I'm back!!!

 

Finally!!

 

I thought I would be back last night but when I tried to upload a photo it wouldn't work. I found this one in my stream... I uploaded it some time ago but never got around to sharing it.

 

I have enjoyed a long weekend at the beach which was lovely but it was not the main reason for my absence from Flickr.

 

Our problems started when my brother clicked on a dodgy link in Facebook resulting in our computer becoming infected by multiple viruses and spyware. As soon as I realised what had happened I disconnected the internet connection, but it has taken me over a week and I don't know how many hours of investigations to clean everything and feel cautiously confident about reconnecting to the internet.

 

Fortunately we have another computer in the house and so I was able to download software and updates to assist with cleaning the computer.

 

On a positive note, I certainly learned a lot about our computer, and about online security over the past week! Google was a lifesaver! I could not have done it without Google.

 

Following are mostly things you should do to PREVENT your computer being infected. I'm certainly not an expert so please don't take my word for ANYTHING... please do your own research. However, these are a few things that I found helpful and am sharing them with the hope that it may save somebody else some headaches! :-)

 

Look forward to catching up with you soon.

 

If you believe I am wrong, please correct me!

 

* For secure passwords, don't use the same password for everything. Make sure you password is not in the dictionary, is not something associated with yourself, includes at least one capital letter, one number and one symbol.

 

* Make sure your anti-virus software is turned on, working properly and is being regularly updated - most software will automatically download updates from the internet. (If you don't have virus software, have a look at AVG's free anti-virus software. That's what I'm using now)

 

* Make sure you have a recent version of your preferred internet browser. Apparently older versions may not receive security updates. Again, updates can be downloaded free.

 

* Allow Windows to download and install updates. Someone once told me you should not install updates as they can create problems with your computer settings but now I believe this was wrong advice as some of the updates are important security patches.

 

* Consider using Opera or Mozilla Firefox as an alternative to Internet Explorer - these can be downloaded free and apparently are more secure than Internet Explorer. Again, I am not expert, only repeating what I've read.

 

* Update Java.. apparently old versions have vulnerabilities. I found these instructions very thorough and helpful

forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=149858

 

* Download and run Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool

www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.aspx

 

* Download and run a free spyware/malware scanner but be careful - some so-called anti-spyware software actually download spyware onto your computer. I used Malwarebytes Anti-Malware tool and thought it was very effective.

I understand that you should only use one anti-virus package and one firewall, but can run multiple spyware checks if desired.

 

* I also downloaded free software called CCleaner which you can use to delete all your old temp files, temporary internet files, Windows log files etc. It frees up space and makes scans run quicker.

 

* Another very useful free program is Trend Micro's HiJackThis. I used it to remove the last traces (I hope!) of the infections and restore internet settings. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU USE THIS AND DON'T DELETE/FIX ANYTHING UNLESS YOU ARE 100% SURE WHAT YOU ARE REMOVING. Some suspicious sounding entries were actually valid and your computer may be damaged if they are deleted. I did hours of research before attempting to delete anything.

 

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