[lilkoolaidman]

I was here on Head-Fi and was angry when this otherwise trusted site put a virus on my computer. I got a message saying I had a PM and clicked to view it (the PM was legit BTW) then a message showed up on the top of my browser that I was missing a plug-in, but this is no java applet or anything like that, no it's a virus. It was "antivirus soft" (look it up, it is not fun) and so now I'm stuck trying to remove it. So if you get a "missing plug-in" message here on Head-Fi, please don't open it. Hopefully mods can do something about this.

 

[Drag0n]

I havent gotten anything like this yet.....but you should really tell Jude or the mods about this.
 
Ill report the thread so they know and can investigate this before anyone else gets infected. 
It could be a Head-Fi enemy. 

 
Darn hackers! 

 

[lilkoolaidman]

 
Quote:

I havent gotten anything like this yet.....but you should really tell Jude or the mods about this.
 
Ill report the thread so they know and can investigate this before anyone else gets infected. 
It could be a Head-Fi enemy. 

 
Darn hackers! 

I didn't know where to report this so I started a thread

 

[lilkoolaidman]

Also, I got the plug-in message on my other computer when I went here so I'm not insane

 

[clarinetman]

It would be my guess that whomever sent the PM was hacked or had some kind of keylogger... I don't find it likely that some random hacker would feel like hacking into Head-Fi of all places...

 

[lilkoolaidman]

Quote:

It would be my guess that whomever sent the PM was hacked or had some kind of keylogger... I don't find it likely that some random hacker would feel like hacking into Head-Fi of all places...

See the above post. Also, I didn't even open a PM on my other computer.

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

It would be my guess that whomever sent the PM was hacked or had some kind of keylogger... I don't find it likely that some random hacker would feel like hacking into Head-Fi of all places...

Yeah, really. If they're going for bank accounts, we've already spent all that.

 

[clarinetman]

You should nonetheless report this to an admin.

 

[lilkoolaidman]

Although there are many long tutorials on how to remove this, here is a simple fix that worked for me: I restarted my computer in safe mode, then I did a system restore.

 

[AmanGeorge]

Oh man, that didn't work for me when I got hit with Antivirus Soft. One of the most annoying evenings of my life - I can't imagine how painful it would have been without my company's tech support folks.

 

[Region2]

Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware actually takes care of Antivirus Soft rather effectively.
 
But if you want some instructions, I just quickly did a search and found the link I usually send to brokers when they get hit by it.
 
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-antivirus-soft

 

[jude]

lilkoolaidman, I'm going to move this (with a redirect in its place) to the feedback/bugs forum, as threads there are tracked by me and the product management/engineering teams.
 
Which operating system are you using?  Make sure you have all critical updates installed.
 
Which browser are you using (including version)?
 
This is the first report of "Antivirus Soft" here, to the best of my recollection, and I'm inclined to believe it was not Head-Fi that delivered it.  That said, I feel confident the engineering team will look into it very thoroughly.

 

[Hybrys]

I'm inclined to believe that it was served by malware on your computer, and apparently on your network.  That said, it shouldn't have bricked your computer.
 
If anyone else gets one of these fake Antivirus viruses/malware, let me know and I can write up a script/guide that you can use to copy into a notepad and follow disconnected.  They're NASTY buggers, but easily removed if you know what to do.  They also sometimes remove the ability to use ANY programs, so an antivirus won't help.

 

[vcoheda]

i got this too and it was while surfing head-fi last night. i didn't know the name of it until now though. i use IE. need to check to make sure that i have all recent updates.

 

[wantmyf1]

Just a paranoid computer/internet user here but please, if a page serves up a missing plug-in message or advises you to install a certain piece of software to view something never just click that "install" button.  Always find out what you're missing and go to the vendor's website to install.  If I get a message to update flash (I hate flash) I don't click the message, I go to Adobe's website and download and install it from there.  When you click blind you never know what you're going to get.  It may seem like too much of an inconvenience but it it allows you to avoid stuff like this it's worth it.
 
Also, the only way to be absolutely sure you've gotten rid of a virus is to format your drive and re-install the OS and your programs.  Or install from a ghost image of your drive.  Some of these things bury themselves so deep in the code that removing them would damage existing, necessary code so AV programs avoid doing that.  Or an AV program will remove a lot of a virus except for one crucial part that as soon as your online again just phones home and re-downloads and re-installs itself.  So please, just be careful!