The shop (and several other bits of my site including these forums) have been killed by a malicious script that someone else on the same server as me ran on his site. The new admin for my server were over-zealous in their elimination of the problem and have killed half my site at the same time. I'm not very impressed!

Anyway, the point is that I think I've fixed my site, but if you do get any errors where there are supposed to be pages then please let me know about it.

I'm just arranging to buy my own server, it's got to the point where this site is getting so many hits that it's the only practical way forward, and it will be a bit pricey but at least I won't have to suffer from the mistakes of others any more (only mine!).

Your own server?

Advantages:

- the word "mine"

Disadvantages:

- all updates
- all attacks
- starting out from zero
- malicious-ness
- more stuff
- other problems

Just my pinch of salt ... 't'swhat I think about it .... you know ... don't mind me ...

Yep, I'm aware of that, but it means that if it's sewn up nicely then hopefully I shouldn't have too many troubles and if something goes wrong then it's right there for me to fix, rather than sitting in a bunker in eastern USA!

/me waits for "Matazone Screwdriver" and "Mittens Soldering Kit" to appear in the shop

I'll help if I can ....

i would be the first to notice... the kittens game... in the large... it doesnt work...

Thanks Narth, that's sorted now. Anything else anyone?

I hope things are almost back to normal.

Just a heads up for the rest of you, but I managed to contract a virus from the Matazone hack - just some trojan downloaders and stuff. Fortunately nothing serious. But I say, "Virus check!" to you all.

Ahhh, would this explain why my computer had a spaz attack yesterday? I've only just got broadband back by reinstalling my modem.

Only I can't get on to Outlook and I need it for work and it's had me stumped all day?

Ive been getting alot of trouble from trojans as well after logging on here, it was messing my computer up yesterday
very annoying

Yes, i believe this computer got a trojan virus from matazone too yesterday, or whatever day that was. I was trying to track it down to be sure but I couldn't quite do that.. Then i was gonna send a message about it to warn people on the forums but by then, whoops, the forums were down.

The virus appears to be a relatively new one, or active one. You should check for recently created files in your windows directory:

C:\WINDOWS\dl.exe
C:\WINDOWS\dlm.exe
C:\WINDOWS\winupd.exe
C:\WINDOWS\sxchost.exe

There may be others too..

There is some information here about removal, in theory:
http://www.computercops.biz/postt31186.html

Also, the reason you got infected (through a simple webpage) is because of wonderful microsoft. Be sure to do your updates:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Ok, think that's all I've got.. good luck.

-cm

Oh yea, forgot. Might be good if you specially flag this thread, or do some kinda site wide announcement about it. I think anyway.. This may be a widespread problem for all the forumers.

-cm

Before everybody goes mental about viruses, it is at least 'highly unlikely' that any trojans came from this site. Until proven otherwise, it is safer to assume you did NOT get it here. Indeed it is difficult to get a virus off a web site. Spyware, yes. Not here though. Everybody please be cool.
People normally get viruses at the same time because viruses suddenly flourish of their own accord, an spread by their own means, almost NEVER via a website. The problem mata mentions here has been a local script on a server, not a virus. Biiiiig difference.

Coconut Monkey. At the risk of my being wrong (I sincerely doubt it), please refrain from this type of alarmist bs, you're putting the wind up people who know even less than yourself. And read the stuff you're posting. The links you mention both say it's spyware, normal spyware. The type you get when you dowload any old crap from any old popup that comes your way, or what yo may get off kazaa. Any of you use kazaa? I'm betting you all do.

There is no relationship established between the scummy stuff you have found on your pc and matazone. There isn't even a relationship between what you speak and Microsoft (and god knows we'd prefer them to be guilty)

Do you work for an antivirus company?
Do you sell cheap and shifty spyware programs?
You sound like you do, but I'm sure you don't. Breathe in deeply and investigate before launching these hysterical hoax calls.


*mumbles* ... it really pisses me off ... honestly ... these people ....


post edited to rant at coconut



Snugglebum: *waves* .... go to http://www.lavasoftusa.com and find the non-pro version of adaware. Install it. Update it. Run it. Praise it.
It is but one of many solutions, but it will help.


post edited again to help snugglebum the D

*really wishes she knew more about computers*

You're a wonderful person.

