Computer worm going around and how to avoid it

[helderheid]

There is a very nasty computer worm going around.

To avoid this computer worm, if the question comes up to renew your antivirus, hit alt f4 not yes or no!

[rhett o rick]

1. What does f4 do??? nm

[helderheid]

4. Alt-F4 will close the window. If you click on the window, it will launch the worm.

[rhett o rick]

12. Will it close all the tabs?? Like in FireFox?? nm

[Muttocracy]

29. Alt-F4 will close the window, and all tabs within it. Ctrl-W will close a tab. nt

[navarth]

6. alt F4 closes a window. n/t

[originalpckelly]

8. On Windows, ALT F4 is the key combination to close a window.

:P

That way you don't touch the window with the potential virus in it, Helderheid has given excellent advice.

[bunkerbuster1]

And knowing this will save your ass if your mouse ever goes AWOL.

Keyboard shortcuts rule.

[Cleita]

2. Does this affect Macs or just PC's?

[helderheid]

7. I'm not sure but I'm fairly certain this is a PC problem

[librechik]

36. There's a worm out now attacking Macs-- (i know, this is the 1st)

it gets into your computer when you download something from bit torrent that is infected.

[elocs]

3. I don't anticipate any problems and I have no antivirus. n/t

[eleny]

5. What do you mean by "renew"?

Sorry for being dense but I wondered if you mean being asked to update it.

Do you have a link so I can go get this figured out?

[helderheid]

13. Ack, having a hell of a time here

I heard about it on the radio but cannot find any link discussing the window that pops up that you need to avoid

[eleny]

15. That's okay - I get it now. It's a popup window

I have AVG and automatically check for updates upon booting up. So I don't get popup windows.

I think I have enough info now. Thanks, h.

[navarth]

9. The OP lacks specifics

It might be done with the right motivation, but....come on, that's too ephemeral, what you're talking about there.

I've got AVG anitvirus installed and it's always let me know when new updates are available.

Need more specifics here, please. And thanks.

[Submariner]

10. I wish this was posted 2 days ago

that little bastard has attached itself to my photobucket link. When I click the photobucket link it opens and quickly crashes followed by a Antivirus 2009 warning window. When I click X to close the window the worm starts loading with my control panel window dimmed in the background.

I'd like to get my hands around the neck of the little pudknocker who made this bug. It better have full health insurance coverage if ever caught.

[EFerrari]

19. I thought that someone at PC Tools had sent it out

because I seemed to get it and then get some ad to renew my anti-virus shortly after. The timing stank to heaven.

[TWiley]

24. Sounds like you have the Trojan smitfraud type virus

They are common on some video sites. They prompt you to download a "codec" so you can watch a video, and it is actually a virus. Next, you get hammered with false virus warnings and prompts to download their removal software.

[Warpy]

11. There's an XP patch available

just plug in "conficker" at their site. You can also download a malware removal tool there (MSRT), but it's so far been ineffective against this particularly nasty virus. Apparently this is one of the most sophisticated ones they've seen, selectively blocking software updates and access to antivirus updates.

I'd advise anybody who gets this thing right now to get a new hard drive, load Windows and drivers onto it, and sit tight until there's a fix for this particular worm. Then the old hard drive can be piggybacked and disinfected, your data saved.

I have friends who are jumping through every hoop they can find and still they are unable to access updates to their antivirus software.

(It's instructive to know when your antivirus subscription is up, too, so you can visit the appropriate website to renew instead of having them come to you)

Here's the scoop from Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker

[Tansy_Gold]

14. I may have been in the first wave of infectees about 3 weeks ago

It took two days, but I did get rid of it without crashing or replacing or erasing my hard drive.

[eleny]

18. Tell us how you got rid of it

I don't have it but am curious.

[Warpy]

22. Instructing others how to do it would be a plus here

I'm uninfected so far, but my friends would love to know how to get rid of it.

[Ani Yun Wiya]

37. This is a nasty one.

If it is already putting up "warnings" you have it.
The fix is relatively simple.
Download and run Malwarebytes software, delete everthing it finds.

However if Malwarebytes fails to install or run, download and run Combofix, and it WILL solve the problem.

[BlooInBloo]

16. Um, can you make the post a little more obscure and information-free?

Thanks!

[helderheid]

26. HEY!!!!

:(

[tom_paine]

31. If the shoes fit, wear it. Better you had not posted this at all, quite frankly.

Don't take it personally, we all make mistakes.

But yes, this is an information-free thread with a disturbing title, the combination of which is more than a little annoying to have clicked on.

[helderheid]

32. I think it's plenty informative. If a window pops up on your computer asking if you want to renew

your anti-virus, yes or no, click neither but instead click alt-f4. Sounds fairly simple to me. This popped up on my dad's computer yesterday. It worked for him and he is worm free. Many are not so lucky. I'm just trying to help out other DUers. I certainly don't think that is a mistake.

[EFerrari]

17. I think I got it about a month ago. I ended up having to wipe my hard drive.

It was horrible. :(

[L0oniX]

20. Get Kaspersky and be done with it. It is the best and has been for over 10 years.

It's free for 30 days and you can buy a legal key for it on Ebay for $10. I've been using Kaspersky since 1994 and have never been infected or hacked.

http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/trial-versions.php

[Sebastian Doyle]

21. An even easier way to prevent this infection

From the Wiki page.....

The Conficker worm spreads itself primarily through a buffer overflow vulnerability in the Server Service on Windows computers. The worm uses a specially crafted RPC request to execute code on the target computer. <3>

When executed on a computer, Conficker disables a number of system services such as Windows Automatic Update, Windows Security Center, Windows Defender and Windows Error Reporting. It then connects to a server, where it receives further orders to propagate, gather personal information, and downloads and installs additional malware onto the victim's computer.

All of the above listed services are useless resource wasting security holes to begin with, and should be disabled. You do not need any of them to run Windows in a home environment, and if you're on an office network, either they're already disabled, or your IT staff are morans.

Here's a site with good guides to Windows Services... what should always be on, what should be manual, and what you will never need and can shut down. Includes recommendations for both Windows XP and Vista (even one for you Windows 7 beta users)..... http://www.blackviper.com/

Oh, and insert the obligatory "Use Linux and don't have to worry about this shit" comments here....

[BreweryYardRat]

33. Hey, thanks for the link.

Much obliged.

[TWiley]

23. Vista IS a virus

It is pretty nasty too .....

[ikojo]

25. Thanks I sent this to my mom

Her anti virus is good for a couple of years but she's a clicker....

[sarcasmo]

27. My friend picked one up on her phone, nasty bugger.

[Clear Blue Sky]

28. Easier to get a Mac and this won't be an issue.

[European Socialist]

30. Now ya tell me--got rid of it with pc tools.

[BreweryYardRat]

34. Thanks.

Appreciate the warning. I'd have classed it as spyware and clicked no, assuming my anti-spyware programs could handle it.

[Fla Dem]

35. MS2009 anti virus. Got it today at work and it completely shutdown my computer.

Tried everything to get rid of it, spybot, AVG, disk cleaner. Then logged off. Couldn't get back in through login screen. Every time I would put in my screen name and password, it would shutdown. We've called a computer guy to come in tomorrow.

[dkofos]

38. How about I just stick with Linux.