My PC suffered an attack recently that threatened to get out of hand. Would my credit card details and other sensitive information be stolen? Luckily I managed to fix the problem quickly.
The main symptom of the attack was the inability to use Windows Updates. Also the main antivirus software that I use (Norton antivirus) appeared to know that the trojan.VUNDO was present. It reported a fix, but almost immediately this was overturned and the problem reverted.
If the PC is cut off from security updates from the operating system provider (Microsoft) it will then become vulnerable to further more serious attacks. A criminal who knows you have been cut off from help from the software vendor support knows you are defenceless and that sooner or later he will be able to get to sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details. Your computer could be a goldmine for the criminal.
It is important when you realise that you cannot get security updates you eliminate this problem. Do not ignore it, even if the rest of your computer's functionality appears to be intact. The temptation to just carry on or postpone finding a fix must be resisted or it could lead to disaster.
In this case not only was the automatic updates of Windows knocked out. Also the ability to access Windows security downloads manually was disabled. This severely handicaps your ability to fix the problem. You are effectively cut off from base. Your operating system provider cannot help you.
The next resort was to go to the Windows forums and discussion groups to find an independent route to getting a fix. A report of the same problem was quickly found after doing a search of the discussion group. A software package was recomended that could deal with this problem. The package in question had the major advantage that it was free! It is called Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.31 and it can be found at http://www.malwarebytes.org/ and I strongly recommend it.
Besides the free downloads there are purchaseable versions as well. New versions are brought out every few days, so they obviously are continually developing new versions to deal with the latest threats.
There is a continual battle going on between criminals and the Internet community. Online fraud is always a potential problem for anyone who uses the Internet. However, it is good to know that companies like Malwarebytes are there providing solutions. They definitely knew how to undo the VUNDO for me! - 16039
The main symptom of the attack was the inability to use Windows Updates. Also the main antivirus software that I use (Norton antivirus) appeared to know that the trojan.VUNDO was present. It reported a fix, but almost immediately this was overturned and the problem reverted.
If the PC is cut off from security updates from the operating system provider (Microsoft) it will then become vulnerable to further more serious attacks. A criminal who knows you have been cut off from help from the software vendor support knows you are defenceless and that sooner or later he will be able to get to sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details. Your computer could be a goldmine for the criminal.
It is important when you realise that you cannot get security updates you eliminate this problem. Do not ignore it, even if the rest of your computer's functionality appears to be intact. The temptation to just carry on or postpone finding a fix must be resisted or it could lead to disaster.
In this case not only was the automatic updates of Windows knocked out. Also the ability to access Windows security downloads manually was disabled. This severely handicaps your ability to fix the problem. You are effectively cut off from base. Your operating system provider cannot help you.
The next resort was to go to the Windows forums and discussion groups to find an independent route to getting a fix. A report of the same problem was quickly found after doing a search of the discussion group. A software package was recomended that could deal with this problem. The package in question had the major advantage that it was free! It is called Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.31 and it can be found at http://www.malwarebytes.org/ and I strongly recommend it.
Besides the free downloads there are purchaseable versions as well. New versions are brought out every few days, so they obviously are continually developing new versions to deal with the latest threats.
There is a continual battle going on between criminals and the Internet community. Online fraud is always a potential problem for anyone who uses the Internet. However, it is good to know that companies like Malwarebytes are there providing solutions. They definitely knew how to undo the VUNDO for me! - 16039
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