A good argument for using open source software alternatives.

Warning if you visited this blog in the last week you may need to check for malware.

Yes, Digital Key to Info was hacked!

I am not sure when. I am still not sure how.

For some time, there was a redirect in an iframe that may have been trying to load malware from another site.

Probably from around January 10 till till today January 21 2009. I am putting the domain name in an image so not to give it any more links or search engine rank. As far as I know, the domain has been down anyway. I am not sure what they were trying to install.

Digital Key To Info Hacked

If you use Internet Explorer and visited here, you should double check for malware on your computer.

Internet Explorer is particularly vulnerable to malware as is Windows. There have been several bad vulnerablities that have been revealed lately. If you are using Window or MS Internet Explorer it is very important to keep your computer updated. You also need to make sure you have a effective and updated anti-virus software running when connected to the internet.

Why did it take me so long to find out?

I have not booted into Windows in ages. Nearly all my computer time is spent in Linux using Mozilla Firefox for a browser. There is no effective malware to infect my system so I did not notice. For this, I need to apoligize to my readers.

One of my readers sent me a message on StumbleUpon that his anti-virus said my site was a malware source.

I may still not know about it if he did not take the time to tell me. It was difficult to find the code even then (I am still not sure where it was, just that it is gone).

How to check if your blog might have the same malware code?

Download the Web Development extension for Firefox. Without this I would never have been able to tell I bad code on the blog. Use the view generated source. In my case, there was an iframe at the very last part of the page source with the link to the malware domain. Again, the domain name is in the image. Also, the malware iframe shows in view frame souce also (this is easier to spot and a lot faster).

Some tips on how to get malware off your computer.

• First, use Firefox. You will avoid much of the trouble right there.
• Have strong anti-virus software running. I am partial to Panda Antivirus for a paid solution. Avast and AVG are some very good solutions that are free for home use. I also keep a portable copy of Clamwin on a USB drive (also free and opensource but not quite as effective).
• Back up your antivirus with some anti-malware software. I have had some very good results with Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. You can use the free download to scan and destroy malware on your computer. I am big fan of Spybot Search and Destroy also.

I suggest using a Google search to find the above programs to make sure you are indeed getting the real thing and not just more malware.

Of course, running Linux is a lot safer.

The popular anti-virus software for Linux is used to scan files going to and from Windows machines. While there are viruses and exploits for Linux, it is very hard for them to be used effectively on a maintained system. I even used Linux to clean a badly infected computer lately.