Still no infection

[gunslinger]

Ok, I made it through the list on the site you gave me on a Win 7 box and no obvious signs of infection yet. Can someone please send me a link to get infected? lol

 

[coffee]

Ok, I made it through the list on the site you gave me on a Win 7 box and no obvious signs of infection yet. Can someone please send me a link to get infected? lol

http://www.malwaredomainlist.com/

Hey Gunslinger, Shouldnt be that hard

Go surfing porn sites and do whatever. I can send you one if you want but I dont want to be responsible for it.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

My reason for not running an AV is pretty simple. Its not worth the fuss of dealing with it when I'm putting together or updating tools on my flash drives and external HDDs. Have you ever inserted your flash drive into a customers PC just to have Norton or AVG start deleting all your tools? Happened to me often enough I didn't want to have to deal with it regularly on mine. Also why take the performance hit? Its pretty obvious I can run without one and be fine so why run with it? I make good backups regularly so no worries about data loss.

Side note: I stopped installing AV on my computer around 2004. Only one infection since.

Set exceptions if you deal with flagged tools often though that doesnt help you when you put them into a clients machine anyway so either way your better off keeping the tools you use that are flagged in a password protected zip file until you actually need those particular tools.

Performance hit? oh please just use a simple av only not the whole firewall security package stuff and you won't even see a performance hit. Unless you're still running a single core processor its not something you should be concerned with. I hope your overclocking it would just be weird if you were that worried about performance to not have an AV and be running normal clock speeds.

Side note: *slides cookie over to you* i've never been in a car accident before but i still wear my seatbelt. There are many techs like you that believe they have some how reached this superior level of knowledge where they are untouchable. There is no such level.

 

[gunslinger]

http://www.malwaredomainlist.com/

Hey Gunslinger, Shouldnt be that hard

Go surfing porn sites and do whatever. I can send you one if you want but I dont want to be responsible for it.

Every one of these is being flagged by IE as harmful. You would have to try hard and deliberately get yourself infected. Unless you completely ignore the warning then manually install the malware you still aren't going to be infected on a naked Win 7 machine.

Side note: *slides cookie over to you* i've never been in a car accident before but i still wear my seatbelt. There are many techs like you that believe they have some how reached this superior level of knowledge where they are untouchable. There is no such level.

I never said anything about reaching a superior level of knowledge where I'm untouchable. All I'm saying is that I have been to about 50 of the most infected sites on the net this morning and cannot seem to get infected without deliberately installing the malware despite the IE warnings. Also I'm saying I don't "need" an AV because I don't keep everything I own on my PC with no backups. It would take me less time to restore from an image than run a virus scan.

 

[FremontPC]

When they started pushing infected flash-based ads, you didn't even have to go to a porn site, CNN, Disney, MSN were all subscribing to the ad networks that the hackers were using.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Every one of these is being flagged by IE as harmful. You would have to try hard and deliberately get yourself infected. Unless you completely ignore the warning then manually install the malware you still aren't going to be infected on a naked Win 7 machine.





I never said anything about reaching a superior level of knowledge where I'm untouchable. All I'm saying is that I have been to about 50 of the most infected sites on the net this morning and cannot seem to get infected without deliberately installing the malware despite the IE warnings. Also I'm saying I don't "need" an AV because I don't keep everything I own on my PC with no backups. It would take me less time to restore from an image than run a virus scan.

Backups have nothing to do with it. If a virus got on my system in a split second it would be very easy for them to get my email password, and ftp passwords from my ftp client. If it goes unnoticed they could get my GFI password and if they manage to get that then that is a serious serious SERIOUS problem as gfi still doesnt have 2 factor authentication to my knowledge....who knows why.

 

[gunslinger]

Backups have nothing to do with it. If a virus got on my system in a split second it would be very easy for them to get my email password, and ftp passwords from my ftp client. If it goes unnoticed they could get my GFI password and if they manage to get that then that is a serious serious SERIOUS problem as gfi still doesnt have 2 factor authentication to my knowledge....who knows why.

Ah, see you are set up differently than me. All that info goes to my Mac or iPad. I would never even think of doing online banking or entering critical passwords on a Windows box...lol


As I said before, the Windows 7 machine is used for basic web surfing, torrents and setting up my mobile kits. For any real online work I used the Mac or iOS. No problems yet.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

You did install java and flash in order to get the WHOLE internet experience right? <grin>.

coffee

Old versions..make sure they're versions from like...3 years ago!

 

[gunslinger]

Old versions..make sure they're versions from like...3 years ago!

You know, thats really a good point. What I'm seeing more and more is that if you keep your machine up to date and don't have piss poor surfing habits you are as safe as you are running an AV IMO. If you are a jackass you will be infected no matter what. Fact: The only way I can infect my Mac is manually install malware on it. Windows 7-8 is not quite THAT good yet but its come up a lot.

