So I was thinking this morning what I missed and I totally missed on how you might be able to tell if you have a computer virus. It does me no good to talk about a virus if you don’t know you’re infected. I was thinking of the times I had a client who had trouble but wasn’t what I thought.
So How do you know?
Some people would say it depends on factors but here are what I call clues that make me suspect a virus:
Slow or Sluggish computers – Here is what I know if the computer is really slowing down and have a dual core or quad core. If you are running a system and sees a lot of hard drive activity even when the computer is idle then it might be a virus or it could be a program doing what it is supposed to be doing. So this is somewhat of an indication but not always.
Slow internet connection on the computer or on the network — Due to the fact that most people have a router that is connected to all the computers and if you internet connection on all your systems are slower than normal then you could have a virus. I use Speed Test website to help determine this.
Corrupt files or Missing files – Sometimes you have a text documents or files that are missing and you have to pay to get them back. It’s an old scheme and usually once your files have been encrypted you can’t get them unencrypted. So this is why I added this one also because it varies from virus to virus.
Programs don’t work like they used to – This is also a very common association with a virus because virus makers don’t have time to test it out on a variety. Most of the time if you get a call that a program is no longer working tat would be the first thing I’d look at, if not check to see what other programs have been installed lately.
In some cases more files are the Hard drive – This can be a indication of a virus because the virus might be using the system to host files or other such illegal activity. Although this is happening less and less it can still be a possibility and should be checked out. I like to use a graphical tree size program to determine if that is the truth.
Pop ups or Browser redirects — this is a common thing along the way. It’s always the same and saying something like “you have a virus” or “You unprotected and you might have a virus”. The theme here is to scare the user into buying there product that does not do anything. It sometimes even looks like a real anti-virus program or spyware program but in truth it is just a scam. In some cases it will send you to a site because it keeps wanting you to buy the product.
DNS Changes on you — Some hackers like to have you go through there server so they can watch everything you do online. They are wanting to get the sensitive information of bank account, and other important accounts. This is really the ones that need to get off your system asap.
These are the signs I’ve seen in the past that would indicate a virus but as with any problem. You will need to check for all the possibilities. It is always going to be an issue with people because most people don’t know about the signs, now you do and you can now be a better computer user. It is you who can only fight viruses by knowing all the possible system and only you can defeat a virus. In the next article I will talk about the tools to help you find and defeat a virus. This will be a big blog post because I have so much to teach and explain. If you like these post by all means leave a comment and help spread the word.
After seeing more and more the updates coming from the net. I wanted to talk about what a Computer Virus or Trojan is and how you get it. So how did you could of gotten a Virus in the first place. So here are some information to consider:
So what does that mean to you? Most of the times when you get a virus you have a vulnerability in some place in your Operating system and it is either something that has not be known by Microsoft, Apple, and Linux or is know as a Zero-day Exploit.
A zero-day (or zero-hour) attack or threat is a computer threat that tries to exploit unknown, undisclosed or patchfree computer application vulnerabilities. The term Zero Day is also used to describe unknown or Zero day viruses.
This is one of the most used because if it is an unknown exploit by the Operating System creators then they have a longer to us the exploit. Most of the time hackers like to use this because that means there is a possibility of finding even more vectors to infect other systems. You see if they can get on one system they can then find ways to get on other systems.
In the Old days, you’d ask
How Did I Get This Virus, Anyway?
You get a virus when you copy infected files to your computer, then activate the code inside by running the infected application or opening an infected document. How you copy the infected files is irrelevant: Viruses don’t care if you get them as an e-mail attachment, a download, or via a shared floppy disk, though e-mail attachments are the most prevalent (and easiest) mode of transport.
That was before hackers wanted to infect for more personal gains. There is a list of things that hackers want to get when they Infect a system and it is usually very few things. In the Old days they wanted the fame but now they want money and to take control over the internet. They usually want to infect for Money or to have computers become botnets. Now We aren’t talking about the Movie, I Robot. Once a system becomes a bot it doesn’t think for itself but follows a line of command from the Command and Control center. So lets say we have several hundred bots on one net, and the hacker blacked mailed a server saying if they didn’t pay up they’d get DoS attacked. With enough bots going to one site at one time can slow or even bring down a site, that is how A hacker sometimes uses a virus or trojan to get into a system.
