VIRUS WARNING - Messages posted by Marbunsh5 contain a virus

Do not click on messages from MARBUNSH5. Each link takes you to a virus that even Norton does not detect right away!!!

I'm happy I have GoBack on my system - the only thing to save the day!!

Charliefox

Thanks, Charlie Fox.

We have labeled all the posts with warning. As soon as the mods of the affected forums are on we will delete them.

Glad your GoBack worked.

Linda

Thanks for the post Charlie.

Hope this didn't cause you too much trouble.

Marbush's posts are being edited as we speak. The links are all being removed.

-- Worker 11811

that even Norton does not detect right away!!!

which again proves what a rubbish it really is

that even Norton does not detect right away!!!

which again proves what a rubbish it really is

What do you use?

L

I use FireFox as browser, it's really much saver compared to InternetEplorer. Besides that I run a software Firewall (because I'm on a laptop and connect in many places where I don't know if there is a proper firewall) from Jetico.

And as anti-virus I use Avast.

All these programs are free to use and download btw.

Norton uses lots and lots of systemresources and it's not free to use either.

In my opinion: what I use is free, fast and works!

I will show you a link with a firewall test I recently found, u can see for yourself.

well, that was a quick find

http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php

and if you want to see how they tested:

http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests_overview.php

As you can see, there's a lot of rubbish on the market..

And you see Norton isn't so bad compared with the rest, keep in mind it's heavy and less userfriendly and costs money

Before I forget: I used Norton many years, so I know what I'm talking about

And it may sound strange but believe me, changing browser does make a difference..

If you want to know more, I'll gladly explane and help you

I use Norton, SpywareBlaster, and Spybot.

On the browser: I tried to use Foxfire but it caused me all kinds of problems when I tried to list my things on ebay. Eventually had to get rid of it. I recently loaded Explorer 7 but am having so many problems, I am going to go back to Explorer 6. Problem is, it is not easy to back out of 7. All kinds of conflicts on my laptop that I did just that with. And, I DON'T want to reinstall my hard drive!

Thanks, I will check out these links.

Linda

Solution:

Use Internet Exploder for working on eBay. Use Firefox for everything else.

Internet Exploder is nothing more than a way for internet criminals to inject viruses directly into your operating system! Get rid of it! Stop using it for anything you don't specifically have to!

If it wasn't for that pice of crap application, the virus problem wouldn't be HALF as bad as it is. Microsoft is DIRECTLY resposible for this problem! They should get OUT of the web browser business all together and leave it to places like the Mozilla Foundation to continue the work they do.

I'm 90% certain that whatever problem you have with Firefox working on eBay can be worked around. Even then, I am 100% certain that Firefox will more than suffice for all your internet needs except for the things that eBay specifically requires.

Since this topic is something that I'm fairly knowledgeable about, I've decided to poke my head in and post a few comments:

1) There is nothing that beats a good hardware firewall with SPI (Statefull Packet Inspection) - other than a good hardware firewall / NAT (Network Address Translation) firewall in connection with a decent software firewall. For spyware removal, Ad-Aware is simply the best.

2) I am highly suspicious of the information posted at http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests_overview.php, since the actual testing methods are not properly disclosed. After digging-through the site, this seems to be more of a grab-bag collection of different software-based firewalls and firewall testers.

3) By exercising "Best Practices" methods and using a decent firewall and AV solution, you can pretty-much rest assured that your system isn't going to be compromized.

4) The biggest sources of software to infect and compromize your system is: PORN SITES. Simple. The most desired content provides the fastest infection mechanism. The 2nd largest source of infection code: Warez sites, RegKey sites and software crack sites.

5) If you follow #3, and don't screw around with IE's Security settings you have a 98% chance of NOT being infected. Anyone telling you otherwise is either a Firefox fan-boy or drank their brand of kool-aid. If one examines the current security bug/hole scorecard for IE7 versus Firefox 2.0, the scores are evenly matched. To quote one of my favorite books & movies: "The first step in avoiding a trap is to know of it's existence" - hence, stay away from Porn sites, and websites and other sources that deal in and with pirated software.

