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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,294
Member
I've gotten 3 emails from "Photos@electrical-contractor.net" since yesterday.

They all contain VIRUSES and did not come from ECN. (The Photos@Electrical-Contractor.net address cannot even send, just receive.)

If you get any mail from that address Don't Open It. Instead, delete it away and then dump the trash.

Some ne'er do well got the brainstorm that it's a good idea to try and mess things up for us.

Anybody else getting them??

I guess the ubb bold type doesn't work in the title line, so:



[This message has been edited by electure (edited 11-11-2004).]

Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,716
R
Member
Hello Scott, I haven't received that one, (yet) but I did get the "Your credit card has been credited $175.00 Click Here from Pay Pal" Ha Ha Ha. [Linked Image]

Roger

Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 914
E
Member
scott, chances are it wasn't directed at ECN, but you got a virus from something else that is replicating itself to look like things it finds on your computer. When was the last time you scanned your computer for spyware? Download Spybot for free and give it a try, you'll be surprised how much it finds. (It's freeware, but they do take donations) http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/

Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,381
Likes: 7
Member
About 10 days ago, my PC went bonkers.....msn crashed & burned, internet explorer locked-up, and it all vent down the toilet after that.

I'm no computer maven....looked for the "rescue" disk & factory CD. YES, I found them. Put it in, answered a lot of ???, said OK to re-format the HD.

Well...started to re-load what was in...now, I can't get past what may be the monitor driver; something about 8 bit color?

Been using the laptop to stop by here...get e-mail & go to a few sites that I think I trust. I'm downloading the Spy link as I type this.

Can't really say if I caught the bug here, or it was in a fake e-mail.

John


John
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 93
J
Member
Once you get rid of any nasties, you may consider switching to Firefox or some alternative browser. Internet Explorer has had a very bad security track record for many years now, so why make it even harder for yourself to keep your computer clean? And now we learn there is another fresh load of vulnerabilities just announced this week, so here we go again...

I have had no viruses and no spyware on my Windows computer, not in the last nine or ten years, and these are the general rules to work safely.

[i] Always apply current patch (service pack) upgrades *without fail*. This is the primary means of defence.

[ii] Configure the system to run only the services that are really required. Unnecessary services are the enemy of good security.

[iii] Never connect the computer to the internet without using a properly configured firewall. For double protection use an intrusion detection system.

[iv] Never never use MS Outlook as your mail client. This program has the track record of being the most effective vector for viral transmission on the planet; there are many alternatives such as Mozilla and Eudora that are not so prone to transmitting viruses.

[v] Avoid MS Internet Explorer. Many of the vulnerabilities in Outlook have also affected this web browser. The new Firefox browser is very nice, and considerably less risky, so maybe you could try that. http://www.getfirefox.com

[vi] Be aware of unsafe behaviour -- i.e. never open mail attachments unless you know and trust exactly who they are from, blah blah, don't download and run software from unknown sources, yik yak...

[vii] Use an antivirus scanner and keep the signature files up to date. In fact, for modern viruses, this is now one of the least efficient lines of defence -- by the time the AV company has released new sigantures for a new virus, *millions* of computers on the net that are not subject to measures i-vi can be infected. And a lot of viruses simply disable or bypass AV tools. These days, a non-patched, non-firewalled computer will be infected on average within 20 minutes. A typical antivirus update can be hours or even days late before it takes account of the new risk.

[viii] Set aside a regular time to do routine system maintenance -- back up your documents and spreasheets etc, but also run a spyware checker. It should only take half an hour per week, and you can do it while you are checking your email or whatever.

We were having discussions about all of this over in the Computers and Internet forum, if I can be of any further help...

Good luck with it.

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,294
Member
Eagle,
Thanks.. Yes, I've got anti-spyware (Spybot Search and destroy), and checked it a couple of days ago. I'll check again.
I try to be careful about this stuff.

My address book is a paper notebook. I don't use Outlook, because it's the most popular for attackers. If I do get a cootie-bug, it won't be passed on to others through that.

I'm running through a firewall.
Email AV w/automatic updates through my IP. another AV w/ auto updates on computer.
I check all incoming attachments (mostly pictures from you guys) religiously.

Maintenance is automatically performed every day.

I haven't sent anything to photos@ECN for a long, long, time, and anything sent to that address goes to Bill, not me.

Also, we all can probably recognize the way we write. (Me with too many "()' and """s).
One of these had the body of the letter saying simply download this---Yeah, right

Jooles, thanks, I'll get over to the other forum asap. I figured that as the most frequently used of the forums, I should stick the warning up on this one.


[This message has been edited by electure (edited 11-12-2004).]

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,294
Member
A word about anti-spyware.
Some of the ones available will actually get rid of the bots from others while installing spies of their own.

Spybot Search & Destroy came highly recommended.

Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 55
B
Member
SpyBot S&D is a wonderful program. It was written up in PC World magazine, compared to several other spyware removal programs, and came out on top.

Plus, it's free.

Just remember, clearing out the spyware can affect some programs. For instance; you just downloaded that cool little game from Yahoo, then you ran SpyBot S&D and it found a new spyware app. The new spy is probably associated with the game and if you get rid of it the game will stop working. Not a huge deal but something to remember.

BTW, LOVE this site.

Big Ed

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 518
J
Member
I, too, recently received a forwarded e-mail that contained innocuous videos- but the last one was a bug! These creeps are getting more diabolical. (My software protected me)

There's a lot of helpful advice, and FREE shareware, availavle from a computer xonsultant who has a syndicated radio program. She has been a great help to me. I reccomend a visit to her site, www.komando.com. Spell it right!- get one letter wrong, and you get a mexican porn site instead.
Available from her are Firefox (browser- won't work with ECNchat); Spybot (rempves spyware); AVG (anti-virus software), and Ad-Aware (blocks ads, data miners). There are others, as well.


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