Solved continual battle with bots and malware every few months

[Layback Bear]

Good find cottonball.

Nice to see you back on the 7 forum.

Jack

 

[cottonball]

Just a casual cruiser, LB!

 

[sdowney717]

Looks as if the malware issue was resolved as of 16 Jan 17:
What does this mean in Qoobox?, note 2017 entries. - Virus, Trojan, Spyware, and Malware Removal Logs

Yes, it has been running well again for now.

No more weird not genuine message on the desktop.
One symptom, I would be watching full screen streaming netflix video, the task bar would appear.
Then if you minimize Chrome, the non genuine message would be on the desktop which when I went to system, it would say at the activation status, 'NA" and then in a moment switch to genuine-activated with the genuine logo tag. It would happen frequently enough I took to leaving up the system page. But even that would sometimes fail to keep it from happening.

Other was massive hard drive activity which could get so bad the PC would become totally non responsive and only fix was to unplug from the wall which made me think bot like activity and Cox had in the past sent me emails warning a pc on my network was exhibiting bot like activity.

These emails were from early 2016, I had been tolerating the problems a long time and finally i decided I had enough.
Cox likely did not know what exactly to call these malwares they must have noticed unusual bot like activities..
Combofix always fixed the problems, maybe for a few months even, , but the problems always came back.

Messages from Cox

Dear Subscriber,



Cox has identified that one or more computers/ devices behind your cable modem may be infected with the FakeSecSen or "Spy Sheriff" Virus. A device behind your cable modem appears to have connected to a command and control server affiliated with this malware.



Viruses can take control of your PC and gather your personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers, putting your data at risk



The following FREE security tools could help you detect and remove infections from your systems:

The Microsoft Safety Scanner

Access Denied



Norton Power Eraser

Norton Power Eraser | Free Tool | Easily remove scamware that traditional virus scanning can’t detect.

Dear Subscriber,



Cox has identified that one or more of the computers behind your cable modem are likely infected with the Zeus Trojan/bot, also known as Zbot.

While this malicious software is not new, it still poses a great risk to your computer and files that reside on your hard drive.



Zeus malware uses keylogging in order to access user names and passwords and infected over 13 million computers worldwide.



We recommend you take the following action:



1. Visit the Microsoft or Symantec website, download and run the FREE removal tool:



Access Denied



Access Denied



After running the free Microsoft removal tool, if you already have security software installed on your system:

2) Follow your security software's instructions to download the latest updates (also known as "virus definitions")

3) When the new definitions have been loaded, perform a full virus scan on your system.



Cox Security Suite Plus powered by McAfee is included FREE with your Cox High Speed Internet service. This software can be used to help protect up-to 5 devices in your home, including Windows and Mac OS computers, and Android and Apple tablets and smartphones.

To get started, simply browse to Cox Communications - Residential Home and login with your Cox primary User ID and Password.

If you already have an Anti-virus solution installed, you should refer to your software manual before installing the Cox Security Suite.