The sad truth about all of these "ranking" sites for firewalls, Anti-Virus programs and Spyware removers is that 99% of the time they have a particular slant or bias towards one or more solutions - and usually slant away from "commercial" products like Symantec / Norton and McAfee. AVG is a good product, and I've had questionable luck testing against GhostWall. If you *really* want to see if your particular security solution holds-up to real-world attacks, go here:

Steve Gibson's Gibson Research Corporation's "ShieldsUp!"

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

This does a real-word portscan of your system, showing where your particular firewall works and where it doesn't.

For the record, I've been intimately involved with the PC Industry since the IBM PC first came out. Since then, I've had 1 virus on my systems (I've had more PCs than I care to count) since 1985, and that was totally due my own fault. Since I'm also on the Windows Vista Beta Test team, I can assure you that the combination of the new Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, and Ad-Aware (to cover what Windows Defender might miss) are an excellent combination.

...just my 2.5kb worth...

-S

Thanks, Steve.

I find that Mac lovers usually hate Explore, .. or really anything that has to do with Microsoft. Can understand why though.

I too, have had Computers that were Windows based since the first ones came out.

And, I too have only had one virus. Came to me from a disk sent to me from a mortgage software company upgrade! NEVER though to scan it as a possible virus carrier. Won't make that mistake again.

I do continue to have problem with slow speed since I downloaded Explorer 7. I have done everything I know how to find out why. Am now ready to go back to Version 6.

I will check out the site you mentioned.

This topic has gone off-topic enough I am going to move it to the information forum. I think others may find this topic helpful.

Linda

I have to say that Scott is pretty well on target. But I disagree with his philosophy that MS is secure as any other on the basis that it is wired-in to the operating system so intimately that there is no way to prevent problems. The only way to make MSIE more secure is to make it more restrictive as to the content that it may access.

But that violates the principle that the OWNER of the computer should be the final arbiter of what software runs or doesn't run on the machine that HE/SHE bought and paid for.

I have had conversations with several so-called "Microsoft Certified Professionals" who specifically contradict that principle and say that the user can NOT be trusted to operate his own system.

I differentiate this from people who CHOOSE to have the computer do things for them automatically. There are plenty of things that I LIKE to have the computer do for me without having to ask. I LIKE not having to check for software updates myself. I LIKE not having to check for malicious content every single time I go to a website. But I DO NOT LIKE it when the computer tells me I'm "not allowed" to access some content because there is the "potential" for abuse by some malicious third party.

I have seen many situations where MSIE disallows access to files that are KNOWN to be benign and which impede the workflow unnecessarily and which do nothing more than confuse the users unnecessarily, all in the name of "security". And, in every case, switching the user away from use of MSIE and Outlook have solved the problem yet have kept the comptuer reasonably secure.

My mother is a prime example. Her comptuer was FULL of viruses and was so bogged down with spyware that it hardly ran. I uninstalled the Norton Antivirus. Installed Sophos instead and scanned the comptuer. I found over 100 different pieces of malware. Once I cleared out all of that crap, I removed Sophos completely. Finally I ditched MSIE and Outlook and replaced them with Firefox and Thunderbird.

It's been more than TWO YEARS since I did that and there hasn't been a SINGLE problem on that computer due to a virus... WITHOUT the use of an antivirus program!

Every couple of weeks, I go to my Mom's house and check on her computer. The worst thing I have found is one of those stupid "search bars". It took me, literally, minutes to remove it.

So, do I think Microsoft is "evil incarnate"? No. But, do I think we can do better than MSIE? Certainly! Hands down!

Like I said above, I think Microsoft would be a LOT better off if they just quit pushing their stupid browser and let other people do that work. That way they can concentrate on other work like making their operating system better.

Besides, I really like being able to use virtually any computer, be it Windows, Mac OS or Linux and be able to use the same browser on any of them.

