The number one and two causes of computer infections is self-policing it’s victims.
Don’t download software from unverified sources, don’t use pirated video, music or porn. If you do, if your kids/grand-kids do, you’re asking for at the minimum a $200 bill.
Yeah, since I went cold turkey on porn a couple of years ago, I hadn’t a problem since.
This is why folk should use Linux.
No virus since the boyz left home 10 years ago. Amazing
The girls didn’t seem to cruise the same sites
The main culprit for me was always emulators. I haven’t owned a working NES in… god, I don’t know how long, but every few months a wave of nostalgia will hit me and there’ll be an old 8-bit game I want to boot up and play.
Unfortunately, most of the places you can get working emulators/ROMs carry the internet equivalent of herpes, syphilis, and HIV. So now I keep an ancient laptop that I use just for the occasional NES/SNES/Genesis emulation, and nothing else. It’s not like I need the graphical power of my desktop for that, anyway.
The solution is to not use windoze. I managed to find a cracked copy of Win XP on bittorrent and that’s my standard install now. No annoying communication with Redmond and I run it in a VM. Much easier to copy a VM “disk” before trying out a new piece of software as one can just delete the infected virtual disk instead of doing an new install on an infected machine.
I’ve also been very lucky in that my machines seem to have non-standard enough configurations that the last rootkit that installed itself malfunctioned enough that I caught it. Quite a sophisticated piece of software that copied itself to the top of my HDD (fortunately there were 9 Mb unused there for some reason) and hijacked the disk driver so that any attempt to access the disk sectors it occupied returned the previous content of those sectors. The reason I caught it is because it asked me to restart the system (which I never do unless everything else has failed) and I booted into another OS from a flash drive and found the infection. Interestingly code was encrypted and bootloader would check to see if it was running in a VM before decrypting remainder of rootkit. Have a copy of it kicking around my virus collection but no time to go instruction by instruction through the startup code although ADA_Pro is very nice for doing this.
Given that the NSA is hiding code in the firmware on HDD’s and likely reflashing boot ROM’s to include spy code, the only option one has to hide information is to use ancient machines. I still have lots of 80386 motherboards kicking around although finding IDE disks is now difficult. Running in emulation is another way one can stay secure and I use an ancient version of PGP which runs on 680×0 Macs which I emulate via BasiliskII. Running a MacII vx emulation on an 2.3 GHz i7 processor shows how good the late 1980’s programs were although that version of the MacII maxed our at 32 Mb of RAM. If one is just doing word processing and email, a 80386 machine is more than fast enough for this and Linux installs on such machines are easy.
Win XP was better than W2K, but W7 sucks. The last W7 machine I bought was a real bitch to get Linux to boot from a flash drive (I hate EFI), but when I did get Linux running it had no access to the HDD which is a new problem that I have to deal with. Once I find the reason that Linux can’t access HDD, will just wipe the drive and install XP on it. Linux is the way to go although the latest versions appear to be getting as bloated as the worst M$ has to offer.
Bittorrent has been a great place to find early versions of M$ software as my 1995 version of M$ VC doesn’t understand newer MMX and other instructions. I can’t even get a “hello world” to run on the demo version of the **new and improved** VC while I can code complete projects on the 1995 version. M$ considers my licensed version of VC to be obsolete and no longer provides upgrades. Pirated versions are the only way one can get access to the upgrades which M$ refuses to supply. I still code with VB6 which has locked me into the M$ ecology and my programs still run on W7. I suspect that M$ loathes VB6 since it is more than adequate for ones purposes.
Considering that I go to some shady places on the internet, I’ve never picked up any malware there and the worst malware I’ve obtained has been from download sites which popup first when one does a search for obscure open source software. As far as music downloads, I already own such a large music library that I’ll probably never be able to listen to everything on it. I refuse to get anything with DRM and downloaded 100’s of megabytes of 60’s music when Limewire was around. I also buy CD’s from artists I like and most of my new CD’s are bought directly from the bands after their concerts so they get most of the money rather than a music company who’s attempting to shut down filesharing and proposing totalitarian controls over the internet.
I managed to find a cracked copy of Win XP on bittorrent and that’s my standard install now.
