Virus-Trojan infecting PCs..the nasty Sirefef

[Leo Nguyen]

Okay folks. Got a few friends being hit pretty hard by this nasty viral/trojan combo. I'm helping them to get rid of the viral and its variant from their systems. HOWEVER, since I don't live near you all, there's no way I can help you. So, please, be very very very very weary of this bugger.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/threat/encyclopedia/entry....

If you're using a laptop or a PC that has a webcam built into the monitor, this is what going to happen:

1. It takes your picture.

2. It show a screen capture of your mugshot, display a whole bunch of info about your system, and indicated you're being tracked and locked by the FBI..yeah..right.

3. It will then show you a ransom note that you have to pay a certain amount of bucks to have your system to be released to a normal operation after 24 hours, after you visit a link, and pay. Like that is going to happen. You pay using your bank and credit card, you'll have your entire bank/credit card account drained, and your system will still not function.

4. You can reboot your system, and your system will shut down in 5 minutes. You can do what ever you want, but it will still shut down in 5 minutes.

Unless you're a geek like me, or know someone who has the tools to break out the surgical gears, there's no way to get rid of this thing using basic antiviral and rootkit removing approach. I set up a system on the side dedicated for things like this, with enough extraction gears to deal with any crap being thrown at me..SCIFI style.

So please, be very very very very very careful on what you're doing on the net. Protect your system! If you need more info to protect yourself, let me know. A good antivirus program will do the trick. AVG, Kaspersky, TrendMicro, and Panda are all good. Norton, McAfee..good..but very bloated to use, which slows your system down significantly...

Okay..back to programming my work. Just wanting to warn my BBG family.

[Leo Nguyen]

Mike, it's everywhere. From the website you opened, to the email that contains attachment. Just be careful of where and what you're opening. Always have some kind of anti-rootkit scanner and antirivus software handy.

[Jim Gronaw]

Thanks, Leo. I'm a total computer idiot, but I tend to be super careful of what I do on it, so let's hope Norton and I can get through this!