Annoying " Messenger" pop-ups (Alerts)

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin (More info?)

Can anyone tell me why I have started to get these pop-ups when I am online.
They come up in a grey box with black bold like a genuine Warning from
Windows. They then go on to tell you that there is so many errors on your
system and go to www. then a site for downloading registry tools, or update
patch info. I have windows XP. Norton AV and Personal Firewall, Ad-Aware and
Spybot. More importantly than where they came from, how do I stop these
things coming up? Surely they cannot be genuine, I have never been to any of
the sites mentioned or asked them to scan my computer, so how could they
possibly know what problems I have (if any). I would really appreciate if
someone could help me out here, and also put my mind at rest. For people who
are not a genius with a p.c. these messages can be worrying, thinking your
system has viruses, trojan horses and every other problem going. Personally,
I think it could be a scam to get you to part with your cash to buy their
product, but if someone could put me right one way or the other I would be
very grateful. Thanking you. Cathy.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin (More info?)

cathy4 wrote:
> Can anyone tell me why I have started to get these pop-ups when I am online.
> They come up in a grey box with black bold like a genuine Warning from
> Windows. They then go on to tell you that there is so many errors on your
> system and go to www. then a site for downloading registry tools, or update
> patch info. I have windows XP. Norton AV and Personal Firewall, Ad-Aware and
> Spybot. More importantly than where they came from, how do I stop these
> things coming up? Surely they cannot be genuine, I have never been to any of
> the sites mentioned or asked them to scan my computer, so how could they
> possibly know what problems I have (if any). I would really appreciate if
> someone could help me out here, and also put my mind at rest. For people who
> are not a genius with a p.c. these messages can be worrying, thinking your
> system has viruses, trojan horses and every other problem going. Personally,
> I think it could be a scam to get you to part with your cash to buy their
> product, but if someone could put me right one way or the other I would be
> very grateful. Thanking you. Cathy.


Three obvious causes:

1) You don't have your Norton Personal Firewall enabled.

2) You don't have your Norton Personal Firewall configured properly.
Be sure to ensure UDP ports 135, 137, and 138 and TCP ports 135, 139,
and 445 are all blocked. You may also disable Inbound NetBIOS over
TCP/IP). You'll have to follow the instructions from firewall's
manufacturer for the specific steps.

3) Your Norton Personal Firewall has failed, for some reason. Try
removing and reinstalling.

This type of spam has become quite common over the couple of
years, and unintentionally serves as a valid security "alert." It
demonstrates that you haven't been taking sufficient precautions while
connected to the Internet. Your data probably hasn't been compromised
by these specific advertisements, but if you're open to this exploit,
you may well be open to other threats, such as the Blaster Worm that
swept across the Internet last year and the currently active Sasser
Worm. Install and use a decent, properly configured firewall.
(Merely disabling the messenger service, as some people recommend,
only hides the symptom, and does little or nothing to truly secure
your machine.) And ignoring or just "putting up with" the security
gap represented by these messages is particularly foolish.

Messenger Service of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;168893

Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet Advertisement
Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904

Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp

Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to do nothing
more than disable the messenger service. Disabling the messenger
service, by itself, is a "head in the sand" approach to computer
security. The real problem is not the messenger service pop-ups;
they're actually providing a useful, if annoying, service by acting as
a security alert. The true problem is the unsecured computer, and
you've been advised to merely turn off the warnings. How is this
helpful?


--

Bruce Chambers

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