Computer Viruses

[Dan]

Thought this should be posted. Feel free to add any other viruses you hear of.

snopes.com: Package Delivery Failure Virus This is a virus that comes in an email saying UPS or Fedex was unable to deliver a package and you need to download an invoice. Thats when it executes and infects your computer.

 

[bairdco]

i actually got that one the other day but it said it was from DHL. it was in my junk mail and i didn't open it because i thought DHL was out of business. if it was from Fedex, i probably woulda got burned, because i was waiting on a package.

 

[deacon]

That's my concern we all buy so much stuff on line these days that a email like that just isn't all that suspicious. I switched to a lenox live cd to surf the net now so maybe I won't have it infect the whole computer.

 

[KCvale]

Two tips (In the real life I am a computer guy).

Get Spybot Search & Destroy for your windows PC, and install the Tea Timer.
The home of Spybot-S&D!

This keeps an eye on your System Registry.
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, not even a program you are installing from a CD yourself can write to it without your OK.

Most e-mail viruses are just .pif files that try to change your registry to get something else and install it and run whenever you start machine.
This one little free tool will stop that.

Second i look at the FULL file name of any e-mail attachments.
For example the file may display:
Invoice.doc . . . . . . .pif

It looks at first glance to be just a harmless word document, but ends in .pif, Program Information File, that is like a .com, .exe or .bat file that can executed.

No program can hurt you just sitting there, it needs to be run, just learn not to open what can run ;-}

 

[Goat Herder]

Linux Ubuntu

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

 

[Dan]

Thanks KC and Goat Herder.

 

[hurricane]

Hey KC , you ever use spyware doctor ? and if so whats your opinion on it

http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/

 

[spad4me]

EH?
I use GNU/Linux.
No virii at all
They wont even run in wine.
NEENER NEENER NEENER

 

[KCvale]

Hey KC , you ever use spyware doctor ? and if so whats your opinion on it

Spyware Doctor | Spyware Removal Scan & Antispyware Software Download

No.
"Trial Limitations: The trial offers time unlimited real-time protection (free spyware blocking), but does not remove threats detected during on-demand scans, updates may also differ to those supplied to registered users."

For actual Virus Scanning I use Norton Gaming Edition.
Handy when I hook up a customer drive as a slave and scan it.

It uses minimal system resources for background running and does a great job.
For the most part however I don't worry about viruses much, it takes a pretty big blunder for me to even get one, and my tried and true little free monitors keep it from even 'settling in'.

Speaking of which, AdAware is another great tool too.
Between the 2 I can catch most anything that doesn't want to play nice.

As for (whatever_UNIX) OS's I am not about to give up XP Pro or Win 7 for virus protection, Pffttt, I'd go Apple if I could make the box for a PC price and I don't like Apple anyway either, but that's just me.

 

[Goat Herder]

Apple came from linux..

 

[KCvale]

If you're on Windows, there's no reason not to use Microsoft Security Essentials for antivirus...
I can also heartily recommend Windows 7 for you Windows users.

I agree.
I like SpyBot more for Advanced Tools.
Again though, TeaTimer is tiny and good for stopping any Reg changes, but nothing beats simply not running something you don't know.

 

[Goat Herder]

I can also heartily recommend Windows 7 for you Windows users. IE8 is better, too, and IE9 is coming soon.

I have use 7 it works very good only windows distro I never crashed! It restored my faith in windows.
I have found Ubuntu to be quite a learning curve. Once you learn it then it awesome! There is open source stuff every where too! I have absolutely no viros with it.

 

[GEJoe]

I use PCLinux. On their forum someone mentioned that if you have XP or Vista, you can install SuRun and it makes the OS as secure as Linux! And then you do not need any antivirus and antispyware at all.

 

[KCvale]

...you can install SuRun and it makes the OS as secure as Linux! And then you do not need any antivirus and antispyware at all.

I hate to burst your bubble but I have been building and servicing PC's since there was such a thing for a living.

A virus or malware or whatever else you 'defend against' is nothing more than a program like your paint or word program, or even the Internet browser program you are reading this post with.

Completely harmless until you run them.

Then, just like any program, it takes control and does its thing.
If you think any any non-windows OS is somehow 'smarter' or 'safer' you are dreaming.

Code is code, execute it and it will run.
Your false sense of security comes from few people writing nastiness for such a small OS user base.

That of course is changing for unix and apple based machines now too, cell phones and Ipads as well for that matter.

Ignorance of running an unknown program is the major cause of software you don't want being installed getting in, downloading and installing Joe Blows open source dohicky software for your Linux system is just begging to be suckered in to trusting it.

Mark my words. The new target is wireless devices and you 'safe' people that don't run Windows. Rich pickings there now because you don't have motoring programs to warn of system changes and trust everything.

 

[The_Aleman]

Surf the net on VMs, don't download stupid files. Problem solved for main OS

 

[GEJoe]

Since we are into bursting bubbles, I would suggest to everyone to study into the security philosophy behind computers. It is a simple to understand as having a house with locks on the doors versus no locks. The reason no viruses can attack linux (lot of websites by experts can verify this statement), but do attack windows is the difference between the whitelisting of programs that can run (linux and unix and surun) versus blacklisting the programs (windows without surun). This was part of the purposeful design of microsoft to make it easy to put backdoors into the software. Whitelisting allows only approved programs to run with root's permission, blacklisting only blocks disapproved programs while allowing all others to run. I have been in the computer world since 1991 and just learned this recently, so the length of time one has worked on computers is irrelevant.

 

[matthurd]

Apple came from linux..

no apple came from unix, as did linux

as far as anti-virus goes i use spybot S&D, malwarebytes, and avira in combination, haven't gotten burned in well over a year, and when i did it's because i overrode aviras warning thinking it was a false positive.

 

[Goat Herder]

no apple came from unix, as did linux

as far as anti-virus goes i use spybot S&D, malwarebytes, and avira in combination, haven't gotten burned in well over a year, and when i did it's because i overrode aviras warning thinking it was a false positive.

They to this day I am sure get alot of bright ideas from any Linux code.

On another note I think Windows invented their own spy ware. Information is money. Every body took advantage of all the back doors is all...Any body ever figure out why Vista was such a CPU hog? You had to have a super computer to run it! Until you spent all day cleaning the registry..

One of the things I like about my linux computers their is not a registry like windows where when you boot up the computer every program in the world turns on. They had way too much crud running! I just don't need all kinds of programs starting up for no reason that are of no useful resource to me at all wut so ever...

Any body ever wounder why Apple and Mac never got any Virus's?


I believe Google sponsors Linux to a point as well.

 

[Goat Herder]

If I ever needed to hack a simple windows program back in the day I used linux programs! Henceforth all their back doors...



I swear the folks that make anti spy ware work in the same building so to speak. The folks that work upstairs invent it. The folks downstairs sell you the cure. No one is ever safe..

 

[Dan]

Hmm. Every one makes great points. I have always thought that the main reason windows machines were attacked so often is it was/is simply a much larger target. I built my first PC out of dumpster parts. It was not hard as all the components and plugs only fit one way. I had no clue what they did and read half of "Modems for Dummies" before I caught on how to get on the net. Really funny part, first time it booted up and the Window's logo came on, I was afraid to touch the key board thinking I would launch WW3. But this kid used to hack in when I did get on line. Amazed me. My point, I guess, is ya never know and should keep up on it all, software wise. We are all in this together and have to look out for each other.
LOL Goat, me 2
"I swear the folks that make anti spy ware work in the same building so to speak. The folks that work upstairs invent it. The folks downstairs sell you the cure. No one is ever safe.."