Thread: Viruses and Worms Infection

My computer is infected with a worm called 'Tracking Cookies'. The first time Norton Antivirus discover the problem, I "fixed" the problem and deleted the infected cookies one by one manually. However, each time I go online, the Tracking Cookies appear again, no matter how many times I try to fix the problem through Norton. The cookies infected have also doubled. Should I try deleting all the cookies or just the ones infected?

My thumbdrive is infected by Trojan. It also appear again no matter how times I scan the drive. The virus seems to come from files I saved from my friend. Should I delete them all? My class assignments are in the drive too. The college computers are infected by viruses, and my classes require the use of computers often. What kind of precaution should I take?

I checked the Symantec web site just in case there was really a worm called "Tracking Cookies", but there isn't. Just this:
http://www.symantec.com/security_res...524-99&tabid=1

What Norton AV is telling you is that there are cookies that were placed by some websites you visited, and a few of those identify you to those and other sites so that your web browsing can be tracked. This is often the case with advertisements, so they can tell how many ads and what type you've seen. That's it, it's not a risk to your computer just to your privacy. They don't spread like a worm or virus. Just clear those cookies every once in a while. If Norton won't do it for you, you can do it yourself.

You might try running another product to clear your cookies for you instead of doing it manually. There are loads of such programs out there. I sometimes use ccleaner, which is not the easiest to use but it gives control over which cookies to clear and which to keep for sites I actually visit (like this forum). Some cookies you probably want to keep are for storing settings and logins, so if you clear everything you might need to re-personalize some sites. I'm sure someone could suggest easier-to-use cookie cleaning programs out there.

I don't know about this trojan on your thumb drive or your friend's documents. What is it called? If it's really malware then yes probably you should delete the infected ones unless you know there's no problem with them. If it's small and not too private, try uploading the file to the online virustotal.com scanner and see what it says. And tell your friend to scan his/her computer.

Precautions to take? It sounds like you're doing okay so far just being aware of the problem and using a virus scanner regularly. Keep doing it. Don't let anything into your home computer unscanned. In fact, consider using a second on-demand scanner for another opinion (I use clamwin for this, occasionally virustotal.com). Also, call your school's tech support and report computers with viruses. Need a virus scanner that can be run from your thumb drive? Try Clamwin Portable.

Edit-- P.S. keep backups in case your school computer shreds your homework.
P.P.S. You can look at using an ad blocker with your browser. That will prevent some of these cookies

Try to install Nod32 antivirus or kaspersky antivirus and superantispyware. Create a partition so that you can back up your files in other drive, when you really need to reformat your PC