I’m sure you and your Russian botnet will be very happy together.
When the kids computers act up, I just do a factory-restore. Loses all their saved games, etc. Drives them nuts. Rarely have problems any more.
I loved NES and tried an emulator once…once. Same experience as you had. The good old days, they never come back.
I don’t understand why Nintendo doesn’t sell those old NES games on disk for computers, I’d buy a bunch of them for sure. The game play was so good, who cares about the graphics.
I completely agree with you – it seems like low hanging fruit, considering the fact that emulation for old 8 and 16 bit systems, by now, is a relatively trivial matter (in terms of hardware, at least). I did notice that Steam just released a pack of all the NES Megaman games. Platformers were never my thing – mostly RPGs, etc., but it’s a start.
I picked up Shining Force 1 and 2 (Sega Genesis games) on Steam for 99 cents each a couple years ago. Those two were the only reason I kept a Genesis emulator around (and the only two Genesis games I ever owned).
I’ve been told that Nintendo has a selection of old games available for purchase and download on the Wii, but… since I don’t own a Wii, doesn’t really help me.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled virus discussion.
I am typing this on Windows 10. If, theoretically, I were to try anything illegal such as stealing movies, I would be sure to use a Linux PC though. But it turns out for me, anyway, that the stuff I want I can mostly get legally and is pretty cheap.
A few years back this was not the case and I used to pirate music, for example. Now with Spotify and Pandora, pirating music is more trouble than its worth. There are not a whole lot of movies I can’t get on Netflix or Prime.
I think for a lot of people the stealing is the point. To each his own.
Its, not It’s.
Loki wrote: “I managed to find a cracked copy of Win XP on bittorrent”
This statement completely undermines everything else in your comment.
The simple fact Microsoft is insisting with the intensity of a mad person that we upgrade to Windows 10 is very suspicious in itself.
What is in it for them that makes them insist like that?
Very strange, very suspicious.
I will refuse to upgrade for as long as I can.
Say Dr. Loki, you don’t mind if I look for another opinion?
Setting up user and administrator accounts prevents premature death in your PC.
The simple fact Microsoft is insisting with the intensity of a mad person that we upgrade to Windows 10 is very suspicious in itself.
What is in it for them that makes them insist like that?
The app store. Microsoft realizes that the age where they could charge $250 for an operating system is over. The reason Google gave Android away for free and Apple made iPhones cheap is that these companies are not in the business of selling hardware, or even software. That’s not where the money is. They’re in the business of selling services – in Google’s case, targeted ads; in Apple’s case, digital download management. Microsoft wants a slice of that pie. They also don’t want to waste time and resources QAing and testing patches and features on older operating systems that no one should be using, so getting as many people on the current version of Windows as possible makes things faster and simpler for them.
This kind of “in yer face” crap is coming from all angles. Google is the one that I despise with an equal amount of distaste as Apple with their iTunes.
But just watch as the Auto Industry implants real time monitoring of your vehicle…and the ability to shut it down – remotely.
The other thing is the push to monetize so called propriety of software in the ECM of said vehicles. You will no longer totally OWN your vehicle as the software will require a monthly payment for use. The other thing they are working on is to eliminate “back yard” mechanics. That is part and parcel of the newer generation of vehicles that are internet connected…I see them installing some kind of electronic monitor that would require an “authorized Technician” to input a password before you could do amy work at all to the vehicle.
So no more doing your work on your “own” vehicle and significantly increased costs as the Automakers demand franchise fees from any and all places of auto maintenance.
I’m wondering when all the appliance makers will start doing the same thing. We own the software in our Fridges, Toasters, Washers & Dryers – you WILL PAY us to use said software..!!
Glad I own an 06 (Duramax) – no emissions crap – no internet and a spare ECM.
Loki @ 9:41 PM August 25, 2015
I vividly recall playing a Sony BMG CD on my newly-built HTPC. It immediately became apparent that something was awry. Efforts to remove what was obviously a root kit proved unsuccessful. As the the machine was new, I replaced the HDD, re-installed XP and discarded the offending CD in disgust. Haven’t bought anything made by Sony since.