Fighting Malware - help is at hand!

[~BD~]

Some great information in the 'Answer' - here:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...e-2a3ade37091c

--
Dave - Not really a Microsoft Fan-boi! ;-)

[David_B]

~BD~ wrote:
> Some great information in the 'Answer' - here:
>
> http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...e-2a3ade37091c


Avoid tech support phone scams
http://www.microsoft.com/security/on...one-scams.aspx

Its a total scam. Uninstall their software and then run a System Restore
back to before you installed it.
Change all your sensitive passwords on all sites - email, bank, credit
cards and others. (Do not do this
on the compromized computer and it would be best to do on the phone or
in-person.)

You may even want to revert your system back to factory fresh to be sure
their software is not breaching
your security. (Means to re-install Windows Clean - removing everything
on the drive so backup any data
before hand.)

================================================== ==================
================================================== ==================

In USA you can contact FBI, State Attorney General, local law
enforcement and consumer
watch groups. Arm yourself with knowledge.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), funded in part
by the Bureau of Justice Assistance
(BJA).
http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx

No, Microsoft would not call you unsolicited. Nor would they know if any
errors existed on your
computer. So those are frauds or scams, to get your money or worse to
steal your identity.

Don't fall for Phony Phone Tech Support
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/securitytips...h-support.aspx

Avoid scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently - Microsoft does
not make unsolicited
phone calls to help you fix your computer
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fra...ng/Msname.aspx

Hoaxes and Scams
http://support.microsoft.com/contact...s=support#tab3

Microsoft Consumer Support Center
https://consumersecuritysupport.micr...rect=1&gssnb=1

Microsoft Support
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support#tab0

Microsoft - Contact Support
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ontact-support

================================================== =========
================================================== =========

Do these thoroughly :

If you need to check for malware here are my recommendations - these
will allow you to do
a thorough check and removal without ending up with a load of spyware
programs running
resident which can cause as many issues as the malware and maybe harder
to detect as the
cause.

No one program can be relied upon to detect and remove all malware.
Added that often easy
to detect malware is often accompanied by a much harder to detect and
remove payload. So
its better to be overly thorough now than to pay the high price later.
Check with these to an
extreme overkill point and then run the cleanup only when you are very
sure the system is clean.

These can be done in Safe Mode - repeatedly tap F8 as you boot however
you should also run
them in regular Windows when you can.

TDSSKiller.exe. - Download to the Desktop - then go to it and Right
Click on it - RUN AS ADMIN
it will show any infections in the report after running - if it will not
run change the name from
tdsskiller.exe to tdsskiller.com. Whether it finds anything or not does
not mean you should not
check with the other methods below.
http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses...?qid=208280684

Download malwarebytes and scan with it, run MRT, and add Prevx to be
sure it is gone.
(If Rootkits run UnHackMe)

Download - SAVE - go to where you put it - Right Click on it - RUN AS ADMIN

Malwarebytes - free
http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free

SuperAntiSpyware Portable Scanner - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/port...g=SAS_HOMEPAGE

Run the Microsoft Malicious Removal Tool

Start - type in Search box -> MRT find at top of list - Right Click on
it - RUN AS ADMIN.

You should be getting this tool and its updates via Windows Updates - if
needed you can
download it here.

Download - SAVE - go to where you put it - Right Click on it - RUN AS ADMIN
(Then run MRT as above.)

Microsoft Malicious Removal Tool - 32 bit
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Microsoft Malicious Removal Tool - 64 bit
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

also install Prevx to be sure it is all gone.

Download - SAVE - go to where you put it - Right Click on it - RUN AS ADMIN

Prevx - Home - Free - small, fast, exceptional CLOUD protection, works
with other
security programs. This is a scanner only, VERY EFFECTIVE, if it finds
something come back
here or use Google to see how to remove.
http://www.prevx.com/ <-- information
http://info.prevx.com/downloadcsi.asp?prevx=Y <-- download

PCmag - Prevx - Editor's Choice
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346862,00.asp

Try the trial version of Hitman Pro :

Hitman Pro is a second opinion scanner, designed to rescue your computer
from malware
(viruses, trojans, rootkits, etc.) that have infected your computer
despite all the security
measures you have taken (such as anti virus software, firewalls, etc.).
http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro

--------------------------------------------------------

If needed here are some online free scanners to help

http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/

-----------------------------------

Original version is now replaced by the Microsoft Safety Scanner
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

Microsoft Safety Scanner
http://www.microsoft.com/security/sc...s/default.aspx

----------------------------------

http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

Other Free online scans
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...q=f&oq=&aqi=g1

--------------------------------------------------------

After removing any malware :

Also do these to cleanup general corruption and repair/replace
damaged/missing
system files.

