Conficker Worm

[Bob Reeves]

Conficker seems to be the latest threat to our computers. Might want to see if you have been infected.. My understanding is it can only infect computers running Windoes XP and Vista.

If you can go to the Symantec anti virus home site you DON'T have it..
http://www.symantec.com/index.jsp

This is a direct link to info about it and how to get rid of it.
http://www.symantec.com/norton/theme.jsp?themeid=conficker_worm&inid=us_ghp_link_conficker_worm

If neither of these links work your computer is infected, you will need someone else that isn't infected to download either the removal tool from the above site or the latest windows XP, Vista updates and burn a CD for you.

Oh ya, ignore Symantec's sales pitches for Norton, I use to reccomend it but now it's a piece of crap that is worse than some of the bugs it's suppose to fix.

[Matt Colan]

I'm clean, well I should be considering my father has too many antivirus stuff on here to count.

[Bob Reeves]

I'm clean, well I should be considering my father has too many antivirus stuff on here to count.

Matt, you really should only have one single anti virus program installed (if any). I have fixed slow running computers brought in simply because the user was so paranoid they had 3 or 4 anti-virus programs running in the background slowing the machine to a crawl.

Wished I could recommend a good one but I simply can't. I have a 6 computer network all connected to the internet and have never ran any anti virus software. Everyone using these computer follow a few simple rules and we stay pretty clean.

Never open an email attachment unless you know what it is or you asked for it. might as well not even bother forwarding me jokes or other junk emails. They are deleted without so much as a look see...

Never go to a web site you are not sure about.. Game sites and porn are the worst and should be avoided. If you get into a web site that pops up something like "please wait this is a large image" or some such crap... Shut down your computer immediately, unplug the darn thing or do whatever it takes to get it disconnected from the internet. The odds are real good the site is downloading a worm or virus into your computer.

[Matt Colan]

I do know that we have only one antivirus, Norton 360 but he has a lot of protective stuff on here also.  Well he is a computer guy I guess you would call it, he has built 2 computers on his own and knows when there is something wrong.  Oh now I know what I was thinking of, he has a defragmentor that is used I guess once a month.

[Larry Cunningham]

In addition to a good antivirus, I strongly recommend Spybot and the resident Teatimer program it
comes with. Teatimer watches your registry and will inform you when anything is trying to change it.
Spybot is free to individuals and an excellent program. Here is a link where you can download
it: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html.

Last fall I got the Virtumonde trojan, which is very malicious and only with the help of the Safer Networking
site (home of Spybot) was I able to get rid of it.

Another wise thing: keep up your Windows updates, if you have done so religiously, you won't have trouble
with the Conficker.

L.

Edit: Let me add a couple of internet recommendations: Adblock Plus and NoScript free add-ons for your browser. These will give you
control over most of the crap the web sites try to do. You can selectively permit known good sites and temporarily or permanently
block others. Also, use your Tools menu to list and delete all cookies, and then set it to allow cookies. Visit all your regular web sites
and acquire your logon cookies, etc. next. Then change the option to allow cookies only for the session and/or inform you about each
cookie. This will keep your tracking and spyware cookies to a minimum, and regular runs of Spybot will keep them cleaned out. Note
that Spybot lets you "immunize" against common spyware problems.

Finally, never never never never never allow any "free registry scan" by anyone. Never! Many of these free scanners are bogus, and
either designed to find non-existent problems, or sell you a program, or INFECT your computer.

If your computer is infected, some of the really bad stuff will block updates to your antivirus, also to Spybot. For example, Virtumonde
makes Spybot update checks always say "no updates available", and does a bang up job of reinfecting again and again, using one of
Microsoft Internet Explorer's own special software "objects". This means you may need to go get and re-install your browsers to
stay clean.

"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim." -E. W. Dijkstra
 

[Brett Buck]

Finally, never never never never never allow any "free registry scan" by anyone. Never! Many of these free scanners are bogus, and
either designed to find non-existent problems, or sell you a program, or INFECT your computer.

   That can't be right! I run Finally Fast! every day so I know that I am OK. It was a banner ad on the internet, they have a very strict standard for those.

    Brett

  note - NOT SERIOUS!!! Larry is exactly correct, these things are almost universally scams. But people fall for them all the time. Moreover, I don't have a PC, which is the root of the problem in any case. Can't get stuff into the registry *if there isn't one*.

[Larrys4227]

If your into this sort of thing .... the lowdown on Conficker:
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/conficker.asp

I've used AVG Anti-Virus - Free Edition for years and has been wonderful, but I also practice safe-interneting. :-)

FlySafe!  Larry (Larrys4227)

[Steve Fitton]

   That can't be right! I run Finally Fast! every day so I know that I am OK. It was a banner ad on the internet, they have a very strict standard for those.