Yes, Scott, I do use a lot of rabid anti-Microsoft rhetoric. This has developed over several years of repeated patterns of behavior. I meet people who tell me there is a problem on their computer. Like a nice guy, I fix it for them. Two weeks later, the same person is asking me to fix their computer again. I used to tell them, politely, "I think you should use Firefox instead. I think you'll like it." They would nod their heads and smile. Two weeks later, they are begging me for help again. Each time, I ramp up the suggestion to use a better browser. Each time, I get the same lame response. Finally, I have gotten to the point where, when I "fix" a computer I don't even ask them to install Firefox. I just do it.

In almost every case where I have done that, the calls for help have stopped. The only things that I find on peoples' computers anymore are Trojans or "userbars" that the user has been somehow tricked into allowing. Frankly, whether you use MSIE, Firefox or any other software, there is no defense for that.

So, I take your advice seriously to be less "caustic" in my software suggestions but I hope you see where that attitude comes from.

Thanks for the well-thought-out post, Worker - Yes, I'm the first to admit that I've been accused of being a nearly-rabid supporter of Microsoft; I've had a hand in some very high-visibility products from Microsoft over the years (NT 3.1, MSN 1.0), so I am just slightly partial to the boys from Redmond - but that's balanced against some frightful mistakes that I've seen them make (and a few that no one outside of Redmond has seen!!). I'm mostly happy with IE7's security fixes, but there is one thing that people have to be aware of in regards to all of these "security bulletins" that come out that seem to show flaws in Microsoft products; 98% of all users will never be affected by said "flaws". Yes, having a perfectly-flawless OS would be nice, but it will never happen.

Even now, the OS that was assumed to be nearly that flawless - Mac OS X - is now coming under just as much scrutiny as Windows has been...and some of the security holes are so large that my "contacts" in Cupertino have been hearing reports in a delay of the next release of OS X ("Jaguar") to allow their developers more time in checking for other flaws. In fact, these other sources say that an interim release of OS X will probably be made, and that, unlike other OS X releases, this "interim" release will be FREE! Imagine that: Apple users not being charged for a "point" release of OS X!

Anyhow - Being Safe is the best policy.

--S

That was a wonderful communication guys! I don't think I have ever seen two from the "other side" be so open-minded. Conversations like this usually remind me of discussions about religion!

Plus, I think I understood maybe 70% of what you guys said! AMAZING!!

Thanks,

Linda

I only know a few things about the potential problem(s) in the upcoming release of Mac OS X. From what I understand it is a Trojan. The user has to download the ".tgz" file then execute the resultant file. (A Unix shell script.) Then the user has to provide the admin. password to give the script the go-ahead.

Even if it propogates, the potential for damage is far less prevalent than simply LOOKING at a ".wmf" file or an Active-X script running on the user's machine without their consent.

And, yes, on ALL operating systems, there is the potential for problems under Java. (But everybody knows that Java is evil! )

I do not know about any other potential problems in the next releases of OS X but, as far as I know, up to this point, every single potential security problem within OS X has fallen into one of two categories:

1) Problems that Apple has discovered themselves.

2) Proof-of-Concept papers, written by third parties, brought to Apple's attention by knowledgeable people.

In both cases the problems were addressed before any damage was likely to occur. And, if this causes a delay in the next release of OS X, so be it. I am MORE than willing to put up with the small inconvenience.

It's still a far cry from the amount of time it took MS to get "Longhorn"... Or is that "Vista"... off the ground.

Since 1984, I have PERSONALLY witnessed only two real security breaches:

1) "Sevendust" (AKA: "The 666 Virus".)

It was an easy virus to remove and, even then, it only caused your computer to crash if you didn't remove it.

2) The reported MP3 Trojan circulated by Intego.

That turned out to be an exaggeration on the company's part to generate hysteria and sell antivirus software to Mac users.

Although I have heard of it, I have never seen the infamous "OS 8 Boot Worm". I don't know the whole truth of this but rumor has it that it was "killed" by an "antivirus virus".