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~jodimest

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Ugh, Spies!

Mon Jan 5, 2009, 3:13 PM
Howdy, folks. You may have noticed that I've been a bit inattentive to this DA account lately, and I wanted to assure you that this isn't because of you or me or any lack of material. Quite simply, I haven't been here much lately because of spyware.

I don't know if any other non-subscribers have had this problem here, but I've had some pretty insidious malware programs and Trojans to scrub out of my computer, all of which originate from the ads on this site. It's rather frustrating that a site I generally trust and have used for years is accepting advertising revenue from companies involved in this. The latest program came from a popup ad that didn't even give me the option to say 'no', and before I had a chance to even unplug the computer this creep had wiggled into my registry, sending out info to really shady advertising sites and constantly giving me popups. McAfee and SpybotSD were equally incapable of solving the problem for good, in spite of constant scans.

It didn't take me long to get rather annoyed at this, and if anyone else has had this problem they may wish to know that I was able to solve it by downloading a program called "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware", which did a remarkable job of quarantining and smashing this rather prolific little bug.

Regardless, it's a huge blow to my trust in DA. I simply don't want to come here as often for fear of being infected. While I'm here now I'm going to try and catch up on some correspondence, but I have to be wary.

15 Comments
  • Mood: Anger
  • Listening to: Blondie- Atomic
  • Reading: "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich"
  • Watching: The Italian Job
  • Playing: Stay awake
  • Eating: Nuffin
  • Drinking: Diet Coke

Devious Comments

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:iconaelius24:
~Aelius24 Jan 5, 2009, 3:24:20 PM
Eeeesh, that's rough.
To help against possible future problems, I'd recommend browsing with Mozilla Firefox and downloading the "Adblock Plus" extension. It blocks ads from virtually any site out there, including DA, which no only prevents it from happening again, but it also speeds up page loads.

--
<><
:iconshrikefox:
~Shrikefox Jan 5, 2009, 4:05:09 PM
I'm with Ael on downloading Firefox and Adblock. I have yet to encounter such problems. Not to mention that my only other choice is yahoo and that's to bloody slow for my tastes.

--
sanity is overrated

THE TIME HAS COME,
THE END IS NEAR,
IT'S TIME TO RISE,
AND FACE YOUR FEARS.
:iconjodimest:
~jodimest Jan 5, 2009, 4:15:48 PM
That's actually right up my alley! I think I'll take you up on that, dude.

--
"Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas."
:icondragoniade:
*Dragoniade Jan 5, 2009, 4:45:46 PM
Firefox and adblock plus are your friends.
I've blocked every add on Deviantart ages ago.

--
Visit my transformation website: [link]
:iconspetsnaz-invidika:
~Spetsnaz-Invidika Jan 5, 2009, 7:30:48 PM
Not to blindly defend, but honestly I'd be astounded if that sort of stuff actually came from dA with its knowledge. I think it's more likely a fluke that hitched a ride on one of the external links. You sure they definitely came through dA?

Hunh. Well, gone now. I third what the other guys said.
:iconkodyyoung:
~KodyYoung Jan 5, 2009, 7:31:11 PM
I have these following programs that help keep those at bay:
avast! Anti-Virus - caches the Trojans and other hiding fuckers that COMODO missed.
COMODO Internet Security - blocks most of the shit
Spybot-SD Resident - warns you if anything on the computer that tries accessing the internet that came from the internet.
Spybot-SD - fixes up errors that avast! can't do.
Norton Ghost - for file/space clean up

--
O o
/¯______________________________ _________
| IMMA FIRIN' MAH LAZER!!!
\_¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

ಠ_ಠ
:iconspetsnaz-invidika:
~Spetsnaz-Invidika Jan 5, 2009, 7:32:22 PM
Oh, also -- SpyBot's hosts list is your FRIEND.
:iconkodyyoung:
~KodyYoung Jan 5, 2009, 7:34:10 PM
*Edit for the Norton Ghost - its really Norton System Works, for it has the program with it called Norton CleanSweep.

--
O o
/¯______________________________ _________
| IMMA FIRIN' MAH LAZER!!!
\_¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

ಠ_ಠ
:iconmorgankhat:
~morgankhat Jan 5, 2009, 7:38:44 PM
I access DA through AOL or Firefox and haven't had any problems. I will try Adblock Plus for added insurance.

Unfortunately, nothing out there catches it all. I've been pretty happy with McAfee and Defender until I got a good dose of the virtumonde trojan from somewhere a month ago. It took me a good 8 hours to get things back under control and then it showed up again a couple weeks later. That time, counting research, 5 other programs (including Malwarebytes) and finally, some old fashioned sleuthing, it took me about 16 hours to get rid of the little bastard.

You'd think that the major players in the anti-virus/spyware game would have a 7 year old problem in hand. I guess sitting on one's ass is more comfortable than doing real work.
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