    Brett

  note - NOT SERIOUS!!! Larry is exactly correct, these things are almost universally scams. But people fall for them all the time. Moreover, I don't have a PC, which is the root of the problem in any case. Can't get stuff into the registry *if there isn't one*.

I guess nobody bothers to write malware for Apples?  Not enough of them to make it worthwhile? 

[Geoff Goodworth]

But you can't be too careful. Apples can get worms. 

[Brett Buck]

I guess nobody bothers to write malware for Apples?  Not enough of them to make it worthwhile? 

   There are a few floating around. But the vunerability in Windows is caused by having Internet Explorer embedded in the system, and requiring users to run in an admin account to get a lot of stuff to work. And ActiveX, ay carumba. The beloved UAC in Vista is an attempt to correct that. Simply opening email or visiting a website in Safari *cannot* result in malware, you have to help it along somehow. It's not bulletproof but it's much more difficult.

    Running Firefox or Opera on your Windows machine will greatly reduce the likelihood of any malware screwing you up.

     Brett

[Randy Powell]

Yep, I have no registery, no virus software and no ad ware software. I do use a trick little port blocker that sits on my incoming ports to patrol DOS and such (that's denial of services, not the other thing). But other than that, never touch the stuff. Of course, my system isn't a target.

[Larrys4227]

Yep, I have no registery, no virus software and no ad ware software. I do use a trick little port blocker that sits on my incoming ports to patrol DOS and such (that's denial of services, not the other thing). But other than that, never touch the stuff. Of course, my system isn't a target.

Software to stop viruses/adware and port blocking are 2 different animals.  I commend you for port blocking .... theres plenty of kids out there scanning IP address blocks for open ports. Pity to those users that connect directly to a cable modem or other direct-connect. Your system may not be a target because you've got it buckled down and invisible using good common sense.  Go ahead and hit a bad website and see what port blocking does for ya ... NADA.  Of course, if your running a Mac or some flavor of UNIX, then I bow my head to your good scrupples.    I'd love to get back onto a LINUX machine again.  Last time was 5 years ago .... they've come a long way since then and I bet its real cool!

FlySafe!  Larry (Larrys4227)

[Chucky]

I installed Ubuntu Linux on my Dell laptop three years ago and continue to genuinely enjoy the internet with zero virus/spyware problems.  Ubuntu is utterly free for download over a high speed internet service, or a whopping $12.99 from Amazon.com for those still using modem.  Ubuntu requires no security software that I am aware of. 

I'm a computer programmer and probably know a good bit more about PC's than the average PC user, but there's nothing about Ubuntu, IMHO, that requires advanced computer knowledge.  It is purpose built as a user friendly replacement for Windows. 

Like all things new, there will be a learning curve, so if you're hopelessly addicted to Microsoft products, this may not be fore you.  But for those who would like to get off of the endless Microsoft security treadmill, try this link.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

[Randy Powell]

>>Your system may not be a target because you've got it buckled down and invisible using good common sense. <<

I use a self compiled linux system, but it's based largely on Fedora Core and Gentoo with apt-get on demand complie systems. Very efficient with a small footprint. And very, very fast. Ubuntu is linux for Windows users. Pretty cool system particularly if you've never heard of a terminal or command line and is very graphic intensive. Decent structure, too. ESR seems to like it.

Anaconda install systems have improved to the point that Aunt Minnie can install and use linux now. I'm still a terminal geek and do a lot of stuff through emacs, midnight commander and straight command line but I'm moving along toward more graphic stuff. Can't beat compiz for eye candy. Love that spinning cube for a desktop.   

[Bill Morell]

We are currently using Kaspersky Lab anti virus and have not encountered any problems. We went to this after our comp. did a full blown crash. I had to take it down and have it re-stored. Not pleasant and not cheap.

[Randy Powell]

Yea, with the Windows system my wife uses (I'm going to eventually convert her), I use AVG and AdAware (pay version) pretty religiously. It's tough since Windows is the OS with the big bull's eye painted on it. linux systems aren't impervious. It's just that the virus approach doesn't really work. But trust me, there are other approaches that can be successful were crackers to target such systems on a more global basis. Most of us try to protect against the obvious stuff but since we generally aren't the target, you don't have to be quite so vigilant.

[john e. holliday]

The new Windows system the wife and daughter's boyfriend installed is more of a head ache than a help.  She claims the problems are when I log into MSN.  I only get  on SN on the lap top now.  I still say it's the grand kids with their inter net games causing the problems.  DOC Holliday

[John Stiles]

I use AVG Free