OT: Where can I download a Virus or three?

[Romulus68]

Hey all,

I'm in need of a few malicious programs and unsure where to find the little buggers.

Any suggestions?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Disable your virusscan, bypass your firewall and go browsing every questionable site you find.

[dogscoff]

Several solutions come to mind:

1: search google for FREE TEEN MIDGET CLOWN Pr0N, or FREE WAR3Z. Click a few links. Download and install any "applications" that are offered to you.

2: Browse the web randomly. Click all the flashiest, most annoying adverts you see. Download and install any "applications" that are offered to you.

3: Post your email address to a public forum that is regularly visited by harvesting bots, preferably forums concerning themselves with FREE TEEN MIDGET CLOWN Pr0N or FREE WAR3Z. Yahoo groups ought to do it. Switch off your anti-spam filters and anti-virus. Install ny "applications" that are emailed to you.

4: Build/ buy/ wipe a machine and install a fresh, unpatched, pre-SP1 windows XP to it. Connect it direct to the internet without any kind of protection. Go get a beer from the fridge. By the time you've drunk the beer, your computer will be so infested with malware that it will probably crawl right off your desk and into the sewer.

5: learn programming and write your own damn virus, you lazy sod.

6: Don't. Deliberately infecting machines with malware, even machines belonging to people who thoroughly deserve it, is a Very Bad Thing to be doing. Quite apart from the fact that it's probably a criminal offence (depending on the local laws where you live), consider that your victim may well go on to infect some other, more innocent user with your virus, who will go on to infect others, and others... Just don't, that's all.

Perhaps your time would be better spent in less antisocial pursuits. Give a few hours of your time to charity or cook dinner for some friends. Gardening is good for the soul, or you could buy the Firefly box set on DVD and watch it*. Perhaps you could read a good book on philosophy; plenty of people here will recommend one for you. Take up meditation, or make a donation to the PBW server. Just don't do anything phonging stupid like spreading malware.

Peace,

'scoff


* This one isn't particularly good for your karma, it's just good general advice for anyone.

[aegisx]

I have to ask why.

[Romulus68]

Friend needs to stop an Ex who is accessing her computer, getting in her emails, etc.

[DeadZone]

I go along the lines that it maybe illegal

Anyway, why does she not change the passwords?
If he can still get in, then isnt he breaking the law?

[Romulus68]

DeadZone said:
I go along the lines that it maybe illegal

Anyway, why does she not change the passwords?
If he can still get in, then isnt he breaking the law?

Somehow she changes passwords and he still gets in her accounts. i told her he may have installed a watch program on her computers. Anyone know how to find if one is on there?

[AstralWanderer]

Romulus68 said:
Friend needs to stop an Ex who is accessing her computer, getting in her emails, etc.

To test whether an antivirus is working or not, use the Eicar test file rather than risk infecting a PC with actual malware. However if the malefactor is technically competent, the most secure course of action would be a Windows reinstall (to ensure the removal of any rootkits) followed by the installation of appropriate security software.

It may not just be the PC that needs securing - if webmail is involved (GMail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) then the account passwords should be changed also (and check the settings to see if the account has been configured to send copies to emails to a third party). If a wireless network is being used, that needs to be encrypted (using WPA preferably) to guard against eavesdropping.

[dogscoff]

As others have noted, it's likely that he's not accessing her computer: He's probably accessing her accounts from his own computer. However, it is possible he has installed a keylogger/ other spyware on her machine.

All the advice given so far is good. To put it all into order (and add a few little tips of my own):

Contact the ISP and ask them to change all passwords. Then back up all data, pull the network plug on the machine, format the HD and re-install Windows (or better yet, install something more secure, like Linux ).

If applicable, change the password on her router while you're at it. If it's wireless, change the SSID and WEP passwords (or enable WEP if it wasn't already), and set it to non-broadcast mode. Enable MAC address filtering if available.

Configure the OS to require a password on bootup. Ideally, you'd also change the BIOS to disable boot-from-other-media and then password-protect the BIOS setup screen. Install all security updates for your OS as quickly as possible. This is especially important for Windows. If possible, do the updates offline (ie, download updates from a different PC and save them to a CD, so that you don't have to connect an unpatched PC to the internet).

Now you can install some anti-virus/ anti-spyware (if using Windows. I'm not sure Linux even *needs* anti-virus..?)
Here is the basic freebie suite to keep your average Windows machine mostly secure:
AVG antivirus
Spybot Search & Destroy
Spywareblaster
Firefox
I'll let someone else recommend a good freebie firewall.

Now that her PC is clean and un-snooped, she can go online and change all remaining passwords (webmail, websites, chat etc), if she hasn't already done so from a safe machine somewhere else. Check that the email accounts on file for these acounts are all kosher- it might be that he's added his own email address to the account, so that new passwords and the like are being forwarded to him.

You're now ready to re-install all her other software. If she used to have loads of crappy third-party IE toolbars, stupid smiley programs and animated pointers and stuff like that all over her machine, question each and every one of them before re-installing it. Does she really need it? Could it be spyware? Could the same functionality be achieved by some other means?

If at all possible, do all of the above in one afternoon. If the ex-boyfriend realises he's being locked out bit by bit he may start changing her passwords or take other measures to try to keep control.

Now for the most important step in the process of securing her PC: Make her a cup of tea, sit her down and explain a few things to her:

1: Make sure that in future she uses non-guessable passwords, (ie, NOT the name of a family member, pet, new boyfriend...) and

2: Tell her NEVER to give her passwords to ANYONE for ANY reason. Not even you. Make a point of averting your eyes if you're nearby when she types in a password.

3: Make sure she never lets this ex-boyfriend of hers in the same building as her computer. Accessing someone else's emails without their consent is really creepy- she should probably stay away from him altogether.

4: Tell her not to put anything into her PC that might have come from him (CDs, flash drives, floppies).

5: Explain to her that apart from her ex, there are lots of other nasty people on the net who will quite happily hack into her PC and do nasty things to it, given the opportunity.

6: tell her not to install anything emailed to her, or anything that pops up unexpectedly on a website. If she ever does want to download and install a program, get her to do a little googling on it first to make sure it's reputable.

7: Be wary of wireless connections. Basic WEP can be broken quite easily these days, and I'm not sure even the latest protocols (WPA2) are 100% safe. Don't access sensitive information (ie online shopping, banking) over a wireless link and if you're feeling uber-paranoid, you should avoid installing anything that was downloaded over wireless. Consider running some network cables through her walls if necessary.

Some of the above may seem a little paranoid, but if this ex-boyfriend is even half-way tech-savvy (which I suspect he is) and sufficiently amoral (which he almost certainly is) then it is NOT overkill. Even without him, this is all good practise: Chances are her PC is in a fairly unsecure state (90% of Windows PCs around the world are, sadly) and you will be doing not only her but the rest of the world a favour by removing her from the global pool of potential spam/ botnet/ virus victims.

Also, I appreciate that, for a lot of people, the above might possibly seem (a) way too technical and/or (b) too much like hard work. It is daunting at first, but it gets much easier very quickly. There's tons of help available on the web, and by the time you've fortified her machine and your own you'll be entirely comfortable with this kind of thing. It can be very rewarding, it is an extremely valuable skill, and a great way to earn favours with people=-)

One last thing: If there's a chance he has compromised her machine with his own spyware, make sure she unplugs her webcam until the machine is cleaned.

Let us know how you get on, and ask us questions if you need to. We have a very helpful and knowledgable crowd here.