Lever action tutorial

[Mistered]

One question I have for all those concerned is how often do you reformat your computer(s) ?

[Ernie]

I clicked on the site when it was posted but as soon as I saw it was a movie I shut it down. It may have helped that I use a Mac?? Scary.

[cooperhawk]

I communicated with the server who was able to get me the new passwords the scammers
had actually put on the servers system.

Just wondering when you say you 'communicated with the 'server' - who or what was this exactly? Do you mean your ISP?

A 'server' is typically a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices and is not 'someone' (as say in customer service) you would talk to.

Just trying to help here and I am a little confused.

I talked to the ISP help line. You're getting pretty technical here. My ISP is Frontier and I was on a chat with them for an hour. The ransomeware had actually gone to the ISP and changed the passwords on it. Not just on my computer.

[PT7]

Easy to leave me in the geek-techie dust. I might get out of the trail dust on a galloping horse.

I don't know what "reformat your computer" constitutes. Maybe even more so nowadays using a Chromebook.

PT7

One question I have for all those concerned is how often do you reformat your computer(s) ?

[Mistered]

I don't know what "reformat your computer" constitutes

Simply put 'reformatting' a computer is 'erasing' the hard drive of all information - essentially starting out as new with nothing but it's OS and basic apps & programs loaded on it.

[CT_Shooter]

In my opinion, it is unlikely that Blaze intended to spread ransomware to our forum by linking to that movie. The hosting website is a highly popular, global video sharing service. However, as soon as I read about Coop's unfortunate experience, I Googled it and found that it has been known to contain malicious software in content uploaded by its users, so -- out of extreme caution -- I deleted the link.

For those who are curious about the hosting service...

Dailymotion is a French video-sharing technology platform primarily owned by Vivendi.[2] North American launch partners included BBC News, VICE, Bloomberg, and Hearst Digital Media.[3] Dailymotion is available worldwide in 25 languages and 43 localised versions featuring local home pages and local content. It has more than 300 million unique monthly users.[4]

[RanchRoper]

Too tech for me. If it doesn't whinny or go moo I lose interest real quick...

[JEBar]

Too tech for me. If it doesn't whinny or go moo I lose interest real quick...

well understood on being toooooo techie for me .... believe it or not, over the years we've found reliable electronic repair folks we and call on if/when needed while traveling ..

[Mistered]

it is unlikely that Blaze intended to spread ransomware to our forum by linking to that movie.

This is correct.

In and of itself the link is NOT ransomware, malware etc. Heck the movie started just fine for me.
However large, public sites such as this one can be 'breeding grounds' for potential problems if one is not cautious.

This shouldn't dissuade anyone from using a site such as DailyMotion, or any other site if it has content one is interested in.
Most of the time theses sites are used without any problems but as users start following links that are not necessarily part of the site, but are posted by members of the site, making comments, or posting other content is where the problems lie. In this case people will start following links to things they are interested in and it can 'snowball' from there.

The bottom line is the internet is as safe or as dangerous as the individual user makes it and it is important to always be vigilant and cautious - but not apprehensive or afraid.

[fortyshooter]

Big OUCH! Hope you folks get thru the hack OK. Where is blaze?

[Mistered]

Where is blaze?

Possibly nowhere as it is highly likely 'Blaze' is a BOT. The link he posted was irrational to his statement and he never 'introduced' himself as a new member - which is a 'red flag' as to the potential of him not being a 'real' person.

One forum I am on has BOTs 'join' regularly and the admins work hard to keep them to a minimum and their accounts deleted. Gun related forums are a popular targets for the antis with their attempts to disrupt and inhibit forum activity.

I recommend an admin delete Blazes' account. If he is a real person and wants to rejoin he can.

[dave77]

One question I have for all those concerned is how often do you reformat your computer(s) ?

Before Win7 I would usually reformat at least yearly. Heard it was not really necessary with Win7 and never reformatted it, after over 5 years it was getting a little slow and had some other small issues but I knew I was going to have to update to Win10 before support ended. I did reformat and did a clean install of Win10.

I do occasionally use Windows cleanup but have never used registry cleaners. Also scan regularly with the free versions of Super Anti Spyware (great for deleting tracking and ad cookies but leaving good cookies) and Malwarebytes along with having paid Bit Defender.

[dave77]

Forgot to mention this in my last post here based on what you said, Dave, about HRF as a trusted forum.

I've noticed that to the left of the web address the site's security status can be checked. When I'm on the HRF, mine shows "Not secure." Clicking on that tab a window opens stating what not to do in order to protect my computer from an attacker stealing info. I'm not certain as a user if there is something I can do to mitigate/adjust this status. There's always something...

PT7

Where's a good place to find instructions on setting up your computer and/or router to use specific safe DNS servers, I haven't had any issues but it sounds like if your not set up right it's just luck of the draw that you're safe from scammers.

I'm usually pretty careful about clicking on suspicious looking links but I guess when I'm on a trusted forum I don't really think twice about clicking on links. Maybe that wasn't the issue but if I had noticed that Blaze only had one post I probably wouldn't have clicked on his link.

Running Firefox, Henry's Forum shows as a secure connection, but I was thinking more along the lines that I kind of automatically trust that the users here wouldn't be posting any links to malware. I am also pretty trusting because I run decent anti-malware apps and keep current with Windows updates. In all my years of computing I've only been infected twice but the ransomware malware does scare me.

[CT_Shooter]

I set up my new router to access Google's Public DNS servers, too. They are much faster and safer than the ISP's default servers.

https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns

Both Windows and your router can be configured to use a specific DNS server. For example Google has several. That is what I have configured.

[JEBar]

Running Firefox, Henry's Forum shows as a secure connection, but I was thinking more along the lines that I kind of automatically trust that the users here wouldn't be posting any links to malware. I am also pretty trusting because I run decent anti-malware apps and keep current with Windows updates. In all my years of computing I've only been infected twice but the ransomware malware does scare me.

interesting, we run Firefox and ours shows as not being secure ..

[dave77]

Running Firefox, Henry's Forum shows as a secure connection, but I was thinking more along the lines that I kind of automatically trust that the users here wouldn't be posting any links to malware. I am also pretty trusting because I run decent anti-malware apps and keep current with Windows updates. In all my years of computing I've only been infected twice but the ransomware malware does scare me.

interesting, we run Firefox and ours shows as not being secure ..

I do get a message that Mozilla does not recognize the certificate issuer. It is verified by my security program.

[Ernie]

Too tech for me. If it doesn't whinny or go moo I lose interest real quick...

OR BANG!

[JEBar]

Too tech for me. If it doesn't whinny or go moo I lose interest real quick...

OR BANG!

repeatedly, off hand, at various ranges, with amazing accuracy ....

[Mags]

.
That relates back to the posts in the past few weeks where 'daytime dave' says we have an https certificate, but is not yet installed.

... I've noticed that to the left of the web address the site's security status can be checked. When I'm on the HRF, mine shows "Not secure." ...

[Mags]

.
That is likely if you are using your browser feature to save usernames and passwords for the websites you visit. I never use that feature built into the browsers. I'd rather take the extra time to manually login to sites that require logins. Once the scammer ransomware has that they can log into any site for which you have usernames/passwords saved by the browser.

... The ransomeware had actually gone to the ISP and changed the passwords on it. Not just on my computer.