Just got a virus that disabled security essentials, the internet, sound device, etc.

Frei

I, in the interest of safety, decided to go with the nuclear option of reformatting. So say we all.

I'm more confused about how I got it. I do not go to unfamiliar sites or download much at all. I run microsoft security essentials as my default virus protection, as well as Spybot. I have Malwarebytes that I run every now and then, too. I can't even remember the last time I got a virus.

The last thing I did was download a driver update from nvidia. It wasn't a fake website, it was secure. After I restarted my computer for the update, my PC was in the state described in the title. However, I don't restart often, so I could have picked it up some other time and just got the effects now. I don't know.

Any ideas on this type of virus? Ways to avoid it? I honestly thought I was doing as much as I could to keep my PC secure, but I guess not.

Ninja Snarl P

I'm no expert, but sometimes viruses just happen. There are a slew of nasty ones that basically hijack your system and, not uncommonly, tell you that you need to pay so-and-so to "cure" the infection (obviously a scam).

Seems pretty random to me. I've cleared three of those kinds of viruses off of the computer of one family member, but only gotten one once myself. Best bet is just to have a regular backup image of your operating system drive (if you have one dedicated to that) or a backup of your main drive (bigger and takes longer if you don't have a dedicated OS drive) and revert to that if a nasty virus like that comes along. It's certainly saved me before.

Essee

Well, to prevent anything like this from happening again, my primary recommendation to people is always to grab the NoScript addon if you run Firefox or any derivatives (I personally use SeaMonkey). Basically, by default, all scripts on webpages are blocked. The most common way that people get malware nowadays is through "drive-by" attacks, where a script is running in the background on a page (often from a compromised ad server) without the user's knowledge and compromises the computer. With NoScript running, the only way a script can do anything (especially maliciously) on your computer is if you've explicitly allowed the site that's hosting the script. It's somewhat inconvenient to run NoScript at first, but if you spend a little time allowing all your usual trusted websites, you'll be INFINITELY safer and only mildly inconvenienced when part of a website doesn't work. You can allow scripts from a certain site with just a couple clicks, and you can even temporarily allow a site the same way if you're not sure you want the site to be able to run scripts in the future.

As for what exactly hit you, I dunno. Like I said, these things can come from anywhere, since they can even lurk on normal sites if their ad server gets compromised. Those scripts are usually served from a different domain, though, so with NoScript on you'll still be safe unless the whole site gets hit.

a5ehren

Probably an infected flash ad or something got slipped into rotation somewhere. @asimperson got something like this recently by going to a normally safe site via Thunderbird (which doesn't have ABP or NoScript) instead of Firefox.

Apogee

Yeah, if you miss a Java or Flash update and just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time... it's enough. NoScript fo sho.

ASimPerson

a5ehren wrote: »

Probably an infected flash ad or something got slipped into rotation somewhere. @asimperson got something like this recently by going to a normally safe site via Thunderbird (which doesn't have ABP or NoScript) instead of Firefox.

I have ABP in Thunderbird but yeah, Javascript would still work. I've actually gone and disabled all all plug-ins in Thunderbird and just turned JavaScript off. I've actually now set Flash and Java to auto-update because it turns out the only thing I hate more than auto-updaters is getting infected with a virus.

Frei

Thanks, guys. I guess it couldn't have been anything other than some drive-by download.

I'm having a problem with Java - I can't change the update settings to check for an update and download it every day instead of monthly. I change the settings, but it doesn't save after I apply/close it. I try running it in admin mode, but it just won't let me - the normal right click/run as admin won't work, and I can't go into the properties to tick the box there. Any advice?