I try to avoid software thats end of life but occasionally I get stuck with a few programs that just don’t have any updated versions or are tied to a piece of hardware that I need to use. LCDC is software designed to run little LCD displays you can buy for your computer. I have one in particular thats over 3 years old now but still runs great. However it hasn’t been updated well ever.
Today I took to scanning my PC and discovered that some of the plugins for LCDC were infected. I decided to check the web site http://www.lcdc.cc/downloads.htm for updates, it didn’t appear off hand that any were actually updated, but it does appear that some are not infected and others still are.
Continue reading 'LCDC Plugins Infected With Malware'»
Security
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Well it appears they were not really screensavers or themes after all. Instead they were DDoS related Malware.
The Gnome ‘waterfall’ Screensaver http://jamesfriesen.net/762
The Ninja Black Theme article http://jamesfriesen.net/f6q
A quick fix for these can be found on http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1349801 and the gory details are http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1349678
This command below should remove the offending scripts for an infected machine. DO NOT run this unless you know you are infected.
sudo rm -f /usr/bin/Auto.bash /usr/bin/run.bash /etc/profile.d/gnome.sh index.php run.bash && sudo dpkg -r app5552
Computers & Tech, Security
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With a great deal of disappointment I have to make this post. I have been a avid user of this tool in the past (I’m still running a pretty old version of this on a XP box) since it expedited deleting of files that were locked by an application. It would clearly identify whom locked the file and give me the option to delete it. However it appears that it is in fact bundled with ADWARE. This is defined by some AV products as a Trojan, including Microsoft Essentials as TrojanClicker:Win32/Yabector.gen
It should be noted that CNet’s Download.com ‘verifys’ its spyware free, yet obviously either this was a clear ‘miss’ on their part, or they do not classify adware as spyware. This confirms my thinking that anything on Download.com should be considered ‘risky’ software since they either mislead or don’t bother to check the software that’s uploaded or availble from download.com. My thinking is they simply are misleading by ‘verify’ing it contains no spyware. Others have disclosed this over the past year and a bit that this version has been around for download so I think ample time was provided for Cnet to correct this.
Continue reading 'Unlocker 1.8.7 Infected with Trojan Adware'»
Security
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I usually advise clients that the vast bulk of these tools are simply nothing more than snake-oil products. However many self-proclaimed experts on many support forums tend to get annoyed with me making such statements. I feel their annoyance may simply reflect the fact that many of these products may well support these same sites, which would be a conflict of interest. Regardless, I’ve never seen any substantial GOOD come from these tools.
After reading this article on MaximumPC, I felt that I would quote the relevent sections to indicate that they are simply products to make you part with your money and nothing more. Few if any offer any serious advantage to the average person, and even fewer advantages to the average machine. Frankly I’ve seen a fair amount of work from people who use these tools and break their systems, so I guess I can be happy for the work. I’m positive I don’t know anyone who has anything ‘positive’ to say about these tools. Registry bloat is a non-issue and no one needs to delete dead old entries UNLESS they are relevent to a malware infection. In which case ‘some’ of these tools can be handy in a malware cleaners toolbox, but only if they know what they are doing.
Continue reading 'Registry Cleaners – Do They Really Improve Your Machine?'»
Computers & Tech
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I saw this comment today on a malware site and I normally read them to see how folks troll malware sites looking for blame.
Folks, malware is your problem, not anyone elses. I am constantly reminded how people fail to understand that its their actions and choices that cause the infections, and today social engineering is a big reason.
Even malware experts are not immune from falling victim to their tricks. Its been like this for years and outside of the increase in targetted attacks,
its still the #1 reason.
Continue reading 'Editorial: Understanding why Malware infects your PC'»
Security
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