Antivirus And Protection Software.

[Richb2004v2]

What antivirus, and other related protection software, do you all use and recommend?

I ask because I had a strange occurrence last night. I went onto a page and suddenly a screen popped up telling me I had just been infected with malware/virus and that I should download some recommended software. The name of the Software that I ended up downloading was ‘WINantivirusPRO 2006’. It scanned my computer and told me I had 90 infections! Now I usually use Spybot –Search & destroy software and AVG Antivirus anyway, which I immediately ran and was given infections related to the ‘WinPro’. This new software also asked me to register, which involved a payment. I turned the PC off to think about it until today.

Today I checked on the net and could not find references to this software. My PC had slowed almost to a stop. It was doing almost nothing, and I don’t mean only on the net. I decided to uninstall this ‘Winpro’ software. After did this my PC went back to normal and is now operating ok.

What do you think? Is this real software? It looked genuine enough.

[monty]

Definitely a bad one!

A google search on the program finds that it is reported as badware to google and better be avoided!

Normally the two popular free antivirus programs (Avast and AVG, see antivirus discussion) will keep most stuff out, and if you really want to be sure, NOD32 (i think 30 US$) is getting rave reviews from people using it!

[taxexile]

can you tell us the site that you visited where you picked up the virus.

[cdnvic]

DON'T DOWNLOAD THAT!

This is a well known piece of malware. A simple web search will tell you that.

Grab the 30day free trial of nod32 and get your hard drive cleaned out.

[cdnvic]

One hint: How would a program that you apparently hadn't installed know there was a virus on your system if it didn't put it there itself?

[Richb2004v2]

A porn site from a pop-up, after turning of my pop-up stopper. No idea what site it was supposed to be, but there was a naked women on it if that helps. Apparently these virus infected pop-ups appear quite a lot. I don’t turn my stopper off that often.

I think I have got rid of it now using my usual software.

They say that these things can get your personal information. Is this right? I don’t keep any personal information on my computer, although I do internet banking. I did say banking.

[taxexile]

i always get a pop up when looking at porn ,

[cdnvic]

You didn't get it with your regular software, this program, WinantivirusPRO installs a rootkit that none of these freebie virus tools and antispyware deals with it.

One of the few programs that will do it (recommended by Microsoft Tech Support) is VundoFix

Download and instructions here: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4954.html

[sensei]

There are basically a few things that you need to have running in your computer.

1. A good anti-virus software. Something that is not as bulky and annoying as Norton

AVG Free and NOD32 offers good protection without cluttering up your system.

2. You also need to have a realtime spyware and malware protection.

AVG anti-spyware is one of the latest and definitely the hardest working.

AdAware SE and Spybot are must-haves.

3. Consider using Advanced WindowsCare v.2. (http://www.iobit.com/AdvancedWindowsCarePersonal/)

it could boost your PC's performance by 30% or more

4. Finally, consider using Firefox v.2. This browser offers stronger protection.

The add-on NoScript also blocks out all unnecessary and potentially dangerous scripts

from running while you browse loaded sites.

[dogblower]

I fixed this problem on a mate's computer a couple of days ago. I used a program called Roguescanfix (free). Can't remember where I got it from, but Google usually has all the answers.

[Richb2004v2]

Thanks for the help. I guess that looking back it should have been obvious that it was impossible for something that wasn't already installed to pick up that I had a virus. Never mind. Although I think I could not avoid the situation, as when I tried to close it without downloading it would not let me. Maybe I could have reset.

I ran the Vundofix from Major geeks and nothing further was found. My other spybot scanner, which I got from Major geeks previously, did find many items relating to the WinPro virus. Maybe it might have cleared it up.

I am now going to look for Rougescanfix.

The PC seems to be running ok now.

Should I be worried about the conequences of this incident?

[Richb2004v2]

I have just downloaded NOD32 antivirus 30 day free trial. It found 7 infections that AVG didn't. Some of the names suggested obvious connections to the Winantiviruspro problem. I will probably purchase it after the 30 days.

Thanks for the help.

[cdnvic]

I have just downloaded NOD32 antivirus 30 day free trial. It found 7 infections that AVG didn't. Some of the names suggested obvious connections to the Winantiviruspro problem. I will probably purchase it after the 30 days.

Thanks for the help.

I was skeptical at first but eventually bought it for three computers. Good luck

[tutsiwarrior]

I've got 'F-Secure anti-virus client security' software installed on my laptop that was used by my last employer. Has anyone heard of it and how does it compare with the other programs discussed on this thread?

thanks

[cdnvic]

It gets decent reviews with the exception that it's a bit slow for scanning, but in detection tests done by AV-Compartives it was rated almost perfect, along the lines of nod32 and Kaspersky.

This is a sample of the "missed samples" report, showing what programs let the most through.

