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Thread: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

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    When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    I haven't had to use AVG Anti-virus/Spyware/Adaware scanners/hijackthis (or whatever) in about 2 or more years and that was used only when confronted with a problem on someone else's pc.

    The last major virus I had was boot sector virus - about 7 or 8 years ago. :X

    Surely safe computing (update the OS, good browser, don't install dubious s/w, spam filter, ...etc) and browsing practices (some URLs are clearly not legitimate sites, don't fall prey to phishing sites, if its offering something for free its probably illegal and infested with junk) makes anti-virus software, at least for the technically literate, obsolete?

    I'd also go as far as to say, having a router with its in-built firewall allows you to get rid of your software firewall.

    So when were you last confronted with a virus?
    And how did it come about?
    Also, what security precautions do you use?

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    Quote Originally Posted by kedengkedeng View Post
    Surely safe computing (update the OS, good browser, don't install dubious s/w, spam filter, ...etc) and browsing practices (some URLs are clearly not legitimate sites, don't fall prey to phishing sites, if its offering something for free its probably illegal and infested with junk) makes anti-virus software, at least for the technically literate, obsolete?

    I'd also go as far as to say, having a router with its in-built firewall allows you to get rid of your software firewall.

    So when were you last confronted with a virus?
    And how did it come about?
    Also, what security precautions do you use?
    I'd agree with that. Haven't been using an anti-virus on my PC for ages. I do use it on a VM for when I would like to scan files but the main system stays free of it.

    When you remove the software firewall you have no control over what the virus sends out remember
    But trying to make its way in (ie listen on a port), a router will definately fubar that up for it.

    Last had a virus 1 year ago.
    It came about through autorun on a usb drive.
    My system was long overdue for a reinstall and that gave me the motivation to do it. Backup up all the files on the 3rd drive and reinstalled

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    I've only ever had one virus in 25 years of computing (touches wood) and it was quickly picked up by my firewall and blocked from sending anything out while I applied a fix. I rely on a firewall and router along with safe net practices as for too long AV packages were (and still are) resource hogs that are often more trouble than they're worth.
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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    Quote Originally Posted by kedengkedeng View Post
    I haven't had to use AVG Anti-virus/Spyware/Adaware scanners/hijackthis (or whatever) in about 2 or more years and that was used only when confronted with a problem on someone else's pc.

    The last major virus I had was boot sector virus - about 7 or 8 years ago. :X

    Surely safe computing (update the OS, good browser, don't install dubious s/w, spam filter, ...etc) and browsing practices (some URLs are clearly not legitimate sites, don't fall prey to phishing sites, if its offering something for free its probably illegal and infested with junk) makes anti-virus software, at least for the technically literate, obsolete?

    I'd also go as far as to say, having a router with its in-built firewall allows you to get rid of your software firewall.

    So when were you last confronted with a virus?
    And how did it come about?
    Also, what security precautions do you use?
    A mix of a correctly setup router, a perimeter hardware firewall, services hosted in a DMZ, software firewalls and antivirus on all Windows boxes and the samba server, educated users running as restricted users and UAC.

    Saying being careful about the sites you visit will keep you safe is... asking for driveby malware installation from a banner hosted on a compromised webserver. The idea that if something is free it's likely to compromise your machine isn't likely to sit well with the denizens of Sourceforge.net.

    Seriously - the only way anyone with any form of security knowledge will tell you to keep your machines and connections safe is to adopt a layered model. Deliberately stripping those layers to save the odd CPU cycle or to make it easier for everyone to install software *will* leave you more vulnerable.

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    I think opt-in rules are a good thing - things like UAC, firewalls, no-script browser extensions that by default block all and ask the user to allow on a case-by-case basis. Problem is they require more user interaction.

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Splash View Post
    ...
    Saying being careful about the sites you visit will keep you safe is... asking for driveby malware installation from a banner hosted on a compromised webserver. The idea that if something is free it's likely to compromise your machine isn't likely to sit well with the denizens of Sourceforge.net.
    ...
    Your right, I didn't mean to tarnish all free services and software as being malicious. I was referring to, for example, someone who is unfamiliar with the ways of the web types "free movie/ringtone/software" and ends up going to some unreliable warez site. Or they get directed to a phisihing site that asks for personal information to access "UNLIMITED FREE XXXXX".
    Last edited by kedengkedeng; 31-03-2009 at 07:30 PM.

