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Posted by herbdove on November 13, 2006, 2:52 pm
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Hello all,
I'm wondering if someone would kindly me with what appears to be a
virus on my computer.
I turned on my computer yesterday, and all my bookmarks in Firefox
disappeared. Other oddities: I am receiving the error message:
"Error: LiveCode is not defined line:19", certain (but not all)
graphics on a webpage will not load and sometimes when they do the
resolution will be bad, spacing on the page will be off, font size will
be strange, etc. Another oddity--when I will click on a link of any
sort, or click on an e-mail message, etc., the page that comes up will
simply be blank. Things are running very slow overall.
I run Symantec Anti-Virus at all times, and have a firewall through
ZoneAlarm. I ran Ad-Aware and Spybot, and updated all. When no
viruses were detected, I downloaded AVG Anti-Virus, and Microsoft
Baseline Security Analyzer. So luck with these either. I've
uninstalled Firefox, and re-downloaded it again. Nada.
Any suggestions on how I should proceed?
Thanks a million...
matt
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Posted by Sebastian Gottschalk on November 13, 2006, 3:41 pm
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herbdove wrote:
> I'm wondering if someone would kindly me with what appears to be a
> virus on my computer.
It doesn't. It appears like a generic software bug.
> I turned on my computer yesterday, and all my bookmarks in Firefox
> disappeared. Other oddities: I am receiving the error message:
> "Error: LiveCode is not defined line:19", certain (but not all)
> graphics on a webpage will not load and sometimes when they do the
> resolution will be bad, spacing on the page will be off, font size will
> be strange, etc. Another oddity--when I will click on a link of any
> sort, or click on an e-mail message, etc., the page that comes up will
> simply be blank. Things are running very slow overall.
>
> I run Symantec Anti-Virus at all times, and have a firewall through
> ZoneAlarm. I ran Ad-Aware and Spybot, and updated all. When no
> viruses were detected, I downloaded AVG Anti-Virus, and Microsoft
> Baseline Security Analyzer. So luck with these either. I've
> uninstalled Firefox, and re-downloaded it again. Nada.
>
> Any suggestions on how I should proceed?
1. Rebuild your Firefox profile. This should fix the issue.
2. Uninstall Symantec AV and ZoneAlarm, this will protect your computer.
3. Stop wasting your time with all kinds of scanners for a problem that
could hardly be related to malware.
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Posted by erewhon on November 13, 2006, 6:36 pm
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> 1. Rebuild your Firefox profile. This should fix the issue.
Ok
> 2. Uninstall Symantec AV and ZoneAlarm, this will protect your computer.
Less AV and less firewall = More protected?
I'm aware they create a false sense of securty for 0days and bespoke code,
but I think you are full of shit if you think that their removal improve
security.
All code has flaws. However, a software firewall (even with possible
vulnerabilities) is certainly better than a core o.s with NO firewall and
AV.
Don't believe this fool - get multiple AV's installed, then be careful what
you browse and open.
> 3. Stop wasting your time with all kinds of scanners for a problem that
> could hardly be related to malware.
I may be related to malware. It may not. Searching for it, and not finding
any (since it may slip under the radar) is certainly not a futile excercise.
Malware is detected more times than not. That's not to say you have no
malware, just that you have a higher probabilty of finding it if you look
for it.
Not looking for it, is akin to sticking your head in the sand.
Search, but always remain a liittle sceptical that nothing found does not
always equal nothing present.
Do not take this fools advice of no protection and no looking to keep
protected.
erewhon
alt.hacker
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Posted by Sebastian Gottschalk on November 14, 2006, 2:00 am
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>> 1. Rebuild your Firefox profile. This should fix the issue.
>
> Ok
>
>> 2. Uninstall Symantec AV and ZoneAlarm, this will protect your computer.
>
> Less AV and less firewall = More protected?
Generally yes. More code = more complexity = insecurity. Beside that
ZoneAlarm is no firewall.
Even further, Symantec AV and ZoneAlarm have known unpatched security
vulnerabilities that make the computer vulnerable in first place, and
they're totally broken.
> All code has flaws. However, a software firewall (even with possible
> vulnerabilities) is certainly better than a core o.s with NO firewall and
> AV.
