Sad sad story and WARNING to all

Earlier this week my computer finally imported a virus after all these years.

I first noticed this when each time I opened my computer I noticed both my firewall and my virus protection had been turned off. Each time I would turn them back on.

THEN, my Internet Explorer would shut down using some sort of protection imbedded in my software somewhere.

I would then get a page (s) that flashed a WARNING that my computer was in danger and that 46 Trojan Horses had been detected and numerous other viruses where lurking at my door. I could not get rid of these pages. No matter what I did the pages would reappear.

One page (of course) wanted to sell me a clean up for $49. There were other more sophisticated versions also available for $99 and $129, the choice was mine.

As it turns out this warning was the virus.

This virus in addition to turning off my Norton also seized the Spy-Bot logo and incorporated it into my tool bar. Each time I clicked on the Spy-Bot icon I was turning on the virus pages and couldn't get away from them.

The graphics were excellent but the grammar was not so good. It was obvious this information was written by someone qualified to write assembly instructions for a cheap bar-b-que grill manufactured in China.

The name of the intruder was Cyber Security.

I went to my ALL PROGRAMS and found that this virus had installed itself in several locations using different names such as "CS", "Cyber Security", "CS Protection" and so on. As I would uninstall one program another would quickly try to load itself. There was no getting rid of this bitch.

Finally, I spent four and a half hours on the telephone with Dell talking to someone in India and paying them $69 to rid my computer of this virus.

Fortunately my documents had not yet been attacked and I was able to save my invoicing and proposals but everything else was lost through the course of getting rid of this virus. I lost all of my photos some of which are not replaceable.

My Favorites were lost as well as my accounting program.

Oh sure some of this stuff had backup but some didn't. I am now in the process of trying retrieve what I can but it's a pain in the a$$.

BE WARNED! If "Cyber Security" turns up on your computer IMMEDIATELY stop what you are doing and back up whatever is remaining then purge all your programs, all of them.

WHAT A BUNCH OF SCUMBAGS THERE ARE IN THIS WORLD!


[Edited by Bud Cline Tile on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 11:49 am CST]

That sucks. My kids ruined 2 computers in the name of peer to peer file swapping, free game downloads, etc. Both were old operating systems, one a Windows ME, the other a Windows 98 upgraded to 2000, and similar situation as yours. It also happened to a third one, luckily, the last one was a Dell and it had a built in sort of hard reset, orfresh start, where it just used a hard drive stored copy of the machine as it came out of the box. It made the computer like new, every single thing on it was wiped away.

If there are any things you remembered having bookmarked, I'm sure many of us probably have the same things bookmarked and could post the links or send you the links in an email, like the AWC span calculator or plumbing code specifics or certain technical bulletins or whatever. I just used my last of 3 microsoft office allowances on the reset dell computer or I'd have offered to mail that one off to you. Maybe some of the other folks around here have some of what you could use.

I do believe that either Staples or Best Buy could recover most of the photos. That's what would upset me the most. I do DVD backups of the photos now and upload a lot to a couple different photo sharing sites.

Did you contact Carter? He's computer savvy without an Indian accent. Maybe he could guide you through subfolders that would have the pictures hidden or indexed.

WHAT A BUNCH OF SCUMBAGS THERE ARE IN THIS WORLD!

I got the same thing, with basically the same messages, only under a different name. I could not get rid of it. The Windows uninstall would not work. It wasn't listed in the programs. Going to the program files and trying to delete it from there would not work either. It told me I did not have access. I ended up doing a system restore back before the virus was imported. I have not had any trouble since.

I had the same thing happen to me by a company called internet antivirus pro. THey intentionally loaded all kinds of trojans, etc. Onto my system, to force buying their program.

I called Mc Afee, and though it cost me (89.00) to have them clean up my system, I have had no problems since.

I would also recommend you inform your service provider, so that maybe they will add something to their program to help protect us from those out there, that are being vicious.

I've have been there & done that! As a matter of fact, just last week. I'll tell you what has helped me. I made the purchase for Acronis True Image Home Edition. Now if that happens, I pop a CD in the drive and within 15 minutes my hard drive is automatically formatted and restored. And my system isn't that small, I have nearly 17 gigs of info to restore. I don't work for Acronis and I don't get anything for pushing their product so please don't get the impression that I am trying to do that. I just know how you feel. It has happened to me a couple of times and now if I know it is starting to happen, I'll reach around to my wirless adaptor and unplug it. It doesn't completely stop it but it helps to minimize the damage. I wish you well as you continue to get your system cleaned up and put back together. I know that it can be a daunting task!

As an after thought. This has been going on for years now. I cannot figure out why these people can't stopped and prosecuted. Even if the attackers are located another country, how long must this be tolerated. We aren't the only country dealing with this problem.

Regards,

Mike H.

Just went through the same thing. Mine was calle "Advanced Virus Removal". In the past other names such as "Spyhawk" "Internet Virus Pro" have all corrupted my system. This time, they highjacked my computer. I looked at my browsing history, and there were sites that I hadn't visited. I did a full system recovery to eliminate the intruder. Some people need to get a different hobby.

