Fake Virus Alerts, Browser Hijacking (Firefox and IE11) Using Windows 7

"What I was talking about is the direct integration of Internet Explorer into the operating system itself as a portion of the Windows Shell and other critical system components.  This is how earlier versions including Windows XP with IE6 were designed, which led to technical issues.."

Rob, actually I was referring to integration into Windows. It's never occurred to me that "being part of Windows" could mean included, or bundled, with it. Interesting point! Not to drag this out, but I'm pretty sure it was still integrated until 10. I recall reading tidbits about this exciting new OS Microsoft was developing and reading the great news.. at last they were de-integrating ? it from Windows. I have 7 on my desktop and 10 on my notebook. I'm sure you've probably noticed, on Win10 start menu IE is now listed under Windows Accessories?

I realize XP is history. I was using it as an example that the original installation hasn't always been the most secure. Thing is, the average user isn't going to bother to configure it to make it more secure. Win 7 and 10 are a great improvement, for sure.

I do consider privacy as a type of security. I believe MS sold out our privacy to the Federal government. What reason would they have for snooping in our emails, personal folders, basically everything? DYK they also included a keylogger in 10? Hmmm..... Google doesn't do all that. Apple refused to create a backdoor for the feds, if I recall, or whatever it was. I realize it's a trade-off, but they could have found a way to make it opt-in rather than opt-out. When user goes to use Cortana's features, they could have put up a message... in order to use this feature, you must first.. such and such, by going into Privacy settings and turning on these features. Yes, that could be complicated for some average user but so are a lot of things they should be aware of.

Rob, doesn't the SmartScreen just work with IE and Edge browsers?

"Microsoft will know everything about what you run and install, make the SmartScreen filter less desirable for many users." http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-disable-windows-smartscreen-in-windows-10/

I must comment on the HOSTS file topic again, only for clarification. It would serve no purpose at all, if it only blocked those static addresses. Don't you think those dynamic addresses are spawned from static addresses? In fact, I think it would prevent those tech support scam popups. Those are potential malware infections.

And as I told Chris earlier on, the instr. say to Stop the DNS Client Service and set it to Manual or Disabled startup, so it doesn't slow down the system. (It's bloated programs like Adobe Reader that really bog down a system, AND thankfully, MS finally left it out of Win10! I had to perform exorcism to get it off my Win7.) Have you checked out this page? http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/HOSTS.HTM

MVPS HOSTS now includes entries for most major parasites, hijackers and unwanted Adware/Spyware programs!

Started providing a HOSTS file in 1998 ... and proudly still the #1 rated HOSTS file on Google ..

Also, it's being maintained by the guy who created it. :) There's really nothing to keeping it updated, or even adding it your system. Download Hosts.zip. Unzip into a new folder on your desktop, for example. Run the batch file. Press any key. DONE. Delete folder.

HostMan could be added to your taskbar or pinned to Start menu as a tile. Takes seconds to update, and to add in the first place. You can also disable HOSTS file temporarily, if you think you need to.

Carol

Thanks, Carol!! You and Rob were really so helpful through this! I decided, after reading his last reply, to change our Windows Update setting back to automatic. Folks here had decided to turn it off when we kept getting the GWX pop-up, but never turned it back on. We had been manually updating every Monday (or so), but I really don't like that. Makes me nervous. When we're all back in the lab next week, I'm going to have a sit-down with the "big guns," and discuss possible changes (improvements!) to the way we manage these machines. I'm armed and dangerous now! :)

Thanks for the encouragement and "atta girl," Carol! Guess I'm not as dumb as I look! :)

Yep, the puppet shows should be a good time... But I think I'd rather sit at a computer! :)

Chris

So I confirmed it's Office 2010--yay. Checked for updates, got 3 error messages (rats!!), but then started downloading 1 of 185. They've been installing now  for over 2 hours. Have 18 to go...

I changed the update settings on two machines (#12 and the Instructor's) and will get input from the other folks regarding changing all of them. I believe we should...

More work tomorrow...

"What I was talking about is the direct integration of Internet Explorer into the operating system itself as a portion of the Windows Shell and other critical system components.  This is how earlier versions including Windows XP with IE6 were designed, which led to technical issues.."

Rob, actually I was referring to integration into Windows. It's never occurred to me that "being part of Windows" could mean included, or bundled, with it. Interesting point! Not to drag this out, but I'm pretty sure it was still integrated until 10. I recall reading tidbits about this exciting new OS Microsoft was developing and reading the great news.. at last they were de-integrating ? it from Windows. I have 7 on my desktop and 10 on my notebook. I'm sure you've probably noticed, on Win10 start menu IE is now listed under Windows Accessories?

