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Old 02-22-2011, 11:17 PM   #1
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Fake Virus Alerts

(Please move if I've put this in the wrong board)

I was browsing the net yesterday, looking for pic.s of hairstyles as I'm having a re-style on thursday, and my pc started going crazy, but not in the manner my normal anti-virus software does when it's not happy.

A pop-up box told me that AVG (which I don't use) had found "suspicious activity on my computer"!! and would take action. "No you won't" thinks me. When I got rid of the pop up, I was shown an image of "my" computer (like the bit you'd see if you click on 'my computer') with lots of red flashing numbers indicating the number of infected agents in each part.

I was suspicious because a) I don't use AVG and b)my instinct as a long time pc user set off bs alarms.

I rang my friendly techie, and while chatting about the issue, pop-up boxes giving me the option to save or cancel insistently popped up. I kept clicking cancel.....and got another one. I was distracted by the conversation and accidentally clicked "save" and looked at my desktop to see if there was anything new. I had a logo which looked like the AVG one but was called 'Avmast'. I thought the spelling interesting. so looked at its properties: an exe file made by someone called drweb. I deleted it from both the desktop and the recycle bin, then ran a virus scan, which was clear.

I could have thumped my techie friend when, after the event he told me the key shortcut for closing down pop-ups

Thought I should let others know. I'm sure you're all savvy enough not to run the program, but virus alerts are scarey.
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Old 02-23-2011, 12:38 PM   #2
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That kind of drive-by web malware is pretty common these days, and there's no real defense. If you see it again, do a system restore to a point you know is previous to getting it. That almost always gets rid of it. If it doesn't, you have a serious problem (I ran in to one that was sophisticated enough to kill most AV programs, block access to Microsoft Update and AV web sites, and deleted all old restore points. That involved reinstalled Windows.)
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Old 02-23-2011, 12:41 PM   #3
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[QUOTE=BookCat;1410551
I could have thumped my techie friend when, after the event he told me the key shortcut for closing down pop-ups

Thought I should let others know. I'm sure you're all savvy enough not to run the program, but virus alerts are scarey. [/QUOTE]

Obviously, I'm not. What is the shortcut?
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Old 02-23-2011, 12:44 PM   #4
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Obviously, I'm not. What is the shortcut?
Probably Alt+F4, the shortcut for closing IE windows
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Old 02-23-2011, 03:53 PM   #5
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I got the Avira AV virus a few days ago that almost completely shut down my computer. I used my Kindle to look up how to manually remove the virus. Started the computer in safe made, deleted the instructed registry keys, changed a few settings in my web browser, and then my antivirus program was able to remove the virus.
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Old 02-23-2011, 04:47 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BookCat View Post
(Please move if I've put this in the wrong board)

I was browsing the net yesterday, looking for pic.s of hairstyles as I'm having a re-style on thursday, and my pc started going crazy, but not in the manner my normal anti-virus software does when it's not happy.

A pop-up box told me that AVG (which I don't use) had found "suspicious activity on my computer"!! and would take action. "No you won't" thinks me. When I got rid of the pop up, I was shown an image of "my" computer (like the bit you'd see if you click on 'my computer') with lots of red flashing numbers indicating the number of infected agents in each part.

I was suspicious because a) I don't use AVG and b)my instinct as a long time pc user set off bs alarms.

I rang my friendly techie, and while chatting about the issue, pop-up boxes giving me the option to save or cancel insistently popped up. I kept clicking cancel.....and got another one. I was distracted by the conversation and accidentally clicked "save" and looked at my desktop to see if there was anything new. I had a logo which looked like the AVG one but was called 'Avmast'. I thought the spelling interesting. so looked at its properties: an exe file made by someone called drweb. I deleted it from both the desktop and the recycle bin, then ran a virus scan, which was clear.

I could have thumped my techie friend when, after the event he told me the key shortcut for closing down pop-ups

Thought I should let others know. I'm sure you're all savvy enough not to run the program, but virus alerts are scarey.
I can sympathize 100%, you were right, obviously, in being suspicious. The other big give away is the blinking flashing lights and numbers and warnings of impending doom.

I see those at work all the time, often enough that have a disk created specifically for it that has Malware bytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org/) and, for the really stuborn ones, combo-fix (http://www.combofix.org/) on it.

As your first line of defense, run malware bytes repeatedly until it comes back clean. If that does not solve it, I've not met one yet that combofix could not take care. Note that you may have to run them in safe mode since some of the malware will detect it when you run these, and other, recovery tools and virus scanners.
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Old 02-23-2011, 05:14 PM   #7
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Because Windows is so commonly used (if for no other reason), it's vulnerable. For safer browsing, try Linux. It's much more friendly these days, and Linux Mint is great for non-nerds. You can set up your computer to run Linux AND Windows, choosing which operating system to use when you start up. You can also run Windows software under Linux using something called WINE. What's more, Linux software is Open Source, which means it's free to download.

Linux, like Unix, is built from the ground up with security in mind. It's great! I no longer use Windows at all -- I don't trust it, and I certainly don't like the way it gradually gets slower and slower until you have to do a complete reinstall.
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Old 02-23-2011, 05:27 PM   #8
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I HATE those guys! They really should be drug out into the street and beaten like dogs. If I had a dollar for every elderly friend and relative of mine who thought they had a virus, which in reality was one of the scams... well, I could quit my day job.
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Old 02-23-2011, 05:34 PM   #9
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What gets me is that after all these years, people just go along with the idea that this is fairly much "the norm"...

Our whole family has switched away from Windows and it's now a lot less trauma.

That said - I agree, those deceptive alert system people really should be taken out and put through the wringer!

Paul
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Old 02-23-2011, 05:58 PM   #10
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Unlike all you radicals, I believe in tradition. My family has always used Windows, and it will continue to use...system crash
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Old 02-23-2011, 11:49 PM   #11
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I never click anything inside those pop-up boxes. If necessary I use the task manager to shut down Firefox.
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Old 02-24-2011, 07:21 AM   #12
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Quote:
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Unlike all you radicals, I believe in tradition. My family has always used Windows, and it will continue to use...system crash
If your systems crash, you have a problem. I've not had a crash in Windows for at least the last 5 or 6 years. Crashes are generally caused by either hardware issues or flaky device drivers.
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Old 02-24-2011, 07:32 AM   #13
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Aaah, but poorly applied non applicable non relevant historic facts make for the best jokes... just like "There's no software for linux" or "You can only use the command line in linux" or "HP-UX rots your brains".


.... wait, there might be some truth on the last one.
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Old 02-25-2011, 10:14 AM   #14
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The one he told me is: ctrl-alt-delete to bring up the task manager and close down programs. I don't use IE but Firefox.
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Old 02-25-2011, 10:19 AM   #15
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The one he told me is: ctrl-alt-delete to bring up the task manager and close down programs. I don't use IE but Firefox.
unfortunately task manager doesn't seem to have enough muscle to close down really serious viruses
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