Hurricane havoc

Got your own spyware horror story?

A year ago, my year-old PC went haywire. My hard drive had gone bad and the PC tech support had told me that a virus had very likely been the cause. (In retrospect, I realize that WinMX, free peer-to-peer (P2P) software, might have been the culprit.) So, I bought a new hard drive and new memory, and after reinstalling all of my software, my computer was better and faster than before.

One night not too long after, I decided to download a Christmas-themed screensaver to show off during the holiday season. That is when my PC went haywire for the second time. I received an ActiveX prompt asking me if I wanted to install something or other. I clicked "no." I had little idea at the time that rogue applications switched the options, so very shortly after, McAfee alerted me that my computer had a Trojan horse. Seconds later, my PC was attacked by drive-by downloads, where a variety of nasty software, including Virtual Bouncer and NoAdware, installed themselves on my computer. Then, of course, I began to receive pop-up window after pop-up window for every product and porn site known to humanity. My PC slowed down to a level of comatose, and I just sat there watching in horror as something not unlike a hurricane wreaked havoc on my PC.

I knew this had been my fault. I had antivirus software, but that was all. I had no firewall or antispyware to speak of. McAfee Antivirus does detect and remove spyware, so I decided to disable all of the startup software and reboot my PC in Safe Mode to scan and remove as many baddies as possible. McAfee detected more than 200 instances of malware, one virus, and two Trojan horses, all of which I removed. Some of the baddies, including Virtual Bouncer, reinstalled themselves shortly after, so I decided to do a System Restore.

Some of the malware disappeared, but others kept coming back. I installed Spybot - Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware SE Personal, Webroot Spy Sweeper, and CWShredder. The combination of those programs removed the remaining pests for good. Next, I installed Spyware Blaster and a firewall to my computer in addition to Windows XP Service Pack 2 for extra security. I no longer use Internet Explorer and have discovered the wonderful and much safer Firefox and Opera browsers. I also keep my Web surfing secure with the McAfee SiteAdvisor alert tool. I no longer use free P2P software. You can never be too careful nowadays. It's been over a year since that horrible episode and I'm still hoping that I'll never encounter a problem like that again!

-Mini
Massachusetts, USA

Reply from the Download.com editors:

You got it, Mini. P2P file sharing programs can spell big trouble, not necessarily because the program itself is spewing out destructive code, but because the sharing process, which requires you to trust the integrity of your peers' files, is an easy conduit for malware.

On top of being distributors of malware, P2P programs are being closed down, one by one, for legal reasons related to music copyright law. Though P2P is intrinsically harmless and has a huge beneficial potential, those who traffic in illegal content are causing many networks to be shut down. Users should approach P2P programs with caution and a full set of real-time protection, scanners, and cleaners at the ready. They also should keep an eye out for suspicious files that deserve their own virus scans.