You may have missed this post by botox:
news.bbc.co.uk
A virus has emerged (and variants) which is escaping detection by scanners and proving too difficult for spyware applications to dig out. What this means is that if your PC is infected, it can cause your login page (e.g. Fidelity.com) to be redirected to a rogue site and thus your password is stolen when you log in. I'd assume they hid the fact that they've done this by running a login on the real site you requested and putting you there, leaving you none the wiser.
Meaning... if your computer is infected, you will have your new passwords stolen, too. And any other password at 2000 financial institutions.
I've noticed that Firefox 3 has special technology to help you see that you are 'on' certain web sites (part of the address bar turns green). While I haven't investigated this in detail, I think this may have to do with the underlying IP address you have connected to and a database maintained by Mozilla (or some external authority) that shows the IP address you have connected to matches with the database for the company's actual web servers. IN other words, spoof protection.
So... if you are infected with such a virus (you could prove it, but the explanation is beyond what I'd want to detail), your likely solution is either a special root kit malware removal tool or do reconstruct your computer system. The safest way to do that is to back up your personal files, reformat your drive, reinstall your OS, then reinstall your applications, and then copy back your personal files.
It's all a *gigantic* hassle, but very little compared to what you've been through, and might still go through, if the problem is not eradicated. I've reconstructed computers due to boot failures many times, never for a virus, but it's the same process. Yes, it's awful; yes, Microsoft does NOTHING to make the process easier. In fact, by the very design of Windows and it's nefarious and pathetic registry, you are pretty much screwed into having to do far more work than say if you had to restore Linux (which I've also done -- and the entire time would be perhaps one hour). |
