Thursday, March 17, 2011

My Browser Keeps Redirecting Me


My Browser Keeps Redirecting Me - What Is Going On?
The Google redirect virus is the most common cause of search results being redirecting to web sites that are not relevant to your searches.
This is believed to be a sub form of the Alureon virus, which is very dangerous. At first it is annoying, but there are other more serious problems that need to be addressed as well.

Should I Be Afraid Of The Redirect Virus?
The Alureon rootkit trojan virus is very severe. It covertly sneaks onto your computer, and can be downloaded from a number of sources, but most commonly peer 2 peer sharing and torrent downloading sites.
It is very tricky as the rookit can easily sneak past your protection software and Windows alike. It then encrypts itself so that it is not easily detected by anti spyware, malware or virus software.
Once it has installed itself onto your PC or laptop, it can grant a snooping internet thief permission to get a hold of your personal files. They can sneak in by intercepting the communication that goes between your internet and
computer, and many times your DNS settings will even be changed.

My Browser Keeps Redirecting Me, But What Do I Do About It?
Unfortunately, once this rootkit has installed itself onto your machine, it attacks at a very deep level and disguises itself so that most of the time your anti virus scanners will not even notice it, and neither will Microsoft Windows.
It can cause programs to perform poorly, especially those responsible for keeping your computer safe from malicious threats such as this one.
It will affect how they update, and even worse - when you attempt to install a new program, chances are that you
will get an error or warning messages that states that the installer has been corrupter.
It can also cause communication problems between your key devices and your computer, making your mouse useless or your keyboard, although this does not always happen right away.
The sooner that you remove the redirect virus from your system the better, as it can over time allow other criminals to step inside your computer, plus the symptoms seem to get worse, making removal more difficult.
Because the Alureon virus is so well made and encrypted, it requires that you remove it piece by piece in a step-by-step method, and then use your anti virus software to clean up the rest.
The main issue that people have is not getting everything removed, and then rebooting their computer too soon, which causes it to reinstall upon start up.
It has the potential to allow someone to steal your priceless information, particularly data that you use to login to websites, including online banking.

New Trojan Threatens Mac Users


Traditionally, Mac PC users have been more secured from any Trojan virus or malicious software threat than the typical Microsoft Windows-based PC users. The reason has been the obvious difference between their nature of make and mechanism. Mac PCs work on Unix-based programming language while the Windows operating systems (OS) work on DOS. However, the security of Mac PCs seems to be at stake as a new variant of Trojan, which usually targets Windows-based PCs, has surfaced out of the blue to attack them thwarting Apple's old and highly popular tagline "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC".
The new Trojan is a version of darkComet, a well-established Windows-based remote access Trojan (RAT). The Trojan is called as BlackHole RAT or malware OSX/MusMinim-A (MusMinim). BlackHole RAT launches a full-screen window that bears a somewhat funny text message. See below
"I am a Trojan Horse, so i have infected your Mac Computer. I know, most people think Macs can't be Infected, but look, you ARE infected! I have full controll over your Computer and i can do everything I want, and you can do nothing to prevent it. So, I'm a very new Virus, under Development, so there will be much more functions when I'm finished"


Besides the above message, the full-screen window bears just a 'Reboot' button for a user to click and proceed. The message is surely intended to defame Apple's famous and long-running advertisement line and affect its increasing share in the OS market.
Reported by SophosLabs first,BlackHole RAT looks like a blend of English and German user interface version.


How dangerous is BlackHole RAT?
Despite being in the early development stage, BlackHole RAT can shoot random shell commands; place text documents on the desktop; give URLs access to a remote client to browse websites; open a false Administrator Password window for scam purposes; and send shutdown, restart, and sleep commands among others.
BlackHole RAT and other such Trojans are usually spread via torrent websites and pirated software downloads. So one, should be quite careful about not to run pirated software versions and explore unreliable websites.
BlackHole RAT is removable with Mac's updated antivirus software and does not seem to cause major problems if taken care of in time. However, it necessarily opens the platform for discussion that no OS mechanism is resistant to virus or malware threats. The new Trojan may diminish Macs' popularity; however, they still hold an edge over Windows-based OS at least in terms of security.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Common file extensions that are good to know


Text Files
.docMicrosoft Word Document
.docxMicrosoft Word Open XML Document
.logLog File
.msgOutlook Mail Message
.pagesPages Document
.rtfRich Text Format File
.txtPlain Text File
.wpdWordPerfect Document
.wpsMicrosoft Works Word Processor Document

Data Files
.csvComma Separated Values File
.datData File
.efxeFax Document
.keyKeynote Presentation
.ppsPowerPoint Slide Show
.pptPowerPoint Presentation
.pptxPowerPoint Open XML Presentation
.sdfStandard Data File
.vcfvCard File
.xmlXML File

