Autopia Under Hack Attack

[akimel]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

Are Macs vulnerable to the viruses/trojans that have infected Autopia?

[rusty bumper]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

A word of caution folks.

Even if your anti-virus software blocked attempts by malware to infect your computer, don't always assume your PC is free of bugs.

I recently ran into the same problem at an infected site, and in spite of the “Get me out of warning” by Avast (or whatever phrase it uses) I immediately ran full scans by Avast, Malware Bytes, Super Anti Spyware, and a smattering of online virus scanners and just about all of them removed some sort of infection.

Thinking I was clean, I resumed my internet browsing, banking, email, etc., but I began to have problems with svchost.exe hanging up. I eventually asked for help from a respected malware removal site, and sure enough, there were more infections.

Thinks seem back to normal for now...knock on wood.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

So...... 6 years almost to the date and they're being hacked again?????

[fordf150]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

I immediately ran full scans by Avast, Malware Bytes, Super Anti Spyware, and a smattering of online virus scanners and just about all of them removed some sort of infection.

Ah you have good taste in security. I have those same programs and throw in Spywareblaster running real-time.


As a side note: Anyone needing some quality free scanners should seriously think about downloading the free versions of SuperAntispyware and Malwarebytes anti malware. They are tops in the industry and used by most techies to remove nasties that get on people's machines.

[Sean Conrad]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

I like the FREE version of Comodo Internet security. It includes Anti-Virus, Firewall, Anti-Malware and a SandBox to run programs from to further protect your computer. It gets great reviews. Plus I also run MalWare Bytes. Never to careful.

[rusty bumper]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

Ah you have good taste in security. I have those same programs and throw in Spywareblaster running real-time.


As a side note: Anyone needing some quality free scanners should seriously think about downloading the free versions of SuperAntispyware and Malwarebytes anti malware. They are tops in the industry and used by most techies to remove nasties that get on people's machines.

Thanks.

I have Spywareblaster installed, too. I am assuming it prevented me from an even worse infection.

Let me add Win Patrol to the mix as well. WP can alert you to rogue activeX installs, services, etc.

There is also a program available called WOT (Web of Trust) that can help you steer clear of bad sites before you click on them. I think it is a must have in today's internet.

Lastly, there is a great file cleaning tool called TFC (Temp File Cleaner) that removes more useless junk than any other file cleaner I've tried so far. One great thing about TFC is its ability to remove Java cache files where some viruses like to hide.

[fordf150]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

Yeah Spywareblaster is a nice little program that runs quietly in the background and doesn't use any system resources. It's especially nice if your using Internet Explorer where the ever present ActiveX spyware can reek havoc on your system. IE also a hackers haven, which is why i switched to using Firefox for my browser and so far I'm happy with it except that it can be a resource hog.

Lastly, there is a great file cleaning tool called TFC (Temp File Cleaner) that removes more useless junk than any other file cleaner I've tried so far. One great thing about TFC is its ability to remove Java cache files where some viruses like to hide.

Have you heard of or used CCleaner? Also an excellent and highly rated cleaner, much better and more thorough than Windows disk cleanup and free...

We could go on and on about security software. Kind of weird discussing this on an auto detailing forum

[rusty bumper]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

Have you heard of or used CCleaner? Also an excellent and highly rated cleaner, much better and more thorough than Windows disk cleanup and free.

Sure have.

It is a great tool, too.

I probably have too many cleaning tools, but I like them all.

We could go on and on about security software. Kind of weird discussing this on an auto detailing forum.

Considering the dangers of the WWW, and the attacks on sites as they are, I don't think we discuss it enough, but I understand your viewpoint.

[Setec Astronomy]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

Wow, I started this thread back in 2004 because at that time MOL was hosted on the same server as Autopia (or at least administrated on the technical side by the same person), so I was hoping someone here would get the word to DavidB that Autopia was getting hacked (at that time the site had been hijacked and a political message is what appeared when you went to the site, very different than the problem now).

I stupidly had let my antivirus subscription lapse while holding out for a new version, so I got hit pretty hard. Once I got it fixed I was pretty confident as my AV was flagging threats, but based on some of the posts above I ran a scan and picked up another trojan and the Bloodhound virus--so I guess Autopia is going to be off-limits for me now.

Pretty sad--a lot of people didn't like DavidB but the new owners have failed the tests of community leadership, technical competence, and sales promotion (of their new store).

[akimel]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

I only have one anti-virus program: ClamXav. Perhaps there will come a time when we OS X users will need more comprehensive protection, but presently we are still living in computer wonderland, at least as regards viruses, trojans, and malware.

[fordf150]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

I only have one anti-virus program: ClamXav.

As well you should have. Having more than one AV running on the same machine can cause issues and they usually don't play nice together.

Most people will do well with one Firewall and one AV. If you purchase a security suite it normally will have both and many times will have some sort of minor spyware program included. I like to have at least 2 separate spyware programs (although you can have more as they won't negatively affect your AV/Firewall), this way what one finds or detects the other might miss, so the two working in conjunction normally catches most of the bad stuff. Hence this is why I use SuperAntispyware (free scanner only) and Malwarebytes real-time (purchased version). They are both first rate.

There is so much good free ware out there now when it comes to firewall's and AV that there really is no need to purchase them any longer unless you like the idea of a total suite from one vendor.

[jfelbab]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

For those wishing to keep track of any progress over at Autopia you can check this link.

http://google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=autopia.org

And to answer an earlier query, the problems don't currently affect Macs.

[Ravi_1992]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

Man thats not good for them or there users , I hope MOL stays well protected. What are the messages that the hackers are leaving?

[tcope1]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

Man thats not good for them or there users , I hope MOL stays well protected. What are the messages that the hackers are leaving?

It's not a message... it's worm/malware that gets downloaded to your computer. It then acts like anti virus software and tells you that your system is infected and you can pay them for software that will remove it. It's nothing new.

I just find it interesting that Autopia does not have something in place to prevent this or that they took/are taking days to correct it.

[Ravi_1992]

Re: Autopia Under Hack Attack

It's not a message... it's worm/malware that gets downloaded to your computer. It then acts like anti virus software and tells you that your system is infected and you can pay them for software that will remove it. It's nothing new.

I just find it interesting that Autopia does not have something in place to prevent this or that they took/are taking days to correct it.

Thanks, just wondering why people were talking about islamic politics and ramadan and what not