I realize XP is history. I was using it as an example that the original installation hasn't always been the most secure. Thing is, the average user isn't going to bother to configure it to make it more secure. Win 7 and 10 are a great improvement, for sure.

I do consider privacy as a type of security. I believe MS sold out our privacy to the Federal government. What reason would they have for snooping in our emails, personal folders, basically everything? DYK they also included a keylogger in 10? Hmmm..... Google doesn't do all that. Apple refused to create a backdoor for the feds, if I recall, or whatever it was. I realize it's a trade-off, but they could have found a way to make it opt-in rather than opt-out. When user goes to use Cortana's features, they could have put up a message... in order to use this feature, you must first.. such and such, by going into Privacy settings and turning on these features. Yes, that could be complicated for some average user but so are a lot of things they should be aware of.

Carol,

Read the article I provided in the post where I made the comment you quoted, that covers the reasons why Internet Explorer's core components were separated from those used by Windows when that browser was released in some detail.  Internet Explorer hasn't been integrated with Windows since IE7 was released and so it's simply been bundled with the operating system since then.

What you misunderstood about the change with Windows 10 is that Internet Explorer has only been included there for legacy application support, primarily in business where it may be depended upon for support of ActiveX or other similar components which the Edge browser no longer supports.  This makes Edge much more secure by removing the potential risk that items like ActiveX can present by launching Internet delivered applications through the browser, which is why Microsoft has stated that they only included IE11 with Win10 for backward compatibility, primarily for legacy support of business applications as the following URL excerpt covers.

Lifecycle FAQ—Internet Explorer

What is the Lifecycle Policy for Internet Explorer?

*Windows 10 features Microsoft Edge, a faster, more productive way to browse the web. Microsoft recommends using Microsoft Edge as your default browser, and supports Internet Explorer 11 for backward compatibility.

The issues of privacy and security are separate concepts, which is why these are typically so confusing to consumers who have no training or true knowledge of either the technical or policy implications involved.  All of the technology companies have had various types of issues with privacy in their past, both bad and supposedly "good" where they've attempted to block what they believed was government overreach when customer data was requested for various reasons most typically relating to supposed terrorism or foreign attacks.

In the past, Microsoft was generally one of the least likely to use their collected data for monetary purposes, while Google has been doing this from the beginning.  Apple has a relatively good reputation for trying to keep data stored on their customers devices (i.e. iPhone, iPad) out of government hands, but had also been caught in the more distant past collecting data without customers permission or knowledge.

As I mentioned, Google is infamous to those in the industry for the additional software that's installed and the data collection it performs.  I tried this recently with my Google phone, which when I added a Gmail account installed all sorts of partially hidden software that was clearly collecting things I'd specifically told it not to.  Needless to say I uninstalled all of this, removed everything I could and then flushed and deleted the Gmail account as well.  The only reason I didn't reset the phone to factory is I intend to replace it in a few months.

Microsoft used to avoid using data for anything other then its core purpose, but since everyone else is using it now for advertising purposes, they've begun that as well.  That's what's got everyone up in arms, but they've still been known for refusing to provide customer information to the government, which all 3 have done at one time or another.

The reality is that unless Microsoft is successful in monetizing some of this information in a way that protects the PC owner himself, they won't remain in business for long since everyone expects everything today to be cheap or free.  The only way this can work is if money can be made by using the data, but at the same time avoiding giving any of that private data directly to anyone, which is a difficult balance to attain.

Apple as I mentioned has probably the best reputation recently, since its design attempts to keep most private data on the person's local device rather than in a cloud as with Google or Microsoft, but this is difficult since performing the analysis required for advertising requires computing power and significant storage.  That's why the great concern about securing the device, since when the government wants to gain access it's nearly always the Apple device to which they need access.

As with security, the issues behind all of this are difficult and often highly technical, while at the same time involved in the even more confusing realm of personal privacy and so the laws relating to this as they apply to US citizens or the citizens of other countries.  This is why these disagreements are often very involved and require the involvement of the courts to decide.

It's the lack of knowledge by consumers and the press though that results in articles about things like keyloggers.  As this ZDNet article states; Does Windows 10 really include a keylogger? (Spoiler: No)  But that doesn't stop others with even less knowledge from repeating such an outlandish claim or the gullible US public from believing them, since of course any article that repeats the same thing must be "real news", right?

To me, I'd rather either stay with Microsoft, since I know how they handle my data or possibly Apple if for some reason I can't, staying away from Google at all costs due to their checkered history with personal data privacy.

Rob