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Either this site of one of its advertisers is spreading the "spigot" virus. (probably ukowingly of course) It is not all that bad, AVG detected it and had no problem removing it so I assume the paid for AV programs should as well, but most of them work on lists. AVG is different in that it uses heuristic reasoning and can catch things before they get on the list and your next AV software update.Spigot seems only to be adware but you never know. And don't blame this site, I clicked on something then it went into another screen and all that so it was probably at the site that put up the link.
The filename appears as "Browserextesion.exe" when you click on details and it hides in "User Apps" or whatever under your username in Documents and Settings but I can only say that for older OSes.
I post this because many people just do not pay attention. I keep a hawk eye on everything my PC does and when I saw the redirect it made me suspicious. I rebooted and it found that virus and that has happened twice since I have been coming here and never before. I am not sure what I clicked on now after all this but if I knew I would notify the owners of this site to notify the owners of whatever site put up that link. That contract that allows them to advertise here does not give them the right to spread a virus the users here.
If it happens again I will try to know where it came from and let the owners of this site know. If possible. For now, just keep them virus scanners up to date.
In fact that is the only thing I let update. Everything else works. Though AVG uses heuristic reasoning, it still has a list that updates from time to time.
When sites start with this "Update your drivers" bullshit they can put it where it is sure not to get a sunburn. What, did I take the sound chip out and change it ? Hell no. So the drivers are fine. But AV software is a different story.
So, if you hit a link and get redirected to some strange shit you didn't want, on reboot your AV software should detect it and fix it. It will be a nice fresh registry entry and an associated EXE file. If you manually delete the EXE there will be an error on bootup, at least there was in years past. The AV software should get all the registry entries as well.
Seems this particular one does not activate until reboot. That is a nice ploy to get in there.
You have to keep a eye on what the PC is doing all the time. And BTW, Spigot is cross platform, it can get on MACs. Since it can do that I bet it can get into a Linux box as well. It isn't just Windows this time.
And don't forget, watch what goes on at all the sites you view. ANY site can get infested but remember that solutions can only come after the problems when it comes to shit like this.
Edits: 10/19/16Follow Ups:
Here is my own story.
The last time I re-installed Windows 7 I used IE to search for Firefox. Instead of being sent to Mozilla I was sent to a copy site thanks to Bing. I made the mistake of installing Firefox from that location.
Had to reinstall Windows from scratch to get rid of everything that site installed.
So, gaming or not, I will never upgrade Windows, which means I may loose all capability of running my speaker measurement and design tools. :(
Best,
Erik
> > > Either this site of one of its advertisers is spreading the "spigot" virus.
That's a real concern. If you could tell us what you clicked on to get where you got where you got fooled into the 'Update your Drivers' scam, we'll stop it.
Unfortunately, one can add a url link in any message and with some 7 million or more posts, it's impossible for us to vet each and every link. However, your experience and advice is great, the vast majority of virus infections are not due to defective anti-virus software, they are successful because users click on links in email or on web sites and install the viruses by mistake.
-Rod
I have all Apple stuff...never had a problem (about 7 years)
.
"I can't compete with the dead" (Buck W. 2010)
"$45 gets them out the door tomorrow. $50 gets them out the door yesterday" (Byrd 2016)
~ that you know of.
nt
aa
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Eset have been champions of heuristic detection since they arrived on the scene some years ago. Others appear to be catching up.
The remainder is covered by best practice - avoiding clickbait and applying some critical thinking. UK schools are pretty good at doing that for children ('Digital Citizenship'), which supports what we tell our kids. Lastly, when we were using our Asus RT-AC87 router, it had additional security options which seemed to help.
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
or have so many security vulnerabilities
Or be so expensive (I use Xubuntu which is a bundled package and is a free download)
Plus, if you just have to run some sort of weird pointless software that just has to run in a Windows environment, there's 6 or 7 different ways to do it in Linux and most of them run faster than the software will in its native environment. This is because Windows is really inefficient and is also a terrible OS that no-one should run.
There are so many versions of Linux out there, from companies which come and go (remember Red Hat?), that I have a hard time choosing one. I need an OS which I can rely upon for the forseeable future.
:)
Red Hat is still the biggest Linux company around.
" I need an OS which I can rely upon for the forseeable future."Actually just about any of them. I got versions that will boot right off the CD, and drive the video right and even most sound cards. Some audiophiles have external DA convertors so you don't even have to worry about that, though you would have to learn to stream your online or ondisk music to USB.
Windows is going to stop working because of browser problems and whatot, like the vulnerabilities. I have long held the opinion that it is possible that companies like Norton and McAffe write some viruses. I am starting to suspect that Microsoft does it to attack older versions. They are in business to make money. (Windows is like a virus in many ways)
Think about this, if you are a software engineer and are privvy to the backdoors and whatever and can do all sorts of things with a PC, don't you have a job or something ?
Yes, but when you go home at night, before wrestling with the kids you do a little bit of coding on your little virus project and figure out how to propagate it and then show up at work at McAffe in the morning and figure out a fix for it, which is much easier when you wrote the thing.
Job security. And if you have that job that means the suits don't know what you're doing, otherwise they would have done it themselves to save money. So you take your fifty grand a year home and they make millions.
Edits: 10/20/16
Get Ubuntu if you have a newer machine, get Xubuntu if you have an older machine, and Red Hat is still around if you want to pay for it (they are sponsor of NPR programming so they must be doing pretty well).
The nice thing here is it doesn't matter if the 'company' is still around! Linux arises from a community , not a company. That was rather the point- so you were never beholden to a company!
Ubuntu's UI sucks. Xubuntu forever. :)
What exactly do you dislike about the newer Ubuntu UI? Why do you prefer the older *more vulnerable* version?
I"m not sure what you mean about vulnerability but I found Canonical's UI a giant PITA. IT's big tool bar never got out of the way, was not movable and I basically couldn't do anything.
Xubuntu is just what I need. Simple, fast, out of the way.
My next favorite is Mint.
This is all good information. Thanks!
BTW, your location is shown as San Francisco Bay. Can I assume that you're not actually in the Bay?
;)
Oh no, I live in a private submarine with solar and wind power, circling around. It's the best way to prevent the earth's 10Hz vibration field from affecting my stereo. :-)
Erik
Haha! :-)
Vbr,
Sam
Ha! I do some programming, and the UI is probably my strongest strength. People are always telling me how easy my software is to use. Makes me feel good.
:)
One of my computers was recently attacked by a "ransom-ware" piece of good for nothing jackass who wants money to restore my JPG and MP3 files. Ha! All of my JPGs are also stored elsewhere, and the MP3 files are merely a convenient way to play stuff which I also have elsewhere. Still, it's an inconvenience.
I'll pay a thousand bucks to a company which can restore my files before I'll pay anything to the assholes.
I've contacted the FBI, and they've got these assholes in their sights.
And use a proxy server.
ET
"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936
Thanks for the "update your drivers" warning.
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