Posted by nunu on 7/7/12 1:22pm
Msg #425908

internet malware

the news announced infected computers will not have internet access monday and following is the website where you can check your computer to see if it is infected. its a one step thing and will either give you peace of mind or time to fix the problem before monday morning to avoid it.
www.dns-ok.us

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 7/7/12 1:52pm
Msg #425910

Clickable link:

http://dns-ok.us/

Reply by MW/VA on 7/8/12 6:05pm
Msg #426019

Thanks for the link. :-) n/m

Reply by MikeC/TX on 7/7/12 4:52pm
Msg #425927

Those who are infected probably already know if they use Google or Facebook - both have been detecting infected users and have been warning them whenever they do a search on Google or login to Facebook. Still, it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to check...

Also, if you're one of the unlucky ones, your ISP will probably have to help you get it fixed - I don't think there's a simple fix for this one.

Reply by HisHughness on 7/7/12 4:56pm
Msg #425929

***your ISP will probably have to help you get it fixed***

Good luck with that. When I called Time-Warner Friday night, the tech had not a clue what I was talking about. He told that simply running Norton should cure any problems I might have. Didn't think it was funny when I asked if Norton could cure the problem of Time-Warner techs not knowing what they are talking about.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 7/7/12 5:28pm
Msg #425934

I feel your pain - I have Time-Warner also, and their tech support tends to be clueless.

I used to manage tech support in a prior life, so keep this in mind when dealing with them: there are 3 levels of Tech Support. Level 1 are the guys who answer the phone and read from scripts. Level 3 are the ones who know what they're doing, and THOSE are the ones you want to talk to when you have a real problem. If the level 1 guys know less about your problem than you do, tell them you want to escalate the problem (sorta like asking to speak to a supervisor). It's worked for me, both here and with my former cable company in NY...

Reply by Barb25 on 7/7/12 6:04pm
Msg #425937

Amazing. I do the same. And with my cellphone, I ask for the cancellation department. Fastest results with people with the most authority.

Reply by Barb25 on 7/7/12 6:09pm
Msg #425938

Some fix instructions on this website

www.dcwg.org

I have not tried the fix instructions because I did not have a problem but anyone who has a problem, it might be worth taking a look at the link.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 7/7/12 6:52pm
Msg #425945

Re: Some fix instructions on this website

One look at the "fix" instructions will tell you that this is not something the casual user can do.

The good news is that there are less than 100,000 computers in the US known to be infected. The bad news is that some of those are in corporate networks whose IT departments have been asleep at the switch for the last two years.

I seriously doubt that anyone in our community will be affected by this; however, Monday could be very interesting for some companies...

Reply by MikeC/TX on 7/7/12 7:05pm
Msg #425947

"Amazing. I do the same. And with my cellphone, I ask for the cancellation department. Fastest results with people with the most authority."

Squeaky wheel, and all that...

I had a recent incident with a furniture store where the customer disservice agent absolutely refused to transfer me to a supervisor. A few minutes of web searching got me the email addresses of her superiors, and an email sent to all of them got me a call the next day from someone who went out of her way to make sure the problem was resolved.

You just gotta know which buttons to push and how to find them...

Reply by JanetK_CA on 7/7/12 8:25pm
Msg #425955

It also helps a great deal to be polite and civil while you're escalating so that they WANT to help you. If you're loud, rude and obnoxious, they just don't want to deal with you.

Back in the '80s, I managed $3MM/mo of communications equipment and services for a major brokerage company and often found myself in situations where I had to "escalate". I learned that a firm quiet voice, used with authority, can make people jump higher than yelling. 'Course, it didn't hurt that I was a major client and they wanted to keep me happy... but even that doesn't help if they dread talking with you. Even without that kind of clout, though, people never know who you know and if you sound confident, calm but no-nonsense, you'll likely get a better response.

Like Mike alluded to, dropping names never hurts, either. I've also worked with a fair number of customer service people and they tend to distinguish between the screamers and the quiet ones to are likely to follow through with letters to the company President...

Reply by Barb25 on 7/8/12 1:49pm
Msg #425997

Courteous, civil, polite, of course. n/m