After a lifetime using computers without ever getting a virus, I was infected with malware today
After a lifetime using computers without ever getting a virus, I was infected with malware today - Lemmy.World
So I’ve been using computers ever since I learned how to move my hands. There are pictures of me, as a baby, in front of a CRT monitor using my grandma’s computer. Like many of my generation, I’ve done everything - from sharing MIDI files of the Star Wars theme song over ICQ to downloading incredible amounts of pirated content over LimeWire to modifying MSN Messenger to mess with my friends, to (shamefully) cheating on Grand Chase to (failing) to multiply my RuneScape gold. I’ve installed Russian versions of Windows XP with crazy black and cyan themes and weird screensavers. I’ve cracked Adobe programs with a random file I’ve found somewhere. I’ve ran my Windows 10 system with Windows Defender disabled, no UAC, no firewall and no updates for half a decade. And yet, today, on Windows 11 with all the security features enabled (including the whole virtualization layer) I’ve caught my first malware. And it’s totally my fault: I’ve fell for the “Hey long term commercial partner, here’s an invoice for our latest negotiation, I’ve zipped it and the password is xxxxx” and that was about it. As soon as my brain realized what I had just opened, it was too late - even though I immediately disconnected my computer from the internet, the program took my session cookies and all my online accounts immediately started getting hammered with login attempts and several successful ones. So I’ve just wasted an entire day resetting every single password, revoking all logins, deleting credit card information and changing 2FA - for over 120 online accounts. So yeah, don’t me like me, don’t get too confident - even if you’re familiar with the scam, it can happen to you in a moment of distraction. Also, Windows Defender’s “behavior analysis” is incredibly dumb and won’t save you. This being Lemmy, let me also make something clear: I use Linux for most tasks, but for work-related reasons I need Windows software so I have a Windows partition that is also synced to my browser (with all the passwords and etc).