*huggles*

i'm clean.....on a seperate note, does anyone get those messenger service popups and not know how to get rid of them? i was plagued by them once....turns out its an easy fix

Got that trojan too. And Norton Antivirus - "we couldn't solve the problem. Ya wanna quarantine it?"

Anyone know if there exists better than Norton? I had to scan the upstairs computer for spyware again...and we deleted Kazaa, too. Stupid Incredifind.
I haven't seen anything on this site, but I've come to not like XML because of all the errors caused by it on other sites....

excuse me, pab, but read the four messages above mine. it's not like i'm the only one.

the virus appeared on this computer and was mostly caught by norton. it came up at the moment i was trying to connect to the matazone front page, and matazone was the only page i was viewing. the files it saved to the windows directory were all timestamped to the minute i tried connecting to matazone.

There are no spyware 'enhanced' programs, such as kazaa, on this computer. And viruses and trojans and the like very much -can- come from hacked or purposely malicious websites, as there are numerous windows / IE exploits out there that can do this. -Microsoft- admits this is the case and tells everybody they should always keep their updates, you know.. Up To Date. If you do not patch your system to fix the older security holes, you are especially vulnerable. If you do patch your system, you still may be vulnerable to the exploits that they haven't fixed yet or made public.

I'm by no means alarmist. There is plenty of evidence pointing to this possibility and no reason to not be cautious.

.. and no, guy, i don't work for some lame antivirus company or whatever you're talking about. but i have a comp-sci degree which might suggest i'm not some clueless noob, kay?

trying to help..
-cm

*does a little dance to distract people from arguing*





*wonders if it's working*

Don't worry snuggles dear, nobodys arguing. I'm saying "dont be alarmist" and coconut is saying "I'm not being alarmist, my evidence points in the right direction" which is fair enough ...

Well, I'd be amazed if this is the case here, but I've been amazed before. Besides, documentation provided still says spyware ... I'm sure we'll be getting some facts about it shortly ...


edited (because i always do) to add:

The timestamp thing and time coincidences (meaning 'that coincide') should be taken with care. A virus will land, THEN activate , THEN (maybe) duplicate itself ... and i'm sure these can be at different times ... like I said ... I'll wait for more facts ...

People, please, there's no point in arguing about this. Maybe the virus came from here, more likely that it didn't, but it doesn't really matter now that the server's fixed. I don't think anyone here is trying to deliberately cause anyone trouble. Everyone just run your antivirus and antispam software and take care of the problem, and let's keep the thread on-topic, shall we? Mmmkay, thanks, bye.

...and *who's* getting hysterical?

geeze pab, you're acting like cm accused mata of creating a virus and sending it to everyone!

and how is it "safer to assume" that the trojan didn't come from here? i always heard "better safe than sorry" not "better to ignor possiblities you don't like". it's not like cm's concerned post *with a solution to the problem included* is going to cause a mass panic that'll shut down the site!

also, i'm no computer genius. but it seems to me that trojans and spyware do pretty much the same thing- they get onto your computer and do stuff without your knowledge. "a rose by any other name" by my way of thinking.

once again. i don't know much about computers. cm does. he saw a problem, found a reasonable answer, and shared it with others who may be affected. that doesn't make him an alarmist, that makes him a nice guy.

btw, great way to welcome a new member!

now how's about you boys kiss and make up?


edit: just saw your post missy, sorry. S'allright. -MissyA

alright alright alright ... mountains ... molehills ... but okay .. fine ...

I thought I already did but :

*kisses coconut* ... but I'm not making out with him ... oh 'make up' okay:

*kits self out like eddie izzard and goes out on the town with coconut, buying most of the drinks*

the things one does in this place ...


*takes pills* .... * quivers lightly* ...

somthing i noticed whil the site was down when i tried to veiw it in the little bar at the bottom where at this point says "done" mid opening the matazone main page had "downloading so-and-so (cant remimber what it downloaded i deleted them all right after)" and then the main page wouldnt open....

I'm with Pab on the extreme unliklyness of spyware coming from this site...It is possible... but more unlikly then elvis being alive.