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    Yes i agree, common sense and technical knowledge can for the most part keep you clean.

    I have 3 different anti-virus solutions installed on my main pc (which handles credit transactions and other sensitive operations). However i have none of these scanners scanning on-access. I do an automatic once weekly full scan with all 3 solutions.

    Havent had a virus in YEARS.

    I dabble in computer security in my spare time, and last week on a virtual machine (hosted on a different box to above) i was analysing a piece of malware, somehow i accidently ran the file ^^

    That was the last 'infection' i had - just restored my vm.

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    quake 3 arena beta, someone put a fake patch up on a newsgroup and i swallowed the bait
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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    When I was 13 i think so 6 years ago. nero crack lol.
    btw i never even used the crack and i have never tryed looking for them again.

    btw its harder to avoid malware now. legit websites are being hacked all the time.
    So safe surfing wont always work.

    I use a limited user account and kis 2009 (Kaspersky internet security) and a hardware firewall (bultin to router) I also run a monthly scan of superantispyware.

    limited user account is the main key. if you run as administrator everything you do runs as administrator. thats why so many people running xp get owned by visiting a website. since alot of legit websites are being hacked you should seruiosly run as limited account and try to avoid using IE.
    try to use something like opera or firefox.

    I got my parents computer running limited user account as well.
    in xp it can be a bit of pain having to login to admin account to change system settings or install or uninstall software but it is much safer.

    with vista running as limited user is easy. if you want to do admin tasks you get a nice UAC prompt asking for admin rights for a short while.
    Last edited by lodore; 27-03-2009 at 08:26 PM.

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    I've been quite lucky, i have only ever had virus problems when i have asked for them, trying to find a working keygen or surfing dodgy pron sites etc! I just use the firewall on my router and Nod32.

    I have had the pleasure of looking at a few other systems for people that have had active virii, mainly my mums, some people never learn!

    I've also got to agree that safe computing, sensible browsing, a little technical knowledge and common sense are the best preventative measures.

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    oddly enough I remember it like it was yesterday.

    1 Single virus.

    Sampo.

    1996.

    From one of those "naughty naughty" CD's that used to do the rounds with lots of naughty software on (can't remember the name of the discs for the life of me) full of the latest games, stuff like XTree Gold and various other apps. Ironically the version of Dr Solomons Anti Virus was itself a virus

    Turned on the PC to be greeted by a flashing blue screen after POST saying thanks for giving a home to SAMPO! Booted fine after though. Soon murdered it with a bit of fdisk.
    Moo.

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    I've seen AVG turn up a lot of things that appear to be false positives, so there's only one instance where I know I've had my computer infected.

    This was on my laptop connected to the university network in halls about 5 years ago, and I found out when it decided to BSOD out of the blue. I ended up using system restore and ran a virus scan that detected something like 7 instances buried in parts of the registry. Got them cleaned out and everything ran fine after that, though I started to run checks a lot more frequently. I don't remember clearly but I might have come across a few more infections during my time in halls.

    The most likely source was somewhere else on the university network, given that despite a scanner being mandatory (they had one available too) to access the network, viruses would still spread incredibly quickly, so I started using a software firewall when hooked up to it.

    There was also a possibility it had come from some dodgy crack sites I'd been visiting at the time too, so pretty much stopped visting them after that too.

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    last time i got a virus was 2 days before windows 7 beta came out, i fallen for those stupid msn links that auto spread, and i know you can get rid off them easily etc but it just gave me motiviation to get 7 and i dont want to go back ever since

    as for my precautions

    i use a hardware firewall, windows firewall, common sence and safe surfing tehniques


    TOP TIP

    also every so often go to start run, type in msconfig and check that everything thats is running and is starting up i know what it is or disable it, this way many viruses get left on a system but they are 100% deactivated and completely harmless so no need for any scans
    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK View Post
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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    I agree that antivirus isn't exactly needed but I do prefer to have it, especially for the active protection like web traffic scanning. Talking of which, it blocked be from visiting a mobile review forum because of a 'Trojan.Script.Iframer'. I do have noscript so I don't think it would have been a problem anyway...

