Help, I got a virus!

[Fifoo]

Agreed. The success and expansion from FaceBook and MySpace made that they are sadly both a chosen target for all hackers, pirates and malware criminals.

 

It's not intended to make you paranoid, only to tell you that it's a real war against organized crime who have decided we are fair pickings.

 

Forewarned is forearmed. :yes:

[overload1977]

this is why i never click on links in facebook............... :sweat:

[antonkr]

One time, I got a rouge anti virus virus. So much for not following the google virus advisory, argg.

[Omeletter]

I use Avira Antivir Personal. What should I do? The file is not there! I also blocked Facebook through no script now. I will scan though. I use firefox.

[Omeletter]

Note that I also followed procedure to show all files, so I can spot it. Also, it can be other site, as I was searching for "funniest jokes" or something like that, then I received a virus warning when I clicked on one of the websites. NoScript has any website I didn't allowed, e.g. never been on it blocked.

[Vagrant0]

I didn't like that antivirus program, and suspect that it might be rogueware in disguise. You should probably use

Malwarebytes

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

 

and either

Avast

http://www.avast.com/index

or

Comodo

http://www.comodo.com/

if you're using free software.

 

As for facebook and myspace... It's one of those reasons why I already had switched my parents over to firefox and had setup noscript, flashblock, and a few other things. Compared to your average user they're both in a lower threat bracket, but still rank fairly high simply because portions of my family use the site to communicate (and share farmville updates). I steer clear of those sites myself for this reason as well as having a serious lack of having anything that I care to share with the world (as evidenced by my twitter account).

Edited April 29, 2010 by Vagrant0

[Illiad86]

wow, lol, seriously...my dad, grandma, mom, mother-in-law, and friend all got a virus from Facebook, and believe me, it's not pretty...guess it all depends on what you got, but it just trashed my friend's computer. Nothing a reformat doesn't fix though. Come to find that it takes just as long to get rid of the stinkers as it is to reformat. I'd rather do that anyways, a fresh start is always nice hehe :smile:

 

Another reason I don't use it and never will.

 

EDIT by LHammonds: A re-format did not fix the 3 PCs that were trashed at my company. Yep, the viruses were that bad...hence the only two sites that are blocked in our firewall!

 

ouch...destroyed the HDDs? :sad: The one my friend got destroyed explorer.exe lol...and the one my dad had locked his whole system up. Viruses *shakes head*

[Eiries]

It's one of those reasons why I already had switched my parents over to firefox and had setup noscript, flashblock...

 

YES. To be honest, it's not facebook or myspace sending you the virus, it's one of the other 15+ domains running on the same page.

 

GET NOSCRIPT. Block every bloody site that isn't the one's you need. Even if you don't click on the ad, that won't necessarily stop a corrupted flash-based ad from putting malware on your computer.

 

Even Nexus ads have been subject to infections. Don't be scared, just protect yourself. It probably ain't gonna get any better.

[Omeletter]

To last poster - I have a no script for a long time.

To Vagrant0 - We used that program for a looong time, it works really well.

[LHammonds]

ouch...destroyed the HDDs?

I cannot remember if it destroyed the BIOS or read/write heads of the hard drive but the two guys I had working on it are VERY good at what they do. One is an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) and the other is MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional...for Windows OS). So if they cannot fix it, it was very bad ju-ju

 

Omeletter, the screenshot seems to say that your antivirus blocked that particular problem but just as Vagrant said, you really need to scan your system with other programs to make sure something isn't lurking beyond Avir's ability to detect. MalwareBytes is currently an EXCELLENT program to use which is an on-demand scanner that is compatible with an existing Real-time Anti-virus protection program.

 

If you do switch anti-virus programs, make sure you do not have two installed at one time. I used to use Avast but switched to Comodo Internet Security since it has many more features to protect my system and is regarded by security groups as being at the top of their game...even compared to pay-for products. So, if you change your anti-virus program, do so in such a manner:

 

1. Download the new anti-virus program.
   
2. Download any manual updates you can find for the virus definitions for that program.
   
3. Disconnect your Internet cable from your PC.
   
4. Uninstall your current anti-virus program.
   
5. Reboot (necessary to complete uninstall)
   
6. Install new anti-virus program & update the definition files if possible.
   
7. Reboot and allow it to fully scan your system.
   
8. Re-connect your Internet cable.
   
9. Tell your anti-virus program to update itself immediately.
   
10. Perform another scan if updates are applied.
    
11. Make sure your scanner is setup to fully scan your system at least once a week (preferably when you know the PC will be on and when it will be OK for the scanner to run)
    

Also, if you must use such sites, make sure you are using a PC that you don't mind loosing control over to a hacker and such. Another potential solution would be to isolate your web browsing with a program like Sandboxie.

 

LHammonds