Adware

[slofox]

Something keeps opening unwanted websites in my browser (Chrome). Spybot seems unable to fix this problem despite repeated scans.

Any other solutions spring to mind?

Ta.

[SMOKEU]

Try Malwarebytes free. It picks up most things.

[Tazz]

And stop looking at dodgy pornography websites.

[SMOKEU]

And stop looking at dodgy pornography websites.

That's what a sandboxed browser is for, or a GNU/Linux VM.

[BoristheBiter]

Something keeps opening unwanted websites in my browser (Chrome). Spybot seems unable to fix this problem despite repeated scans.

Any other solutions spring to mind?

Ta.

What's the website?

Go to uninstall and see if its noted in there.
remove it.
restart computer and see if it's gone.

[slofox]

What's the website?

Go to uninstall and see if its noted in there.
remove it.
restart computer and see if it's gone.

'tain't just one. Seems to be random garbage with no obvious pattern. But then I am noted as being "as observant as a brick wall" so maybe I'll look more closely.

[Tigadee]

Ones I've encountered are called Linkbucks and Conduit Engine.

Linkbucks hijacks every page and acts as if it were a portal through which every page goes through. Dangerous too as it deposits a virus into your system which wipes everythign out. Conduit Engine basically hijacks all your Google searches and installs itself as the default search engine.

Malwarebytes picked them up and killed them.

[BoristheBiter]

'tain't just one. Seems to be random garbage with no obvious pattern. But then I am noted as being "as observant as a brick wall" so maybe I'll look more closely.

OK do what i said above, then check your browser settings, then get "spy hunter".

Best one I have found and if you uninstall it without registering it only costs $10

[Akzle]

what was that virus that mac had.....?
o. wait on. that was linux....

o. wait on....

[Hitcher]

While the problem may be manifesting itself on Chrome, Chrome is most unlikely to be the cause. Download Revo (and not through CNet or any of those dodgy download sites) and see what it can find for you.

[G4L4XY]

Ones I've encountered are called Linkbucks and Conduit Engine.

Linkbucks hijacks every page and acts as if it were a portal through which every page goes through. Dangerous too as it deposits a virus into your system which wipes everythign out. Conduit Engine basically hijacks all your Google searches and installs itself as the default search engine.

Malwarebytes picked them up and killed them.

I had something like this on my laptop. I'd type in google.co.nz .com .co.uk etc and it wouldn't route to the secure site, also it would try downloading something (unsure what as I said "no eff off")

Malwarebytes chewed this up, spewed it out, shat on it, burnt it then served it for dinner to the trash who gobbled it up and is now non existent on my system. as to how it got there in the first place "I dunno"

[EJK]

And stop looking at dodgy pornography websites.

Like I always say to my friends, computers don't "just" catch virus by themselves.

I love how when they ask me to help fix their computer and say "suddenly it caught a spyware/malware/virus!" or "I didn't do anything"

:rolleyes:

[slofox]

Like I always say to my friends, computers don't "just" catch virus by themselves.

I love how when they ask me to help fix their computer and say "suddenly it caught a spyware/malware/virus!" or "I didn't do anything"

:rolleyes:

"I didn't do anything"...

but my grandson may well have...started to happen after he started using online games sites (Kizzy, Kizi etc).

Couple days watching shows many of the websites are game related...but there are some "I can make you some money" types as well.

Maybe I should limit him to onboard games...course, he might be trolling porn sites as well - I mean, he's 7 after all. :whistle:

I've always been able to sort this kind of thing with Spybot. But not this time.

Verily, 'tis a mindfucker.

[BuzzardNZ]

The brute force approach... reinstall windows.

[Akzle]

The brute force approach... *dont reinstall windows.

fixed for you.

[Erelyes]

The brute force approach... reinstall windows.

This.

Format / reinstall.

Anything else, and you'll never know if you got rid of it completely, or what other shit might be on there.

[Gremlin]

Like I always say to my friends, computers don't "just" catch virus by themselves.

I love how when they ask me to help fix their computer and say "suddenly it caught a spyware/malware/virus!" or "I didn't do anything"

:rolleyes:
Try a client... same computer infected by same user 2 Friday's in a row. Worst part was that it was CryptoLocker. It encrypted network files as well... took a while to dig through the directories and restore backups where required. Still holding a backup prior to infection for the situation 6 months from now.

Then a few weeks later... another user got CryptoLocker. Fuck I hate that little bastard. It had free run over a weekend (it works in the background before announcing itself) and ended up being a complete roll back of the network drive on Tuesday morning once I'd spoken to staff and dealt with the initial problem on Monday. Very weird feeling wiping a network drive...

Use Malwarebytes, not much it doesn't catch... and if you're one of those "victims" that's always catching something, consider paying for it's realtime licence.

[EJK]

Try a client... same computer infected by same user 2 Friday's in a row. Worst part was that it was CryptoLocker. It encrypted network files as well... took a while to dig through the directories and restore backups where required. Still holding a backup prior to infection for the situation 6 months from now.

Then a few weeks later... another user got CryptoLocker. Fuck I hate that little bastard. It had free run over a weekend (it works in the background before announcing itself) and ended up being a complete roll back of the network drive on Tuesday morning once I'd spoken to staff and dealt with the initial problem on Monday. Very weird feeling wiping a network drive...

Use Malwarebytes, not much it doesn't catch... and if you're one of those "victims" that's always catching something, consider paying for it's realtime licence.

