There is a simple way to test to see if your computer is infected with the conficker worm.
If you can visit http://www.symantec.com/ then your computer is not infected.
Conficker has blocked internet browsers from going to security sites such as Symantec, the maker of Norton security products.
Please keep your Windows operating system up to date, and keep your current anti-virus up to date and active to help protect you from this and other viruses.
InfoWorld’s Roger Grimes Computer Crime Gets Worse, Patching is still Trouble
-The article about Computer Crime is truly revealing about 2009 and beyond.
Roger also wrote a great article about home PC security.
NetworkWorld’s Andreas M. Antonopoulos On botnets, encryption and mega-worms
Interesting point about the escalated need for security while budgets are shrinking.
PC World’s JR Raphael The State of Spam This story is awesome. I have to quote it.
The Spam Equation
Many of the anti-spam precautions seem obvious — but, obviously, everyone isn’t taking them. The good news? The number of people still gullible is small. A recent University of California study (PDF) suggests only one in every 12.5 million spam messages gets a response.
The bad news? That tiny percentage is enough to generate $7,000 a day, or $3.5 million a year, for a decent-sized spam network, the study says. What’s more, the activity could add as many as 8,500 new bots into the spam network every 24 hours.
That is 8500 computers taken over every 24 hours without the computer owners knowledge. Scary.
Is your computer one of them? We hope the information and steps on this page help you find the answer.
There is no ONE best approach for malware removal because each infection is unique. Malware infections typically may take many hours to remove using several to many tools depending upon the infection. Severe infections may take days. To learn more about different types of malware visit viruslist.com.
In many cases malware may be successfully removed from a system. In the case of backdoor malware, you may not be 100% sure it is all gone. In these extreme cases you will need to backup your data, reinstall the operating system, reinstall software and restore your data.
You will have to make the determination what your time is worth. If the deadline is past and malware issues are still present after your best efforts, take the computer to a local professional, contact us, or backup your data and do a clean installation of your operating system. Emsisoft has a great article titled: On the sense and senselessness of Malware cleaning that helps clarify this point. Bottom line, spend more time avoiding infections by practicing good computer security habits.
Sort your start menu programs alphabetically on Windows XP.
View: StartMenuSort
Problem: Bluemountain.com won’t allow you to log in. The error message says you must allow cookies. But you have checked your security settings and everything seems OK.
Solution: This problem typically occurs because spyware prevention programs can block sites it has determines are exhibiting bad behavior. Programs such as the highly recommended “Spybot Search and Destroy” or “Spyware Blaster” may have blocked a particular site from placing cookies on your computer.
In this example, SpybotSD blocks Bluemountain.com from placing cookies on your computer. Bluemountain allows the placement of third party cookies. I have never had a bad experience with Bluemountain, but this practice is questionable.
Steps to Unblock:
First close your internet browsers if they are open.
Click along with your mouse:
Start Menu > Control Panel > Internet Options > Privacy Tab > Sites > Scroll to Blocked cookie…
(in this example scroll to bluemountain.com)
Left click bluemountain.com entry
Either right click the entry and select “Allow”
or…
Click the “Remove” button
Close the “Internet Options” Window
Close the “Control Panel” Window
Open your web browser and log into your website again. In this example bluemountain.com
The site will now be able to place cookies on your computer and allow you to login.
To Clear Java Cache
Mouse Click the following:
Start Menu > Control Panel > Jave > General Tab > Settings Button > Delete Files Button > OK > OK
When would I need this?
For example: You play solitaire on AOL/POGO website. There are times when the Java based solitaire game will not load. If you clear out the Java Cache the game will work again.