MetaChat - Just a reminder...

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27 January 2009

Just a reminder... let's be careful out there. Lots of ugly floating around lately, so make sure your antivirus program is up to date and your Windows updates are installed, plus, just say no to I.E., don't be lazy with the no script, and turn off auto run. Etc. I also installed malwarebytes, which is getting a lot of good word-of-mouth lately. You can use the free version to do a deep scan any time, but be sure to update it every time. The paid version has auto updates and real time monitoring. →[More:]

And always remember to be suspicious of anything sent by email, even if it comes from a friend - it could be coming from the friend's infected computer instead, so ask before opening. And Valentine's day is coming up - always a popular time to launch socially engineered viruses.

post by: taz at: 04:55 | 22 comments

Valentine's Day itself, of course, being the ultimate example of a socially engineered virus.

posted by Wolfdog 27 January | 07:12

Taz - the only way I get online with my PC laptop is through IE because when I boot firefox it can't access the Web. But when I do it through IE, I get a "diagnosing the progblem" window which then shows me the available networks to log on with.

How can I get Firefox to find the networks also?

posted by Lipstick Thespian 27 January | 08:02

and Wolfdog - HAR!

posted by Lipstick Thespian 27 January | 08:03

"diagnosing the problem" - ugh, is this the place where I can rant about Vista some more?

If you run FireFox at the same time as IE (after it has fixed the problem and is connected to the internet), does FireFox then work?

posted by DarkForest 27 January | 08:51

... hopefully someone will know what you're talking about! We asked for XP instead of Vista on my new notebook, and our laptop also runs XP - so I don't know about this "diagnosing the problem" deal.

I'll just mention that in FF under "File" is a toggle selection "Work Offline" - does it help to toggle that?

posted by taz 27 January | 09:16

I found this elsewhere:

Its Your Windows Firewall,its blocking Firefox and other web applications, just go to firewall in control pannel, click on exceptions and if you cant find firefox,just click on add program and click on firefox,if not listed just click on browse and specify your firefox location and after you add firefox dont forget to click it in exception tab and make sure you have not clicked on donot allow exceptions.

Here's a step-by-step from Mozilla.

posted by taz 27 January | 09:41

*hugs Firefox and NoScript, AVG and ZoneAlarm*

posted by deborah 27 January | 12:19

I'm still running Firefox 2.0.0.20 (I tried FF3, but none of my extensions worked with it, and when I tried the 'fixes' found on the web, it crashed).

Am I safe with FF2?

I also use Zone Alarm Pro and Avast! anti-virus, plus Startup Monitor and AdsGone.

posted by essexjan 27 January | 12:28

I would say no. They are no longer issuing security fixes for 2.

I waited a while before I upgraded to ff3, because some of my extensions weren't supported at first, plus I wanted to give them a chance to iron out bugs - but I think, at this point? If your extensions haven't upgraded, they are probably no longer being supported, and you might as well find another app that does the same thing.

posted by taz 27 January | 12:42

There's nothing to replace Imageshack Right-click :-(

Also, FF3 seems to erase all bookmarks, passwords, etc.

posted by essexjan 27 January | 13:00

/me glances sidelong, nervously.

I'm still safe on a mac running leopard and safari, right???

posted by Luminous Phenomena 27 January | 13:03

Also, FF3 seems to erase all bookmarks, passwords, etc.

That didn't happen to me when I made the switch, ej... are you installing into the same place where FF2 was installed? I guess you are, since you said "erase"... that's very odd.

posted by BoringPostcards 27 January | 13:09

Having Googled it, I'm not alone. Would MozBackUp restore my profile from FF2 to FF3?

posted by essexjan 27 January | 13:14

I think I deleted my ff2 and then did the upgrade, so I can't say for sure about that.

As for image shack right click, there's ImageBot. It uploads to photobucket or image shack (I think it comes with image shack as default). If you have trouble, try going to the image shack page in another tab and allowing it in No Script, if you are running No Script, then try again. I've been using this to right-click upload to photobucket, but I just tried it with image shack, and it works fine (after I allowed the image shack front page).

posted by taz 27 January | 13:31

I think tomorrow when I'm less tired I'll backup FF2 on MozBackUp, then try installing FF3 again. I can always go back to FF2 if I hate it.

posted by essexjan 27 January | 14:20

Wow. I just looked to see if my admuncher was up to date and noticed ads blocked: 1,938,379 estimated bandwidth saved: 14,658 MB. That's an avereage of 323,000 ads blocked per year.

posted by arse_hat 27 January | 14:36

I use FF but had deleted NoScript because I found that I was constantly having to allow scripts for pages to work. I got NoScript again after the Metafilter hack but honestly, if I'd click a link there and went to another site that needed to have a scipt allowed, I'd probably just do it. How can I tell which ones to allow and which ones I shouldn't? This is the same reason I got rid of Zone Alarm. Anyone got any hints how to discern which scripts are evil and which are ok? (for example, I had to "allow all" on this page for the Post button to appear)

posted by nelvana 27 January | 21:36

I permanently allow all on pages I trust (Metachat, Metafilter, news sites, etc.) and temporarily allow on a site I may not ever visit again.

I just wish there was someway to know if a Java Applet exists on a page. Nine times out of ten it crashes every damn computer I've ever owned.

posted by deborah 28 January | 10:32

Yeah, NoScript is based on how much you trust a site, no analyzing actual intent of specific scripts intended. I find it pretty painless because you only have to trust a site once and then you're set.

I started a fresh profile with FF3 just because it's smart every once in a while for stability and because it's housecleaning time.

I endorse Malwarebytes, as it helped clean up my Dad's computer from Antivirus 2009 last month. What a piece of work that wsa, fortunately it was only focused on pop-up ads and not something more antisocial.

posted by stilicho 28 January | 18:04

Thanks for the info. deborah, if I understand what happened on Metafilter (and I may not) then if I had allowed scripts on MeFi, it sounds like I would have been affected. Even if you only allow them temporarily, wouldn't that open the door for a site to run/install something malicious? If so, then what's the point of NoScript? Well, at least for someone who doesn't really know what they're doing - aka, me.

posted by nelvana 28 January | 21:42

I think the scripts were being pulled in from other sites, so I think noscript would have stopped them.

posted by DarkForest 28 January | 21:56

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!

posted by nelvana 28 January | 23:01

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