Start - type this in Search Box -> COMMAND find at top and RIGHT
CLICK - RUN AS ADMIN

Enter this at the prompt - sfc /scannow

How to Repair Windows 7 System Files with System File Checker
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...e-checker.html

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource
Checker (SFC.exe) program
generates in Windows Vista cbs.log
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228

Also run CheckDisk so we can rule out corruption as much as possible.

How to Run Disk Check in Windows 7
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...isk-check.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

If any Rootkits are found use this thread and other suggestions. (Run
UnHackMe)

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...-54b7e1e7a5a4/

======================================

If needed AFTER you are sure the machine is clean of all malware.

How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...r-install.html

Hope this helps and Happy Holidays!

Rob Brown - Microsoft MVP <- profile - Windows Expert - Consumer :
Bicycle <- Mark Twain said it right.

[Bullwinkle]

Courtesy of Theodore E. Nash , M.D.
Theodore Nash sees only a few dozen patients a year in his clinic at the
National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. That's pretty small as
medical practices go, but what his patients lack in number they make up for
in the intensity of their symptoms. Some fall into comas. Some are paralyzed
down one side of their body. Others can't walk a straight line. Still others
come to Nash partially blind, or with so much fluid in their brain that they
need shunts implanted to relieve the pressure. Some lose the ability to
speak; many fall into violent seizures.

Underneath this panoply of symptoms is the same cause, captured in the MRI
scans that Nash takes of his patients' brains. Each brain contains one or
more whitish blobs. You might guess that these are tumors. But Nash knows
the blobs are not made of the patient's own cells. They are tapeworms.
Aliens.

A blob in the brain is not the image most people have when someone mentions
tapeworms. These parasitic worms are best known in their adult stage, when
they live in people's intestines and their ribbon-shaped bodies can grow as
long as 21 feet. But that's just one stage in the animal's life cycle.
Before they become adults, tapeworms spend time as larvae in large cysts.
And those cysts can end up in people's brains, causing a disease known as
neurocysticercosis.

"Nobody knows exactly how many people there are with it in the United
States," says Nash, who is the chief of the Gastrointestinal Parasites
Section at NIH. His best estimate is 1,500 to 2,000. Worldwide, the numbers
are vastly higher, though estimates on a global scale are even harder to
make because neurocysticercosis is most common in poor places that lack good
public-health systems. "Minimally there are 5 million cases of epilepsy from
neurocysticercosis," Nash says.

He puts a heavy emphasis on minimally. Even in developed nations, figuring
out just how many people have the illness is difficult because it is easy to
mistake the effects of a tapeworm for a variety of brain disorders. The
clearest proof is the ghostly image of a cyst in a brain scan, along with
the presence of antibodies against tapeworms.

The closer scientists look at the epidemiology of the disease, the worse it
becomes. Nash and other neurocysticercosis experts have been traveling
through Latin America with CT scanners and blood tests to survey
populations. In one study in Peru, researchers found 37 percent of people
showed signs of having been infected at some point. Earlier this spring,
Nash and colleagues published a review of the scientific literature and
concluded that somewhere between 11 million and 29 million people have
neurocysticercosis in Latin America alone. Tapeworms are also common in
other regions of the world, such as Africa and Asia. "Neurocysticercosis is
a very important disease worldwide," Nash says.

Cyst Attack ?

The alarming illness occurs when tapeworm larvae lose their way. Normally,
Taenia solium has a life cycle that takes it from pigs to humans and back to
pigs again. Adult tapeworms, living in the intestines of humans, produce up
to 50,000 eggs apiece. The eggs are shed in the infected person's feces.
Pigs swallow these eggs accidentally as they rummage for food on the ground.
When the parasite eggs reach a pig's stomach, larvae hatch and burrow their
way into the animal's bloodstream. Eventually they end up lodged in small
blood vessels, typically in the animal's muscles. There they form cysts and
wait until their host is eaten by a human. (Pork has to be undercooked for
the tapeworms to complete their journey.)

