Topic: Limewire

[mistybear]

Has anyone heard of this virus:
http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1144730780

Michael has just recently installed Limewire, and the rules of the house are:
If any porn. is found on his computer, it then becomes my computer.
If the above is true, he maybe innocent.

[Simon]

No reason to suspect it's not genuine, MB,  You have to be VERY careful what you download off Limewire (or similar), as the networks are rife with nasties.  However, you usually have to download and run an .exe file, to actually activate the virus, and any good anti-virus / anti-spyware software should have spotted this, so I would suggest a lesson in computer security might be in order for Michael.  He should scan EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING he downloads off Limewire, for viruses and spyware.  He should also check the file sizes of things before downloading them.  If, for example, he wants to download a program which he knows is, say, roughly 20Mb, and finds lots listed at 851kb, these are not going to be the genuine thing, but probably a trojan of some sort.  MP3s are usually quite safe, but should still be scanned before opening.

Just one other thing, is this Limewire, or Limewire Pro?  I have heard of people looking a free download of the Pro version, on warez or torrent sites, and found some of these to contain a trojan.

[sam]

I personally would recommend you dump limewire and use something like SOULSEEK for your music downloading, ok you still have a few issues with dodgy files, but it was built up on a nice friendly user community and there are tons of tracks on there and it is a nice program that takes care of how much of your system resources.

As for movies..... well bit torrent.

PS:  This forum does not encourage the downloading of copyrighted material.

[mistybear]

Thanks Simon,
                   Michael mainly D/L's music and the occasional movie but he doesn't scan anything. I used his computer last weekend to access my emails and I was amazed at the amount of pop-ups. So I ran AdAware and CcCleaner through it, and got a lecture from Micchael saying I shouldn't have used IE in the first place, as he only uses Mozzila.
Hi Sam,
            I'll get him to check it out. Sandra put me onto Bit Torrent, I tried it on this computer and it kept crashing. But I did have a lot of trouble understanding how it worked as I was used to Ares as is Michael so he might have trouble understading how it works as well.  
As far as a lesson in security goes, I have encouraged him to join this or the Medion forum, to help him look after his computer better.
I have installed AdAware, AVG and SpyBlaster, and he already had SpyBot. But I don't think he ever runs them. :x

[sam]

get him to run them in the background, spybot def can do this.. or schedule them if possible.

BitTorrent, once you get used to it is quite simple. Well if you use ABC or u-torrent it is. You just get the torrent file off a bittorrent website and open it in either of those programs and bobs your uncle it starts downloading it.

I suggest he joins us.. :-)

[Rodders]

I totally agree with Sam and would avoid Limewire at all costs.

What worries me, is the thought that when doing a scan now it might not be able to identify any rootkits, back doors, and other highly undesireable software that may have been invited onto your system.

[mistybear]

Thanks Rodders, Michael has agreed that Limewire has to go, and has asked for suitable replacements.
I know Sam has suggested SOULSEEK and Bit Torrent, is there any others, in case these fail to please.
And I'm guessing once I have deleted Limewire, I'll have to run every scan through it. :?

[sam]

umm has been a while since I have done the whole P2P / other ways of downloading searches.. I'll have a look and see what I can come up, though I'd personally highly recommend both of what I said. I'm sure someone else, maybe San, will have some good ideas??

[Simon]

It's not so much Limewire itself, but what's on the networks, and many of the P2P clients available use the same networks.  
If you suspect your current installation of Limewire is infected, then I would uninstall it, run a virus and spyware scan with fully updated software, then install a clean version from the official Limewire site, which I believe now contains no spyware or adware.

Torrents, however, do appear to be safer, although you can't usually download chart singles, and you need a fairly high speed connection to make them viable.  The easiest application I have found is uTorrent, which also is 'clean', and uses very low resources.

The above applications are freely and legally available, but as Sam said, PC Pals does not advocate the illegal sharing of coyrighted material.

[Simon]

Just to add, F-Secure Security Suite 2006 contains Rootkit Elimination Technology, and a 30 day trial version can be downloaded from here.  One thing you should be aware of when installing this suite, is that it will require the removal of other anti-virus / anti-spyware products, so bear that in mind before you decide to try it.  You can always re-install your other products afterwards, if you want to.

[Sandra]

E mule is one worth considering, can be slow though.

Google for it but dont get it from anywhere that wants paying for it.

Again always scan anything thats downloaded from any source, even from trusted friends as they may have unwittingly got an infected file.

[mistybear]

Thanks Simon and Sandra,
Michael informs me that he did D/L Limewire from their official site.
And he will scan everything from now on. (yeah sure)
I'll run all the scans when he goes out and see if there is anything left after that. I like the sound of F-Secure Security Suite 2006, I might give it a go when the others expire or if there is anything that I can't remove other wise.
I think the only security Michael is interested in is Anti-Mother.  

[sam]

I think the only security Michael is interested in is Anti-Mother.

haha, watch that he doesn't create a new user and then make windows boot up to the user interface without icons...   ... thats what I would have done.

[Simon]

Of course, PC Pals would never condone such a thing!   :shock:

[sam]

of course not, but still thats the thing to do  :twisted: ... either that or install a second version of windows that you have to select on boot up....  :shock:  :shock: