NZFF

Just to warn others that there is yet another mass virus going about, and despite being up to date with the anti-virus, it has got into my computer. I am now having a lot of headaches to restore the computer, but at least I was up to date on the back-ups. I keep a separate 500gb external drive just for backing up the computer, and luckily have not lost any data.

Got rid of the virus, but the damage is still there, so it will be a full re-install. Given that I had been debating for a long time about going back to XP, then this was the push that I needed. I have now ordered the XP Pro cd so will have a lovely weekend coming up installing everything, not just the FSX. So not much (if any) simming for a time, but I thought that I would warn others to check that you are up to date with the anti-virus (for what its worth) and also with your back-ups. Things are not so serious when you know that there is a separate hard drive there will all the important stuff on it.

So watch out for the downadup virus. Sounds like it is a serious one, from what I read on the net.

Hoping to be back with the FSX before too long, hopefully working at great speed with XP instead of the troublesome Vista. Back up now before it is too late!!


Would anybody like to place any bets on how long it will take me to install XP, then all the other programs (including registration again) then reinstall FSX with all the add-ons?????

Answers on a postcard........

Smooth landings (soon with XP again).

Thanks for tha heads up ill be making sure my virus ware is upto date,, its been having a cow over some update ctc file ,,so ill just reinstall AVG again

i think thats what tried attacking me the other day.

i was worried that it was gonna screw me over but it was faithfully blocked by Noddy

happytraveller wrote:

QUOTE (happytraveller @ Jan 28 2009, 08:12 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just to warn others that there is yet another mass virus going about, and despite being up to date with the anti-virus, it has got into my computer.

Arrgh ... bummer. What anti-virus were you using? If it don't work, we need to know! Was your system up-to-date? I thought the latest MS patches were supposed to help <?>.

I'm always a bit wary of this type of post, mainly because there is a great risk of spreading mis-information. I would recommend that you NEVER get your virus information from public forums! Any protection you get from this forum will be too little, too late. Your computer is always under threat, and there are a lot of ways you can protect yourself, none of which are foolproof.

Downadup/Conficker is no better/worse than any other threat, but it is the threat currently favoured by the media at the moment. It's main claim to fame is the rapid way it spread in the run-up to Christmas, and the speed in which it infected large networks. This was mainly because the infected networks did not have up-to-date security patches. (The worm relies on an already-patched vulnerability as it's main infection vector.)

It also spread through the pirate community, mainly because if you have a pirated version of Windows, you don't have easy access to the security updates.

There are other ways it can spread. An infected machine can try a number of 'standard' passwords over a network to gain admin rights. In also infects things like USB drives, by installing itself as an autorun file.

In fact, on a system with up-to-date security, a good hardware/software firewall, and a strong admin password it would be very, very difficult to install this particular worm.

One of the most likely scenarios to catch it here is to plug your USB drive into a school,uni or similar network.

toprob wrote:

QUOTE (toprob @ Jan 28 2009, 01:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It also spread through the pirate community, mainly because if you have a pirated version of Windows, you don't have easy access to the security updates.

On a [slightly] related note. I had to dump my (Ubuntu) Linux OS on an old system because SHE was used to Windows ... so I managed to source a used copy of XP Pro off Trademe (along with a whole heap of hardware). The hardware was a good deal in itself, so I wasn't too bothered if activation turned out to be a problem.

Anyway ... I did the MS phone activation dance, which took about as long as it takes to recite/type in 7 sets of 6-digit numbers ... and that was it. They couldn't have been more helpful. So ... the moral of the story is ... you can still get a fairly cheap *LEGAL* copy of XP up and running - and keep up with all the security updates etc.

I was using AVG with automatic updating, together with Spybot Search & Destroy, so I assumed that I was up to date. I suspect that it may have got in from when I logged on to an unsecured network whilst travelling. I guess that the virus was in their system and somehow bypassed the AVG etc. to get in. Anyway, it will be XP shortly.

smooth landings.

the only reason i had the attack was because i was in the process of installing vista ultimate so it had no updates, luckily i installed my NOD first and it auto updated to the latest database. i then went on to install all the updates for vista and now my pc is completely secure until the next virus is scripted . i think it was a Dreamscene download that contained it that i was downloading.

creator2003 wrote:

QUOTE (creator2003 @ Jan 28 2009, 09:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for tha heads up ill be making sure my virus ware is upto date,, its been having a cow over some update ctc file ,,so ill just reinstall AVG again

Mine was doing that too a month back then came right and now its doing the same thing again. Not to sure if its just on the free versions.

happytraveller wrote:

QUOTE (happytraveller @ Jan 28 2009, 07:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was using AVG with automatic updating, together with Spybot Search & Destroy, so I assumed that I was up to date. I suspect that it may have got in from when I logged on to an unsecured network whilst travelling. I guess that the virus was in their system and somehow bypassed the AVG etc. to get in. Anyway, it will be XP shortly.

Umm ... AVG (free) and Spybot S&D is what I use - and I'm fanatical about updating them.

I'm still intrigued as to how it got past your defences (in case I'm vulnerable myself):

1) "so I assumed that I was up to date" ... where you actually up to date, you reckon?
2) Was your system updated with all the latest MS security fixes?

The downadup vulnerability was patched a fair while ago by MS <??>. The reason it's spread so much (as with other viruses) is that far too many people fail to apply the updates.

what exactly does this virus do to the system?

Apparently the virus stops Windows from updating, so leaves computers open to potential threats in the future. Since being infected, I have been unable to download MS updates, although I have removed (I think) the actual virus. That said, it was the final straw for me with Vista, so waiting to be installed is an XP CD as I had been cursing Vista for too long. So it will be back to XP which will mean a long weekend of reinstallation.

If anybody else has the virus still in their computers, then some of the antivirus companies have issued fixes to remove the actual virus, although the damage to the Vista installation cannot be undone easily (the virus removed the restore points). As I log on through a lot of unsecured wireless networks, I assume that the virus entered through this way. I had a search around the net, and it looks like the virus has now been defeated, although the 10+ million computers that are said to have been infected have already been damaged.

I thought that automatic updates were enough but perhaps if you are not online enough then the viruses can still find a way in.

Looking forward to getting upgraded to XP from Vista.

smooth landings.