Helaine Gets Infected

As is nearly always the case this virus came while antivirus software was present! I don’t blame Helaine but it’s nearly certain she clicked on something that looked OK but wasn’t.

Helaine’s computer is infected. AVG Antivirus says it’s called “Defiler.” It removed it and cleaned the wound… or so it said.

The first tipoff was computer’s inability to update the AVG signature files. That’s a trick today’s smart viruses frequently use. I just did some minor surgery to the registry, rebooted and voila–updates are working.

I really don’t know how much more infection is there. Undoubtedly just removing a file doesn’t fix everything.

As is nearly always the case this virus came while antivirus software was present! I don’t blame Helaine but it’s nearly certain she clicked on something that looked OK but wasn’t. It happens. Social engineering is a huge part of virus propagation.

If things still aren’t 100% up-to-speed I’ll backup her data, reformat and reload. Life goes on.

2 thoughts on “Helaine Gets Infected”

  1. I have also used the previously mentioned apps, but for antivirus, I swear by Avira Antivir. I have used it for years,and it has a great detection and removal rate. Also doesn’t leave a large footprint.

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