An experience with a virus

H3lene · May 2023

My computer (Acer) had like a strange little WINDOWS warning on "data encryption". It didn't let me do anything, I thought it was an error, so I just ignored it.

Then the Wi-Fi stopped working on my computer two days. As in, the Wi-Fi was ON, on my computer, but the list of routers was EMPTY i.e. my router which was still on and other routers were GONE.

Next I was given a little notice about how a file was put in quarantine. It was called a Trojan. Agent. Which made me freak out. I put the virus in quarantine and tried to protect my computer as soon as possible. I had to download a bunch of other programs as I thought F Secure was not that great at removing it. But I managed to find a way to remove the virus with F-Secure antivirus protection.

But that was only after I tinkered with the computer for a while, getting "Norton Power Eraser" and using that, watched some YouTube videos about how to remove a virus and how to check if it's really gone. After I did the steps, which included me rebooting my pc in safe mode with networking and clearing the cache, cookies and temporary files.

At one point, my phone got a little notification (not a text) that it had a virus. And immediately after, the Wi-Fi routers would disappear from the list of Wi-Fi routers, just like it had done to my computer. This made me panic, I started to think that my router was infected, and I began looking for antivirus programs that could scan my phone and remove the virus. But every program I got, came back with a clean scan, which just made me paranoid that the virus was still there but just couldn't be found!

I noticed that I must've of had a virus on m computer for a while. As I read about how your computer usually shows signs that you have a virus LONG before the virus shows up. More spam emails. More antivirus ads. My touchpad cursor has moved by itself more than once, but I just thought it was the touchpad driver's fault.

I started using my F secure VPN (which I had noticed I had not used in a while) and removed the other programs that I had downloaded, but the computer became much slower and videos began to lag. My thought was just that the computer was overworked and a bit overheated. There were even updates for Windows Defender that just WOULD NOT install. Like I would search for updates with Windows update. The updates would begin to download or install. And then they would just DISAPPEAR.

So I turned on airplane mode, turned off the Wi-Fi and just watched a movie.

Which was fine until the movie froze. The screen frozen. And a blue screen saying "something went wrong. Wait until we gather some information and reboot the computer." This isn't the first time this has happened on my pc. I've had it for about a year now. BUT the thing is that the screen was frozen. It was not gathering the information. I finally had to just power down my pc. That was yesterday.

Today, I called F Secure support and explained how I don't know if the router has the virus. Or if my pc infected my router and the virus then made its way to my phone. I was told to do a full scan on my computer. Do a router check with the free tool (which I used after I reset the router first) and to get the f secure android app and register with a secondary email address. Hopefully things will be okay after this. If something else happens, I'll write more. I just felt like I needed to share this for future reference.

Firmy · May 2023

Hello @H3lene

Welcome to the F-Secure Community.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

We regret to hear about your experience with a virus on your computer, however, we're glad to know that our F-Secure products were able to help you resolve the issue. It's always important to exercise caution when downloading files from the internet, and having antivirus software installed on your device is a must.

If you ever face a similar situation in the future, please don't hesitate to reach out to us for help. You can post your query in the F-Secure Community page, and our team will be happy to assist you.

To stay protected, we recommend our users to regularly update their software and run scans on their devices to prevent any potential infections. Our F-Secure products come with real-time scanning, which automatically scans your device in real-time and removes harmful files before any damage can be done.

Using real-time scanning | Total | Latest | F-Secure User Guides

How real-time scanning works | Total | Latest | F-Secure User Guides

If you'd like to run a manual scan, you can scan your entire computer to ensure it has no harmful files or unwanted applications. Running a virus scan manually | Total | Latest | F-Secure User Guides

It's important to exercise caution while browsing the internet and opening emails from unknown sources. Although F-Secure doesn't control or read your emails, we can help you block dangerous links and files [Identity Theft Help] I am receiving a lot of spam or scam emails. Can an F-Secure product such as SAFE or Internet Security help me? - F-Secure Community

So, if you ever receive an email or attachment that seems suspicious, it's always better to err on the side of caution and delete it. We recommend being especially cautious with attachments from unknown sources to avoid any potential security threats.

We're happy to know that your computer is now fixed, and we hope this experience reminds you to be vigilant in the future. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us for assistance. Thank you for choosing F-Secure to protect your digital life.

H3lene · May 2023