Virus

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:32 am

This may relate back to Dusty's complaint a few weeks back but last night I was looking at the forum and my virus program popped up and said my system was just infected with a trojan virus.
I had just looked at the last link found in the "snowmobile" thread.

In any case my virus program rebooted my machine and it came up clean. I immediatly went to the SS site but the Shopsmith site was down so I wonder if their virus protection had found the same thing.

In any case all is well at my end right now. First real virus that my virus protection has detected.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:51 am

I was again unable to access the Shopsmith sites late yesterday afternoon but I have no indication of a virus. This morning I logged on and have had no trouble, as of yet, today.

I have always had all of my firewalls up and anti virus in place.

I am not technically qualified to say but it sure seems to me that my problems are somehow related to my activity here on the forum. I am suspicious of embedded links and don't always access them.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:15 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:This may relate back to Dusty's complaint a few weeks back but last night I was looking at the forum and my virus program popped up and said my system was just infected with a trojan virus.
I had just looked at the last link found in the "snowmobile" thread.

In any case my virus program rebooted my machine and it came up clean. I immediatly went to the SS site but the Shopsmith site was down so I wonder if their virus protection had found the same thing.

In any case all is well at my end right now. First real virus that my virus protection has detected.

Hi Ed,

Are you sure that it was your antivirus software that warned you of the virus??? When I clicked on the link supplied by kameljoe21 in this post (in the thread titled "Snowmobile" that I started), I too got a pop up dialogue box warning me about the virus. My thought was the warning was actually a link and I was knot about to click on it. I simply closed it and ran a Norton scan that told me I had no virus. I have heard about such warnings actually directing you to a site that you will get a virus if you click on it. What was your exact actions with the pop up? Did you close it and run your anti-virus program, or did you click on one of the buttons on the pop-up?

I am hoping that kameljoe21 will go back and delete that link to prevent others from contracting a possible virus.

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:33 pm

Hi,

I went to the site had no problems and my site indicator was green however my pop up blocker did block something... and the script blocker blocked something.

If you want to see the ZIL screw drive in action and you trust YouTube then look here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uynmApjhWI

Ed

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:46 pm

I had no problems with the kameljoe21's link either.

I had to clean one of those fake anti-virus programs from a co-worker's computer yesterday. And they had McAfee anti-virus. I attacked it with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Microsoft Security Essentials and cleaned it right up.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:05 pm

a1gutterman wrote:Hi Ed,

Are you sure that it was your antivirus software that warned you of the virus??? When I clicked on the link supplied by kameljoe21 in this post (in the thread titled "Snowmobile" that I started), I too got a pop up dialogue box warning me about the virus. My thought was the warning was actually a link and I was knot about to click on it. I simply closed it and ran a Norton scan that told me I had no virus. I have heard about such warnings actually directing you to a site that you will get a virus if you click on it. What was your exact actions with the pop up? Did you close it and run your anti-virus program, or did you click on one of the buttons on the pop-up?

I am hoping that kameljoe21 will go back and delete that link to prevent others from contracting a possible virus.

Yeah it was my anti virus program. It id's itself clearly and I looked at the log this morning and sure enough everything was documented.
Didn't say where I picked up the trojan but it found one.

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:13 pm

This is an interesting thread and just wondering how should we equip our computers to prevent and recover from viruses. Also, I don't know what to do about setting up a great firewall. I suppose Heath can give us some good guidance. I am running MS Windows Vista with all its protection which I don't trust. I have layered BitDefender Internet Security over that which also includes an antivirus program. I would love to hear some good guidance about all this so I can try to make my system safe. Thanks for your time and responses.

the old swampgator in Pensacola, FL

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:37 pm

The best protection is really just being smart. Anti-virus programs can easily be by-passed by a new virus. Software firewalls have their place, but they shouldn't be relied on. I find the big security suites from Norton and McAfee and such to hog more system resources than they are worth. The coworker's computer I cleaned the other day had the full McAfee security suite.

Just like abstinence is the only method proven 100% effective at preventing pregnancy, the only sure way to prevent your computer from getting a virus is to never turn it on.

Just be smart. Use a more secure web browser (that is, NOT IE). Try Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. If you get a popup saying your computer is infected or you've won a prize, don't click anything (even "Cancel" - any button made to do anything can be labeled "Cancel"). Use Alt-F4 to kill it. If that doesn't work, use the task manager and kill the process (or process tree if necessary). Don't let your kids or grandkids install a bunch of chat programs or music downloaders.

The only computer in my house that has much security software on it is my son's computer. Otherwise, I just use the free Avast! anti-virus. I have the built-in Windows firewall turned on, but I use my router for my real firewall. Separating the firewall from the computer is much more effective than having a software firewall running on your computer.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:49 pm

heathicus wrote:...Just be smart. Use a more secure web browser (that is, NOT IE). Try Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. If you get a popup saying your computer is infected or you've won a prize, don't click anything (even "Cancel" - any button made to do anything can be labeled "Cancel"). Use Alt-F4 to kill it. If that doesn't work, use the task manager and kill the process (or process tree if necessary). Don't let your kids or grandkids install a bunch of chat programs or music downloaders.

Thanks, Heath! especially for the Alt F-4 command.

One of the features I like about my Norton is the Pop Up Blocker. I never have a Pop UP until I Personally allow it. There are very few trusted sites where they will be allowed.

joedw00 · Post by **joedw00** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:26 am

heathicus wrote:The best protection is really just being smart.

If you get a popup saying your computer is infected or you've won a prize, don't click anything (even "Cancel" - any button made to do anything can be labeled "Cancel"). Use Alt-F4 to kill it. If that doesn't work, use the task manager and kill the process (or process tree if necessary). .

There was a report on our news last night about this Virus, and they said the same as you. DON'T CLICK ANYTHING.