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What I think about computer viruses: -sm
Posted: Jun 8, 2010
In the beginning of the Internet, I think computer worms and viruses were indeed the work of young hackers & geeks without much else to keep them occupied.
But now, I think it's a whole different ball game. Havine dealt with a few viruses myself in the past few months, and the process of getting rid of them, I've come to believe that the ones cooking up the viruses are the so-called "virus-healing" programs you can buy all over the web for "only $39.95". How else would it be that they "magically" have the exact code that you can download (for a price) that knows exactly what the virus is, and where it's hiding on your PC. Especially when you find that some of these websites only work for specific viruses.
I'm starting to wonder why these companies aren't getting put under a microscope, because I think they're the root of the problem.
Okay, that's my rant for the morning! Have a good day, if you can........!
;
How does one even get a few viruses in a few months? - SM
[ In Reply To ..]Serious question. How does that even happen? What does one have to be doing, or where do they have to be surfing, to have that happen? (assuming one is running any kind of AV program)
I ask because I've been online since the early to mid 1990s and have yet to have a single viral infection, and I'm online all the time, surfing wherever I please.
How does that happen for others? It just blows me away.
How does one get a virus? Let me count the ways: - RRaccoon
[ In Reply To ..]1 - Surfing the web. Even so-called "safe" sites can hide malware. Especially if you accidentally click on the wrong thing.
2 - The news web-pages for your local TV newscasts are some of the worst. I've gotten nailed by those before.
3 - I've gotten one from clicking on a link that someone posted here on MTStars. I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose, but the link wasn't a safe one.
4 - Have gotten a few from friends accidentally, usually through links. I usually delete links, unless I know the sender.
5 - I got one from my MT company once. Not hard to figure out why - all their technical crew is in India. If they hook up to your PC to fix one thing, they can mess up others with a virus.
I have a firewall, and run THREE anti-spyware/malware programs that are updated constantly. That all helps, but it doesn't make you immune.
It sounds like you're pretty conservative in your PC use. I was with my first PC. But as time went by, I'm now on it for about 18 hours a day. Most is work, but a lot of it is surfing, looking for better employment, doing Facebook, MTStars, and many other forums, looking for stuff on Craigslist, etc. I also download lots of music using P2P file-sharing, and that is definitely a risk. But in addition to Coca-Cola and M&M's, I guess the third thing in my list of "crack" is music. My appetite is voracious... gotta have those tunes.
No, I'm hardly a conservative PC user-- - SM
[ In Reply To ..]--that's why I asked. I wasn't being facetious either in my wondering how some folks seem to run across viruses so often when I've never had a problem. If I'm awake, I'm on my PC, either working or surfing or downloading programs, etc. I'm addicted. So, it's not like I'm not being exposed.
I run an AV program (Alwil's avast!), but that's the only thing I have resident and running at any given time in the way of "protection." I do spyware/malware scans manually once a week, but mostly just to clear off any tracking cookies, as that's all that's ever found.
That's why I asked, as it seems some folks just find 'em, and others don't for some reason. I'd wager that your P2P use is a major contributor, however, as a decent AV program should protect you from most drive-by infections when surfing; if not, then time to change programs, I'd say.
Well, be careful out there.
If nothing else, Im getting more savvy about how to - remove the malware, so not much of a problem.
[ In Reply To ..]I run AVG as my first line of defense, and yet it didn't touch the trojan horse "FakeAlert.SF" virus my PC had picked up. Finally got rid of it by deleting AVG, reloading it again, and then running a fresh update. Then when I ran a virus scan, it was able to pick it up and get rid of it. Sometimes just a matter of days can make the most recent build of an antivirus program somewhat obsolete.
Those fake AV programs are also adept at disabling AV programs on the system. - nm
[ In Reply To ..]nm
The one I had before the FakeAlert one did just that. - It also disabled my Control Panel, etc.
[ In Reply To ..]That one was harder to get rid of, but I found a good site called malwarebyte.com that had the recipe for removal. Worked like a charm.
What you describe is not really a virus, it's malware. - sm
[ In Reply To ..]A virus would have the capability (and goal, for that matter) of replicating itself and thus infecting other users with whom the infected PC is in contact. Those fake antivirus programs that pop up the faux virus warnings, install themselves, and then try to force you to pay for the program to "clean" your system are malware, or malicious programs, but I've never heard of one being passed on to another user after infection.
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