CHECK YOUR COMPUTERS

[Dreamy Doll]

Was my post removed? o.o why? it's true that if you know computers, you never get infected~ most people just don't bother learning them, and get infected~ Most windows users are infected with many different trojans/polymorphic viruses/keyloggers/rootkits/all kinds of stuff at this very moment, and have no idea, because what whatever they're infected with does is done covertly & invisibly to the owner of the computer~ and then people say "if i don't notice it what harm can it do" and then wonder where all the companies selling their private info got their information, or why there are sometimes a few cents to a few dollars off chargers on their CC that they can't remember making, or stuff they might never even know, like some Russian criminal entering the country with a fake passport with their name & personal info on it, that the feds never catch, or that the feds catch but figure out he stole someone's identity, and never bother informing the person whose identity he stole... you know, lots of stuff~

computers aren't just "the internet/computers separate from your real life" they control everything, from traffic lights to credit card charges to police databases to airplane traffic control to... you get the idea~

[victoriavictrix]

Was my post removed? o.o why? it's true that if you know computers, you never get infected~ most people just don't bother learning them, and get infected~

Excuse me but I just cannot let that pass. That is complete and utter bullshit. And for your information, not only was I a computer programmer for 20 plus years, one of the current housemates has been a hacking consultant for the FBI. So unlike some people who pretend to be experts, we actually ARE experts here.

While it is true that MOST trojans, viruses and other infections are the offspring of script kiddies who are using common exploitables they find on boards, there are still plenty of very clever exploits that can slip onto anything from your rootkit to your router and you will NEVER know until people like our housemate finds out about them. Commercially available antivirus software is always reacting to viruses and trojans after the fact--after they have already been released and have been infecting peoples' machines. So you could, very easily, have been infected BEFORE your antivirus software knew the virus existed. And once the damn thing is on your machine, it can take an expert and a lot of time to get it off again.

This happens to be the case with THIS particular DNS redirect. Do you even know what a DNS redirect IS by the way? It's only because we take some fairly extreme measures that we dodged this particular bullet.

I'm getting a little tired of your "miss I know everything" attitude.

[OkamiKodomo]

My fiance has his degree in computer sciences, Dreamy Doll. He was one of the first people to figure out a way to get rid of that pesky "Antivirus 2012" ransomware that is still lurking the net. And even he gets a virus from time to time. Ever heard the saying that no matter how good you think you are or how much you know, there is always someone better or knows more? Here's some food for thought for you. "The problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts, while the foolish are full of confidence."

[Greyhaunt]

Afraid I have to agree with others here - I'm a data expert, web designer and I take all common and some uncommon precautions to protect my computer, and yet just last week my email account got hacked and sent spyware links to people. You have no idea how often we get "dangerous link" alerts in this forum's administration because perfectly safe websites that people have linked to have suddenly been hacked and/or infected.

[Siead]

you can have perfectly secure networks, passwords, and etc and still get a virus. sometimes it's just a matter of hitting a site where a crawler is going through. after all, getting a bug =/= hacking, and comparing the two is foolish.
my secondary has been a programmer since personal computers first hit the market (he'll kill me for giving an idea of how old he is, lol) and he has modded his computers through the gills. but once in a while a bug still gets in. it just happens.

to the using bad operating systems: windows is notorious for having been virus ridden, and the only system i have ever used. i havent had a virus in.... 6 years. so it is really all about the user, and not the rig. give a moron your rig, dreamy, and i bet it can be packed with bugs in a week jsut from misuse.

frankly, this thread is getting unessesarily heated. it's a big internet and there are enough bad people out there making bugs that everyone will eventually get one. going about claiming to be a programmer with an unbreakable system is jsut painting a target on your back. after all, it's no fun hacking joe-blow with a norton firewall when the challenge of a custom rig is to be tackled.

Tl;dr: the virus launch date is passed, by now you know if you have it, maybe this thread should be locked to remove the disharmonious bantering.

[Greyhaunt]

Thread has been cleaned up of nastiness and, after thinking about it, I am going to lock it just because the purpose of it has passed, as Siead mentioned, so no need to hash over it anymore

Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge!