Be warned, there's some nasties out there !

Discussion in 'The Lounge Bar' started by Ron Goldstein, Feb 27, 2009.

  1. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    At a disabled friend's house yesterday, watching him working at his PC, when up popped this error message on the screen (see below).

    It looked suspicious so I advised him NOT to download the patch it offered, got him to do a Print Screen and we e-mailed it to my home address.

    When I got home I mailed it to my PC guru, namely my very good friend Peter G and I was glad to get his confirmation as follows:

    Ron

    Well spotted! ......registryscan.cc is a nasty that's been around a while. It turns PCs into zombie spammers.

    https://safeweb.norton.com/report/show?name=registryscan.cc

    Seen in the wild: Skype spam - CNET Spyware, viruses, & security Forums

    RegistryScan.cc - AboutUs Wiki Page

    Peter

    You've now all been warned :mad:
     

    Attached Files:

    deadb_tch likes this.
  2. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    My colleague at work got something similar stuff - a fake-antivirus (called Antivirus XP) probably with trojan inside, his pc is down at this time.. So don't run anything u don't know :)
     
  3. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Ron,
    Thanks for the heads up on this.

    I do not download anything that comes unsolicited unless I know the sender.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  4. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Tom

    The reason I have a particular aversion to the perpetrators of these "nasties" is that there are many un-suspecting PC users out there who would treat this sort of Error Message as being gospel and who will then finish up with a spam driven machine.

    Like yourself, I am a natural cynic and watch out for these bxxxxxxs !

    Ron
     
  5. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Ron,
    Absolutely, it is just what these so called "computer Criminals" prey on.

    Being Cynical became part of my makeup as a Police Officer, after hearing all the lies told me by offenders.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  6. Passchendaele_Baby

    Passchendaele_Baby Grandads Little Girl

    oh, thanks!
    I'll keep a heads up for it!
    you know, sometimes it is just a bit like :icon_crash: with computers aye... :D
     
  7. kfz

    kfz Very Senior Member

    I had this too. Couldnt get rid of it. Suddenly AGV caught up and got it. MAke sure your anti virus is up to date!!
     
  8. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    And never trust completely in just one AV program. Or a sole Spy/Malware checker.
    They all tend to work in different ways, one program will detect stuff that another perfectly good one will not. There's a lot of excellent free Malware blockers & hunters out there, but do make sure you're on the right site before downloading - as understandably the swine that propagate the naughtiness can tend to masquerade as people helping you remove it.
     
  9. PeterG

    PeterG Senior Member

    And never trust completely in just one AV program. Or a sole Spy/Malware checker.
    They all tend to work in different ways, one program will detect stuff that another perfectly good one will not.
    von Poop

    You must NOT install or run more than one anti-virus program. You may get away with running two for 80% of the time, but you are asking for trouble; use one only, but keep it up to date. An AV program works at kernel level (i.e., very deep down) in your operating system.

    Spyware checkers work at a higher level and it is both OK and advisable to run more than one. I run four with XP; Vista is more secure and on Vista I run Windows Defender and SpyBot only. With Mac OS Leopard I just run iAntiVirus. I use free stuff only.
     
  10. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    As I said, I 'never trust completely in just one AV program'. I have one that does the day to day monitoring/scanning and 2 others that are switched on once a month or so to search in their own distinct manners.
    As long as the programs are instructed properly as to where they are allowed and when they are allowed to operate (Eg. not at the same time as another) it's fine to have more than one. Conflicts are unlikely and usually obvious if they occur.
    There is also the added bonus that some AV programs are better at removing certain kinds of problem than others, one may identify a threat that another misses but have no resource to remove it so it can only dump it into quarantine - another can then be instructed to seek that specific threat and use it's distinctive tools to eliminate it.
     
    James S likes this.
  11. PeterG

    PeterG Senior Member

    As I said, I 'never trust completely in just one AV program'. I have one that does the day to day monitoring/scanning and 2 others that are switched on once a month or so to search in their own distinct manners.
    As long as the programs are instructed properly as to where they are allowed and when they are allowed to operate (Eg. not at the same time as another) it's fine to have more than one. Conflicts are unlikely and usually obvious if they occur.
    You can only 'instruct' an AV program when to do a scan, but you cannot control how an AV program monitors, i.e., defends you. AV monitoring programs load at start-up and have to run all the time otherwise there is little point in having one, and you cannot have two running at once. All authorities I know of stress this, as for example here Can I run more than one anti-virus program? Anti-spyware program? Firewall? Should I? - Ask Leo!
     
  12. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Peter, check the web more widely, there's plenty of good advice on using multiple AVs.
    You can control how the AV monitors, and as I said as long as there's a primary program that does the resident work (the one you trust the most) then there's usually no problem with having another. Some don't rub along with others but there's plenty of good combinations that get along quite nicely, some even managing joint real time stuff without conflicts and FPs.

