[dba-Tech] Compromised Internet Explorer?

John Bartow john at winhaven.net
Thu May 5 10:02:29 CDT 2005


Steve,
Sounds like you've run the gamut! In really bad cases (I've got two sitting
here now) I run multiple Spyware detectors (after the initial Trend-Micro,
MS-AS) and then manually remove the detections (if the free version won't do
it). Panda, CA, X-Cleaner, Norton, F-Secure, Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, Webroot,
CheckPoint(Zone Alarm), Aluria. Can all be run one at a time (or many at the
same) so I just do that while I'm working on other things.

Have you booted into safe mode and tried resetting the windows update
settings as the administrator account? Also try the repair feature of IE.
Turn off the software firewall and set the IE settings back to the defaults.
(I'm assuming you're behind a router/HW firewall.) Try running the updates
after that. Also try a registry optimizer on it if you have one. Systemworks
or Vcom, etc. or try http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/default.asp if you
don't.

You could also download the updates from another PC using the Windows Update
Catalog. I used to make CDs of all the updates once a month or so and then
use the CD with dial-up customers. It was kind of putsy but better than
waiting for dialup downloads (Thankfully most of my customers have DSL now!)

Another possible issue - NAV 2005 has some major quirks about it. Up until
2004 it was my top recommendation for home users (or NIS) but I have run
into many issues with it and unfortunately Symantec's answer always seems to
come down to "uninstall all Symantec software and re-install". I would
suggest uninstalling it. I suggest, if its OK with your friend, that you try
AVG or another free for personal use AV. For home users I now recommend
AVG/Sygate personal firewall and MS-AS (which I don't care for but hey, its
free and it works pretty good).

Anyway, there's my 2 scents...

John B.


-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Steve Erbach
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2005 8:55 AM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: [dba-Tech] Compromised Internet Explorer?

Dear Group,

I'm working on a PC that belongs to my wife's best friend. I've gone through
all the standard routines: Trend Micro Housecall on-line virus check,
Windows System File Checker, update to Windows XP SP2, download and install
Windows Anti-Spyware Beta, Gibson Research SpinRite 6, update Ad-Aware SE
and run it, and even repair the Windows XP installation. My only concerns
with this system are: 1) that Norton Anti-Virus 2005 doesn't start properly
and I don't have the lady's installation CD; 2) that the ZoneAlarm Pro
subscription expired almost two years ago; and 3) that the Windows Update
site doesn't work.

Regarding #3, When I get to the page that says that it checks for the latest
version of the Windows Update software, there is a flurry of "activity" in
that the progress bar in IE 6 goes all the way to 100%...but the "checking
for latest version" screen doesn't go away.
My suspicion is that IE itself is compromised.

I used an XP SP2 upgrade CD that I have, hoping that it would take care of
the problem. But after I ran Belarc Advisor and saw that a good dozen of the
Windows security updates had NOT been installed, I went to the individual
Microsoft KB articles on the upgrades and clicked on the links to get the
security update...and each time I was directed to the Windows Update page
where it doesn't go past the "Checking for the latest version of the Windows
Update software..."
stage.

For what it's worth, this copy of IE is "branded" with the original ISP that
the lady signed up with, ComCast. I see that logo in the upper right-hand
corner of the IE window instead of the Windows logo.

Something is stopping this PC from being updated in the normal way. I have
also set the automatic updates option, but when I open the Security Center,
it shows that the automatic updates option has not been configured. If I
click on 'Turn on automatic updates,' I see
this:

"We're sorry. The Security Center could not change your Automatic Updates
settings. To try changing these settings yourself, go to System in Control
Panel. On the Automatic Updates tab, select Automatic (recommended), and
then click OK."

Needless, to say, that's how I tried to change the setting. If I go to
System and look at the Automatic Updates tab, first of all it takes FOREVER
for the Automatic Updates tab to actually show its information. Last night I
waited it out. Several minutes went by and then I saw the Update
information. It was set to Automatic Updates, but I wanted to change the
time that it would check for updates. So I changed it to 11:00pm and clicked
Apply. I had to wait another interminable time before I could click OK.
We're talking 20 minutes or so in total for those two simple acts: click the
Automatic Updates tab and Apply the new setting.

Clearly something is compromised. If it's Internet Explorer then, what? Do I
have to re-install Windows from scratch? I would recommend doing that to
this lady since the drive is formatted as FAT32, not NTFS....but, like, I've
spent way too much time on this already.

Anybody ever see anything like I've described?
--
Regards,

Steve Erbach
Scientific Marketing
Neenah, WI
www.swerbach.com
Security Page: www.swerbach.com/security
_______________________________________________
dba-Tech mailing list
dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com
http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech
Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com




More information about the dba-Tech mailing list