I received a email from my ISP, Insight Communication, stating that it appears that I have a "Botnet". I contacted my ISP and they said that a "good number" of Insight's subscribers have been affected by this "Botnet". They said that, for right now, it is just sending out spam. They said it that the "Botnet" appeared about 8 days ago on subscribers computers. The only advise Insight gave me was that I should reformat my hard drives.
My details:
Win 7 OS All Updates Current.
FireFox 3.6.15
IE 8
Thunderbird Email 3.1.9
avast Anti Virus 6.0.1, Updates Current
Comodo Firewall 5.3.1, Updates Current
Second Computer:
Win XP OS, All Updates Current
FireFox 3.6.15
IE 8
No Email
avast Anti Virus 6.0.1, Updates Current
Comodo Firewall 5.3.1, Updates Current
Router:
Linsky E1000 Updated Software. (Just got router a week ago)
Devises Connect:
Main Computer-Ethernet Cable
Second Computer-Ethernet Cable
Wii-Ethernet Cable
Dish VIP722k DVR-Ethernet Cable
Samsung BD C6500 Player-Ethernet Cable
X-Box 360-Wireless
After talking to Insight, I ran scans on both computers using the following security sofeware:
avast Anti Virus (Deep Scan and Boot Scan)
Norton's Security Scan
Spybot S&D
Malwarebytes' Anti Malware
RemoveIT ProV7 Ultra (Trial)
Windows Live Onecare Security Scanner
All scans came back clear except for the following items that were flagged:
On the avast Bootscan, references to "Java" were flagged as a "Low" risk.
On the Spybot S&D scan, one Doublclick Cookie was Flagged.
The 3 users of the computers are my wife, my 25yo son, and myself. Now my wife uses it to just surf the web. She's not very computer savvy so I'm not 100% sure she didn't click on a pop up. She doesn't use her email, so I know she didn't open a infected email.
My son...well he's a 25yo, who's not real computer savvy either. He tends to surf, let's say, the "Dark Side" of the web. It's very possible he clicked on a porn pop up, but if my avast reacted to it, I think he would have clicked "stop" or "denied" ...but I can't be 100% sure he didn't proceed. Also he downloads a lot of "free" games and game trials and spends a lot of time on Youtube, so again, he's probably my weakest link. He doesn't do email on the computer, but he does have an X-Box Live account where he receives and sends email via Gmail and downloads from Netflix.
None of us have Facebook or Myspace accounts...if that really matters.
Anyway, I'm at a lost! I need some help here. Reformatting the HDD on the second computer isn't a problem. Basically, all that's on that HDD is the OS and my security software. This computer is uses are TV as it's monitor and we use it very rarely. But reformatting the HDD on my main computer would be a drag. I have a lot of programs on there and it would really be time consuming. If that what I have to do to both HDDs I will, but only if that my last recourse.
How can I be sure that Insight knows what they are talking about? In the 15 years I've been with them, they're not the sharpest around. Is it possible that the breach was on their part? Could their system have been "hacked" into? Or could it only have been something that was done in my house?
If it was something that came from my house (someone here caused the breach), why would a large number of other Insight subscribers be infected also? We all did the same wrong thing? Plus, I have used avast for years and it's never let me down before...
If anyone out there can offer me some suggestions or help it would be greatly appreciated. Really, I need help with this and any clarification as to how this happen and how do I get rid of it? As a precaution for now, I've been disconnecting the two computers from the router whenever I'm not on my computer. Oh, BTW, I shut down my computer at night or whenever it's not going to be used for a long time. Don't know if that helps with viruses, just knows it helps save electricity and reboots the memory. I have Voange so I have to that connected to the Internet, and my son's X-Box is still connected via wireless.
Thank you in advance to anyone who has taken the time to read this and help me out.
Ghpr1313
My details:
Win 7 OS All Updates Current.
FireFox 3.6.15
IE 8
Thunderbird Email 3.1.9
avast Anti Virus 6.0.1, Updates Current
Comodo Firewall 5.3.1, Updates Current
Second Computer:
Win XP OS, All Updates Current
FireFox 3.6.15
IE 8
No Email
avast Anti Virus 6.0.1, Updates Current
Comodo Firewall 5.3.1, Updates Current
Router:
Linsky E1000 Updated Software. (Just got router a week ago)
Devises Connect:
Main Computer-Ethernet Cable
Second Computer-Ethernet Cable
Wii-Ethernet Cable
Dish VIP722k DVR-Ethernet Cable
Samsung BD C6500 Player-Ethernet Cable
X-Box 360-Wireless
After talking to Insight, I ran scans on both computers using the following security sofeware:
avast Anti Virus (Deep Scan and Boot Scan)
Norton's Security Scan
Spybot S&D
Malwarebytes' Anti Malware
RemoveIT ProV7 Ultra (Trial)
Windows Live Onecare Security Scanner
All scans came back clear except for the following items that were flagged:
On the avast Bootscan, references to "Java" were flagged as a "Low" risk.
On the Spybot S&D scan, one Doublclick Cookie was Flagged.
The 3 users of the computers are my wife, my 25yo son, and myself. Now my wife uses it to just surf the web. She's not very computer savvy so I'm not 100% sure she didn't click on a pop up. She doesn't use her email, so I know she didn't open a infected email.
My son...well he's a 25yo, who's not real computer savvy either. He tends to surf, let's say, the "Dark Side" of the web. It's very possible he clicked on a porn pop up, but if my avast reacted to it, I think he would have clicked "stop" or "denied" ...but I can't be 100% sure he didn't proceed. Also he downloads a lot of "free" games and game trials and spends a lot of time on Youtube, so again, he's probably my weakest link. He doesn't do email on the computer, but he does have an X-Box Live account where he receives and sends email via Gmail and downloads from Netflix.
None of us have Facebook or Myspace accounts...if that really matters.
Anyway, I'm at a lost! I need some help here. Reformatting the HDD on the second computer isn't a problem. Basically, all that's on that HDD is the OS and my security software. This computer is uses are TV as it's monitor and we use it very rarely. But reformatting the HDD on my main computer would be a drag. I have a lot of programs on there and it would really be time consuming. If that what I have to do to both HDDs I will, but only if that my last recourse.
How can I be sure that Insight knows what they are talking about? In the 15 years I've been with them, they're not the sharpest around. Is it possible that the breach was on their part? Could their system have been "hacked" into? Or could it only have been something that was done in my house?
If it was something that came from my house (someone here caused the breach), why would a large number of other Insight subscribers be infected also? We all did the same wrong thing? Plus, I have used avast for years and it's never let me down before...
If anyone out there can offer me some suggestions or help it would be greatly appreciated. Really, I need help with this and any clarification as to how this happen and how do I get rid of it? As a precaution for now, I've been disconnecting the two computers from the router whenever I'm not on my computer. Oh, BTW, I shut down my computer at night or whenever it's not going to be used for a long time. Don't know if that helps with viruses, just knows it helps save electricity and reboots the memory. I have Voange so I have to that connected to the Internet, and my son's X-Box is still connected via wireless.
Thank you in advance to anyone who has taken the time to read this and help me out.
Ghpr1313