Atleast they pay you. Mates don't even pay!

[Gremlin]

Atleast they pay you. Mates don't even pay!
Flat rate support contract and I'm on salary. I had better things to do those 2 weekends, than get a PC back in and operational by Sunday night...

[EJK]

Flat rate support contract and I'm on salary. I had better things to do those 2 weekends, than get a PC back in and operational by Sunday night...

Looks like somebody really wanted those viagras online...

Next time maybe you can prevent future problems by just buying them some :lol:

[slofox]

Malwarebytes dug out a bunch of stuff that Spybot missed. I'll see what happens now.

[kevfromcoro]

i was running Norton,, but it has just expired.
is this dangerous to run with no antivirus?
is malwarebytes worth downloading.

[BoristheBiter]

i was running Norton,, but it has just expired.
is this dangerous to run with no antivirus?
is malwarebytes worth downloading.

Yes. malwarebytes, spyhuter or the like will pickup a shit load more than norton, as norton tries to stop it getting onto your computer where MB/SH removes it once it is already there.

[Blackbird]

Yes. malwarebytes, spyhuter or the like will pickup a shit load more than norton, as norton tries to stop it getting onto your computer where MB/SH removes it once it is already there.

I originally had Spyhunter and it kept identifying a particular piece of potential spyware which I'm pretty certain came with a free software download. It said it had removed it but on the next re-boot, it was there again. Ended up doing a bit of research and there's a fair amount of criticism about Spyhunter on the web. I changed to the commercial version of Malwarebytes and it immediately fixed the problem - not expensive either.

[Tazz]

i was running Norton,, but it has just expired.
is this dangerous to run with no antivirus?
is malwarebytes worth downloading.

Nortons pretty much is a virus. You'll discover that if you decide you want to uninstall it =/

If you're somewhat computer literate, it is generally ok to run without one. Just don't open obvious spam emails with attachments, stay away from the dodgy pr0n websites, and any software that is free, usually comes with strings so be wary of some of that too and you should be sweet as.

It's basically a commonsense and slight luck thing. If you're sharing a computer it's better to use protection.

http://static.betazeta.com/www.chw.net/up/2011/06/computer-condom.jpg

[BoristheBiter]

I originally had Spyhunter and it kept identifying a particular piece of potential spyware which I'm pretty certain came with a free software download. It said it had removed it but on the next re-boot, it was there again. Ended up doing a bit of research and there's a fair amount of criticism about Spyhunter on the web. I changed to the commercial version of Malwarebytes and it immediately fixed the problem - not expensive either.

I have SH 4 and it seems to be really good but then I only use it once a while to clean the computer up.
I think the biggest thing is people using it as an antivirus as it doesn't scan emails and you can't scan removable HDD or flash drives.

[Gremlin]

Looks like somebody really wanted those viagras online...

Next time maybe you can prevent future problems by just buying them some :lol:
Highly probably CryptoLocker was coming through in zipped files as something like a .pdf.exe . We used to let through zipped exe's as some needed it, but after some thinking, we closed that off as well. Considering we run private mail servers for our clients and ourselves only, we're comfortably blocking double digit numbers of zipped exes every day. Well worth blocking the potential pain.



is this dangerous to run with no antivirus?
is malwarebytes worth downloading.
As one said, if you know what you're doing, no, you don't need anti-virus. However, most don't know what they're doing, and for some that try really hard, even having the protection doesn't guarantee you'll be safe. Yes, Malwarebytes is worth it... it doesn't miss much.

[kevfromcoro]

just lately I have been trying to enter a few sites, but I canot enter my password, will not accept it.
asked to reset, and send me a link, but there is no link. its driving me mad. is there something I have o uninstall?

[Gremlin]

just lately I have been trying to enter a few sites, but I canot enter my password, will not accept it.
asked to reset, and send me a link, but there is no link. its driving me mad. is there something I have o uninstall?
If there is no link in the password reset email, check however you're receiving the emails (lot of different ways, methods etc). Often the links are removed for safety, but you can still copy the long URL into your web browser and it will work.

[george formby]

Bin usin malwarebytes for quite awhile now. I like. If it cannot uninstall / kill, it I just copy & paste the problem file(s) into google & get the solution. Touch wood it's been simple so far. My only issue has been downloading software for editing & the like. Some dodgy stuff that looks totally kosher. The merest hint of Eastern Europe and I'm out of there.

[slofox]

In the interests of the original post:

None of the anti spyware/adware programs I ran fixed the problem. What did fix it was uninstalling the browser and reinstalling a new copy. No problems since.

[TheDemonLord]

A nigerian prince totally just gave me $10,000 in return for me helping him get access to his fortune.

All he needed was my Credit Card Info....

[Akzle]

A nigerian prince totally just gave me $10,000 in return for me helping him get access to his fortune.

All he needed was my Credit Card Info....

wow are you late to the fucking party or what.

O. Wait. We never invited you. Youre that loud fat chick that came cos youre friends with one of the bro's mitti...

[KiwiGeek]

I am jumping in even later :)

One additional thing I can suggest is using the "host" file to help block malware. I regularly update mine from http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm. It blocks a lot of the tracking and advert sites. This is effective against infection via infected ads delivered from otherwise "legitimate" advert site. Even respectable sites like NY Times has delivered malware via infected ads. It has the advantage of removing the annoying ads from web pages.