Sorry to hear that Bud. Yea, there are some real scumbags in the world. Virus's are akin to vandalism and ya have to wonder how these people would feel if they came home and all of their possessions were smashed and their walls painted with grafitti. The violation is the same and in some ways, WORSE!

Particullarly when it affects a working man simply trying to make his way in a world tough enough to begin with. :o (

On another note, if it makes ya feel anybetter, I just joined your club. Seems Kelly (cx) from JB doesnt play well with others and since I wont be instructed by a tyrant, ive been officially Banned from Johns forum. Now they have lost yet another of their original people. Soon tile instruction will all be from KELLY, the GC/ Owl chaser who rules with an IRON FIST. My how things change. ;o)

Holy Cr@p, Todd got banned from JB, I would have thought the odds of me winning megamillions were better than the odds of you getting the boot from there.

Anyway Bud, you've got mail.

The first class USPS kind

Todd where ya been man?

A few weeks ago Dave was here for a couple of days and we had some great conversations about tile forensics. The guy is all business all the time. Your name came up and he was asking whatever happened to you. I tried to impress him by telling him I had a standing invitation to go fishing with you in Minnesota sometime. I wonder if he'd be interested in going with us?

I'll check my mail.

SIDE BAR: (Along the Kelly lines)

Several years a ago a local Carpet One retailer I worked for wanted all of their installers enrolled in the National Carpet One Installation Excellence Program.

The teacher was a female salesperson from the store. It was she that was going to grade my paper and review my tests. She was an idiot. I opted out and never did pass the course. Can't imagine Kelly teaching tile anymore than I can imagine that carpet salesman teaching tile.

Over there (JB's) it's all about the greenbacks my friend - you know that! Orange is not their favorite color.

Orange. Yep, speak reasonable expectation of time for field performance to Prove a products actual Value and its like sacriligous.

People seem to forget that the Jersey mud job was once a MANUFACTURER Reccomended setting method.

A few years later. OOPS, Perhaps we were wrong.

Ive been around too long to buy in to Dogma and advertising hype.
Even Ditra went through a CHANGE to improve it due to some issues.

I am willing to Beta test a product, but on a LIMITED scale.

The sad thing for Schluter is, This doesnt help them. Removing an Individual from a Forum where one of the last threads I was in had to do with Showers and since I didnt buy into the bandleaders dogma on Orange, I am now an Undesireable? Of course people have their own perceptions of WHY but I have always been very stand offish on the Kerdi product choosing to wait and see. Bringing up the few problem area's I ran in to when dealing with it and not recieving any sufficient answers on Dealing with those issues. I sometimes wonder how Much the blinders being distributed cost.

Of course I have no Idea WHY I was actually removed since nobody contacted me, no REASON was given etc.

I was told it was not CX who actually did it but while he may not have actually pulled the trigger, I'd bet he Loaded the gun for the one who did!

Seems John isnt really getting too involved anymore and Kelly is surrounding himself with people he can CONTROL.

Since he considers me a Loose cannon because I start and take on the difficult and controversial issues nobody else will touch for fear of upsetting an Advertiser, well. The almighty dollar once again will ruin what was once a forum of Merit and one that as I recall, when we were setting up back in what 02 or 03 we had all agreed that advertising would never get in the way of a good solid discouse on Information (do you recall this particular conversation the same?). MY how things change. But then again, the more things change, the more they STAY THE SAME EH! ;o)

Hi Todd. Welcome to the Breakfast Club.

Hey Carter, Been awhile but then, I havent spent much time in any online venues for quite some time. I do recall my roots though and For me, this IS where it all started.

THIS IS the 1st forum I ever spent any time at.

Thanks for the welcome back. While I cant say I'll be around often, I will be around.

~T~

I had a similar problem when my wife decided to play Bingo online with her mother ("It's safe - it's my Mother's computer!"). Well, "Mom" was deep into online gambling at the time as well so, I picked up an infestation. I had to actually go "search and destroy" within the registry itself to restore the computer ("Hi, my name is Charlie" in India was no help). I don't recommend going into the registry unless you really know what you're doing but sometimes it's the only solution.

Another good way to go is "CCCleaner" which is available free online. Spybot Search and Destroy used to be good but, I think it's easily infiltrated. Also, try to run your antivirus updates at least once a week.

Out of curiosity, what site were you on when it happened? I was on [Ninjavideos.com] watching dexter, when all went wonky.

I had the exact same thing happne, with the exact same virus last spring. The worst is it happened from using a Spy-bot program and someone had put on my computer to help me locate spyware. It had been on my computer for about two years without incident, and I tried to use a function of it that I'd never tried before, and until I brought it to be taken care of, my laptop was nothing more than a paper wieght after that. I lost quite a bit. I'd backed up all my work pics and my financial data, but I lost a bunch with respect to specs I'd saved, and family pics and so forth. Realy sucked.