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Pastimes : Computer Learning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric L who wrote (91636)	10/31/2015 2:19:03 AM
From: Frank Walker	3 Recommendations Recommended By Eric L goldworldnet Vendit™ Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110655

I had a probable rootkit about 6 years ago on a Dell Dimension desktop computer running Windows XP. I don't remember all the details, but I call it a rootkit because it put something in the HD boot sector that was very hard to erase, so the malware kept coming back even after I used various tools to erase the probable malware files. It was a zero-day situation (undetectable at the time), invoked by the malware deliberately crashing the Adobe PDF reader and then somehow taking control. Apparently caused by something (Javascript?) embedded in an ad (unclicked) on a web page from a torrent search engine (a "drive-by" invasion). I remember when that web page appeared, my computer started to act like something strange was going on. I watched the thing install itself in a few seconds, I had drive-by malware infestations before and was always able to remove them without much trouble so I figured I would be able to get rid of this one in a few minutes. Was I ever wrong! It installed a ransomware message (titled "Antivirus Soft", subtitle "protecting every second") that looked like it was from east Europe, and then it created a new user account and continually tried to copy all my media files to folders belonging to that account, that copying activity drastically slowed down the computer. I don't know why it was trying to copy those files, maybe it was just to slow down the computer so I would be more likely to call the malware authors and pay their ransom to get them to "fix" my computer. I worked about 4 days trying to remove the malware but then just put that project on "hold". Probably I could have fixed it by doing a complete low-level reformat of the HD and that would fix the boot sector, but that computer was near end-life and I had a newer XP notebook available so I just switched to the notebook. I still have that old Dell computer. But after I used the newer XP notebook for a couple of years I switched to a Mac 4 years ago and like it a lot. I don't run any anti-malware software on the Mac (like most Mac users). I have had a few malware JavaScript invasions that produce a ransomware message and lock up the Safari browser, but these are quite easy to fix. wiki-security.com