Category Archives: Viruses and malware

Questions and answers about computer viruses and malware, and removing them

Superfish malware installed on new machines exposes HTTPS browsing

If you have a new Lenovo laptop, do this today: Check for Superfish and eliminate it Software called Superfish, a “Visual Search enhancer” product pre-installed on new consumer laptops from Lenovo among other brands, has been revealed to have severe … Continue reading

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Ventir: New Mac malware, Trojan Horse

As reported by The Safe Mac here, and Kapersky Labs here, a new trojan horse “Ventir” has been discovered which infects Macintosh OSX.  The vector for infection has not been determined, but the Ventir installer must be run, either as … Continue reading

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Another Phishing Email – “Your iTunes is frozen”

Online criminals continue with phishing expeditions. Phishing is sending phony emails that mimic legitimate emails from reputable sources, hoping to get you to click on them to download malware, or to steal your login and password when you arrive at … Continue reading

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CryptoWall and Cryptolocker – what you need to know

Where did my data go? You might remember a series of viruses (or trojan horses) which “deleted” your data files and charged a ransom to get them back. These were frightening, but not fatal because they only hid files and with … Continue reading

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NoScript with Firefox gives a higher level of security to web browsing

Web browsing is full of hazards. Even reputable websites can have poisoned banner ads from third parties, which can attempt to hack your machine or browser settings. You don’t even have to click on a “bad” website to be the … Continue reading

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Internet Explorer Zero-day vulnerability – time to change

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser has been exposed to have a vulnerability that hackers have been exploiting — before Microsoft has had a chance to respond with a patch. (this is the meaning of the term Zero Day, a hole … Continue reading

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Routers – home and small business router vulnerabilities

We think (a lot) about keeping our computers up to date, virus free and protected with passwords. But stop and consider this: the wireless router that sits in the corner of the office and quietly handles all your WiFi and … Continue reading

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New ‘NetFlix’ phishing scam

There is another variation on the bank account phishing scam – this time targetting NetFlix customers and with the potential for a lot of harm. A pop up screen or email claiming that your Netflix account has been suspended, with … Continue reading

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Don’t Click on the Fake Java Updater

It’s rearing its ugly head again – the fake Java Update sites are salting reputable websites with poisoned banner ads, which take you to a “Update your Java now” message. These pop up even if your Google Chrome settings are … Continue reading

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Don’t fall for a parasite – watch your installers

Parasites … nobody wants them. But you almost certainly have at least one, in your computer.  Did you ever wonder how a Ask, Yahoo, AVG or other browser search toolbar suddenly appeared on your computer screen? Or why instead of … Continue reading

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Q. How do I remove Visual Bee or Conduit from my browser?

VisualBee or VB or Conduit Search are search “aids” for web browsers and a toolbar; but you should avoid these.  They are rogue search engine redirectors that are included with downloads of various shareware installers (you have to be careful … Continue reading

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Zero Day Java Exploit – Disable Java Now

There is yet another series of malware out which exploits holes in the Oracle (Sun) Java language, including the most recent version (Java 7 Update 10) as of Jan 12 2013. Disable Java in your Web browser now. After the … Continue reading

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Q. How do I get rid of ib.adnxs.com

ib.adnxs is browser redirect malware that installs into your browser, and sends your web searches to different sites instead of where you want to go. It will persistently popup its own addresses in your browser.  It will change your home … Continue reading

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Q. How do I remove Scour Search from my browser?

Scour is a search “aid” for web browsers and a toolbar; it is a rogue search engine redirector that is included with downloads of various shareware installers (you know, the ones you have to be careful enough to unclick the “Install … Continue reading

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Q. I am getting a FBI notice on my screen saying I have to pay?

This is a bogus FBI (or other organization) “ransomware” scam, which tries to scare you into paying a “fine” because they have allegedly done something illegal on their computer. If you don’t pay, the virus then locks your machine so … Continue reading

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