Virus and other security problems + solutions

[MARS]

McAfee

[Hadrianus]

What's a spam bot, they sound scary

I have probably sent a spam bot a welcoming PM in the past, oblivious to them being a spam bot and all...

[Andere]

Bots are automated "beings", strings of program that is, searching and looking for contacts in order to "deliver their own message". They make a nest in your computer, in order to spread forth... what they were built for.

If you get caught by one, you'll start receiving commercial ads, or you could be hooked up as a "bot for the bot", spreading its message further: one machine gets another machine, the both get their new machines, and suddenly it's a matter of 100,000 machines spreading "the good news".

I dare say, we're pretty good here in UESP to prevent any such to happen. It's not us moderators, it's more our alert members who report things to us, and then we moderators just simply kill them... ... the bots, I mean, not the members!

1. Have your Antivirus in order and updated.
2. Have your Firewall in order and updated.
3. I personally would suggest to install ThreatFire, http://www.threatfire.com/download/
4. Run occasional scans with an On-line scanner, like F-Secure, http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA-Labs/se ... ne-scanner

The whole virus and malware and spam is overrated, in my opinion. If you have a descent Antivirus, you'll probably be fine. No reason to panic. Your machine may be a bot, but you don't notice anything... if your computer starts to slow down, it may be a signal: one attack is known as CPU100, meaning that your processor runs at 100% even if you're not doing anything.

But dear ancient Roman, I wouldn't worry about it. And your topic "GPU and CPU Usage?" doesn't give any cause for alarm. Critical attacks are characterized by the fact that your computer slows down, even breaks down. The figures and temps you gave don't indicate that.

[Hadrianus]

Bots are automated "beings", strings of program that is, searching and looking for contacts in order to "deliver their own message". They make a nest in your computer, in order to spread forth... what they were built for.

If you get caught by one, you'll start receiving commercial ads, or you could be hooked up as a "bot for the bot", spreading its message further: one machine gets another machine, the both get their new machines, and suddenly it's a matter of 100,000 machines spreading "the good news".

I dare say, we're pretty good here in UESP to prevent any such to happen. It's not us moderators, it's more our alert members who report things to us, and then we moderators just simply kill them... ... the bots, I mean, not the members!

1. Have your Antivirus in order and updated.
2. Have your Firewall in order and updated.
3. I personally would suggest to install ThreatFire, http://www.threatfire.com/download/
4. Run occasional scans with an On-line scanner, like F-Secure, http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA-Labs/se ... ne-scanner

The whole virus and malware and spam is overrated, in my opinion. If you have a descent Antivirus, you'll probably be fine. No reason to panic. Your machine may be a bot, but you don't notice anything... if your computer starts to slow down, it may be a signal: one attack is known as CPU100, meaning that your processor runs at 100% even if you're not doing anything.

But dear ancient Roman, I wouldn't worry about it. And your topic "GPU and CPU Usage?" doesn't give any cause for alarm. Critical attacks are characterized by the fact that your computer slows down, even breaks down. The figures and temps you gave don't indicate that.

Thanks again Andere I installed ThreatFire. I also have Malware Bytes, Spybot Search and Destroy and Spyware Blaster. Are these programs safe? They seemed to have done a great job since Ive had them, but then again, my computer has frozen a couple of times recently, what does that indicate?

[Andere]

Thanks again Andere I installed ThreatFire. I also have Malware Bytes, Spybot Search and Destroy and Spyware Blaster. Are these programs safe? They seemed to have done a great job since Ive had them, but then again, my computer has frozen a couple of times recently, what does that indicate?

"Once upon a time" it was recommended that you have more than one Antivirus running. However, that's dead and gone now. Also is the somewhat common recommendation that you should have different manufacturers' programs: today they recommend that you have one Antivirus, and anything else, like Firewall, from the same house.

I'm not a specialist, but I have trusted both ThreatFire and Spyware Blaster for years, together with Filseclab's Firewall (free) and their Twister AntiVirus (~$35 for a lifetime license), and I haven't had any problems, and on-line scans haven't found anything.

But I would suggest that you make Malware Bytes and Spybot passive, not actively scanning your system, but only to be used in periodic scans. The thing is, these programs scan the same areas of your system, and identify each other as hostile --- not necessarily, but possibly.

And, you do have a main AntiVirus, and a Firewall?

[Hadrianus]

I do have Mcafee, which came with the system, but Ive read things about Mcafee being susceptible to corruption, so I deactivated it's functions, cos I got worried

[Spiney]

I've had Mcafee, and I utterly despised it. Not worth it's price.

Right now I'm using Kapersky. Which was cheaper than Mcafee, but has been more effective and less resource hogging. It can be over protective, but doesn't do things like kill programs is suspects of being something petty like a keylogger, and lets you decide yourself.

[Andere]

I do have Mcafee, which came with the system, but Ive read things about Mcafee being susceptible to corruption, so I deactivated it's functions, cos I got worried

Oh my... if you have deactivated Mcafee and haven't activated anything else, you're flying the space without a helmet! If that's the case, brother: GET SOMETHING! Avira and Avast are quite ok, although having used the both, I recommend the one I use now. And while you think about, activate your Mcafee... 18+ only:

Spoiler:

right now you're like a man in a Nigerian brothel - and no rubber!

[the Savage Hippie]

Comodo Anti-Virus
This will really secure your computer - it even blocks .dlls if it alters the computer's daily schedule example: you install Oblivion - all the .dlls will have to be confirmed as trusted files.
It comes with a firewall and defense+

I recommend it.