Audio Files
.aacAdvanced Audio Coding File
.aifAudio Interchange File Format
.iffInterchange File Format
.m3uMedia Playlist File
.midMIDI File
.mp3MP3 Audio File
.mpaMPEG-2 Audio File
.raReal Audio File
.wavWAVE Audio File
.wmaWindows Media Audio File

Video Files
.3g23GPP2 Multimedia File
.3gp3GPP Multimedia File
.asfAdvanced Systems Format File
.asxMicrosoft ASF Redirector File
.aviAudio Video Interleave File
.flvFlash Video File
.movApple QuickTime Movie
.mp4MPEG-4 Video File
.mpgMPEG Video File
.rmReal Media File
.swfFlash Movie
.vobDVD Video Object File
.wmvWindows Media Video File

3D Image Files
.3dmRhino 3D Model
.max3ds Max Scene File

Raster Image Files
.bmpBitmap Image File
.gifGraphical Interchange Format File
.jpgJPEG Image File
.pngPortable Network Graphic
.psdAdobe Photoshop Document
.pspimagePaintShop Photo Pro Image
.thmThumbnail Image File
.tifTagged Image File
.yuvYUV Encoded Image File

Vector Image Files
.aiAdobe Illustrator File
.drwDrawing File
.epsEncapsulated PostScript File
.psPostScript File
.svgScalable Vector Graphics File
Page Layout Files
.inddAdobe InDesign Document
.pctPicture File
.pdfPortable Document Format File
.qxdQuarkXPress Document
.qxpQuarkXPress Project File
.relsOpen Office XML Relationships File

Spreadsheet Files
.wksWorks Spreadsheet
.xlsExcel Spreadsheet
.xlsxMicrosoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet

Database Files
.accdbAccess 2007 Database File
.dbDatabase File
.mdbMicrosoft Access Database
.pdbProgram Database
.sqlStructured Query Language Data

Executable Files
.appMac OS X Application
.batDOS Batch File
.cgiCommon Gateway Interface Script
.comDOS Command File
.exeWindows Executable File
.gadgetWindows Gadget
.jarJava Archive File
.pifProgram Information File
.vbVBScript File
.wsfWindows Script File

Game Files
.gamSaved Game File
.nesNintendo (NES) ROM File
.romN64 Game ROM File
.savSaved Game

CAD Files
.dwgAutoCAD Drawing Database File
.dxfDrawing Exchange Format File
.plnArchiCAD Project File

GIS Files
.gpxGPS Exchange File
.kmlKeyhole Markup Language File

Web Files
.aspActive Server Page
.cerInternet Security Certificate
.csrCertificate Signing Request File
.cssCascading Style Sheet
.htmHypertext Markup Language File
.htmlHypertext Markup Language File
.jsJavaScript File
.jspJava Server Page
.phpHypertext Preprocessor File
.rssRich Site Summary
.xhtmlExtensible Hypertext Markup Language File

Plugin Files
.8biPhotoshop Plug-in
.pluginMac OS X Plug-in
.xllExcel Add-In File

Font Files
.fntWindows Font File
.fonGeneric Font File
.otfOpenType Font
.ttfTrueType Font

System Files
.cabWindows Cabinet File
.cplWindows Control Panel Item
.curWindows Cursor
.dllDynamic Link Library
.dmpWindows Memory Dump
.drvDevice Driver
.lnkFile Shortcut
.sysWindows System File

Settings Files
.cfgConfiguration File
.iniWindows Initialization File
.keychainMac OS X Keychain File
.prfOutlook Profile File

Encoded Files
.binMacbinary Encoded File
.hqxBinHex 4.0 Encoded File
.mimMulti-Purpose Internet Mail Message File
.uueUuencoded File

Compressed Files
.7z7-Zip Compressed File
.debDebian Software Package
.gzGnu Zipped Archive
.pkgMac OS X Installer Package
.rarWinRAR Compressed Archive
.sitStuffit Archive
.sitxStuffit X Archive
.tar.gzTarball File
.zipZipped File
.zipxExtended Zip File

Disk Image Files
.dmgMac OS X Disk Image
.isoDisc Image File
.toastToast Disc Image
.vcdVirtual CD

Developer Files
.cC/C++ Source Code File
.classJava Class File
.cppC++ Source Code File
.csVisual C# Source Code File
.dtdDocument Type Definition File
.flaAdobe Flash Animation
.javaJava Source Code File
.mObjective-C Implementation File
.plPerl Script

Backup Files
.bakBackup File
.ghoNorton Ghost Backup File
.oriOriginal File
.tmpTemporary File

Misc Files
.dbxOutlook Express E-mail Folder
.msiWindows Installer Package
.partPartially Downloaded File
.torrentBitTorrent File