Spyware - Gathers information about you, and sends it to someone without your knowlage....

Trojan - one thing bundled as another (hence the name : Trojan Horse)

Oh and Mata, if I can be of any assistance in the setup of your nice shiney new server (should you go that route) then I offer my services (limited thou they may be)

Thanks for the offer DI, I've got Mr Fuzzy on my side when it comes to that kind of stuff. He's set up a server before and he generally knows what he's doing when it comes to security so I'm hoping that this will solve some of the problems.

As for what may or may not have been turning up on people's computers after accessing this site when the code had been run on it, I really can't say. I use Adsubtract to get rid of pop-ups, banners and that kind of thing. I'm really no specialist when it comes to what is and isn't possible from a website being hacked, but because of this I tend to virus scan my machine at least once a week and I remove spyware and malicious cookies generally three or four times a week, if not more. Even with blockers on sometimes things can get past.

Until recently I was using Norton Internet Security, but I've had so many problems with the 2004 edition and so little decent support from Norton (essentially 'No, there are no problems with our software at all, that it keeps on telling you to reinstall it once a week is not a software bug and is not our problem.') so I've now gone over to Trend Micro's software, which seems to be updated very frequently and I'm very happy with it.

If anyone wants to check their PCs then you can scan your machine from their site:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Apparently there is a war/competition on at the moment between two virus writing groups to see who can infect the most machines. Which is probably why for the first time in all my years online I got infected a few weeks ago. Netsky had only just come out and there wasn't any antivirus software detecting it. Bah.

LGG and the spacehopper in large view isn't working for me. Medium is fine though.

Maybe its only for me, but in the FAQ bit the first frame doesnt have anything in it.
And I'm guessing thats where the question/answers are supposed to be. Dunno.

Thanks, I've now fixed both of those. The animation page error was definitely cause by the hack on my site, I'm not sure about the FAQ page, but I assume that was also caused by the same thing.

Now that you've fixed that lgg one, I noticed today that the rest all have that same problem in the large version.

Thanks, I've reuploaded all the 'big' pages, so hopefully they should all be working again now.

Besides using ad-aware, you should also use spybot s&d. They sometimes find spyware that the other didn't find. You should update immediately and try to keep the updates...up...to date. Anyway, try using them weekly.

http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download

Also, try using alternated browsers. Internet Explorer is one of the worst browsers out there (as far as security). I personally love Mozilla and use Mozilla Firefox. It's a small download and is the most basic. You have a lot more options with the regular Mozilla but I don't need them. Read up before you choose. On another note, Mozilla isn't guaranteed to work on every site. I've never found a site it hasn't worked on yet and I do a lot of surfing. Even so, you can always just resort to IE for that one site. Mozilla comes with its own pop-up blocker and the tab browsing is awesome. Tab browsing is a little hard to explain but if you're a neat freak that wants everything organized, you'll love it. If you like to be messy, you don't have to use it (the tabs, not Mozilla).

http://www.mozilla.org/

For those of you that don't like Norton or just don't have the money, try avg anti-virus. You'll have to update that as well. It's the best you can get for free.

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

By the way, all of these are free downloads and aren't that big (I use dial-up). I just wanted to share my knowledge with others. I hope this didn't sound too much like an advertisement.

Firebird is nice but the original Mozilla is far more powerful and has a mail reader (with excellent spam blocking) and IRC client. Like Firebird it supports tabbed browsing (try it, you wont go back) but cos the mail client is more tightly integrated you can tell it to open links from emails in a new tab and stuff.

Just my 0.02

Downtime yesterday/today: Apparently the server this site currently resides on was having troubles with Apache going manky. We'll quite probably have some downtime in the next day or two as things flee that server to claim asylum on a new one. From that point on when things break it'll probably be my fault.

... Which of course shouldn't be too often Hopefully....

The current hosting company previously had said that they would give me a refund for hosting time that I wasn't going to use, unfortunately the old manager of that company has been taken ill and the new people don't want to honour that agreement which will leave me considerably out of pocket. Put it this way, the refund would have covered the entire cost of upgrading one machine to a server, the new PC and a few month's hosting so we're not talking about a small amount here!