WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. This is a journal blog, an explore-blog, a bit of this and that blog. Sharing where the mood takes me. Perhaps it will take you too.

Menoloopal; What The...???

Sticking with the techno-stuffs this Thursday, as I had the following happen to me last weekend.

No I didn't take time to make a screen shot - this is from
the Wikiplace; but it was equally as scary,
and locked up the browser.
"You've got a virus!!! Call us now..." on a tab I opened when researching British birds (you'd think safe, right?!). However, I had heard about these things. The warning is just a scare tactic. In fact, this kind of advertising is often called "scareware." The criminals' goal is to get you to call the phone number in the pop-up. Once they have you on the phone, they will try to convince you that you have a virus and you should pay them to remove it for you. If you pay, they'll have your credit card information; not good. They will also most likely install software on your computer, ostensibly to remove the virus, which will actually BE a virus that will attempt to steal more personal data or do other bad things with your computer.

If you get one of these warnings or pop-ups, you should immediately close your browser. You may need to force your browser to quit. That's ctrl+alt+del -> start task manager -> 'select all and end task' on pcs. Click here for other tech formats.

When you restart your browser, don't reopen your previous tabs, and don't click the link you visited immediately before you got the virus warning; otherwise, the whole thing will happen all over again. If you had several tabs open be very ready to click fast to close them all off, as the browser will probably open them all from memory.

Immediately run Malware Bytes, or similar, plus your regular antivirus to ensure nothing crept in. Generally, these initial popups are benign, but better safe than sorry.

Forewarned is forearmed. You now have been...

ADDENDUM; I actually scheduled this post a week ago, prior to coming over to Edinburgh for another week with the father. Whilst helping him out with some techno stuffs, there appeared before us last night another non-closable window, this time for "ByteFence". It was clearly a program which had installed itself and was trying to enfore usage. I immediately did the ctrl+alt+del and ended the task so as to be able to shut stuff down. Next I went to uninstall it... and it then attempted to enforce the use of another browser and to set it as the home page! I have never had anything do that from the uninstall action before. Obnoxious behaviour.

Research revealed that this is actually a 'legit' antimalware program, in and of itself. What is offensive about it is the very fact that it does come in uninvited, it does try to enforce usage, it does try to enforce change of browser, it does try to enforce home page preference and does have potential to be 'piggy-backed' by trojan horses and works etc... total lack of tech-etiquette. The general concensus of the geek sites I frequent is to uninstall; which I had done instinctively anyway. Father, however, didn't think there was anything wrong and had no idea whether he had actually said yes to it at anytime. Such software thugs depend on the vulnerability of those who are uninformed, untechy, or just plain senile. It was this exact sort of behaviour of the two types highlighted today, that has resulted in father having to rejig and his desktop system and had lost him a lot of nostaligic data.

...walks off stage right muttering into her chin... "menoloop, menoloop, menoloop....!!!!!!!!!"


6 comments:

  1. Why don't these folks with computer skills use them for good no evil!!
    Hugs HiC

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  2. We wish that virus' weren't a computer thing (or a people thing either). Sigh!

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  3. WE Agree with Madi and Hailey and Zaphod... and add OUR thought to Theirs.
    Peeps who do MEAN NASTY STUFFS to others should... be ASHAMED of themselves. AND should be PUNISHED.

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  4. That is just awful! Luckily (knock on wood....) this hasn't happened to Ma before (she never opens any email, or clicks on any link she doesn't recognize), butts my Gpa does, butts luckily he has some pawsome software to guard against this BS. I am so glads you are keepin' us up to date on this kind of thingie!!!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  5. Hello, this is scary! I also wish these people could use their computer skills for something good and not evil. Thanks for the info. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!

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  6. So sorry. I don't get this with my Mac!

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