what is a trojan?
Discussion
Briefly, a trojan is a piece of malicious software that pretends to be something it isn't. For example, you might download and install a 'free game' off the Internet but the game contains malicious code which logs your key strokes and sends them to a server (with the intention of stealing passwords and such like). The name 'trojan' comes from this 'innocent exterior, nasty payload' characteristic.
For more information visit Wikipedia.
Referring to your specific trojans, can you tell me what Norton Antivirus is reporting, i.e. the trojan name, etc. and if it is saying why it can't clean (not particularly unusual) or quarantine (quite unusual) the file?
Ultimately, you have various options including getting a friend to create a safe boot disk for you and running your antivirus software before the trojan can activate itself.
Do you have a firewall installed? If not, try ZoneAlarm (click on just 'ZoneAlarm' for the free version) - it's free and very good.
I hope this helps.
roadie.
>> Edited by roadsweeper on Saturday 13th August 00:16
For more information visit Wikipedia.
Referring to your specific trojans, can you tell me what Norton Antivirus is reporting, i.e. the trojan name, etc. and if it is saying why it can't clean (not particularly unusual) or quarantine (quite unusual) the file?
Ultimately, you have various options including getting a friend to create a safe boot disk for you and running your antivirus software before the trojan can activate itself.
Do you have a firewall installed? If not, try ZoneAlarm (click on just 'ZoneAlarm' for the free version) - it's free and very good.
I hope this helps.
roadie.
>> Edited by roadsweeper on Saturday 13th August 00:16
I'll be straight up. I haven't a clue when it comes to PCs, and have only got a demo version of Norton Anti Virus (as supplied with the new DELL PC). I don't have firewall as I don't even know what one is!
The wife downloads music files, and I've had a look at games and some "random" sites.
The anti virus has been enabled since I started to use the PC, but I decided to run a scan through the system yesterday and it noted three "virus threats detected". I tried to deal with them as per the onscreen description that Norton gives you, but it could not quartantine or remove them.
They are entitled trojan.startpage - high risk impact virus. Details state that it is IEbrand.exe within C:/documents. It all means nothing to me!
Any further ideas? I've had a look on search engines and found a few places that claim to remove trojans, but I don't know whether to trust them not to add more!!
Any help is really appreciated.
Cheers
Rob
>> Edited by tahiti on Saturday 13th August 15:48
The wife downloads music files, and I've had a look at games and some "random" sites.
The anti virus has been enabled since I started to use the PC, but I decided to run a scan through the system yesterday and it noted three "virus threats detected". I tried to deal with them as per the onscreen description that Norton gives you, but it could not quartantine or remove them.
They are entitled trojan.startpage - high risk impact virus. Details state that it is IEbrand.exe within C:/documents. It all means nothing to me!
Any further ideas? I've had a look on search engines and found a few places that claim to remove trojans, but I don't know whether to trust them not to add more!!
Any help is really appreciated.
Cheers
Rob
>> Edited by tahiti on Saturday 13th August 15:48
OK, trojan.startpage is a Trojan horse that modifies the Internet Explorer home page without your permission. Usually this will direct you to sites showing porn or adverts. See Symantec Security Response for more info.
A software firewall acts as a barrier between software on your PC and the Internet. Thus if you have malicious software (malware) on your PC a firewall can often stop it communicating with the Internet and hence installing more malware, using your computer as a zombie machine to attack other computers or to send out data that could compromise your PC.
Now, if you're going to use the computer as you described you need proper virus protection, not just a trial version. There are free packages out there that are quite good (I'm sure other PHers can recommend some) but I use Trend Micro PC-cillin. It's about £30 for the full version and you get lots of additional protection that Norton and co make you pay more for - it's a bargain. Trend Micro are used by Microsoft Hotmail to give you an idea of their quality.
Finally, install Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta. It is free and will catch spyware (programs that typically report your Internet usage patterns to third parties for targetting of adverts) that the antivirus programs do not.
So, if you're willing to spend £30 then install PC-cillin and Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta. This is a very good PC security package.
If you're not willing to spend anything then first install ZoneAlarm and Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta and see if the latter picks up the trojans. If not, then try some of the free antivirus software or getting a friend to create a clean boot disk for you as described. You can also try following the removal instructions on the Symantec site I linked to above.
I'm slightly concerned as to how you got the trojans in the first place, so I'd suggest the following:
1. Make sure you have all the Windows security patches applied by visiting Windows Update (on the presumption you have a legal copy of Windows!). I suspect you may have caught the trojan through visiting a website which exploited a known vulnerability in Internet Explorer for which a patch has been released but not appllied on your PC. It should also tell you how to switch on automatic updates on your PC so you don't have to keep doing this.