So you have a virus, it wouldn’t do a virus any good to be detected right after getting onto a system. More and more, viruses are trying to avoid being seen and heard. Most hackers who program are wanting to infect more than one system so they have to make really sure that you don’t find out your infected. So with that said there are several ways and I won’t try to explain them because I think the link talks about it better than I could. It however will give people something to think about.
In the next few days there will be another post on How you will be able to figure out if you have a virus. I had to talk about this first so people could understand how to figure out if you have in the next post. So stay tuned for more
November 11, 2008privacy | Posted by Paul Sylvester
After checking out some of what Google has been doing. I find out that you can now Video Conference for free. That is to say that you can conference with someone on line and do cloud computing. According to Google:
Now I might not a lot but this will be most likely be used in association with the new Google Phone, the G1. So I thought about how this will be used? This will be used in several ways. To keep in touch with family, to make it easier to telecommute and to Video Conference with associates from work. Google Model is “DO NO EVIL”. There is a flaw to this I am sure, this is a Internet Protocol to Internet Protocol connection and in doing so you create so much possibility of a virus getting through. There is no doubt that this is using flash. It also is know to make the infrastructure of a business weak. The Intranet of the business would be compromised. I am sure there are vulnerabilities in this and we will hear them shortly. I’d give it a week or two, remember the problem with Google Chrome and how un-secure it is. These are just a few of what would cause security headaches to all who work in the IT field. I just want to bring that up to prove a point. Google’s mantra isn’t perfect, it is what it is.
After looking around the blogosphere, I’ve come to the realization that people are starting to get hyped up over Windows 7. In one blog post from it.toolbox.com:
Windows 7 is due to hit beta and release in 2009, and odds are likely that if the pundits, all of us on the blogosphere and other places like PC World, Cnet, and others all agree that this works the way a computer was supposed to work will help drive sales. What is also interesting is that Microsoft is really pushing to get this puppy out. Along with the bloat are gone the five years of development.
I totally agree with what he is saying on the possibility to have an operating system actually do what it is told. Some things people have been looking for in there Searches in regards to Windows Vista are:
From what I can tell people are really having problems with Vista and Shutting down. It always hangs for about 10 to 20 minutes. I’ve come up with a few tricks to shutdown vista little more. So let’s get back to why people are so interested in Windows 7, that is easy they want to have a OS that will make them have a better experience with Vista. I also think it was the Vista and Macintosh aids that also made people not like Vista. Microsoft is just now starting to fight back but the Damage is done and people feel Vista is just not worth using or buying. I tend to disagree, with the flaws of this Operating system, I’ve learn so much from diving in and getting my hands dirty so to speak.
Where is the future of Window Vista, I say the next Operating system will “Windows 7″ but it will be Vista Version 2. It should be far better than Version 1, because of having all that time to fix the most common mistakes and programming errors. It is likely going to create a smoother transition for people from XP to Vista V.2. I am not going to call it Windows 7 because it is so similar to Vista and it just doesn’t seem right. What are you going to call it when it comes out?
I will leave the specualation for WIndows 7 for some others and how they will want to hype up this new operating system because people want something better than Vista. I can not deny them, there will always be people to find flaws in any Operating System. I do want want to be in the Windows 7 Beta just so I can test it out and keep people up to date on what might or might not be in the system when it comes out. I think it has a lot of potential, don’t you?
| Posted by Paul Sylvester 
Categories: 2008, Virus, virus removal | 
Tags: article, ASSOCIATION, blog, client, comment, Computer, computer virus, Corrupt, corrupt files, dual core, fact, fact that most people, Hard, hard drive, host files, illegal activity, indication, Internet, issue, leave, lot, missing files, past, possibility, problem, program, Programs, quad, Router, scheme, Slow, slow internet connection, speed, system, tat, test website, text, text documents, thing, Thinking, time, tree, trouble, truth, user, variety, virus makers, virus programs, word | 
No Comments »
Recent Comments