Think you know your computer, think again...
Coming from a technology background I thought I was savvy enough to spot a virus or problems with my computer. So three weeks ago when my computer started running slower than normal I attributed to the very high quality Music CD scans I made so my library could never be scratched. I disabled pop-ups ions ago so I certainly could not be exposed that way or could I?
I actively use more than one virus scan/firewall/spamkiller/security center on my computer so where ever I am I always consider myself protected. My realization of how compromised I was did not strike until I tried opening a web page I frequently refer to for news in Hawaii, http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ . The error I got was "Page Not Found". The first thought I had is the Honolulu Advertiser must not have paid there server bill (which was actually quite ridiculous since they are owned by Gannett), or perhaps my high speed internet connection from Time Warner was on the blink. After trouble shooting the problem I found that neither was the case. Our other two computers were operating fine. I was still not worried, thinking it was a fluke. I didn't get concerned until about 4 hours later when reviewing my files to see if anything unusual had been downloaded, and if my computer had been "pinged" by another, I saw some alarming things. There were two computers that were trying to access all my ports and I had one open unprotected port on my system. The other thing was, there were several .dat files which I could not explain that appeared on my system.
I was getting concerned. Not worried but concerned. I scanned my computer 3x's and no virus's were found. Then I went into my security center. Most of it was disabled and the system did not notify me. No one goes onto my computer but me. Now I was worried. I called some friends who offered to take a look and after about 4 hours the following day, they could see the symptoms just fine but could not find the culprit who was buried deep beneath my surface files, lurking like and unwanted, unwelcome warlock. Wreaking havoc everywhere. My business was threatened and although I had back up files, the inconvenince of not having my laptop at my beck and call was disturbing to say the least.
I got the computer back and started deleting the suspect .dat files which one should never do unless you know what your doing. I'm a marketing chickadee not a techie. I had no business doing that but now, breaking out in a cold sweat, I knew that I was in for the run of my life. What had they gotten? How had they gotten it? Why me? What kind of freaks would do something like this? I went back into my security center to see who "they" were. I am happy to say I have a few suspects and I reported everyone who every came near one of my ports through virtual means to http://www.hackerwatch.com/ . It recommended I do a Windows Security update immediately. So I earnestly logged on only to find that the PAGE COULD NOT BE FOUND....Aaaarrgggghhhhhh!
This story goes on forever and if I had time to give you all the lurid details I would. Bottom line is you don't need to know all of that. I suspected I had Malware obtained through the use of my ever-so-innocent but fully vulnerable Internet Explorer 6.0 . Two - three days ago there were no patches to update this specific problem according to McAfee and the "vendor had been notified". So please oh please for your sanity and mine, go to the Microsoft site and get their long over due secutiry patch for Internet Explorer 6.0 or end up paying $300 ( and lose your peace of mind) or more to get the culprit exterminated by professionals...
BEWARE if your computer runs incessantly at night when no one is seemingly there... Viruses, and Malware and Sprites OH MY!!! The company who cleaned my computer recommended I use Mozilla Firefox browser until the Internet Explorer browser has current vulnerabilities addressed.
The lesson is if anything in your computer begins to act differently act immediately... and leave it to the professionals to deal with.
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