2. Use the Firefox web browser instead of Internet Explorer. There are less exploits for it because it's less common. Plus it's a lot, lot better.
Follow the above instructions and you should both remove the trojan and have a safer browsing experience in the future.
There's more I could add but I've made myself late for dinner at a friend's house so I'll have to go!
A software firewall acts as a barrier between software on your PC and the Internet. Thus if you have malicious software (malware) on your PC a firewall can often stop it communicating with the Internet and hence installing more malware, using your computer as a zombie machine to attack other computers or to send out data that could compromise your PC.
Now, if you're going to use the computer as you described you need proper virus protection, not just a trial version. There are free packages out there that are quite good (I'm sure other PHers can recommend some) but I use Trend Micro PC-cillin. It's about £30 for the full version and you get lots of additional protection that Norton and co make you pay more for - it's a bargain. Trend Micro are used by Microsoft Hotmail to give you an idea of their quality.
Finally, install Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta. It is free and will catch spyware (programs that typically report your Internet usage patterns to third parties for targetting of adverts) that the antivirus programs do not.
So, if you're willing to spend £30 then install PC-cillin and Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta. This is a very good PC security package.
If you're not willing to spend anything then first install ZoneAlarm and Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta and see if the latter picks up the trojans. If not, then try some of the free antivirus software or getting a friend to create a clean boot disk for you as described. You can also try following the removal instructions on the Symantec site I linked to above.
I'm slightly concerned as to how you got the trojans in the first place, so I'd suggest the following:
1. Make sure you have all the Windows security patches applied by visiting Windows Update (on the presumption you have a legal copy of Windows!). I suspect you may have caught the trojan through visiting a website which exploited a known vulnerability in Internet Explorer for which a patch has been released but not appllied on your PC. It should also tell you how to switch on automatic updates on your PC so you don't have to keep doing this.
2. Use the Firefox web browser instead of Internet Explorer. There are less exploits for it because it's less common. Plus it's a lot, lot better.
Follow the above instructions and you should both remove the trojan and have a safer browsing experience in the future.
There's more I could add but I've made myself late for dinner at a friend's house so I'll have to go!
roadsweeper said:
Briefly, a trojan is a piece of malicious software that pretends to be something it isn't. For example, you might download and install a 'free game' off the Internet but the game contains malicious code which logs your key strokes and sends them to a server (with the intention of stealing passwords and such like). The name 'trojan' comes from this 'innocent exterior, nasty payload' characteristic.
For more information visit Wikipedia.
Referring to your specific trojans, can you tell me what Norton Antivirus is reporting, i.e. the trojan name, etc. and if it is saying why it can't clean (not particularly unusual) or quarantine (quite unusual) the file?
Ultimately, you have various options including getting a friend to create a safe boot disk for you and running your antivirus software before the trojan can activate itself.
Do you have a firewall installed? If not, try ZoneAlarm (click on just 'ZoneAlarm' for the free version) - it's free and very good.
I hope this helps.
roadie.
>> Edited by roadsweeper on Saturday 13th August 00:16
Ive had Zone Alarm for a few years, scarey when it tells you how many intrusions it has blocked, I recommend it.
vipers said:
Ive had Zone Alarm for a few years, scarey when it tells you how many intrusions it has blocked, I recommend it.
I agree, most of the 'intrusion' attempts it detects are harmless but that still leaves a scary number that aren't. Most of it is worms such as Netsky I would imagine.
Thank you so much for your help. I hope you weren't TOO late for dinner.
I'm happy to pay for effective virus protection, and was going to use Norton. After this virus wasn't dealt with, I'm going to run with your guidance. I really am naive when it comes to PCs.
Anyway, the PC's only about 6 weeks old, uses the original Microsoft bits and pieces (as supplied), and actually had an update run on it as soon as the computer was instaled. That's why I was most concerned about these viruses getting through.
I'm going to try the bits and pieces you mention. If I cannot remove or quarantine them, they will still be able to do what they were designed to do though won't they?
Sorry for having to go so far back to basics with me!
Rob
>> Edited by tahiti on Sunday 14th August 14:39
I'm happy to pay for effective virus protection, and was going to use Norton. After this virus wasn't dealt with, I'm going to run with your guidance. I really am naive when it comes to PCs.
Anyway, the PC's only about 6 weeks old, uses the original Microsoft bits and pieces (as supplied), and actually had an update run on it as soon as the computer was instaled. That's why I was most concerned about these viruses getting through.
I'm going to try the bits and pieces you mention. If I cannot remove or quarantine them, they will still be able to do what they were designed to do though won't they?
Sorry for having to go so far back to basics with me!
Rob
>> Edited by tahiti on Sunday 14th August 14:39
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