Well well....I got attacked by, a computer virus? Well its not the official word for it. Malware? Maybe. Ransomware? No. That's what I got hit with last year.
Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Rootkits, Dialers, Zero-Day Malware and Spyware. So many ways they can make you have a 'bad day'.
I was getting annoying ad pop-ups. Spurious links embedded in blogs and other places. AnnoyWare I will call it. I have to click the X to close them. And when I do that some poor (well probably rich) unsuspecting vendor is charged more for false-clicks that is ethical. So in my research I found out that you can get it from blogs (there latest entry point), and many popular sites one of which I was shocked at. weather.com. Can't even check the weather innocently. WTF? Is nothing sacred?
When I get a new computer and it comes with McAfee , an anti-virus package. So we are forced to have that with the hopes we will upgrade to a paid subscription after the 1st free year.
So I run full scans using McAfee...runs perfect. No threats detected. Run Windows Defender. Same thing. No problems found. I was all ready to re-install Windows after I was unable to solve the issue myself...when I thought...who has the best record against these types of attacks. Malwarebytes. It's almost always helped me in the past. So being so annoyed, I bypassed their FREE version and opted for their PREMIUM version. About 25 USD a year. I realized the time I would find myself spending being annoyed as well as trying to solve the next attack. Figured it was worth the piece of mind. Sort of like paying 'protection money' to a mob but it beats the alternative. The other mob.
Well long story short...Malwarebytes went right to work...found almost 1700 malicious files that it quarantined. The problem was fixed. I could browse the web again without annoying unwanted intrusive malware ad popups. Worth the price of admission.
Whatever had infiltrated my computer also started messing with my sound, both in and out of SL. Since it was in SL...and since....someone else also confirmed that members of their family were attacked by this same WowCoupon malware, I felt it relative to blog about. Maybe there are others out there at a loss as to where to turn?What to do? One can feel vulnerable, helpless, frustrated, at-a-loss even angry.
I logged onto my un-infected laptop in order to make the actual purchase Malwarebytes purchase cause the devils try to trick you when you try to buy the protection. Sheesh! There is also and informative site called Malwaretips.org
I just read where they arrested one of the hackers in the UK as part of a consortium using Denial-Of-Service attacks on the XBOX & PlayStation online gaming sites during xmas.
Well I hope this can help any of you who have or may in the future find yourselves up the creek without a paddle.
Lat "Yummy" Lovenkraft