Can we get a virus, malware by clicking on a forum link?

[BeStill&Know]

On a previous forum I believe I was infected by a member I did not know, who had responded to a post of mine several years old. When I went to Conversation as he requested, I got a mocking animation. I was never able to log into that forum web site again. I know they did not block me as I never had problems or was given any warning.
So to teckies out there, are their things we should watch out for on these forums.
Also, is there a Thread for seniors we can go to learn the latest techniques to protect ourselves?

 

[pdudgeon]

On a previous forum I believe I was infected by a member I did not know, who had responded to a post of mine several years old. When I went to Conversation as he requested, I got a mocking animation. I was never able to log into that forum web site again. I know they did not block me as I never had problems or was given any warning.
So to teckies out there, are their things we should watch out for on these forums.
Also, is there a Thread for seniors we can go to learn the latest techniques to protect ourselves?

very occasionally there will be the random solicitation-type of post either promising money if you just click on a link, or occasionally someone will post soliciting money, but those are the only two that seem to show up.

there is a hybrid version of the promise of money type post that I've seen off site. That one is tricky because they use legit company forms and letterheads; usually insurance companies.
but if you read the body of the text you'll find the standard plea to send them money to a foreign country for "processing" is involved.
usually any time someone asks you for money upfront to process a claim, it's a scam.

 

[ewq1938]

On a previous forum I believe I was infected by a member I did not know, who had responded to a post of mine several years old. When I went to Conversation as he requested, I got a mocking animation. I was never able to log into that forum web site again. I know they did not block me as I never had problems or was given any warning.
So to teckies out there, are their things we should watch out for on these forums.
Also, is there a Thread for seniors we can go to learn the latest techniques to protect ourselves?

Best not to click on any link that goes outside of this forum unless it's a well known site.

 

[ewq1938]

Try this:

http://www.christianforums.com/search/11381071/?q=antivirus&o=relevance

 

[BeStill&Know]

very occasionally there will be the random solicitation-type of post either promising money if you just click on a link, or occasionally someone will post soliciting money, but those are the only two that seem to show up.

there is a hybrid version of the promise of money type post that I've seen off site. That one is tricky because they use legit company forms and letterheads; usually insurance companies.
but if you read the body of the text you'll find the standard plea to send them money to a foreign country for "processing" is involved.
usually any time someone asks you for money upfront to process a claim, it's a scam.

Gotten those thru email, however this one was through the Private Conversation of that Christian Forum. I was to busy at that time to report it as I should have done, not knowing I was going to be locked out the next time I tried to log in.

 

[BeStill&Know]

Best not to click on any link that goes outside of this forum unless it's a well known site.

Agree, This was in the Forum, in the private Conversation

 

[nhaas11]

simple, yes. to stop this from happening:1. remove Java. 2 Install a good AV.

 

[TurtleAnne]

You can right-click on a link, which should give you a drop-down list of options without opening the link. You can select the option called "Inspect" which will open a window on the side of the screen showing you the actual web address that the link would take you to. You can X out of this window on the side when you are done reading. The web address should be highlighted in the window when it is opened. Again it allows you to see the real address without actually opening the address in your browser. Then you can do a google search for the address, so like websitename.com to see what the results look like, or you can add concerns like "virus" or "safe" along with websitename.com to see if anyone elsewhere online has posted about the site being hazardous in some way. This is one way you can try to check links first when someone disguises a link's real web address name with other words and such.

 

[BeStill&Know]

simple, yes. to stop this from happening:1. remove Java. 2 Install a good AV.

As soon as I know what JAVA is and what is does. I have several AV in and out of my PC. My Fix Me stix has found a couple of problems the others didn't . This is a share PC with hubbie, the others AV are his.

 

[BeStill&Know]

You can right-click on a link, which should give you a drop-down list of options without opening the link. You can select the option called "Inspect" which will open a window on the side of the screen showing you the actual web address that the link would take you to. You can X out of this window on the side when you are done reading. The web address should be highlighted in the window when it is opened. Again it allows you to see the real address without actually opening the address in your browser. Then you can do a google search for the address, so like websitename.com to see what the results look like, or you can add concerns like "virus" or "safe" along with websitename.com to see if anyone elsewhere online has posted about the site being hazardous in some way. This is one way you can try to check links first when someone disguises a link's real web address name with other words and such.

Thanks I did not know the option Inspect did that. Never used it. On Firefox I have WOT which has been pretty good, except on websites it has no ratings on. Some of which I go to because of research. Now I know how about Chrome. Thanks

 

[paul1149]

Sometimes the malware is right in the image, and executes when the file is merely opened. If that happened in the browser, going to Control Panel / Java, to the Security tab, and disabling java in the browser might help. You can add exceptions if you need it for things such as investment sites.

If it happens again, try a different browser to see if it's browser-based. Always keep your data backed up regularly, and it's best to keep a fairly recent system image for a worst-case scenario.

In the old days there used to be script exploits in the yahoo forums. People would merely post what looked like a simple ascii picture and it would cause viewer's machines to crash. The forums were so bad yahoo finally closed them.

As for AVs, it's not good to run more than one. They extend themselves deeply into the OS and fight each other, bringing the machine to a crawl. Find one you like and stick with it. Uninstall the others, preferably using each one's uninstall utility available at its website for maximum removal. There are a few AVs that are meant to work alongside others, preeminently MBAM. But generally I don't bother with them. If you need a good free AV, I've been happy with Panda.

 

[elytron]

I agree with the post above. Not good to have more than one AV installed at a time. They end up conflicting with one another. Windows 10 comes with an AV by default, I believe it's called Windows Defender.