Lowest score indicated least missed infections.

AVG Pro - 40.5

Panda - 34.5

Avast - 11.0

Bit-Defender - 9.0

McAfee - 6.0

F-prot - 4.5

Norton, nod32, F-secure, Antivir, Kaspersky - 1.0 or less.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/erge...se/report11.pdf

[friend2]

Another popular "infection", is one that installs a warning icon in the systray.

When clicked on, it tells you, you have an infection and should immediately d/l X software bla bla..

The icon has been created with a "XP touch" to it, so many users think it's the OS

giving you the warning ! (looks almost legit).

Beware, it's just another bad adware if you ever encounter it.

Don't download anything being suggested, instead run adware/virus scanners to get rid

of it.(the help message i mean)

I think Richb2004v2 learned a good lesson with this.

People not using good judgement, is exactly who's the intended target for these malwarez.

Being alert and suspicious, is almost as good as any of the "anti solutions" out there

[tutsiwarrior]

It gets decent reviews with the exception that it's a bit slow for scanning, but in detection tests done by AV-Compartives it was rated almost perfect, along the lines of nod32 and Kaspersky.

This is a sample of the "missed samples" report, showing what programs let the most through.

Lowest score indicated least missed infections.

AVG Pro - 40.5

Panda - 34.5

Avast - 11.0

Bit-Defender - 9.0

McAfee - 6.0

F-prot - 4.5

Norton, nod32, F-secure, Antivir, Kaspersky - 1.0 or less.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/erge...se/report11.pdf

this is great news and has irony...my new laptop had temporary Norton for 3 months and when I went to buy the renewal I couldn't...being in Vietnam with piracy problems the usual case. I said to the boss that I am wide open and the company F-secure replacement came down immediately, for free...

thanks vic

[Taggart]

A few weeks ago, I did a search for blogs on Thailand. One site in particular, came up with a small grey box, asking if I was a member, yes or no. Stupid me clicked on no, and although I think what I got was minor, I did pick up some adware. The only way I could get released from the site, was by using the Task Manager. So, just a warning, that it's not just porn sites these guys are infiltrating.

I'll make a few notes on what I have installed or used on my PC, for both anti-virus and anti-spyware.

Zone Alarm (free) for Firewall. After trying out the link Vic kindly provided, it seems to be leakproof on my computer.

IMsecure (free). Owned by the same folks that provide Zone Alarm. Don't know if it works but it's there.

Avast anti-virus (free) No viruses found, but tells me every time, that there are over 600 files on my computer that it can't open.

SpywareBlaster (free) have had this for a couple of years. Don't know if it works, but seems to have updates at least once a week.

SpywareGuard (free) Don't know why but never seems to have updates for it.

Adaware SE anti-spyware (free) Never gives me problems. Occasionally finds something nasty, but mostly they're minor.

AVG anti-spyware (free) Run this daily. Always finds something with a "medium" warning.

Spy Sweeper - (paid subscription) I've had this one for two years now. It had high ratings by reviewers, but it hardly finds anything anymore. May let the subscription lapse.

Trend-Micro Housecall (free on-line scanner). Been using this for a few months and like it a lot. It found a few viruses and grayware for me, which were then deleted.

[farangsay]

Another popular "infection", is one that installs a warning icon in the systray.

When clicked on, it tells you, you have an infection and should immediately d/l X software bla bla..

The icon has been created with a "XP touch" to it, so many users think it's the OS

giving you the warning ! (looks almost legit).

Beware, it's just another bad adware if you ever encounter it.

Don't download anything being suggested, instead run adware/virus scanners to get rid

of it.(the help message i mean)

I think Richb2004v2 learned a good lesson with this.

People not using good judgement, is exactly who's the intended target for these malwarez.

Being alert and suspicious, is almost as good as any of the "anti solutions" out there

I had something like this today.

Twice , the second time I was able to identify the site it came

from. And no it wasn't a porn site or anything that exciting ,

just a lax site that has let itself get infected.

I got myself out of that particular barbed wire canoe on a

small brown river thanks to the excellent posts and advice

from people on this forum. Thanks guys and gals - sincerely.

BTW the first thing I did when I got this pop-up bubble about

downloading anti-spyware to "cure" my infectoon was pull the LAN

cable out of the box.

Lastly , a small appreciation for some of the software I am using

in thsis sort of situation.

Avast , when it announced finding a Trojan , Had a "don't" panic

message at the top of the screen.

Spy bot when it finished running said there was one problem it

couldn't delete because it was memory resident and was it OK

if it ran after restart (there wasn't an "absolutely" box do I just

clicked OK)?. And when it ran after restart it finished with

"Congratulations , no problems found".

Just so much nicer than MS/Norton/McAffee.

Anyway that's a bit more than 2 satang's worth