Hello Again Readers,

So many people have come to me when I tell them they’re infected and said something like, “Oh, I thought that was normal!” Well I’m here today to tell you some of the signs that you’re infected with some sort of malware. By no means is this a complete list, but I tried to pick out some of the more common ones. If you`d like to discuss this further, feel free to e-mail me and we can talk.

So the first one is that most variations of the Smitfraud infection install something that tells you that you’re infected. The fake antivirus post from Dec 29, 2008 is part of it. Those programs that say you’re infected are the most obvious.

Another obvious sign is when your desktop background changes to something like this:

Random shortcut icons like that look like virus or spyware removal programs also get added to your desktop. These icons are actually shortcuts to infected web pages that download more malware so your poor computer gets even more infected.

Tied in with this are random spam messages that pop up when you’re doing nothing. As seen below:

Please don’t click “Ok” it will only harm your computer. It may look real, but consult a professional.

Another key thing to notice is that when you type in something into your address bar, you end up going somewhere else or instead of the web page you want coming up, you get a search of the words you put in. This is a good indication an infection corrupted your host file. To view or fix this you could find the hidden file in your Windows system folders but it`s a bit of a pain if you don’t know what you’re doing.

An example is let`s say you type in www.hotmail.com. Trend Micro shows an image of a fake Hotmail page:

It’s a bit blurred but if you look carefully the page in the address bar is no longer “http://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=10&ct=1231879587&rver=5.5.4177.0&wp=MBI&wreply=http:%2F%2Fmail.live.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fn%3D1568145402&id=64855″ but instead something totally unrelated. Most people don`t even check to ensure that the address in the address bar is the same one they typed in once the page loads. Let this be a lesson to you, DOUBLE CHECK!

My next question to you is, if you look in the region of your address bar up at the top of this window, do you have a bunch of toolbars there? If so, uninstall them. If you can’t uninstall them, it’s an infection. Plain and simple. Also, when you’re installing software and it asks you to install something totally unrelated like the “Ask toolbar”, uncheck the box! They get annoying, take up a lot of space and memory, and are just plain useless. A common one that has been getting installed on users computers is called “Mirar” (Seen below) as described by Symantec, this toolbar needs to be manually installed and is a pain to remove.

Finally, a topic of consideration is when you think to yourself “Oh boy is my computer running slow!” This is a good indication that you have something else lurking in the background. Also, most computers have a little LED light on the front of the case that show when the hard drive is in use. If you`re not doing anything and that LED is going nuts, there`s a good chance something is going on in the background you can`t see.

So be safe, have a good antivirus program running, and remember to practice your safe surfing tips!

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Hello readers!

I know it’s been a while, but things have been busy with this influx of viruses.  I’ll keep this short and sweet but one of the main concerns I have are phishing schemes. There are many various rouge anti-spyware programs like “Antivirus 2008″ or “Antivirus 2009″ or “XP Antivirus”.  There are just too many to name!

Anyways so those of you who have already seen this have hopefully not signed up to pay for it. If you have QUICKLY CALL YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY AND PUT A STOP ON IT AND GET THEM TO ISSUE YOU A NEW CARD!!!!!

If you have not seen it yet and do sometime in the near future be sure to not sign up for it. Consult your nearest PC support centre to get it removed. Chances are if you have one infection, there are plenty more lurking in the background.

Though there may not be something blaring out at you in the open, there might be cases where you type in an address into Internet Explorer, it opens a totally random site, or something related but not quite the one you wanted. This is also a sign of an infection. Another common sign is pop-ups. Lots and lots of (or a few here and there randomly) pop-ups. They do get annoying, so if your pop-up blocker is going nuts or if you notice yourself closing a lot of random windows, there is a good chance you have a lot of infections.

So keep an eye out, practice safe surfing and if you notice anything suspicious, it’s a good idea to get some professional help.

Hope that helps!

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