Trojan war
Something very scary happened to me this week. OK, not to me - to my computer - which I unhealthily consider an extension of myself. My first clue was when the Internet blocked my IP address and therefore my outgoing email. Specifically, the Composite Blocking List. No, I didn’t know what it was either - and I hope you never have to find out.
The CBL identifies and blocks the IP addresses of computers that send spam. Apologies if you received spam from any of my email addresses over the last week; I’m really not trying to sell you Viagra. The CBL told me I had a high volume spam sending trojan. The horror.
I’m very careful about Internet downloads and email attachments. I have had Norton on my laptop since I bought it, have it on the highest settings, use a firewall, do weekly full system scans, regularly update my virus definitions, and pay a not inconsiderable annual fee for the service. Imagine my surprise, then, to discover that standard anti-virus software such as Norton rarely detects something as serious as a trojan that could disrupt my business to the point of ruin. I mean, what is the bloody point?
I now know more than I ever wanted to about finding and removing trojans - and have successfully located and quarantined the vile spambot. The best advice I can offer if you’re ever in the same position is to use a marvellous piece of software called TrojanHunter to force out even tough, hidden, ground-in stains from your hard drive.
So, I’m now delisted from the CBL, I can send email again, and my system is clean. But it has set Project Jon back a few days, so I now have to work the bank holiday instead of taking some desperately needed time off. But, come Tuesday, I shall be doing something completely different…
2 Comments
Jamie
Wednesday, 15th October 2008 at 3:17 pm
Huh, just going through exactly the same process. I never knew about CBL lists until this week. I look forward to seeing the back of them.
Jon Reed
Wednesday, 15th October 2008 at 4:18 pm
Ugh, it’s grim, isn’t it? Actually, I have an even more annoying follow-up: although I think I did have virus problems, the main problem seems to have been BT.
They have a new policy, which they didn’t bother to tell me about, of automatically blocking any non-BT email accounts sent down their wires. Now, I have many different email accounts apart from btinternet.com, which I never use. That always used to be fine. Not any more, and there’s a complex unblocking and verification procedure to go through. CBL notwithstanding, I should have known that only your ISP can block your outgoing mail (presumably by listing it in CBL themselves).
Oh, and Norton? It’s vile. Worse than any virus. It’s stopping all my software from working properly. I’m having it removed, and AVG installed instead.
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