Viruses

[mank!]

I formatted and reinstalled on Saturday and ever since I've been getting warnings about viruses a few times everyday. I had about 3 yesterday and one in the past 2 hours today, they're all different ones and are all trojans.

What the fuck's happening? In about a year I had about two viruses and now I've got loads all of a sudden.

 

[Jonty]

Hi mank!

Where are these viruses coming from? E-mails, software downloads etc? Also, what is helping to detect them? An anti-virus program, an email filter? I ask only because it helps to narrow down what's happening to you.

Kind Regards

 

[mank!]

I've no idea where they're coming from, perhaps it's all the spam mail I get? I'm using Grisoft AVG 6.0 which has always done a good job for me.

I just thought, before I formatted I was using MailWasher to filter my spam mail but now I've had to delete them manually after downloading them in OE, would that cause it? I don't open attachments or anything stupid like that, iirc I've not received any emails with attachments the past couple of days.

 

[Jonty]

Hi mank!

Well, it sounds like most of your trouble is coming from your email, if not just attachments then scripts embedded or linked in the mail itself. As you rightly say, if you no longer use Mailwasher then all your blocked spam will now be able to reach you, hence it may suddenly seem like a big increase in the number of threats you're facing.

Thankfully, you're using an antivirus program which should, if updated, keep you relatively safe, which means the viruses you're receiving possess nothing more than a mere nuisance value. If you can, reinstall Mailwasher and block the suspect mail once again (or import your previous settings if at all possible).

Alternatively, you can just switch your email address. It's a sad reality, but once your email address gets on one spam list, then more often than not it will get shared and before you know it you're being bombarded. Personally, I only share my email address with close friends and family, and use private messages and such for public contact. Fustrating? Yes. But it does mean zero spam.

Kind Regards

 

[mank!]

I don't think I ever get any personal email these days, it's all spam. Only thing I still use it for is registration for stuff.

I'd reinstall MailWasher but I've got three email accounts and the free version only supports one, and I'm utterly skint atm :/

Cheers for the help again mate, I'll try and scrounge some money together I think.

edit: nifty, mailwasher only wants a donation. I'll give him a fiver, that'll do

 

[Sibanac]

Mank! most motherboards come with PC-cillin from trend-micro, you just have to register it on their site to get a key (its free with Asus mb's and ive seen some others aswell)

Tthe firewall is crappy for games, causes bad lag but you can turn it off.

The virus scanner works well
It also has a build in mail scanner, it just detects any pop connections and scans all mails before sending them thru to your email client.
It has some web scanner that checks for unsafe activex components ect.
A realtime virus scanner
and a normal virus scanner

The aplication checks automaticly for any updates aswell

 

[mank!]

OK, the same viruses keep reappearing and it's not after I've checked my mail, I've scanned twice since I last checked my email and supposedly got em twice but they've just appeared again :/

They're backdoor.flood and HideWindow. I had something called Deloder yesterday.

 

[Sibanac]

http://www.ultrasoftware.net/vir/trojan horse irc backdoor.flood.html


backdoor.flood and HideWindow. seem to come from IRC


http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/deloader.shtml

deloader seems to scan for weak administrator paswords


hope it helps

 

[mank!]

Cheers but I'm after a way of getting rid of them, because AVG keeps telling me it has but it keeps coming back.

 

[Jonty]

Hi mank!

Just a flying visit It may well be that AVG does get rid of the viruses once infected, but it may be the case that it won't stop you from getting reinfected if it's designed to only work after infection (if that makes any sense?!). Perhaps it may be worth investing in one of Norton or McAfee's products, for example, which may be able to warn you before infection (I'm not saying they will, but they might).

Kind Regards

 

[mank!]

OK Jonty, cheers. Looks like I'll have to fork out for McAfee or something, because I'm getting virus warnings practically every hour now

 

[Jonty]

Hi mank!

It might be your best bet I'm not too sure how comprehensive these virus scanners are, whether they can handle web, email, instant message and/or IRC based viruses, but I'm sure the blurb will tell you. Anti-virus products have also been mentioned once or twice in these forums, as I recall, such as in this brief, but concise, anti-virus thread.

Kind Regards

 

[mank!]

Thanks again Jonty, I feel like I owe you about ten pints by now

Which would you recommend out of Norto and McAfee, seeing as you're the authority on all things PC as far as I'm concerned

 

[Jonty]

Hi mank!

hehe, you are way too kind, and you don't owe me anything To let you in on a little secret, I don't use any anti-virus software due to the way in which I use the net. I should, I know, everyone should, but there you go. As such it's hard for me to recommend one product over another. I know both Norton and McAfee's products are held in high regard by many people, and often it's just personal preference which separates the too. If you give me a while I'll check some reviews and see which, if either, comes out on top.

Sorry I can't be of more immediate assistance

 

[mank!]

Thanks mate, I've just rang my Mum and she's going to pick me up a copy of Norton 2003 from Argos seeing as she works next door, the help was much appreciated and I hope this sorts the bugger out

edit: and don't waste your time reading reviews on my account, go get yourself a nice cold beer

 

[Jonty]

Hi mank!