 

[jft135]

You know, thats really a good point. What I'm seeing more and more is that if you keep your machine up to date and don't have piss poor surfing habits you are as safe as you are running an AV IMO. If you are a jackass you will be infected no matter what. Fact: The only way I can infect my Mac is manually install malware on it. Windows 7-8 is not quite THAT good yet but its come up a lot.

I guess a good portion of my clients are jackasses then. To be honest, I see way more infections with an active Norton/McAffe/AVG than I see on PC's with no AV at all.

 

[gunslinger]

I guess a good portion of my clients are jackasses then. To be honest, I see way more infections with an active Norton/McAffe/AVG than I see on PC's with no AV at all.

I've noticed this too. Odd ain't it? Maybe people who install these have the worst web surfing habits because they feel safe they throw caution to the wind?

 

[Xander]

Not saying you're badly infected but you're not spotless either.

 

[gunslinger]

Not saying you're badly infected but you're not spotless either.

Double checking now.

Any ideas? I ran the cleanup and rebooted. Its still the same. Not sure why its being flagged.

 

[jft135]

I've noticed this too. Odd ain't it? Maybe people who install these have the worst web surfing habits because they feel safe they throw caution to the wind?

I don't know. Most of the customers with Norton usually got it for free from Comcast along with the crapware they install. My theory is that there is an exploit in that package that allows junk in. McAfee was designed by a drug-crazed, alleged-murderer, raving lunatic, so that answers that one. AVG is just junk all around.

What is interesting is I almost never see infections on machines with Avast Free, MSSE, or any of the other major vendors.

 

[gunslinger]

I don't know. Most of the customers with Norton usually got it for free from Comcast along with the crapware they install. My theory is that there is an exploit in that package that allows junk in. McAfee was designed by a drug-crazed, alleged-murderer, raving lunatic, so that answers that one. AVG is just junk all around.

What is interesting is I almost never see infections on machines with Avast Free, MSSE, or any of the other major vendors.

I have not had good luck with MSE.

 

[B Trevathan]

Any ideas? I ran the cleanup and rebooted. Its still the same. Not sure why its being flagged.

The prefs.js holds settings that you have changed from the default settings for a Mozilla application. I think AdwCleaner has it flagged because it sees that the settings have been changed from the defaults, not because of malware but just that they have changed - that is what I think anyways.

If you are still worried about the file I would not delete it but just rename it (something like prefsjs.OLD) and then start the Mozilla application. You will probably not be able to use the application the way you did because the settings will now be back to the defaults but you can fix that. Don't forget to always backup the profile before making any major changes.

 

[TechPJC]

What I'm wondering is why everyone is so shocked?

I am Not shocked. After various Tools showed that you are Malware-free, I am glad about you.

I'm kinda worried about any technician that can't keep a clean PC without an AV.

So, am I...

I just don't understand the perceived "need" for an AV.

I don't use a Resident AV, too. However, I use other security measures (e.g. Virtualization, System Recovery etc.) a typical Home User wouldn't be willing to easily adopt...

I don't surf porn sites on the PC, I don't install software I don't fully trust, and I install Windows updates regularly.

I wish my clients have been like you...
However, this is the exception to the rule. The majority visits nasty sites, installs crap-ware, and forgets to update Windows/Office, Java, Adobe etc.

 

[gunslinger]

The prefs.js holds settings that you have changed from the default settings for a Mozilla application. I think AdwCleaner has it flagged because it sees that the settings have been changed from the defaults, not because of malware but just that they have changed - that is what I think anyways.

If you are still worried about the file I would not delete it but just rename it (something like prefsjs.OLD) and then start the Mozilla application. You will probably not be able to use the application the way you did because the settings will now be back to the defaults but you can fix that. Don't forget to always backup the profile before making any major changes.

I did some digging yesterday and I think you are right. So, one year "naked" and infection free!

I don't use a Resident AV, too. However, I use other security measures (e.g. Virtualization, System Recovery etc.) a typical Home User wouldn't be willing to easily adopt...

Agreed. I would never suggest a client run their system the way I do mine.

 

[Tekguy]

The little things such as knowing/not knowing that Fed Ex doesn't send out emails with PDF attachments that end in .exe, keeping your computer up to date, running an adblocker, not clicking on browser pop ups that offer to make your computer run 100 times faster & unchecking all the extras offered in program updates & installers are what trip up the average user & keeps the experienced user from catching malware.

I agree that it's pretty hard to get an updated computer infected. I've been running Security Essentials ever since it came out as my main protection & haven't got infected. I guess having Security Essentials as your AV is as close to not having any protection as possible, so I'm nearly as good as Gunslinger.

 

[DanP]

Agreed - I run adblocker, don't click on stuff and rarely go to sites I am not completely sure about.
So far, so good...
From time to time, I do run a scan on the machine, which has been clean for the last 8 years, without a resident AV.

But again - wouldn't ever suggest that to anyone who is not completely sure about what he's doing (or whom I have to support )