finding the scum who sent me a trojan!@*!

helloI'mAnne · Nov 1, 2009

hi - tonight my (recently upgraded) AVG 9.0 informed me that it quarantined Trojan Generic 12 from my laptop (Dell Latitude (model?) - I'm running XP). From the log it appears that the little darling was found in IE, and it was detected at 8:10 pm. I read on infohq.com that it is possible to find a hacker's ISP address using either one's firewall program or other software like from network-tools.com. (supposedly if i have the IP address i can find the owner by using the whois function) However, my firewall is windows xp firewall and it isn't very sophisticated, evidently; it does not seem to offer any help finding any such information. i even looked at my web history but now that i'm obsessed with finding the *** who infected my baby, i can't seem to find out what website i was visiting at 8:10 pm. (i think i was reading chicagotribune.com) so:
1. is it at all possible for me to still find this creep?
2. even if not this time, is there a way to increase the odds of finding "him" if i get a trojan - or other virus? - the "next" time (god forbid)?
3. what other software etc should i be using to protect my laptop? i.e., i read that one shoudn't have more than about 1 virus protection software program loaded.
4. just for my info, do you know how this particular trojan is most often transmitted?
5. and perhaps most important of all: "LIKE," i'm a very altruistic person and spend time holding doors for the elderly, not to mention rescuing stray animals and so on ... however, even I am just dumbfounded at the idea that there are hundreds, or thousands, or more of you-all INSANE PEOPLE OUT THERE who actually give your time away, apparently by the mega-hours, reading postings by shnooks like me and bothering to give detailed answers to their/our problems-questions. THIS IS JUST AMAZING ... i am awed by the whole idea ... now i want to be a "hacker," but i'm too old ... just read Eric S Raymond about being a "hacker," and i'm fascinated ... THANKS to all of you nut-jobs!!

helloI'mAnne · Nov 1, 2009

p.s. from Hello I'm Anne - BTW I do realize that "finding" the hacker-lunatic who "sent" me this Trojan does not mean that I show up at "his" house with an Uzzi - it means that I report the problem to the domain owner, or something similar. I know you all hear from a lot of people who don't know much (nice way of putting it) and I know just a tad more than nothing - so you don't have to stoop to THAT level to answer me ... thanks

helloI'mAnne · Nov 1, 2009

sorry - it's me, Anne, again - i just asked Windows Firewall to keep logs of any/all attempts at "inbound" connections. however, apparently, the program only does this upon request so no logs exist from before my request. apparently if there were such a log, it would show the hacker's IP address?? ok, i talk too much

chaslang · Nov 1, 2009

Welcome to Major Geeks!

First let's find out if you really have an infections. Attach a log from AVG. Then follow the instructions in our cleaning procedure. And note, if you are really being hacked, the odds of finding them and doing anything about it are very slim unless they are in the United States and your ISP is willing to do something about it. Most hackers are outside of the US.

Please read ALL of this message including the notes before doing anything.

Please follow the instructions in the below link:

READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide

and attach the requested logs when you finish these instructions.

**** If something does not run, write down the info to explain to us later but keep on going. ****

Do not assume that because one step does not work that they all will not. MGtools will frequently run even when all other tools will not.

After completing the READ & RUN ME and attaching your logs, make sure that you tell us what problems still remain ( if any still do )!

Helpful Notes:

If you run into problems trying to run the READ & RUN ME or any of the scans in normal boot mode, you can run the steps in safe boot mode but make sure you tell us what you did later when you post logs. See the below if you do not know how to boot in safe mode:

Starting your computer in Safe mode

If you have problems downloading on the problem PC, download the tools and the manual updates for SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes ( links are given in the READ & RUN ME) onto another PC and then burn to a CD. Then copy them to the problem PC. You will have to skip getting updates if (and only if) your internet connection does not work. Yes you could use a flash drive too but flash drives are writeable and infections can spread to them.

If you cannot seem to login to an infected user account, try using a different user account (if you have one) in either normal or safe boot mode and running only SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes while logged into this other user account. Then reboot and see if you can log into the problem user account. If you can then run SUPERAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes, ComboFix and MGtools on the infected account as requested in the instructions.

To avoid additional delay in getting a response, it is strongly advised that after completing the READ & RUN ME you also read this sticky:

Don't Bump! It Only Hurts You!!!

Any additional post is a bump which will add more delay. Once you attach the logs, your thread will be in the work queue and as stated our system works the oldest threads FIRST.

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finding the scum who sent me a trojan!@*!

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chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member