Sorry this isn't "medical" but it is important. ( i will delete if others feel I should)
I use a Mac iBook, and was running Firefox to access Flashnet. I just had an interesting virus attack - it simulated the Firefox logo, took over the entire screen, was very Firefox official looking with a message saying I should purge my computer of all adult sites I've been to. (yeah, right).
I knew enough from the discussion yesterday to not click on it, but I had to reboot the computer to get rid of it.
I run my computer on stealth mode with all file sharing off, btw.
A geek friend of mine read the firewall message, and said it was a bot trying to be installed. When the perpetrator gets a few thousand bots ready, he can direct them all to fire messages at a website at full speed and it will shut the site down.
It's called a "DoS attack" (Denial Of Service, by flooding the inbound ports so no one ELSE can get in.
Not sure if the bot would have worked on my Mac...but the official Firefox logo and it suddenly taking over my screen (like you need to do this NOW) almost caught me off guard.
Posted by dmc (Member # 5102) on :
Got that too today...when I click on lymenet suddenly that purge your adult sites came on.
Thank goodness I saw a post warning of it yesterday. Also Good thing my husband saw and told me to just click the X not the "cancel" to get rid.
He then check the cookies and deleted a few.
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
Which virus protection programs do you use?
Carol
Posted by cactus (Member # 7347) on :
I'm on a mac, and use firefox also - I had the same message yesterday. It did look official. Had to reboot as well.
Scary.
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
Good to know.. thanks for posting.
Also note- we are getting on the bad boy's nerves. They come after us when we are rocking their boats.
Keep rocking. We will survive.
Keep rocking.. we NEED to rock them in order to survive.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
yes, it was official looking yesterday! when it came up, something flashed about it's certificate; i checked ... NOT CURRENT!
that was a good reminder to me to STOP the thing dead in its tracks! i didn't know it was a virus happening! i just didn't understand where it came from; so AGGRESSIVE! Posted by breathwork (Member # 567) on :
Bots can only be installed on a mac if you have file sharing on.
The only viruses that Macs are effected by at present are those directed towards Microsoft products. Hence the system software is safe. Only Microsoft files are effected.
This is how it is for now...so far I've only had one worm in fifteen years working on Macs.
Posted by breathwork (Member # 567) on :
We can however be effected by Denial Of Service issues when a server we are using is attacked. We are denied service and can be shut out of the internet when outside servers are taken down by bots.
Posted by klutzo (Member # 5701) on :
Thank you for telling me to reboot. I have been unable to get on here for 3 days because this virus keeps coming up. I use IE, not Firefox, and use a PC, not a Mac.
My Norton then comes right away, tells me it is a virus, and "destroys" it, but is it back every time I try to log on here. I did not think of rebooting (DUH), and only got on here today because someone sent me a PM, and by answering it, I got in.
Klutzo
Posted by bejoy (Member # 11129) on :
Make note of the hot topics that came up, or interesting and effective protocols that were mentioned just prior to the attack. Notice the same if it happens again.
Someone from the pharmaceutical industry may know more than we do about what is a cheap and effective alternative, and may want to provide a little distraction.
My husband noted that the language used in the official looking window was very emotional.
An official program does not need to appeal to the emotions, such as "protect your job and your marriage" from your secret porn habit, or the embarrasing files you don't know you have.
Posted by Leroi (Member # 5150) on :
What version(s) of Firefox are y'all running?
We run Firefox 2.0.0.3 and SeaMonkey 1.0.8 and have not seen any of the prompts or pop ups y'all are talking about and have been coming to this site several days in a row.
It may be due to the fact that we use this ad/cookie blocking method:
It is extremely important to keep Firefox and other browsers up to date as well as plugins such as the Java Runtime Environment.
Posted by Ganjagal (Member # 11095) on :
thanks for the heads up! I haven't had any problems running mac/ firefox but I'll be on the look out
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