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Bebo Private Mail Virus - HELP NEEDED PLEASE!!!

Last post Fri, Oct 31 2008, 4:09 PM by testydonkey. 3 replies.
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  •  Fri, Oct 31 2008, 12:50 PM

    Bebo Private Mail Virus - HELP NEEDED PLEASE!!!

    Hi

    Hoping someone out there might be able to help me or offer some advice.

    A couple of nights ago I recieved a private mail message from someone on my friend list through my bebo account. When I clicked on the link it appeared to be a video, and being as we had both been at a party, at the weekend, a couple of nights earlier I tried to open it thinking it would be something from the party. A box came up asking me to download ActiveX, which I presumed was just an update so I continued. i never suspected anything because this mail appeared to come from a friend of mine.

    My computer is now infected with some viruse (trojans, spyware, worm?????). Being a total computer novice this is my nightmare. ive not got a clue how to fix this. If I buy some anti-virus software will it clean the virus and spyware off my machine and protect it in future? i havent used the computer since and am pretty terrified someone will get hold of my internet bank details etc....

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    Cheers

    L

    • Post Points: 20
  •  Fri, Oct 31 2008, 1:58 PM

    Re: Bebo Private Mail Virus - HELP NEEDED PLEASE!!!

    Hi,

    Well let me first of all say you did the right thing in being wary to use the computer since you contracted this virus. It's a particularly troublesome one and has forced Bebo to start using Image login protectors.

    But there's no reason to panic, this sort of trojan/worm is quite easy to deal with. I work in Banking Software and so we have to deal with these kind of threats a lot.

    Having said that, i wouldn't worry about it nabbing your banking details. Usually these things ask you to enter details in a form to steal the data from you.

    The first thing you need to do is download a good antivirus application. The good news is you don't necesarily have to pay for one. Avast! Home Edition antivirus is a very good antivirus and is available free for non commercial users from their website. Just google it. Also, AVG antivirus is another well respected free antivirus.

    Once you've installed any antivirus application will normally ask you to restart your computer and it will schedule a boot time scan of your system. Hopefully this will get rid of it for you.

    It would be useful also for you to contact your friends on Bebo and warn them that they might have received a private mail from yourself with a link to the same site, as the virus hijacks your address book in Bebo, this should help stop it spreading to all of the people you know who use Bebo.

    Lastly, there's one good thing you can do to protect your data if you store bank details on your computers hard disk. Encrypt the files. This is easily done in Operating Systems such as Windows XP or Vista. Simply right-click the file with your sensitive data in it, and select "Properties". Then select the button for Advanced, then select "Encrypt contents to secure data". Select OK, then Apply, and that should protect you from people hacking into your files.

    I would also recommend you install a firewall if you have not already done so. This is essential to protecting your internet connection. You can use the built-in Windows firewall if you use XP or Vista, and there are plenty of guides on the internet to using free or paid for firewalls.

    Hope this helps.

    Mrstella

    • Post Points: 20
  •  Fri, Oct 31 2008, 3:19 PM

    Re: Bebo Private Mail Virus - HELP NEEDED PLEASE!!!

    thanks very much for the advice mrstella. i'll give it a try over the weekend. fingers crossed it works!!!
    • Post Points: 20
  •  Fri, Oct 31 2008, 4:09 PM

    Re: Bebo Private Mail Virus - HELP NEEDED PLEASE!!!

    Download AVG, its 100% free and they have daily virus updates.
    • Post Points: 5