over the world; including some places I probably shouldn't. In doing this, I've had viruses and worms try to get inside my computer and everytime the Norton's AV nails them. Whenever you download a "freeware" or "shareware" application, there's a good chance that some type of spyware will try to get in. Windows Defender usually stops them, but some still get by. That's when you should have a schedule to " clean " you computer at least once a month with at least 2 different Spyware detectors. I downloaded 2 different freeware spyware apps and, between those, I get rid of all spyware crap.

Everyone , I think, has heard about emptying out the Cookies, Temp, and History folders to keep the computer working at best speed, but most people don't ever hear about emptying out the .log folders.
Most people have problems due to their own lack of actions.

 

[Smee]

Smee:

I respect that you work in the computer field, but you didn't point out a couple of things about people and their antivirus apps.
As stated before, I use Norton's Antivirus and Windows Defender with the Windows Firewall disabled. I update the Norton's everytime I turn on my 'puter. The big thing alot of people don't do is renew the AV every year. Periodically, Windows will send out an update for its Defender.

If you look at what windows defender actually does, in reporting on your activities to Micro$loth, and then read what it is supposed to protect you from . . . in order for it to correctly do its job, the first order of business would be to delete Windows Defender.

Yeah, I am paranoid . . . that's why I've lived so long and have a clean machine at home, and 6 at work.