Genealogical Research can be dangerous

[sheilajim]

Hi All,

I am not sure if I should post this under General or under Computer, but Genealogical Research can be dangerous to your computer.
On Monday, I wanted to find out more about the Kay clan, especially from Perthshire. I wasn't able to find out anything so I went googling for Scottish Clans. I clicked on a site, and suddenly some program started running a virus scan. I clicked it off immediatly, but it didn't go away. A porn site appeared underneath and I was getting messages supposedly from Micro Soft,(it wasn't them, the English was not exactly perfect) that I needed to buy a virus scan program. The pop ups kept on appearing no matter how much I kept clicking them off. I soon found out that the only thing that I could do on my computer was to turn it off and on. Nothing else worked, not even my McAfee Program that is supposed to protect me from these things.
On Tuesday, I called McAfee by phone and they charged me $89.00 to try and fix my problem. I suppose that they earned their money, because it took a day and a half for them to get remote access to my computer and get rid of the virus.

I have had viruses before but never as bad as this one. The thing that bothers me most is that there was no warning and I thought that I was going to a safe Site.



Why are there some people in this world that do stuff, making a virus for computers?

[Currie]

Hello Sheila,

It’s pathetic the depths some people will go to get their hands on our money. They’re just sophisticated muggers one small step up from hanging around dark alleys and hitting people over the head.

I don’t know whether using another web browser, such as Firefox, or even the very latest version of IE (8) will make a difference in this situation. It may depend on whether ActiveX is involved in the process. You could check your browser version.

My niece had a very similar thing happen to her a few months ago and nothing would get rid of it except a program called MalwareBytes. The free trial version did the job, I haven’t tried the paid variety. http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/malwar ... bytes.html

There was a thread on the forum a while back about this. The Total Security malware sounds similar to what you had. Repeated warnings about non existent threats to harass you into purchasing a fake anti-virus program. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14024&hilit=malwarebytes

I don’t know whether MalwareBytes will work in every case but it may be worth a try if anybody else gets stung.

All the best,
Alan

[Moray_Lass]

I have had several friends and family get that type of virus - one of them found the only thing that could get rid of it was Microsoft's Windows Defender - not that I promote Microsoft stuff, but that is now my first port of call when the antivirus program doesn't clear something. My Vista and W7 pcs come with it by default.

[Pandabean]

Hi Shiela,

What you describe seems to be Browser Hijacking, loading up porn sites and such like. Usually a quick google on the website name will give some tech sites that give helpful info. However if you can't get your browser working then that is useless. I am lucky in the respect that I also have a work laptop as well as my own computer so if something goes wrong with my main one I can check on the laptop for a solution.

Switching to Firefox is a good alternative as to be honest I hate IE. Firefox seems to be better at blocking out some of the unwanted stuff, since using it I have had very few problems.

The only way you could really clamp down on it is if the government start blocking sites like they do in China. Oh wait they just forced through a bill to do exactly that and cut down on what we can see. Anyway I wont go on a rant right now but just to say im not happy.

[Montrose Budie]

Sadly there's lots of very dangerous numpties out there.

When Norton first introduced the concept I have to confess that I wasn't too sure about it, but subsequent experience has convinced me that it's essential.

Basically, when you are Googling or using a similar search engine, Norton, and now other similar antivirus/security packages, will show a tick sign or similar if their software shows that the website linked with a particular Google hit is safe or not.

If it ain't shown as safe, don't go there, as that means most probably that the website concerned will do nasty things like this.

Given that genealogy is the second most popular activity on the www, - don't ask!, - it can only be the case that there will be lots more such genealogy linked scams/viruses in the future.

The simple Golden Rule is, if you are not familiar with a website or your antivirus software doesn't say that the website is OK, then don't go there !

mb

[sheilajim]

Hi All,

I have McAfee and it is usually very good. It gives warnings of dangerous sites by giving them red X and good sites by putting a green check mark on them. However many and most sites have not been tested and they are usually fine. The site that I went to find info on Scottish Clans didn't have a red or green mark on it and that is why I was taken in. Who would have thought that such a site would be dangerous. The McAfee technician that got rid of my problem, said that it was a new virus which is why McAfee didn't pick up on it.

It really was a helpless feeling when the virus took over. I didn't know if I would ever get my computer back again. I was glad that I had backed up my files the previous day.

I think that the people who make these viral attacks do this for more than just getting you to buy their product. Imagine giving them your credit card number!

[Thrall]

Hi Sheila, glad you got your virus sorted - been there, done that!

This sounds very similar to my experience, but fortunately a friend managed to clean up the debris with Malwarebytes as Alan mentioned, and also another program, Hijackthis.
http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/
which one has to be slightly computer literate to use, but proved essential to remove the most stubborn nasties.

I also recommend Firefox.

Guid hunting,

Thrall