Virus help!

Baryonyx

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So, I accidentally clicked on an unsafe website whilst looking for Book Dedication examples.

It flashed up a trojan warning on the actual website and started trying to download a "Anti-Virus" protector (Which I'm sure was the actual virus) onto my computer.

I shut the computer down before this could happen.

So, will my computer be okay?

I'm running a scan with Avast now but I'm paranoid about having something that it won't pick up.

Grrrrrrrr I hate dick-heads who make viruses, I hate dickheads who put unsafe sites on the web and I hate google for not having some sort of programme that automatically blocks unsafe sites from showing up on searches :rant::rant::rant:

It was the second website on the google search too so it's not like it was some crummy, obscure site a 100 pages in.

I'm so pissed off right now . . .
 
Silver King

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I used to have Avast, and that Trojan warning is enough to give most people a heart attack. The good news is the threat was caught before any harm was done to your system. You should run a scan, though, just to be sure.

Also, I'd ditch Avast for Microsoft's Security Essentials. It's free, runs like a charm and won't scare the crap out of you with sudden messages and loud noises while doing its job of protecting your system.
 

Deleted member 42

I'm going to echo Silver King's recc for Microsoft's free Security Essentials.

My former colleagues who work for the two leading anti-virus software dev companies say it's exceedingly well done.
 
Silver King

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One quick reminder, if you decide to go with Security Essentials: Be sure to delete Avast, and any other virus protection programs you have, prior to downloading. It will not work properly unless other anti-virus products have been eliminated from your system.

I learned this the hard way, which should save you some time in getting Security Essentials up and running smoothly.
 

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Silver King said:
One quick reminder, if you decide to go with Security Essentials: Be sure to delete Avast, and any other virus protection programs you have, prior to downloading. It will not work properly unless other anti-virus products have been eliminated from your system.

I learned this the hard way, which should save you some time in getting Security Essentials up and running smoothly.
Click to expand...

This is important; there are a number of problems created by well-intentioned users installing multiple malware suites; they don't all work well together and they well step all over each other.
 
MJWare

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This sounds like a same virus I caught a few weeks back. If so it might be hanging around in your system.

I'd get MS Security Essentials or Spybot Search and Destroy just be be safe. Both should detect this one.

Either way, whenever I suspect a virus I always use two different programs to scan the system before I start entering passwords again.
 

Lhun

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Odds are, this is actually not a virus but just an attempt to install malware by panicking the user into agreeing to install it. Almost all "downloading stuff" messages you see pop up are fake, just animated pictures. But if you click on some convenient, close-by placed button to "remove malware/virus/spyware/cake" you'll get the actual thing installed.
Remember what a virus warning from your actual antivirus software looks like (the one you installed) and just ignore all virus warnings that don't look like them. Close suspicious windows. (not by clicking on an X in the window but by right-clicking the tab in the taskbar and telling the OS to close it)
Unless you have Iexplorer (and even there only an old version) there is no way anything gets downloaded or installed unless you accidentally give it permission. Getting a computer infected these days is much more about tricking the user into installing the stuff themselves than about just putting a virus out on some website.
 

zerospark

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Lhun said:
Getting a computer infected these days is much more about tricking the user into installing the stuff themselves than about just putting a virus out on some website.
Click to expand...

This is so true.

AV software is good to have as a backup, but it's the equivalent of treating the cold after you've contracted it. Having good practices online, as far as not installing (or even clicking) things that look shady, will prevent 99% of your problems in the first place.

If you're not a power user, that's the best advice there is.
 
backslashbaby

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Lhun said:
Unless you have Iexplorer (and even there only an old version) there is no way anything gets downloaded or installed unless you accidentally give it permission. .
Click to expand...

This part I disagree with vehemently :) There are security holes in nearly everything out there. Granted, the biggest ones are always being plugged, but there are a boatload of them that still exist.

Downloaded a pdf lately? Better check your version of Acrobat!
 

Lhun

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Checking the version won't help, Adobe hasn't fixed the claimed hole yet. But there are also no known exploits out there, so panic isn't warranted.
The virus and malware scare has long overtaken the actual threat in volume and presence. Unless you're doing something really stupid (running unknown executables, allowing websites to install stuff, browsing with iexplorer) there isn't actually much of a threat. With a decent (the free ones tend to be better) antivirus program and firewall/router, the threat is minimal.
 
backslashbaby

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I meant the 9.3+ update for Windows, sorry. I didn't check the Mac versions.

I'm just saying that folks don't have to have screwed up to get infected. More common are cases that involve bad practices, sure.