I'm sure that'll do just fine (I hope so, anyway!) After reading some reviews, it turns out both packages are virtually identical in terms of what they do. For what it's worth, here's a little excerpt from ZDNet/CNet's review of Norton Antivirus 2003 . . .

Norton AntiVirus 2003 is a top-notch virus buster ... if you're looking for your first antivirus app, NAV is a good buy.

If you have any more trouble, please feel free to post again.

Kind Regards

 

[mank!]

I hate computers. There's still viruses on my HDD that prevent me from installing Norton properly, and the only way to get rid of them is by using the scan utility apparently.

Great.

 

[Jonty]

Sorry it's taking so long, mank! If it wouldn't take even longer, I'd say backup your personal files, making sure they're safe, and format the whole drive. Oh well, I hope everything will be sorted for you soon.

Kind Regards

 

[mank!]

It's not taking so long, it's not getting anywhere whatsoever. I formatted on Saturday night, I really cannot be fucked with the same process.

PC + bin = win.

 

[Sibanac]

Originally posted by mank!
It's not taking so long, it's not getting anywhere whatsoever. I formatted on Saturday night, I really cannot be fucked with the same process.

PC + bin = win.

i got a link at work with trojan scaners/removers, cba to find it from home, i'll post it tomorow

 

[smurkin]

Just a flying visit It may well be that AVG does get rid of the viruses once infected

Its a funny thing, programs like McAffee / PcCillin often are unable to remove viruses that have entries that lurk in the registry...you get "unable to clean"...then you have to link to their website and prune the registry by hand or download a cleaner.

The unfunny thing is that these nasty little registry lines often rerun the infected payload thus reinstalling the virus...so you get reinfected...and you have to identify the payload on your pc, delete and prune the registry before your properly clean.

If it really is outlook/e-mail infecting you, on vulnerable systems, you dont necessarily have to execute an infected attachment....the virus sneaks in using the outlook express preview view. Now there are lots of windows critical security updates that fix this, but the safe bet is to disable the view>layout>preview pane.

 

[mank!]

it never fucking ends

it really doesn't ever fucking end. i've finally got it, nuked the bastards and have NAV running away.

except now I get fucking popups every 0000000.1 seconds saying THIS EMAIL COULD NOT BE SENT despite the fact I'm not sending any fucking emails. I presume some shit virus on my PC is causing all these messages to be spammed out, but I've ran NAV on a full scan about three times tonight already and the cleaner twice, and nothing. zilch. i'm going to put this PC out the window in a moment.

writing this post i've had it happen four times.

make it stop. now.

 

[Tom]

lol it serves you right for not getting a decent virus checker in the beginning


























Only kidding.












No im not

 

[mank!]

great help, thanks!

Edit ~ Language ~ Jonty

 

[Jonty]

Hi mank!

You do realise BarrysWorld Technical Support costs increase significantly after 11pm? I took the liberty of creating a tab for you, the costs of which are somewhere in the region of £358,790.88 (roughly ).

With regards your problem, you're right in suggesting that it is probably a virus of some description which is attempting to send emails from your computer without your knowledge. Have you run the NAV update facility or visited the website to get the very latest updates? Although the program will work out of the box, the virus (if it is a virus) you're dealing with may require your virus definition files to be updated before NAV can detect and deal with the culprit. If you have updated all your files, then this complicates matters. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll be able to sort something out before you throw your PC out of the window

Kind Regards

 

[mank!]

Yeah, it's all updated. I've got round the popups for now by disabling Norton's e-mail scanning, but I'd quite like for that to work :/

I think I've managed to get the virus (which was Nebiwo) by getting to all the trojans and the worm itself - which I presume is reponsible for sending out those emails - and hopefully I've got rid of it, I'm just running a full Norton scan now in the hope it's sorted. If it's not, I'm smashing this PC into little bits, moving to Tibet and become a Monk.

Can I pay you in installments?

 

[Jonty]

Originally posted by mank!
If it's not, I'm smashing this PC into little bits, moving to Tibet and become a Monk.

Hmm, I think I might join you

With regards your problem, it sounds like you should have got right to the heart of the matter, so, touchwood, everything may be alright. I feel I've let you down a bit, though, since I was fairly sure getting a good virus scanner would sort your problems once and for all. Forgive me?

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. Since I feel bad, I'll wipe the slate clean

 

[mank!]

I'm taking legal action against your bad advice to the princely sum of £358,790.88

Don't worry, it's not your fault mate - you are a star. It's those foolish people who write viruses to piss people like me off

 

[mank!]

Sigh. It's back already, I give up.

I've removed them all manually, I've removed the keys from the registry, I've deleted the trojans over and over and over and run the Norton util on the website to get rid of Nebiwo. None of it has worked, and I daresay that should I format it'll only reappear.

I'm off to Tibet, bye.

 

[mank!]

Virus gone, I pray to God. The bastard email popup is still there, but I cba to fix that atm.