[Valus]

I finally got around to hooking up my old computer and seeing what the hell is wrong with it.
I've recently cleaned out the virus that was on it with a boot disc, or so I thought.
When I start it up, the first thing I see is an error message that says,

(Title Bar)Windows Defender
Appilcation failed to initialize: 0x800106ba. A problem caused this progrma's service to stop. To start the service,
restart your computer or search Help and Support for how to start a service manually.

I assumed this was quite serious, seeing how it was from Windows Defender, so I tried to open Microsoft Security Essentials and I got this error message,

Couldn't start the Microsoft Security Essentials service
Access is denied.
Click 'Help' for more information about this problem.
Error code: 0x80070005

So I clicked 'Help' but it just tries to open a webpage but, for some reason, this computer can't connect to the internet, which is also another weird thing about this computer.

So, I'm not sure what to try next, I can't go to the internet for help, and I currently have no way of scanning the computer to see if I really did get rid of the virus, but it sure doesn't seem like I did.

[AddictedtoMorrowind]

Do you have Safe Mode on your computer?

[Valus]

I'm pretty sure I do, not quite sure how to get to it, though.

[AddictedtoMorrowind]

This might possibly help. From there, you should install MalWareBytes and run a scan, I think.

[Valus]

Ok, thanks, running a scan now, already detected 4 objects.

[Iamgoofball]

Install Linux. There's your solution.

[Valus]

Ok, which distribution do you recommend?

[Iamgoofball]

Nevermind, I was just joking, but actually, Linux has the least amount of viruses.

[Valus]

Alright, as soon as I get all my stuff off this computer, I guess I'll give it a try.

[Andere]

After a severe or prolonged virus / malware problem, I would clean the entire HDD by wipe = zero format. Normal formatting or a re-installation doesn't do the job properly, the bugs remain. If you think you might want to do this, the first place to look for proper software would be the manufacturer of your disk, that's the safest place. Another possibility is third party software, I'm using MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition, it's free, http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-par ... nager.html

About Linux, it's almost free of viruses... makes one wonder if there perhaps is an ideology behind creating them? I think Windows is quite safe, but you need to have your security programs up-to-date. And you shouldn't use anything older than XP, with all updates.

Hope you get it running properly!

[Frost Mage]

Okay, I need your help guys. So basically, I have had this problem with my browsers (Chrome and Firefox) opening up ads randomly in a new tab. This has recently evolved into google links redirecting me to other ad sites. I have Malwarebytes, and use it nearly ever day, but it can not fix this issue. What should I do?

[Iamgoofball]

Yep, you've got a virus.

[Frost Mage]

... Well yeah. I need to figure out how to fix it.

[Gideon Dragontongue]

Run Windows Defender, and if that doesn't work, there are several anti-virus programs I can link you to.

[Archea47]

Warning: this all applies to Microsoft Windows

Step 1: check your start page. For internet explorer or firefox, go to tools->options (if you have windows 7 and it doesn't show the menu with file edit tools etc, tap alt and it should show up) and under the general tab it should show your homepage. Set that to a blank page or google.com or some other website that you trust. It's possible that it's set to a malicious page that masquerades as legitimate and alters your links

Step 2: check your DNS servers. If you have WinXP or earlier, through the start menu open "run," type cmd and press enter. If you're on Vista or 7, type cmd into the search box in the start menu and click the cmd.exe result. A DOS-looking box will open. Type into there ipconfig and press enter.

You're going to have quite a bit of text output. Scroll up to where it shows an adapter with an IPv4 address, a subnet mask and a default gateway (it will be something like IPv4 address: 192.168.1.40 (it doesn't for now what the value is), subnet mask: 255.255.255.0, default-gateway: 192.168.1.1 (write whatever this number is down)). Okay, we're halfway there now. Just above this information is the name of your network card, like "Wireless LAN Adapter Wireless Network Connection 1" - take note of that.

Now in your cmd window type ipconfig /all and press enter. You will get a more detailed version of the same output from last time. Scroll up to the network card you were looking at before, but from these new results. Underneath the info you saw before there should be a line that says "DNS Servers:." The number after that should be (with modern routers and corporate domain controllers) the same value as your default-gateway. If not, you should call your ISP and see if that or those numbers are their DNS servers. If not, your domain server most likely has somehow been set to a malicious one. This can be corrected by going to Control Panel->Network and Internet->Network Connections and right clicking on the adapter in question and clicking on properties. From there double click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). A window will open, at the bottom of which are two options: obtain DNS server address automatically or use the following DNS server addresses. Click the second, which will un-grey the following box. Type into the first box 8.8.8.8 (google's public DNS server(s)) and press OK. See if you still have the problem.

If none of these work for you ... I would be suspecting of some sort of malware. In such case, and since malware bytes isn't telling you anything, I would download a trial of ESET NOD32. Disconnect from the internet, disable malware bytes and install the ESET software. Afterward reboot, and once the machine has come back up and you are logged in (if on a domain it should cache your login so you shouldn't need network access) you can connect back to the net (either connecting to your wireless or plugging your ethernet cable back in). ESET will actively scan anything that runs on your computer, but you can double click the tray icon to open the interface and run a manual scan of your computer. IME the ESET software is better at detecting virus than malwarebytes. If it finds anything, post the results back here

[Frost Mage]

Well, Lo and behold, my problems have increased significantly. Now it won't even boot. It goes to the Windows logo (by the way I'm running Windows 7), then mentions something very briefly about some Anti Rootkit software, before going to a black screen and then restarting, creating a paradox. Does anyone know what I can do? It can't even boot into Safe Mode.