Who writes these viruses?!

[ThermalRunaway]

I've got a computer installed in my vehicle for playing media from, but I brought it inside earlier today because I wanted to update some programs and stuff. I connected it to the internet, and began my downloading/installing. Unfortunately for me, I hadn't bothered to protect the computer because it's rarely connected to the internet, and within an hour of browsing the internet I was presented with a dozen pop-ups. From that point forward, my entire system was ruined - there are viruses everywhere, half of Windows doesn't work because of an "unknown error" and if I plug my network cable in the PC actually switches off!!!

I've had to reinstall Windows again now, so I'm back to square one.

The install is going on at the moment, and I've found myself wondering who actually writes these virus programs. It's hard for me to believe that somewhere out there, some sad case actually spends his days sitting down and writing programs to cause maximum grief for everyone else. Why? Why do such a thing? It's not like he gets to see me freak out at the annoyance of having my Windows installation destroyed is it? So what enjoyment does the virus author actually get?

It seems to me that someone with such obvious talent would get more from life (both morally and financially) if they contributed positively to software. I can't imagine spending hour after hour thinking of new ways to write a virus program to cause grief for everyone else - how sad is that?

Brian

 

[Styx]

well actually I have done a couple of proof of concepts...
but on the whole you only have yrself to blame, you cannot say you have never heard of a computer virus now can you

my first advice (and this is to EVERYONE!!!) is get rid of Norton as yr virus scanner!!!

there is a quarterly review of all virus-scanners out there and Norton comes in at around #10 for detection, yes #10!!!
there is only one virus-scanner that has never missed a virus and with its hereistic detection actually detected zero-day exploits

it has never slipped from the #1 spot since its creation some time in the 90's

it is NOD32 (and the only 64bit virus scanner NOD64).
it is cheaper then Norton and not only that uses 4meg of RAM (as oposed to 140Meg) and uses next to no CPU (as opose to ~40% from Norton)

 

[ThermalRunaway]

I agree that it was stupid of me not to have installed protection on the computer, but that's only because I don't ordinarily have it connected to the internet. I wouldn't say I'm to blame for the virus infection though, I'm certain that the only person to blame for that is the author of the destructive software himself!!!

Norton was the first anti-virus software I ever installed and having tried it I promptly un-installed it. It's bloated, it slows your computer down, it stops legitimate software from working, and basically it's a real pain in the back side.

These days I tend to use AVG, which so far has proved to be pretty good for me. There's no maintenance - it just runs quietly in the background, protects you as soon as you download a virus and periodically checks your entire system for you. It doesn't steal all your computer's processing power, and you don't have to keep messing about with it - just install it and let it do it's thing.

Brian

 

[hjames]

It is "proper" to blame the *sswipes who write the viruses, but it isn't very pragmatic. It only takes a couple hours of *1* person somewhere in this world in order to write something that can cause collectively *centuries* of grief for everyone poking around the web. And there are a lot of people out there, some with financial motivation which makes them plain dangerous.

 

[Jay.slovak]

there is only one virus-scanner that has never missed a virus and with its hereistic detection actually detected zero-day exploits

it has never slipped from the #1 spot since its creation some time in the 90's

it is NOD32 (and the only 64bit virus scanner NOD64).
it is cheaper then Norton and not only that uses 4meg of RAM (as oposed to 140Meg) and uses next to no CPU (as opose to ~40% from Norton)

Yes, Slovak NOD32 is the Best!

I use it and recomend to everybody. It is unbelievable how different a PC acts after Norton AV was replaced with NOD32.

EDIT: Please no flame.

 

[dknguyen]

Why do such a thing? It's not like he gets to see me freak out at the annoyance of having my Windows installation destroyed is it? So what enjoyment does the virus author actually get?

I SUPPOSE that everyone likes to see something they created grow and prosper, whether it be pets, plants, or viruses. I guess it's the draw of producing something that can survive on its own?

 

[Hero999]

What do you want you use this PC for?

If it's just music and entertainmant and to use the Internet every now and then a Linux operating system might be an excellent choice. You might spend a bit longer learning how to set it up and a little money replacing non-compatable hardware but you'll only have to do it once.

 

[The Mad Professor]

One simple tip for helping protect yourself online is to use a "limited user" account within XP this prevents against any system wide changes being invoked by a virus.

