IMPORTANT! Have you received an email to your forum username?

DrPaul

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Thanks to StumpyPumpy for the time spent on trying to help other mse users. Can I ask, would it be worth printing this off and keeping it in case I ever have problems with another trojan/virus?:eek: Obviously I'm not techie and can understand your instructions perfectly so thanks for that.

If you need to clean an infected machine and are worried that the malware on it will intercept the tools you are trying to use, then my solution of choice is a freeware tool called the Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows at https://www.ubcd4win.com

Not for the "technically faint-hearted" unfortunately, it's a big download and you need a pukka Windows XP installation disk. But what it lets you do is to build a bootable Windows XP CD or DVD loaded with diagnostic tools including A-V and anti-spyware.

Put that in your PC (you may need to change the BIOS to enable booting from CD/DVD) and it will boot straight into XP from the optical drive, so you can be sure that any malware on the hard drive is left inert. Then run your virus scans and removal tools from the CD knowing that the tools haven't been corrupted by any infection (as long as the PC used to build the CD is clean:exclamati - a lot of malware can spread across your computer network)

I've a horrible feeling that I may have left some users more frightenend than before with all this;) Let's just say that if your machine is infected and you've got a "friendly teccie" anywhere in the vicinity, it might be worth pointing them towards UBCD4Win if they haven't come across it.

StumpyPumpy

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Thanks to StumpyPumpy for the time spent on trying to help other mse users. Can I ask, would it be worth printing this off and keeping it in case I ever have problems with another trojan/virus?:eek: Obviously I'm not techie and can understand your instructions perfectly so thanks for that.

Not really. As with a swan, the trick is not in the graceful glide across the surface, but the frantic paddling that goes on underneath.
The steps will work for any infection HitmanPro recognises and cleans, but it helps to identify that first. There are any number of tools downloadable on the internet that claim to clean up your computer, some good, some bad, some fake and some expensive. The trick I've tried to perform is to navigate that minefield and dig out the one that I think will work most effectively for this specific issue, for the greatest number of people and explain how to do it in the most non-technical way I could. This was based on real tests on infected machines, rather than guesswork. Other solutions are, or will become, available, this solution may, or may not work for any other incident. In fact, as I didn't have access to all the different sources for the trojans used to run comparative tests, I cannot even say it will work for all occurrences of this incident: there are simply too many variables. (Which is why everything I am writing is deliberately littered with indefinites)
From an individual standpoint people do need to become ever more vigilant. All the standard advice on links and executables in email, dodgy websites, pirated software etc... is true, I won't bore you with the lists - you've seen them before. You must assume everything is a threat. If someone emails you a link or a file, you must train yourself to think "Why have they sent me this?" before thinking "What is this they have sent me?" This is exactly what I do (admittedly followed by "Oooo what can I try and infect with this" but I would advise against that course)
If you find HitmanPro useful, you should buy it, give the developers some reward for helping you out - as you should with any software you use.


SP

Richard019

soolin wrote: »

I'll send the full headers to webby if required but just for info the original 'from' address was business at moneyexpert dot com

If that's the ones I'd be pretty confident it is the old breach, I've been receiving junk texts from them for months.

They go straight into my junk mail because it's not a known address. They're addressed to my actual name (which is in my email address) rather than my username so I'd just assumed it was a random mailing (like everything else I'm offered that way) and got rid without even opening them.

PrincessAnn

I rarely use the email address associated with this log in. I received the moneyexpert spam email on 17th Nov, but have not received any spam before or after that email (to my inbox or my junk mail).

I have had some spam on my normal email (associated with my normal MSE log in) but that seems to coincide with entering competitions or offers, rather than MSE. And I never did receive the spam moneysaving email on my normal (older) login.

nilrem_2

MrRedundant wrote: »

Spam may be common but I don't remember the last time a major bank; supermarket or similar managed to lose the e-mail addresses

Just because you haven't head of such an issue does not mean it has not happened, it probably has and they have hushed it up!:eek:

IMHO I think you are being a little hard on MSE.

23n1th

Ouch removed posts I wonder what else has been removed to hide things!

StumpyPumpy

nilrem wrote: »

Just because you haven't head of such an issue does not mean it has not happened, it probably has and they have hushed it up!:eek:

FYI, off the top of my head: 1st Source Bank, The Bank of Canada and The Federal Reserve Bank have all been in the news in the last couple of weeks because of personal data being lost/stolen due to security breaches. There are probably loads more, but I don't pay much attention to them these days.
My mate doesn't remember seeing the car that hit him. It still hit him.

Pound

Nationwide lost a laptop in the past with customer details on it; several government departments have also lost personal data.

mrsg26

OMG i dont believe this!! At the weekend i received this message when logged into MSE. Didint think anything off it went for a nap and when i got up later my whole operating system was gone apparently Windows Explorer had been wiped from my laptop!!! Couldnt work out how this had happened and now i know why!!!!! I am really really angry!!! Thankfully my brother repaired it and installed new software however its made me very wary of using this site!

gerryscot

yes, I also received it on the 17th. No damage done thankfully.:)

Gerry