Thread: Spyware & or virus attack at stoptazmo.

Hi Guys,
Have any of you noticed that there seems to be some kind of spyware or virus at stoptazmo lately?
I was using windows XP, and a message kept apprearing in my lower right hand side tool bar notifying me that some kind of virus attack that had compromise the security of my computer, & that I was running the risk of having my confidential data stolen & possibly having my computer data lost.
It also suggested to download some kind of package to cope with the security breach.

I downloaded Adaware(free version) & although it removed lots of spyware from my pc, it could not solve my problem.
So I had my pc formatted & installed Windows 2000Pro in its place.

I visited stoptazmo `s website, & had the same attack again. although with Windows 2000Pro , I got a notification of the problem in a different way.
Had the notification appear in a few seperate mini windows in the middle of my window, there is the messenger service window informing me that Windows found critical erors,

I could not get these remoed.

Firefox or IE with google tool bar.
AVG anti virus free edition.
Spy bot search and destroy.
Intelligence.
This is all you need.

Oh and install XP again, XP is more secure than 2000, make sure to download all the microsoft updates aswell.

This will be Drivecleaner or one of its clones, like Winfixer. It's a persistent download malware advert, designed to get you to click on it to take you to their website where they will try and get money from you under false pretences. Clicking anywhere on their popup box activates the link; the close button and even the window close (the little "x" box) are not real, just part of the clickable popup image. The writers of this malware keep up with the virus checkers, rewriting their code to avoid the standard cleaning techniques. AVG, Adaware, symatec and MS Defender won't clean it out or block it. It downloads and runs under Firefox and most other browsers, not just IE.

The only thing I've found that works to block the SOBs is the HOSTS file hack, at least for W2k and XP. The malware writers morph domain names and IP addresses occasionally to avoid being blocked but the folks at:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/

keep their ad-blocking list up-to-date. Unfortunately for StopTazmo it also kills most other advertising pop-ups including the legit ones ST gets money from via click-throughs to help pay for bandwidth.

Read the info on that page, follow their instructions and you will block most if not all ad sites under W2k and XP. If you do get a Winfixer/Drivecleaner popup anyway, use Windows Task Manager to kill all your open browser windows immediately; the attempt to close the Winfixer window will cause a legit popup saying the malware is waiting for you to click on it, just force the close anyway. It's the only clean way out at that point; nothing else will work apart from a hard reset of your system.

98abaile is absolutely correct. Even though I dont use AVG as my antivirus protection. I use Avast Home Adition which is also completely free. =D

Can anyone tell me though why the heck the download speed on this site is so slow since they switched servers. Dang it is taking for ever for some of the files to download and I have 3 meg DSL connection. All the other dites are faster.

Originally Posted by 98abaile

Intelligence.
This is all you need.

Oh and install XP again, XP is more secure than 2000, make sure to download all the microsoft updates aswell.

I haven't used any anti-virus/anti-spyware software in years and I haven't got any virus yet.

Oh and remember that many people cannot update their Windows XP due to WGA checks.