Other options about are the likes of the Hyper O/S package that allows one to run a disposable copy of your operating system. Running the broswer in RAM is another option , though a bit advanced for the average home user.


"Computer shopper" in the UK did an article a few months back where they tested a basket of the available AV packages with Kapersky , F-Secure and Steganos all being touted as the "best value for money". Norton has slipped somewhat of late , I know this for a fact because during my own tests it missed one that AVG picked up.

It should also be noted that many A/V packages to date seem to have any no interest in detecting spyware, personally I find this disturbing.

 

[Dr.EM]

I've never really understood people writing viruses, seems like about the biggest possible waste of your time.

 

[HarveyH42]

Somehow I get the feeling that its not just individuals with nothing better to do. How many people would spend $50-70 dollars a year for virus protection, if there didn't seem like there was any threat? Same deal with spyware. I'm sure for a few twisted individual its a thrill to piss people off (like the British ), but most people need something a little more tangiable then maybe making the national news, or actually getting away with it.

 

[eblc1388]

It all make sense after a virus has already done its damage, albeit to a single PC, if not more. Virus scanner can then detect if your system is infected with the same virus by searching for its signature.

What about a new virus, which just lies low and keeps on infecting others given a chance, only wakes up and do its real damage after six months?

Will it get detected immediately after the system been infected? What virus scannng software can detect it and classified it as a potential virus if it does not do any real damage yet?

 

[The Mad Professor]

Writing a new or helping to spread an old virus is hardly a waste of time if one has a financial interest in a firm that offers security.

Are what we dealing with as consumers nothing more than a cyber version of that old favourite of organised crime , the protection racket ?

 

[Hero999]

One simple tip for helping protect yourself online is to use a "limited user" account within XP this prevents to protect against any system wide changes being invoked by a virus.

Most of the time I use Winwoes Xpee with a limited account and no memory resident anti-virus and it doesn't give me a problem. I hate Winwoes pruely because it lacks features and I have to use it because the software I need won't work in Linux.

 

[The Mad Professor]

Apologies for the typo ,

Brain short circuited as I was typing

Using a limited user account will help protect your machine.

 

[Hero999]

Even though I agree there are ways a virus can gain root access without a pasoword, it just isn't used much at the moment since most users have one admin account. This will all change when Winwoes Pista is released as it has a Limited user account as the default setting which is probably its only real advantage.

 

[kambliarup]

Use firewall

 

[The Mad Professor]

Use firewall

Short an' to the point , yes a firewall will also help.
XP does have its own built in but it does have a few shortfalls,
Zone Alarm and Sygate are not bad for freeware but if one is really paranoid then I'm told a package called "Black Ice" was pretty good.

 

[ThermalRunaway]

Use firewall

Yep I should have installed protection - my main computer is but this is just a media playing machine which rarely connects to the internet so I hadn't bothered. I won't make that mistake again will I!!!

What do you want you use this PC for?

If it's just music and entertainmant and to use the Internet every now and then a Linux operating system might be an excellent choice.

The PC is used for multimedia entertainment. I use it to play my audio music collection, music videos, and for satellite navigation. Also, it records from two discrete video cameras.
It does have wifi capability so I could browse the internet on it if I drove to the nearest insecure domestic wirless router, but I've not used it for that yet. The only reason I had it connected to the internet yesterday was to download and install some drivers and applications.
Unfortunately the main application I use on the system doesn't have a good Linux equivalent so unless I'm willing to give that application up (which I'm not) I'm stuck with Windows.

Brian

 

[Styx]

Use firewall

err NO that would not stop a virus!
It will stop a worm IF a port that the worm explioits is blocked

look at the msBlast virus&worm partnership

there was a major vuln in the RPC stack of all NT-based windows and a worm was written to exploit this and overflow its stack dropping to a root-prompt allowing the worm-part or msBlast to download the main virus payload which then infected yr machine and started then probing all known IP addresses (local and global) to spread

all in all a firewall would NOT of stopped this since the port that RPC was on had to be open for windows to work in most cases


Firewall to stop worms and virus-scanner to stop viruses
All a firewall does is blocks internet traffic on certain (or all) TCP/IP ports

 

[The Mad Professor]

Without protection the average user has about ten minutes before the machine becomes infected. It's a sobering thought. Now if only some sort of hardware antivirus were available that protect the computer it would solve a lot of woes.