 

[StarTemple]

On a previous forum I believe I was infected by a member I did not know, who had responded to a post of mine several years old. When I went to Conversation as he requested, I got a mocking animation. I was never able to log into that forum web site again. I know they did not block me as I never had problems or was given any warning.
So to teckies out there, are their things we should watch out for on these forums.
Also, is there a Thread for seniors we can go to learn the latest techniques to protect ourselves?

The link is generally a request for a document on a server. But, it can request anything the programmer may set as the target.

To install a virus you have to do it, or there has to be a security hole. But a link can attempt to run anything imaginable; chances are your browser and OS, firewall have already accounted for the common hi-jacks.

But they have new security risk discoveries like every 12 hours, so it is best to avoid a bait link if you already are having a dispute as in a forum.

I recommend a web machine, and a production machine as separate because everything on your system can be at least be read within a few minutes of you going "on line", and by wireless backdoors they read any computer now-a-days from mil jets and drones. So, I mean just as far as web based snooping, you can't stop the other stuff, it was all back doored in ages ago and in design. Global intel founded all the major tech companies and funded them until they could fund themselves and they own and run all the global info "plumbing" and cloud.

The Snowden diversion is about .0001% of the whole story.

 

[Zurückschlagen]

Hallo, @BeStill&Know

You can get infected by a Java Drive By. It's basically a Java Setup website, with Java applet or other exe. It installs immediately on your PC. Often a RAT is installed on your PC. RAT is Remote Administration Tool. Administrators use it to work on a whole network of machines over a distance.

RAT's could be hidden, it's pretty easy to tamper with the code of the exe and make it fully fud (fully undetectable). This is the most easiest and successful method so far. I've had lots of victims. Don't ask don't tell. Let's just say they deserved what they got. And it was long time ago.

This is dumm that AV's stop it, it can't be stopped with an AV. Do you know how AV's work? When a virus is made, some people working on a payroll to antivirus companies leak it. Or other idiot kids leak it. If it's not been added to the definitions, you're done. You need a firewall, and a good one. And you need to set up ports manually so it can block all incoming and outcoming connections. It's difficult because we have so many apps, torrent clients, etc which connect to the internet through specific ports. It connects to a specific port, and often it's a port that's not used by other apps or services. Could be a random port, like 5540, or 4485. Could not be 80 for example.

 

[Paul Yohannan]

On a previous forum I believe I was infected by a member I did not know, who had responded to a post of mine several years old. When I went to Conversation as he requested, I got a mocking animation. I was never able to log into that forum web site again. I know they did not block me as I never had problems or was given any warning.
So to teckies out there, are their things we should watch out for on these forums.

Yes. Depending on the machine you use to surf toe forums, if you want to be ultra-secure, do not click on links that leave CF.com and use caution downloading attached files. We do watch for abuses but it is logistically impossible to monitor everything.

Also, is there a Thread for seniors we can go to learn the latest techniques to protect ourselves?

Not afaik, but if you post one in this forum (as opposed to the seniors forum) I can provide advice.

 

[Paul Yohannan]

simple, yes. to stop this from happening:1. remove Java. 2 Install a good AV.

Removing Java prevents a vast array of legitimate software, including Minecraft, from running.

 

[nhaas11]

Removing Java removes most of the access points for hackers. it seems that java has an update almost everyday. Also when you do updates to java old software stops working. I have a moto, if you software requires Java, you are running the wrong software

 

[TJM]

Malicious code can be injected to a page and ran by your browser. In theory I could upload malicious code into my signature, or avatar to have unsuspecting people view the page it's on, or accidentally click it. This is least likely now when forum software is updated to protect against this.

Google will likely get you a computer virus. If you search something out of curiosity and find a web page that draws you in it may be legit. It may also have been hacked through a security vulnerability by a person who now has a tiny code run where you cant even see it. This code runs a pop up an when you find it it may look like your Facebook. It might look like your bank. It could tell you that you already have a virus.

Search engines try to take malicious websites out of the results. If you search something that is a odd-ball question with not too many popular results there easily can be a page that looks like what you need that will be on the first page and when you click onto it you get told you have a virus or an infection has been found. Or that you need to update something.

To say not to use Java is unfair. A lot of great applications are run on the platform and things you use every day without noticing it are run by java. The people who present products can find ways to teach those who use them how to stay protected. You don't need to get technical with a computer to have the concepts needed to not get hacked. It is good to say if you don't need it, don't have it on your computer. The less programs and different things like java, flash, shockwave, etc you have the better. If nothing on your computer utilizes Java and you have it installed than it likely wont get updated and you will be one of those in a line at a store after a big hack because you were vulnerable to an exploit that was fixed 4 months ago and you didnt even know you had Java to begin with.

 

[BeStill&Know]

Yes. Depending on the machine you use to surf toe forums, if you want to be ultra-secure, do not click on links that leave CF.com and use caution downloading attached files. We do watch for abuses but it is logistically impossible to monitor everything.



Not afaik, but if you post one in this forum (as opposed to the seniors forum) I can provide advice.

Thanks so much everyone... I've learned a lot... For others as well as my curiousity, I often post YouTube videos here on ChristianForums.com in reply or for informatiom to a thread.
Could a YouTube video have a virus? Or sometimes in private conversation someone sends me a link that says www.YouTube.com ................. if I understand one of the above post it may be a fake link leading to another site, right?

 

[BeStill&Know]

Removing Java prevents a vast array of legitimate software, including Minecraft, from running.

Minecraft is a Game? If it is I dont play any games. I surf YouTube to play on TV through Roku, and I use Google, email, Forums, Biblegateway ect.