Wrong. Take a secure computer, install such a software, and now you made it
insecure.
> Don't believe this fool - get multiple AV's installed, then be careful what
> you browse and open.
Believe whatever you want. Reality doesn't care for you unjustified believe
in virus scanners.
Real protection against viruses is provided by ACLs, implementing a global
no-exec policy and by not allowing automatic code execution.
>> 3. Stop wasting your time with all kinds of scanners for a problem that
>> could hardly be related to malware.
>
> I may be related to malware. It may not.
Default assumption: It is not related.
> Do not take this fools advice of no protection and no looking to keep
> protected.
Installing pseudo security stuff has nothing to do with protection.
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Posted by erewhon on November 14, 2006, 3:13 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options >> Less AV and less firewall = More protected?
>
> Generally yes. More code = more complexity = insecurity.
What nonsense. You seem to be mixing quality and quantity. One line of
vulnerable code is an insecurity. A million lines of non-vulnerable code is
secure. More code does not equal more complexity hence more insecurity.
Poorly written code is insecure. Well written code is not.
Having a good quality AV and firewall product prevents more issues than they
cause. Of course, a badly written one can introudce ADDITIONAL exploit
paths, however, not having one at all guarantees vulnerabilty in a o/s with
many dozens of high severity vulnerabilities, and many more to be found
before next patch tuesday.
> Beside that
> ZoneAlarm is no firewall.
It is a firewall - although I never stated it was a very good one.
> Even further, Symantec AV and ZoneAlarm have known unpatched security
> vulnerabilities that make the computer vulnerable in first place, and
> they're totally broken.
No - they make it vulnerable to those attacks which attempt to exploit them.
The vast majority of exploit and virus code is written to target the largest
available footprint. Whilst custom code can be used to fuck over certain av
and firewall products, the vast majority of this code targets core o.s or
browser vulnerabilities. As such, a user should focus their efforts on using
apps which can sit on top of the o/s and filter, block, detect and remove
such malware to reduce their exposure.
As I stated, they are not going to work on 0day code, or the latest bespoke
code - however, they are certainly better than none at all, contrary to your
assertion.
>> All code has flaws. However, a software firewall (even with possible
>> vulnerabilities) is certainly better than a core o.s with NO firewall and
>> AV.
>
> Wrong. Take a secure computer, install such a software, and now you made
> it
> insecure.
Of course - except there is no 'secure computer' in this context. M$, Linux,
Mac - all have code flaws which are exploitable. Having protection on top of
the o/s makes sense. Of course a badly designed app adds to the holes, but
the type and # of holes it brings are only relevant if they are commonly
targeted.
>> Don't believe this fool - get multiple AV's installed, then be careful
>> what
>> you browse and open.
>
> Believe whatever you want. Reality doesn't care for you unjustified
> believe
> in virus scanners.
The last time I checked, my PC was protected against several thousands of
viruses esp. those which use vulnerabilities to attain prividge escalation
or known holes to run. Any one of these viruses that attempts to run on my
PC will fail due to AV protection. Any PC without AV will not be stopped -
ACL's or no ACL's.
> Real protection against viruses is provided by ACLs, implementing a global
> no-exec policy and by not allowing automatic code execution.
Nonsense. I could login as run as guest and have o/s policies and setting in
place to limit the possibility of running certain code. This does NOTHING to
protect me against malicious code injected into a vulnerable app or via port
which fails to trap such code, and allows exploit as system. What the hell I
am logged in as, and ACLs and "a global no-exec policy" will do the square
root of fuck all to prevent a DCOM exploit, if I've got no AV, no vendor
patch and no firewall.
>>> 3. Stop wasting your time with all kinds of scanners for a problem that
>>> could hardly be related to malware.
>>
>> I may be related to malware. It may not.
>
> Default assumption: It is not related.
Wrong. Default assumption is to assume nothing, investigate everything.
>> Do not take this fools advice of no protection and no looking to keep
>> protected.
>
> Installing pseudo security stuff has nothing to do with protection.
For fear of banging my head against a brick wall - yes it does. Calling it
"pseudo security stuff" does not your case a valid one.
erewhon
alt.hacker
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