But I've seen some early ones. I supported multiple thousands, so that still doesn't say much, does it? :ROFL: OK, so it's not something you see everyday! ;)
 

Lhun

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That's exactly my point. If you freak out every time one of those fake virus warnings comes along or spybot finds a tracking cookie, odds are you'll have problems from a heart attack long before you see your first actually harmful virus.
The reasonable response to any virus scare is to simply close the browser, run a virus scan which likely won't find anything because there isn't anything to find, and then continue with business as usual. Oh, and learning how to identify fake malware/virus/whatever warnings and prompts to install useless search bars is a critical skill for browsing the web.
 

zerospark

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backslashbaby said:
This part I disagree with vehemently :) There are security holes in nearly everything out there. Granted, the biggest ones are always being plugged, but there are a boatload of them that still exist.

Downloaded a pdf lately? Better check your version of Acrobat!
Click to expand...

Be careful or you're going to start me proselytizing the virtues of Linux ;)
 

Deleted member 42

Lhun said:
That's exactly my point. If you freak out every time one of those fake virus warnings comes along or spybot finds a tracking cookie, odds are you'll have problems from a heart attack long before you see your first actually harmful virus.
Click to expand...

The vast bulk of user here are naive; telling them to calm down isn't going to help them learn, nor is a holier than thou attitude helpful.

Yours is in fact, bad advice--you don't know their individual circumstances, the economic status, whether their on dialup or on a shared computer, or even what OS they're using.

We have users, more than a few, running Windows 98, for instance.
 

Lhun

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So? Especially for people who aren't tech-savvy, doing anything but run a virus scanner and accept the result is going to do more harm than good. If the virus scanner doesn't find anything, the chances of the average user finding something the scanner missed are nil. And starting to delete files or even just uninstalling suspicious programs is much more likely to cause problems than some piece of malware the scanner couldn't find.
Exactly because most users are naive, and most problems of naive users are self inflicted, it's not a good idea to have them do any changes to a system unless its certain changes are actually necessary. The best (and pretty much only) thing the average user can do to improve the protection of his system is to keep the security software updated regularly.
 

Baryonyx

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Hiya, thank's ya'll!

I think I managed to avoid the virus/malware/nasty thingy.

Avast didn't pick anything up and some guy on another forum recommended MalwareByter and that didn't pick anything up either.

*sighs with relief*

I'm paranoid over viruses since my last laptop needed a complete reboot after getting infected with one.

Thanks again y'all!
 
Matera the Mad

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Zefiris said:
I'm paranoid over viruses since my last laptop needed a complete reboot after getting infected with one.
Click to expand...
You mean re-install. Hate to have to get quixotically picky all the time, but it is important to learn basic terms. To define for those who may not know yet: "Reboot" means simply restarting the machine, not wiping out everything on the hard drive and starting over. :)
 

Baryonyx

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Matera the Mad said:
You mean re-install. Hate to have to get quixotically picky all the time, but it is important to learn basic terms. To define for those who may not know yet: "Reboot" means simply restarting the machine, not wiping out everything on the hard drive and starting over. :)
Click to expand...

Re-install then :tongue

You may have noticed I'm useless when it comes to computers :)
 

Jamesaritchie

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Medievalist said:
The vast bulk of user here are naive; telling them to calm down isn't going to help them learn, nor is a holier than thou attitude helpful.

Yours is in fact, bad advice--you don't know their individual circumstances, the economic status, whether their on dialup or on a shared computer, or even what OS they're using.

We have users, more than a few, running Windows 98, for instance.
Click to expand...

Naive is true, but freaking out over such things is the worst possible act, no matter what the circumstances are, the economic status, or anything else. In truth, most such warnings have nothing to do with a virus. Nor does it have anything to do with dialup, a shared computer, or even what OS they're using.

Helping them learn is the right thing to do, but the first step in helping anyone learn is teaching them when to freak out, and when not to.

99.9% of such problems can be solved by simply staying calm, and while calm, typing a question about what happened into Google, which guarantees an answer from real pros with similar experiences, not by coming to a site like this one and listening to people argue, or talk about a Holier Than Thou attitude.

It's freaking out, panic, that causes almost all of the harm, not people telling them not to freak out.
 

tjficklepeople

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Just wanted to share a computer security tip, make sure to download and install Malwarebytes Anti Malware - the free version in every PC you care for.

There was once my PC got attacked by a malware, not sure how is a malware different from a virus but this thing blocked my internet connection and ZoneAlarm (which uses Kaspersky AV engine) couldn't detect it. Wasted whole day trying so many different anti virus programs to neutralize this. But Malwarebytes Anti Malware got it solved in minutes.

P/S: I am not an affiliate of Malwarebytes. What I am sharing here is based on my own experience. You can always Google about this software if you are in doubt.
 
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