viruses Archives - Page 11 of 12

Beware the insidious Gameover Zeus virus. Find out instantly if your PC is infected.

Posted on September 24, 2014

malware It seems like a new virus or trojan pops up every day, and they tend to get nastier as time goes on. The latest super-threat is the insidious Gameover Zeus virus.

Gameover Zeus is a particularly nasty form of malware. In addition to allowing other viruses (including the equally insidious CryptoLocker) to break into your system, it harvests every scrap of financial information it can find from your computer’s hard drive.

Approximately a quarter of a million people and institutions have fallen victim already, and the combined financial losses are staggering – and growing. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why can’t Internet Explorer load websites after viruses were removed?

Posted on July 29, 2014

Question from Annika T.: During the last virus scan Norton found a couple of viruses and removed them. Now Internet Explorer won’t load any websites. All I get is a blank screen and a message saying the site might be down or something.

I know it’s not my Internet connection because Firefox still loads pages just fine. I really need to get IE back working again because I use it and Firefox together to use two Gmail accounts at the same time. Can you help me?

If it matters, my computer is running Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 11.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Beware the ultra-nasty CryptoWall ransomeware virus

Posted on June 20, 2014

cryptowall-screenshot Most folks are now aware of the nasty CryptoLocker ransomeware virus and have learned how to avoid it, but now its equally nasty successor has arrived on the scene.

Like CryptoLocker before it, CryptoWall takes over your PC and encrypts all the files on the hard drive, then demands that the user pay a hefty ransom in order to have the files un-encrypted. Only this time the ransom is even higher.

The CryptoWall ransom starts out at a whopping $500, then doubles every three days until the user finally gives in and pays the ransom.

To prove that they can indeed un-encrypt your files, the hackers behind CryptoWall will offer to un-encrypt just one of your files for free.

The best way to deal with the CryptoWall threat is to avoid getting it in the first place and be prepared just in case you fall victim to it anyway. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Scam Alert: Avoid the “Naked Friend” scam

Posted on March 8, 2014

If you’re a Facebook user you’re probably aware that scams hit your newsfeed literally on a daily basis. There really is a new one just about every day, and they seem to get more insidious all the time.

The latest scam to hit the Facebook world is the “Naked Friend” scam, and it works something like this: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is there a Floppy Disk drive showing up in Windows Explorer?

Posted on February 26, 2014

Question from Cynthia T.: Hi Rick. I have something going on with my computer that’s driving me up the wall.

Starting 3 days ago there’s a Floppy Disk A: drive showing up in Windows Explorer. I haven’t owned a computer with a floppy drive in it in years!

Why is a phantom floppy drive showing up in my drive list? And more importantly, how can I get rid of it? My computer is a Gateway desktop running Windows 7 Pro.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]