PC Problem.

Security tool? as anyone ever encountered this? it is driving me mad.

When i log on to my PC i am told i have a number of viruses that need to be eradicated?
but to do this i have to purchase Security tool at $50 it wont let me log on to the internet, i cannot access my control panel to remove it, in fact i cannot access anything because a box pops up telling me i must remove these viruses first?

My desktop is gone and been replaced by a red screen?

I only encountered this when i logged on this morning?

 

Your PC has been hijacked. Personally I would erase it and reinstall from backups or recovery disk. Stop browsing with admin rights!

 

Unplug it and take it into a shop, mate.

When it's up and running again, I recommend a McAfee subscription. Mine is about £40-50 a year (can't remember exactly) and is very comprehensive protection. It occasionally catches things and prevents browser hijacks. I recently set up my future mother-in-law with the same protection and it cleared a pretty nasty bit of software off her computer that was using her as a spam server.

It's a good bit of kit - well worth the yearly fee and automatically updates itself to remain current with their latest offerings no matter how many times a year they update.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

This may help you Steve http://www.spywareremove.com/removeSecurityTool.html

I had that virus a year or so back and this got rid of it. Stop looking at porn

 

Never paid for anti virus or security since using Avast, which is free !!

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/free-anti-virus-software#virus

 

*Lots* of threads on this in the "technology toys" section - A quick search for "virus" will give you lots of info, up to and including some pretty much "step by step" tutorials. Here's one to get you started:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256710

I think you're a long way from needing a shop to do it - It really helps that you've still got net access from another 'puter - Use that to download the tools, read up on "stuff" etc.

Good luck, cheers,
Ian

 

Surely it's all that Frankie Vaughan you're watching....

Paul

 

Thank you all guys for the help i restored my system to six months ago and everything seems fine? i just need to install the updates etc now, so will be using the laptop untill it is done.

I am using Avast but it obviously failed to detect it?

 

The problem with the free stuff is that the bad guys can download it for free as well and know it's vulnerabilities. Buy a McAfee subscription. Trust me, it's worth it.

 

Or Kaspersky, it always wins the best AV awards.

 

I will look into them both, thanks guys

 

you have a torjan horse virus security alert thingy, You can fix it yourself by unpluging the hard drive from your computer, attaching it to another computer as a slave drive, then run you AVG scan and it will find it and remove it... then just plug the drive back into your main computer and start it up... virus gone

Or take it to the Geek squad and they will charge you $450.00 to do this 20 minute job and tell you it took 3 days...

 

+1

 

What makes you think the bad guys don't buy a McAfee subscription?

Just asking.
Cheers,
Ian

 

I think the comment is more accurate in the context of open source, like ClamAv. Being able to look at the code is a huge advantage (or disadvantage depending on what color your hat is).

My problem with AVG is the large number of false positives. In the wrong environment that can be just as problematic.

 

Aha!

I've got to respectfully disagree there (!) - I understand what you're getting at, but I've learnt over many years that, to quote the cliche, "security through obscurity is no security at all!".....

Make the source available, allow your peers (irrespective of hat color) to poke and prod it and weaknesses will be found - In the case of open source, someone will even (generally) fix the problem (and subject it to peer review) before any "commerical" enterprise could do the same IMHO.

DES (albeit not open source per-se), and the RSA algorithm are possibly the best examples of this "thinking" IMHO.

The DVD "protection" algorithm OTOH, not so much! I remember well when the "DVD authoring industry" claimed that their proprietary, "secret" code couldn't be cracked, and "we" told 'em it was only a matter of time......

As always, my 02c,
Cheers,
Ian
EDIT - PS, sorry for the hijack!

 

Well, presumably they could do that as well. However, as frefan was saying, McAfee take greater efforts to protect their source code than do free alternatives. I also believe that, as a business entity with their profitability dependent on their protection reputation, McAfee are more motivated to update more regularly and keep the bad guys on their toes.

I can't remember what event this was, but I recall a few years ago a bunch of the antivirus guys set up identical laptops, published the online addresses for them and challenged the world to hack them for a reward. Ultimately, they were all hacked, but they found out exactly how the defences were penetrated in each case and McAfee was one of the ones that held out the longest. It was probably a BBC News / CNN / FoxNews story - I just can't remember where I read it.

Everything is always a matter of time, as the systems were created by people and being hacked by people. You just hope your protecting people are brighter than the malicious people - and the brightest protector programmers will be employed to harness their skills, meaning you have to buy something to stand the best chance for system security.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Indeed. I spent most of my career with a non-open-source security s/w company btw - If we gave it away, I'd still be broke!.....

IIRC, it was firewall guys rather than virus guys..... The only way the open source version was compromised was via a H/W "hack" - An RF transmitter was inserted in the RS232 cable between the terminal and the host and simply sent everything to the "bad guys" across the hall..... [A pretty girl distracted the sales guy on the stand and.....Don't ask! ]

Again, +1

But, I'll stick with my encryption algorithm analogy - RSA in particular has been subject to more "hacking" attempts than probably anything in our history - It's stood that test of time, and whenever the black hats get close, "we" simply increase the key size - It's a truly beautiful (and relatively easily understandable IMHO) bunch of math - Not even the mighty DIA (or GCHQ) can "break" it...... AFAIK?

The DVD algorithm OTOH for sure supports your "it's only a matter of time" argument, but they were arrogant enough that their releases at the time said "yeah, we recognize the flaws, but it'll take more compute power than exists to break it"..... About 3 years (?) later, guess what?.....

Cheers,
Ian

 

Interesting information there, Ian - thanks.

And... pretty girls are now weapons of computer warfare?!

 

Did tonyh have the same problem before/after he/you sent you/him the porn vids/links?

 

LOL No mate, Tony's mail is always clean