    AV programs do not exist solely for doing the real time protection, there is always a place for independent full or targeted scans by different methods in a 'belt & braces' manner, particularly when so many good programs with unique features can be had for free.
     
  13. deadb_tch

    deadb_tch the deadliest b#tch ever

    I'll add my imho to this thread - I've used lots of AV software during my PC usage, all of it wasn't free, some of 'em were good, some of 'em - not, some were very slow and heavy to PC, some - very light and fast but as Adam said before I made sure that I need kit of tools, not the only one. ;)
    At this time my fav one is Kaspersky Internet Security which incorporates AV and firewall and is very VERY very paranoid if turned into manual protection mode, it asks you about almost every movement of bytes of software on your PC ;) - allow or not. Of course this can be turned into automatic or half-automatic. ;)
     
  14. arkrite

    arkrite Senior Member

    I have found AVG and Avira work together but Avast will only work happily on its own. Avira is very good on updating its data base throughout the day, AVG is once a day. Mind you just because I have had no problems ( Crossed Fingers) its up to you . I can see the point The Boss is making and keeping a second AV disabled until you want a scan made, aslong as you update it first.
     
  15. leonvdm

    leonvdm Junior Member

    My wife got slapped with that Windows Anti Virus about 3 months ago.
    We use Bitdefender and it even slipped through that until it ran the first time. Then it was picked up. Unfortunately it has to be manually deleted (at that time no autocorrect was available) but BD online help sorted my problems out very quickly.

    Bitdefenders standard 1st question: What are you running alongside it....
     
  16. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    I see that this thread has further developed into a "this is what I use on my PC" so I'll offer my "two pennorth".

    Back in 2006 my PC was completely taken over by the most horrible of viruses, don't ask me which as the memory is too painful, but the short story is that I finished up getting a new PC built to my spec from my local PC expert.

    At the time, having been badly bit, I asked him to set me up with the best protection he could recommend and I finished up with Zone Alarm (Professional) as a firewall and NOD32 (Edset) (Professional) as my anti-virus.
    My Zone Alarm is set ONLY for use as a firewall and, likewise, NOD32 is set ONLY as anti-virus.
    Speaking strictly for myself, this works a treat without any problems whatsoever.

    I pay a modest annual fee for both of these programs, which update themselves daily and TW have not had a single problem since 2006.

    I am completely aware that there are lots of freebies out there but consider that my peace of mind is well worth paying for.

    Happy Computing !

    Ron
     
  17. warhawk

    warhawk Member

    I see that this thread has further developed into a "this is what I use on my PC" so I'll offer my "two pennorth".

    Back in 2006 my PC was completely taken over by the most horrible of viruses, don't ask me which as the memory is too painful, but the short story is that I finished up getting a new PC built to my spec from my local PC expert.

    At the time, having been badly bit, I asked him to set me up with the best protection he could recommend and I finished up with Zone Alarm (Professional) as a firewall and NOD32 (Edset) (Professional) as my anti-virus.
    My Zone Alarm is set ONLY for use as a firewall and, likewise, NOD32 is set ONLY as anti-virus.
    Speaking strictly for myself, this works a treat without any problems whatsoever.

    I pay a modest annual fee for both of these programs, which update themselves daily and TW have not had a single problem since 2006.

    I am completely aware that there are lots of freebies out there but consider that my peace of mind is well worth paying for.

    Happy Computing !

    Ron
    It is getting bad out there, with the viruses.
     
  18. Recce_Mitch

    Recce_Mitch Very Senior Member

    Never seen that one thanks for the warning.

    Cheers
    Paul
     
  19. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Hi

    Another "nasty" arrived in a friend's mailbox yesterday.

    The e-mail read:
    From: "Brian Adams" <baantinigeriascams@gmail.com>
    Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008
    Subject: Anti Nigeria Scams Ref: 23524326

    Attention:
    This email is not in any manner directed to you, but its purposely and specifically directed to Nigeria Scam victims. . However, if you have fallen for Nigerian Scams, do not hesitate to contact us or visit our website for more details on how we can help.
    We shall be waiting to hearing from you been certain that you were truly scammed by a Nigerian and you have proves to back your claims. Please read the full report at our website:
    disabledhttp://www.nigeria-scamvictims.itgo.com/
    Yours faithfully,

    Brian Adams
    Nigerian Government Reimbursement Committee

    I've disabled the link and confirmed that it is a recognised "nasty" but thought you might like to see what our Nigerian friends are getting up to these days :)

    Ron
    Fuller details here:
    https://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4946
     
  20. PeterG

    PeterG Senior Member

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