Moderators: hgm, Rebel, chrisw
does not sound convincing to me at all.Ras wrote:Because the Russians told them that the FSB failed to take over your computer since it was already controlled by the NSA.Lyudmil Tsvetkov wrote:How do I know PyongYang has not levelled its virus guns at me?
I will wipe the disk completely, but then the very same thing will happen, a week or 2 after the complete wiping...jdart wrote:Your list of precautions is a good one, especially not installing (or uninstalling) hazardous browser plugins. Those are one of the main ways malicious websites and attachments attack the system.
I agree if you are doing all this and still having issues it could be that it was never completely recovered from a past infection.
I'd consider backing up all data (documents but not exes), wiping the disk completely and doing a re-install of the OS and any other software.
--Jon
That is a problem, yes. Even more so because sometimes, you have sites pretending to offer software X, but in fact, they are fakes offering malware. What I do is googling for the software, then going to Wikipedia and verifying what is the official homepage. Maybe, you have to put in both the software name and the term Wikipedia to get the search result.Lyudmil Tsvetkov wrote:3.) How do I know the source is OK? Sometimes it is simply not possible to recognise, so close, so undistinguishable.
I remember that Outlook may have issues here where just the preview activates things. I'm using Thunderbird as mail client: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Thunderbird4.) Similarly for pam, some are very quiet up until the moment they explode, you don't even have to open an attachment, it just opens in and of itself...
Just don't do it. Flash is dead because iDevices don't support it. Mostly, you still can get reduced functionality on the website, but otherwise, just drop the website. If they are so backwards in web technology, the rest of the company will not be better. And Flash is full of security holes, it's really that bad. It's like Swiss cheese with so many holes that you rather have to look for the cheese.5.) I don't have Java plug-in, but every site around asks you for Flash installation...
Adobe is patching the reader left and right. The problem is that PDF supports scripting, which means to execute programs inside the reader. As soon as there are holes (and they are - it's Adobe), the program may leave the reader and do dangerous things. The point is that for just reading PDFs, the whole scripting just isn't necessary.Even worse, almost all my current work has to do with Adobe pdf reader..., but I guess you exaggerate a bit here.(anyone can confrim it is bad to have Adobe pdf reader installed?)
At least with not supporting ActiveX. Since that technology is Microsoft-only, and since Microsoft is pretty irrelevant on the browser market these days, there's no point in using ActiveX on legitimate websites anyway.Other choices are Firefox and Chrome, but with what would they be better?
Even better: not connect to the Internet at all.Henk wrote:Find on internet the most drastic solution to clean your computer. Also disconnect everything. If it is safe for some days reconnect one and see if it still safe for a few days. Repeat this until you find the cause. Or better still be disconnected for everything not being of much added value.
Thanks Jon, a little clearer now.jdart wrote:Extension settings depend on the browser but for Chrome & Firefox
Chrome: Menu -> More Tools -> Extensions
Firefox: Menu -> Add-ons -> Plugins
Just disable or remove Java, Adobe Reader, Flash and Sliverlight (if installed).
--Jon
Thanks Rasmus.Ras wrote:That is a problem, yes. Even more so because sometimes, you have sites pretending to offer software X, but in fact, they are fakes offering malware. What I do is googling for the software, then going to Wikipedia and verifying what is the official homepage. Maybe, you have to put in both the software name and the term Wikipedia to get the search result.Lyudmil Tsvetkov wrote:3.) How do I know the source is OK? Sometimes it is simply not possible to recognise, so close, so undistinguishable.
I remember that Outlook may have issues here where just the preview activates things. I'm using Thunderbird as mail client: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Thunderbird4.) Similarly for pam, some are very quiet up until the moment they explode, you don't even have to open an attachment, it just opens in and of itself...Just don't do it. Flash is dead because iDevices don't support it. Mostly, you still can get reduced functionality on the website, but otherwise, just drop the website. If they are so backwards in web technology, the rest of the company will not be better. And Flash is full of security holes, it's really that bad. It's like Swiss cheese with so many holes that you rather have to look for the cheese.5.) I don't have Java plug-in, but every site around asks you for Flash installation...
Adobe is patching the reader left and right. The problem is that PDF supports scripting, which means to execute programs inside the reader. As soon as there are holes (and they are - it's Adobe), the program may leave the reader and do dangerous things. The point is that for just reading PDFs, the whole scripting just isn't necessary.Even worse, almost all my current work has to do with Adobe pdf reader..., but I guess you exaggerate a bit here.(anyone can confrim it is bad to have Adobe pdf reader installed?)
Use Sumatra for pure PDF reading - it doesn't support PDF scripting to begin with, and it's blindingly fast. See here (at the right under "Website"): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra_PDF . It doesn't offer all of the features, like adding comments or filling out forms, but for reading-only, it's fine.
At least with not supporting ActiveX. Since that technology is Microsoft-only, and since Microsoft is pretty irrelevant on the browser market these days, there's no point in using ActiveX on legitimate websites anyway.Other choices are Firefox and Chrome, but with what would they be better?
The whole amount of viruses is not normal. I'm using the internet mostly as an incredibly large library for a lot of different topics, from looking up electronic circuits data sheets to the evolution of shrimps. I'm visiting tons of different websites, but no issues.
Some idiots have invented e-mail and made us use it. Just like those other idiots that invented the euro/ European government and made us unemployed. Remember the bad time when one euro was 1 dollar forty. While in the good old times a guilder was 0.5 dollar. But a guilder is almost worth a euro now. You could also consider buying a spare computer for hardware is relatively cheap.Lyudmil Tsvetkov wrote:Even better: not connect to the Internet at all.Henk wrote:Find on internet the most drastic solution to clean your computer. Also disconnect everything. If it is safe for some days reconnect one and see if it still safe for a few days. Repeat this until you find the cause. Or better still be disconnected for everything not being of much added value.
I am surprised you did not consider this.