Help me tech people.

[GrimTuesday]

Alright so I was just getting off Internet Explorer last night/this morning and I noticed that I suddenly had about fifteen new shortcuts on my desktop. They didn't lead anywhere and were from something called Black Internet Inc. Now I don?t remember going anywhere shady so I have no idea where I got these shortcuts. Do any of you guys know what is going on here because I'm pretty worried that I might have gotten a virus? Also if any of you have had this happen and it is a virus please tell me what the most effective way to get rid of it.

 

[DarkHourPrince]

First thing is first:: Stop using Internet Explorer. Download Opera, Firefox, or Chrome. IE is one of the greatest virus/malware havens to have ever been created and lacks the security alot of the other browsers have.

You do sound like you may have a malware bug on your computer (it doesn't sound like a virus though, I've had accidental porn site popups drop shortcuts on my desktop.. god that was irritating) so I would recommend running a scan with your anti-virus and downloading both Ad-aware 2009 and Malware Bytes' Anti-Malware. They should pick up any annoying little bugs lingering around.

This is the LAST resort, but if all else fails, do a system restore.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

Oh you have THAT virus!! I had a friend who had the same sort of thing and lost his identity, well he is still him but he probably by now has multiple people in various parts of the world living as if they are him..

If you have put in any personal details (ie if you shop online at all) you have alot to worry about, if not well probably not so much.

Simple rule of internet..None of my personal info ever goes onto a screen. I still pay bills in person and buy everything retail..More expensive?? Yes but my security is more important, plus I am just generally paranoid about this sort of thing.

 

[Frequen-Z]

I recommend a good virus scanner [http://www.lavasoft.com/] and a good browser [http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/]. As for what might have caused those shortcuts, yeah chances are it was probably a virus. These days you don't have to visit anything seedy to get infected, I've even read one guy got from a website of Bible quotes =/

But yeah, download Ad-Aware and Firefox there, do a full scan for viruses, and relish in your more secure browser.

 

[GrimTuesday]

I recommend a good virus scanner [http://www.lavasoft.com/] and a good browser [http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/]. As for what might have caused those shortcuts, yeah chances are it was probably a virus. These days you don't have to visit anything seedy to get infected, I've even read one guy got from a website of Bible quotes =/

But yeah, download Ad-Aware and Firefox there, do a full scan for viruses, and relish in your more secure browser.

OK so I downloaded firefox but and I tried to download Ad-Aware but I'm not sure if it actually downloaded. should it be showing up in my files or what. I know I'm really bad with computers

 

[swolf]

Simple rule of internet..None of my personal info ever goes onto a screen. I still pay bills in person and buy everything retail..More expensive?? Yes but my security is more important, plus I am just generally paranoid about this sort of thing.

I generally do that. If I do put in personal data, I try to keep it vague...too bad many places only accept online applications. I hate those things. Especially when it says that I can take a short cut by just giving them my resume and they'll fill in all the blanks for me and I actually end up spending more time fixing the mistakes that the program made in the application than I would have if I had just filled it out myself.

 

[Sougo]

Alright so I was just getting off Internet Explorer last night/this morning and I noticed that I suddenly had about fifteen new shortcuts on my desktop. They didn't lead anywhere and were from something called Black Internet Inc. Now I don?t remember going anywhere shady so I have no idea where I got these shortcuts. Do any of you guys know what is going on here because I'm pretty worried that I might have gotten a virus? Also if any of you have had this happen and it is a virus please tell me what the most effective way to get rid of it.

You have my sympathy friend. There was a time when Internet Explorer tried to kill off my PC too. As the first response said, change your browser, and I would also advocate using Malwarebytes Anti-malware - as its most likely spyware on your PC. Also what anti-virus do you have in place? Make sure its working and updated.