But sometimes tapeworms take a wrong turn. Instead of going into a pig, the
eggs end up in a human. This can occur if someone shedding tapeworm eggs
contaminates food that other people then eat. When the egg hatches, the
confused larva does not develop into an adult in the human's intestines.
Instead, it acts as it would inside a pig. It burrows into the person's
bloodstream and gets swept through the body. Often those parasites end up in
the brain, where they form cysts.

The tapeworm larvae often get stuck in ventricles, or fluid-filled cavities,
in the brain, sprouting grapelike extensions. In this way the worm actively
cloaks itself from immune cells. Protected and well fed, its cysts can
thrive there for years.

As a tapeworm cyst grows, it may push against a region of the brain and
disrupt its function. It may get stuck in a passageway, damming the flow of
cerebrospinal fluid. This impasse can cause hydrocephalus, or water on the
brain, along with dangerously high pressure. A resulting brain hernia can
result in stupor, coma, or death.

+++
If a tapeworm cyst doesn't cause big troubles, it may go unnoticed for its
entire life. Eventually a tapeworm cyst that can't move on to its adult
stage will die; this signals the host's immune system, eliciting a powerful
attack and bringing its covert deception to an end. In many cases, the
immune cells swiftly annihilate the revealed cyst, but often damage occurs.
The immune system's attack on the cyst can cause the surrounding brain
tissue to swell with inflammation. For reasons unknown, a calcified cyst can
keep triggering these immune reactions for years after the parasite's death.

Although any cyst in a susceptible area of the brain can cause seizures,
those lodged near regions that issue commands to muscles can trigger violent
convulsions. One of Nash's patients suffered from tapeworm cysts that
twisted around his brain stem. After the tapeworms died, the inflammation
that followed was so severe it put the man in a coma.

"Thirty or 40 years ago, these patients just died. Surgeons would go in and
see this mess and couldn't do much," Nash says. Fortunately, the situation
is improving. Even his comatose patient woke up and, after a few years of
off-and-on treatment, completely recovered. "Now the guy is doing quite
well."

Breaking the Cycle?

A great step forward came in the mid-1980s when praziquantel, the first drug
able to kill tapeworm larvae in the brain, became widely available. But
praziquantel proved too effective. It not only kills tapeworms but also
triggers an immune reaction that causes brain swelling. "Paradoxically, we
produce the disease we want to treat," Nash says.

Over the years Nash and others refined the treatment by combining
praziquantel with other drugs that tamp down the immune system. It is far
from a perfect solution, though. Sometimes the immune system still
overreacts, requiring years of care for seizures and other symptoms. And
immune-suppressant drugs like steroids have side effects of their own.

The hunt for better drugs to fight neurocysticercosis is not an easy
process. The best way to test potential medicines on tapeworms is to get
living cysts out of infected pigs. Nash and his colleagues recently set up a
lab in Peru, where infected pigs are abundant, to do just that.

Although finding a better cure is important, Nash is more interested in
preventing tapeworms from getting into human brains in the first place by
breaking their life cycle. A favored strategy is identifying people who have
adult tapeworms in their bodies and giving them drugs to kill the parasites.
It is also possible to vaccinate pigs so that they destroy tapeworm eggs as
soon as they ingest them.

None of this is rocket science-which makes Nash all the more frustrated that
so little is being done. "I see this as a disease that can be treated and
prevented," he says. But there are precious few resources available for
treatment and little recognition of the problem. "All of this seems to be
very feasible, but nobody wants to do anything about it."

http://i.imgur.com/8r2ne.jpg

[Dustin]

David_B <David_B@nomail.afraid.org> wrote in
news:jpa9mt$o31$1@dont-email.me:

> Avoid tech support phone scams

<snip of technical stuff we know you didn't write and wouldn't be able to
follow anyway)

Why did you not give credit to those you copied this from?

> Rob Brown - Microsoft MVP <- profile - Windows Expert - Consumer :
> Bicycle <- Mark Twain said it right.

I see. You have another MVP in your sites.


--
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too
many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and
the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J.C. Watts

[Dustin]

" Bullwinkle" <.BDTJ@loa..mo> wrote in news:4fb8baeb@news.x-privat.org:

> tumors. But Nash knows the blobs are not made of the patient's own
> cells. They are tapeworms. Aliens.

There was an episode of House with this. The patient had a tapeworm in her
brain.


--
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too
many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and
the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J.C. Watts

[Virus Guy]

Bullwinkle wrote:

(...)

Who is david brooks?