I've hit the forums from multiple systems (one running Avast, one running Symantec's corporate antivirus system and firewall).

So far I've not seen any evidence that the forums are infected.

--James

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http://www.flutesite.com

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"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending" --Carl Bard

Thank you, James. Most appreciated.

Nothing wrong from here, either; I'm logging in via Opera from a box running XP.

_________________
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')

C.S. Lewis

It's willful ignorance, don't you know.

_________________
Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips

Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.

as long as it's willful you'll just take longer ta figure it out

That's what happened to me too but I thought it was just my computer. Guess not.

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http://www.nohr669.com/

Guys, when you have a virus message or any error that looks like it may be virus or malware-related, always:

1. STOP what you are doing

2. write down the error

3. if you are using broadband, hit the "standby" button on top of the modem to go offline. If your PC has been compromised, this will prevent it from being remote controlled or used for anything nefarious.

Then you'll need to do a virus scan with whatever program you're using. Most will have an option for a quick scan, do that, and then run a full scan that night. If the quick scan is clean, you can go back online, but do a full scan that night just to be sure.

Here's the why: some viruses trash out the hard drive, but the data is sometimes recoverable, if you know what caused the damage.

Just offering a few pointers to try to help keep your online experiences positive.

--James

_________________
http://www.flutesite.com

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"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending" --Carl Bard

Something is going around. This just happened to one of the more important alternative financial websites www.financialsense.com

Question - who is your hosting provider? GoDaddy? Google?

Casey

Dreamhost

Rich is helping (Yay!) and is confident this board is not infected. It's on a private server.

It's good to know that C & F is not currently infected by a virus. However, since a number of hosting providers recently have been infected by a new trojan virus that embeds itself in the codes of the subscribing websites, it is not unreasonable to think that there is a good possibility that we might encounter this again, no matter where we happen to be on the internet.

Thanks to James for his helpful comments about how to deal with this from the point of view of the individual user. Let's see. I have to remember to wear my armor when I go into battle, or something like that. Right, James?

_________________
http://ie.youtube.com/user/dougsflutes
http://tippleflutes.com

That's pretty much the idea, yes.

At absolute minimum, using a Windows system, you should have a current antivirus package, and at least once a week update its definitions. Run a firewall--the Windows firewall in XP (at least SP2) or Vista is fine.

Much better is to have both antivirus and software firewall, and also have a hardware firewall offering stateful packet inspection (newer routers will already have this), and have an anti-malware package such as Windows Defender (mediocre-good) or Spybot Search and Destroy (much better). If you're going to be doing much web surfing at all, you really need these, especially the hardware firewall.

I want to mention the hardware firewall again as lots of folks don't understand why they need a router if they are only going to have one computer that goes on the internet. A hardware firewall makes your network pretty much invisible to hackers. It's not 100%, but it protects you from everything except very dedicated, non-trivial attempts to access your system. This is a level of protection far past what any software firewall can provide.

--James

_________________
http://www.flutesite.com

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"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending" --Carl Bard

James has it right, in terms of hardware firewall versus software firewall.

I've been using a (brand name) Netgear router, which also includes a hardware firewall.

Hardware firewall, way to go!

Norton has this report:
-------------------------------

General Info
Web Site Location United States of America


Norton Safe Web has analyzed chiffandfipple.com for safety and security problems. Below is a sample of the threats that were found.
Threat Report
Total threats found: 12


Drive-By Downloads (what's this?)
Threats found: 12
Here is a sample:

Threat Name: Suspicious.MH690
File name: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\G1Q9SRO7\e_x_e_ld[1].exe
Signature (MD5): 4b703a5ee34434d65e7aac685195ac27
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/cf-December2005/



Threat Name: Suspicious.MH690
File name: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\G1Q9SRO7\e_x_e_ld[1].exe
Signature (MD5): 4b703a5ee34434d65e7aac685195ac27
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/cf-January05/



Threat Name: Suspicious.MH690
File name: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\MH25YLE5\e_x_e_ld[1].exe
Signature (MD5): 4b703a5ee34434d65e7aac685195ac27
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/cfSeptember2005/



Threat Name: Suspicious.MH690
File name: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\MH25YLE5\e_x_e_ld[1].exe
Signature (MD5): 4b703a5ee34434d65e7aac685195ac27
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/cf-JUNE2004/index.htm



Threat Name: Suspicious.MH690
File name: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\GZKDIZWD\e_x_e_ld[1].exe
Signature (MD5): 4b703a5ee34434d65e7aac685195ac27
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/cf-MARCH2005/



Threat Name: Suspicious.MH690
File name: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\W96RIBA9\e_x_e_ld[1].exe
Signature (MD5): 4b703a5ee34434d65e7aac685195ac27
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/cf-december2004/



Threat Name: Suspicious.MH690
File name: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\W96RIBA9\e_x_e_ld[1].exe
Signature (MD5): 4b703a5ee34434d65e7aac685195ac27
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/cf-May2004/index.htm



Threat Name: Suspicious.MH690
File name: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\MH25YLE5\e_x_e_ld[1].exe
Signature (MD5): 4b703a5ee34434d65e7aac685195ac27
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/march2006/



Threat Name: Direct link to Suspicious.MH690
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/webissues.html



Direct link to: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/whistlehaiku/
Location: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/

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All the best!

mitch
http://www.ozwhistles.com

BTW, I haven't had any trouble, lately, in getting to C&F.

c/o Mac OSX

:-)

I have a question, James, if you don't mind. I have a Belkin Wireless G router that I purchased about 18 months ago when my wife got her laptop. My desktop computer feeds out of the router, but it is a direct connection. I don't see anything on the packaging box about the presence of a firewall with the router, so I assume that there isn't one. My wife also complains about the downloads being really slow. She has Vista Home Basic OS using Windows IE. In order to speed up her downloads and provide the protection of a hard firewall, can you recommend a replacement router that is not too expensive but would fill our needs for greater security and increased speed?

_________________
http://ie.youtube.com/user/dougsflutes
http://tippleflutes.com