Be Cautious

[cabindoors]

This morning I was trying to catch up on reading the new posts and was viewing some "websites" under heading "Shopbotter Blogs and Websites".

I was examining a few when suddenly "PopUps" started to occur and my Internet Explorer Homepage was trying to be changed and then my computer locked up.

I'm not certain which website caused all of the problems but I think it was the Italian site from Barosi Stefano titled incisionefoto.it. If this site was NOT the culprit I sincerely apologize, but I believe it is.

Just a word of warning when viewing other sites and links. I don't want this to happen to you.

Tom

[patricktoomey]

Tom, It looks like that site may have some banner ads served on it. In the last week, over 1 million machines have been infected by adware and spyware due to a banner ad served on MySpace.com and lots of other sites. The banners are served by disreputable ad companies and the website owners displaying the banners typically have no idea of what is happening. The banners exploit a Windows bug in the way WMF files are handled. This allows an attacker to take control of your machine and execute any code they want just by you viewing the infected graphic. This may have happened to you. Here is a link to more info about this...

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/07/myspace_ad_served_adware_to_mo.html

If you have the latest Windows patches then this may not be what happened to you. Either way hopefully others will see this and be sure to download ALL Microsoft patches and get up to date. There are many other holes like this in Windows and you can get bitten at any time. Also, running an alternate browser like Firefox - http://www.mozilla.org/firefox will protect you from the vast majority of these types of things. Were you running IE when you got hit?

[dhunt]

You're still using Microsoft's Internet Explorer ??
Are you still using a cable-driven Shopbot, too??

Here's a million bucks worth of free advice, which will save you much future web-hassle.
Go to www.getfirefox.com (http://www.getfirefox.com) and download version 1.5.0.4 of the Firefox browser.
After installation, be sure to make it your default browser.
Then go to Firefox's Extensions page and download the FasterFox extension.

Why Firefox??
Firefox was made for this 21st.century.
Internet Explorer is still a browser from the last century:
- it's a re-hashed 1990's browser that gets its 'look' revamped every so often
("New Version" out soon will probably catch up with Firefox version of a year ago, knowing MS)

Sorry to sound cynical about MS browser product,
but after using Firefox for a week, you shall, like everyone else, never look back at IE again.

[paco]

I second that David!... and consider Thunderbird E-mail client too!

MS IE is like "please, invad my PC and do what ever you want with it's ocntent"!

Get a better firewall (than MS default) while at it; Zone Labs has one for free (Zone Alarm).

[dhunt]

The other really helpful protective thingy you need to install is SPYBOT version 1.4
Be sure to upgrade it (all free!) and make sure the IMMUNIZE function is active and updated(every time you update!) - click on the green cross!

Spybot will not auto-update itself, that's up to you.
I reckon the Immunize feature alone is worth the money (..and it's free!)

I've used only the built-in firewall that XP-Pro provides, and have had no probs. in two years, but then,I'm not an adventurous surfer.
I can't help but feel that if Tom J. had Spybot installed(and immunized) this morning, it woulda probably jumped out and said..
"Sorry,dude, you are NOT going THERE!
-that's a known dangerous site"
or something to that effect !

It WILL block you trying to download bad stuff
or even mess with a known malicious site.
A lotta ppl swear by it, honestly,
and I've been using Spybot for over 2 yrs.,now.

Tom, if I were you, I'd run a bunch of diagnostics right now,
and call your nearest computer geek to check out your hard drive for HIJACKS,
coz that's what it sounds like, your browser's been hijacked.

If you notice your home page URL now says
"about: blank "
..you need a geek - now!

[paco]

I second that too again. SpyBot is a really nice anti-spyware protection with even more protection features than only bare anti-spyware.

But spyware do not protect PCs from what going out... only from what going in. Consider better firewall than what MS is offering. MS built-in firewall doesn't pass any test for stealth browsing... hacker will know your there... without any REAL protection.

Interesting reading... (https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2)

[dhunt]

Paco,
Thanks for the reminder.

I hadn't visited that website for about a year, so it was good to visit again, do their tests and receive back a satisfying 'sea of green':
seems my computer is reasonable(very) secure, to hear them tell it,
but then I'm using Firefox(browser) with a bunch of blockers.

ALL you Internet Explorer users need to go to Paco's link and run the tests,
see what results you get! It may help you switch to Firefox!

[dhunt]

here's another neat lil trick for you techie geeks,out there!
(if you don't have it already)

BELARC ADVISOR.

A free system analyser
available at http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

scans your computer and then pops open your default browser to display results,
which you should find quite impressive!

Like...
what board you have in there(do you know?)
What RAM in on the board:
how many RAM slots are open,left blank,
and what's in the full ones.

It'll also say if the general condition of your HD is healthy,or not,
it'll show you what software is installed and where installed,
your license serial numbers,etc.

It's a small thing: no big deal to download, or periodically upgrade.
When I dabbled with LINUX for awhile, the L.guys suggested using it,
saying it proves useful to answer the kinda install. questions that some Linux flavours ask you for, during the install,
and that's how I came to start using it 3-4 yrs. ago,now.

It's safe as houses:
just check out the company that gives it to you:
Belarc is SERIOUS security software!

[dhunt]

FIREFOX just upgraded (automatically) to version 1.5.0.5
This auto-upgrading occurs every 2-3 months or so, in the background.

Does your Internet Explorer do that?

[dhunt]

A few minutes ago, my FIREFOX browser just automatically updated (again!)
- to version 1.5.0.6

Does your Internet Explorer do THAT?