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    On an ancient PC doing web browsing. Visited a torrent search site and Acrobat reader loaded up. Avira then prompted about a Trojan just as Windows XP firewall automatically disabled.

    Had to use Malwarebyte's to remove the Trojan, and decided to install Avast instead as Avira wasn't much help. Also updated Acrobat reader to 9.1

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    Re: When did you last have a virus and what were you doing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Splash View Post
    A mix of a correctly setup router, a perimeter hardware firewall, services hosted in a DMZ, software firewalls and antivirus on all Windows boxes and the samba server, educated users running as restricted users and UAC.

    Saying being careful about the sites you visit will keep you safe is... asking for driveby malware installation from a banner hosted on a compromised webserver. The idea that if something is free it's likely to compromise your machine isn't likely to sit well with the denizens of Sourceforge.net.

    Seriously - the only way anyone with any form of security knowledge will tell you to keep your machines and connections safe is to adopt a layered model. Deliberately stripping those layers to save the odd CPU cycle or to make it easier for everyone to install software *will* leave you more vulnerable.
    I absolutely agree.

    I'd stress a couple of points, though, and perhaps add one that I don't think anybody has mentioned yet.

    The point I'd stress is the bit I've put in bold in Splash's first few words
    A mix of a correctly setup router
    I've come across too many people that think simply sticking a router (or more specifically, the limited firewall function of most domestic routers) gives them pretty solid security. It does not. The default config might be moderately secure, but it's all to easy to open up whopping great holes in it.

    And a good quality hardware firewall is perhaps even more dangerous for the non-cogniscenti .... if you don't understand what rules are doing, it's very easy to shoot yourself in the foot.

    And perhaps worst of all .... it's common for such to engender a false sense of security. I've come across a LOT of people that have been convinced they can do pretty much what they like because they've got "security" that some glib PC store saleman told them was all they needed. And I usually come across these people when they're paying me to disinfect their virus-ridden PC and get it working again.


    Finally, the point that I don't think anyone's mentioned yet is physical security. A customer of mine (the MD of a company), a few years back, wanted their security tested. He was astonished when he was presented with copies of letters he'd typed, his access details to a variety of services and his system passwords.

    He was so confident of his firewalls etc that he overlooked the obvious. A cleaner plugged a keylogger into his keyboard one night, and retrieved it on the next visit.

    By the way, if that seems like a fun thing to do, it's a criminal act if you're doing it without authorisation, so I strongly advise against doing it if you don't know what you're doing. I had written permission to do non-destructive penetration tests.

    Whether it's a company PC and as simple as someone plugging a wireless access point onto your physical network (either for malicious purposes or from simple ignorance), right down to a relative or housemate using your PC without your permission and doing something stupid on it, physical security is an issue. How much of an issue depends on what you do with your PC. A home PC might be used a bit of web browsing and playing games, or it might be used for personal banking and all sorts of problems raise their head if you do the latter. If a company PC is compromised, however, it has the potential to result in the demise of the company .... if, for instance, a competitor gets hold of your customer lists, costings and proposals, board minutes and so forth.

    For that reason, we'll all have different attitudes as to how much security we need, and how many "layers" are justified, because we're exposing ourselves to different levels of risk.

    Personally, I again agree with Splash - I will not connect a machine to my network without a software firewall in place. This is for two reasons. Firstly, it lets me add a layer of security inside my hardware firewall. Access to one machine, or to the network, can therefore do limited damage because it confers limited access. Secondly, it also offers me a degree of control in what talks out. It's far from unknown for software to want to call home, quite possibly for what the software vendor consider to be good reason .... such as checking for updates. Well sorry, but I will determine what software can connect out from my network, not some programmer for a software house. Such features may well be able to be turned off from inside the software, but the default is often for them to be enabled. A software firewall tells me when something wants to talk out, even if it isn't a virus but something semi-legit like that.

    As for the OPs question about when did I last come across a virus, well, I see them all the time. Apart from anything else, I've got a fairly large collection of quarantined infected files for test purposes, and these, by and large, are live viruses. When did one of my machines last get infected? Years ago.

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