Virus advisory

[Serit]

BTW--I linked to a couple other sites yesterday from topics here on the Expanse, and my computer got infected with a virus that disabled my two (2!) virus check programs. I don't think I got it here, but be careful and run your virus/spam/spy bot program/s regularly!!

ADMIN'S NOTE: Post was moved for the purpose of keeping the original thread on topic.

We go to great lengths to make sure our security stays up to date at the Expanse. However, Serit is quite correct: please use common sense caution when you visit other sites. Furthermore, no antivirus works well if you don't update it regularly. Choose one that updates daily.

[EntAllat]

Ditto. Here are some other ways you can protect yourself from websites transmitting viruses:

1) Always use caution when you choose to click on a link to an outside site. A previously benign web site could have been recently hacked. If you think a certain site is responsible, let them know. You might save others a lot of headache.
2) Update regularly. When Windows or Mac system updates are available, do it sooner than later. Also, keep your browser and the various plugins (like Flash, Adobe, etc.) updated as well.
3) If you are on a Windows machine, make sure your firewall is set.
4) Make sure your virus/spyware/spambots are updated as well.
5) Consider changing your email settings to receive text-only. Viruses can be transmitted via HTML enabled emails with file attachments.

Note: installing more than one virus protection program on your computer is not helpful and, in fact, can sometimes cause problems. Use just one, but keep it regularly updated.

And lastly, backup your drive. If worst come to worst and something happens, you won't lose everything if you have your system wiped and start from a clean slate.

[Aquarius]

Also, it is possible for some antivirus programs to give false positives. Which, in the grand scheme of things, is better than it missing things that are actually there, but this whole thing reminded me of something that went on with a friend of mine a couple of years ago. She suddenly started refusing to go to a site that we all visited regularly, insisting it was giving her viruses. But both another friend of ours and I had absolutely NO trouble whatsoever. I asked my ex about this, who worked in network security, and that's when he told me about the false positive thing. He said that chances were the site was just fine since two of us were having no problems, and that he had selected and installed the antivirus software for my machine himself.

This same friend with the false positives is the reason why I stressed choosing an antivirus that updates daily. She insisted that hers was better than mine because she PAYS for it, and since I got mine as a free download it couldn't possibly be any good. Yet she was always calling our house, asking my ex for help and then not wanting to follow his advice, so she was getting viruses left and right. She insisted that her fancy expensive antivirus was just fine and it was updating weekly, so what was the problem?



The problem is, new viruses come out all the time. So even if you updated yesterday, something new could come out tomorrow...and if you're not updating again for another five days, guess what? You've vulnerable to the new virus for that five days! My freebie antivirus updates every 24 hours, and on occasions where there was something big and major and new that came out and updating can't wait until the next day, I'll get an alert with information telling me to do it NOW. That hasn't happened in quite a while, but I remember a big one a couple of years ago that had *everyone* freaking out, even lay people, and that's what my software did to protect me.

So any way, as long as we were on the subject, I just wanted to share these stories about my friend because a lot of people don't understand exactly how antivirus works, just that they're supposed to have it. And a lot of times people assume, like my friend did, that if you're spending a lot of money for it, it MUST be great.

[Kathy Rose]

Yeah, we're pretty vigilant with our anti-virus options. At home, we have a free one that updates every day. If I had my druthers, I'd have it on my computer at work as well, but I'm required to use what everyone else has at work and it is one you pay for. To my mind, they both work equally well, but the one that's paid for bogs down my computer at work when it updates. That might just be the internet provider there, though.

Several years back, we had an instance of being infected, and then were offered a fix -- for a price -- by the place that infected us!

Just goes to show that you need to be careful what you click on.

(The funniest one was when a nun asked me to "fix" her computer, because her homepage kept getting hijacked by a porn web site. After I fixed it, I told her to quit clicking on everything she sees!)

[Artisticmom2]

(The funniest one was when a nun asked me to "fix" her computer, because her homepage kept getting hijacked by a porn web site. After I fixed it, I told her to quit clicking on everything she sees!)

BWHAHAHAHHAHAHAA

<ahem> sorry. That was just too funny! You should absolutely be careful what you click on!

[paulinem]

Guys, I'm not sure if this is the right place, but I got this warning when I was trying to read the Connor thread:



Thought I'd give you a heads up.

[lfvoy]

CRAP. Some virus software keeps throwing false positives on my personal site, which is where I'd hosted (and hotlinked) some pictures of Connor.

I switched 'em out to the Flickr versions, which are smaller and have a copyright notation on them but which won't cause that problem. That should fix the problem, but for those who are concerned -- yes, it's a false positive.

Sorry everyone!

P.S. Pauline I sent you a DM -- I need to know which virus scanner is doing this. They're gonna get an earful. Thanks.

[Aquarius]

False positives are common. I use free virus protection from AVG and I've never had either a virus or a false positive. I have a friend who uses virus protection software she pays for and she gets warnings like that so often she's too paranoid to go anywhere on the web, and she's also too paranoid to believe that there's such a thing as a false positive.

[paulinem]

CRAP. Some virus software keeps throwing false positives on my personal site, which is where I'd hosted (and hotlinked) some pictures of Connor.

I switched 'em out to the Flickr versions, which are smaller and have a copyright notation on them but which won't cause that problem. That should fix the problem, but for those who are concerned -- yes, it's a false positive.

Sorry everyone!

P.S. Pauline I sent you a DM -- I need to know which virus scanner is doing this. They're gonna get an earful. Thanks.

I've just answered you DM.

False positives are common. I use free virus protection from AVG and I've never had either a virus or a false positive. I have a friend who uses virus protection software she pays for and she gets warnings like that so often she's too paranoid to go anywhere on the web, and she's also too paranoid to believe that there's such a thing as a false positive.

This is the first time I've gotten this message, I also use a free version virus protection.