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Herb Hartley made a smart and excellent catch on a newbie submitting posts with a suspicious link that looks like phishing attempt, or ransom ware trap.
Which got me to thinking.
We click on a lot of links around here with blind faith.
People I don't know, who have no name, and no identity, and no face post "interesting threads" here all the time.
I am extremely careful when I click on anything outside of songs on this forum, but now I am interested to know what safeguards there are on this forum and I would like to hear it from PG Music, if possible, just out of plain old curiosity. It may be impossible, but my curiosity has been raised.
Some of the "interesting links" could lead anywhere, or be linked to anything.
Are there protections against clicking on any link here on the forum? I would guess NOT--but I don't know much about web forum security other than I think it is smart to keep running Norton.
Even a soundcloud link can be spoofed, right? Email accounts are spoofed all the time.
Theoretically, any one of them could lead to a ransom site, malware site or phishing site right?
The suspicious looking link info Herb found came out as a red flag for me and something to be more super cautious about in a day and age when Internet treachery continues to escalate.
Could the entire forum be an open ransom ware landmine, or are there protections??
I would like to hear from PG Music, if possible, to see how similar concerns might be addressed from the other side. I don't know what I don't know.
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I don't know the answer to your question David, but suspect that it might be difficult for PGmisic to totally monitor every link on forum, unless like some forums who don't permit new users to post a link for a given time frame. I am sure you might have heard of, https://www.sandboxie.comAnd what it does, it can totally sandbox your browser activity and even if some malware is let loose it will only affect within the sandbox itself, which with a few click you can delete the sanbbox. Best of all its free with a 5 second nag screen once a day I believe. If you download it, it will usually provide a right mouse click to a browser such as Chrome to run sandboxed. Browser speed is no different to normal, if you move mouse near top of chrome you will see a yellow outline that shows its running sandboxed. You can check from sandboxie window which opens from the taskbar as well. Great program which I wouldn't do without, it was actually Solidrock from the forums here that posted about it, so credit to him/her. Sorry if this doesn't answer your question and I have gone off on a bit of a ramble.
Last edited by musiclover; 01/06/19 01:50 PM.
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Herb Hartley made an smart and excellent catch on a newbie submitting posts with a suspicious link that looks like phishing attempt, or ransom ware trap.
Which got me to thinking.
We click on a lot of links around here with blind faith.
People I don't know, who have no name, and no identity, and no face post "interesting threads" here all the time.
I NEVER click on anything outside of songs on this forum, but now I want to know what safeguards there are on this forum and I want to hear it from PG Music.
But they could lead anywhere, or be linked to anything.
Are there protections against clicking on any link here on the forum?
Even a soundcloud link can be spoofed, right? Email accounts are spoofed all the time.
Theoretically, any one of them could lead to a ransom site, malware site or phishing site right?
What is our protection here? This makes me concerned.
But really good point Herb.
I never thought about this before until now--as Herb pointed this out.
Could the entire forum be an open ransom ware landmine, or are there protections??
I would like to hear from PG Music.
I find it sad that this kind of thought exists after all every new person to the forum is a stranger. As are all the veteran users strangers to the newbies. In the words of Wayne and Shuster “who is that beside you”. “Why it’s you”. “Ah but can I be trusted”. I would suggest never go to a new site unless you check it out first but encourage discussion, comments and help on the Forums. My thoughts Tony
Last edited by Teunis; 01/06/19 02:32 PM.
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+1 musiclover Sandboxie !!
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I don't see how PGM could protect us unless they take away our ability to post links.
I think everyone needs to secure their own browser using AV and malware tools. Or just don't click links you are concerned about.
Musiclover's suggestion is interesting but that introduces other concerns such as them tracking your every move.
Bottom line...if you're gonna ride the bull you're gonna risk getting hurt!
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Tony,
I think you misunderstand my message. I am not paranoid, I am reacting to a thought about a potential threat I had not thought of before. As you may have noticed, I have read and responded to thousands of posts from people all over the board in good faith as a trusting soul for years. Love this community.
However, over Christmas one of the largest publications in the country was shut down and unable to print for the first time in its history because someone clicked on an innocent looking link. Ransomware immediately infected all of the servers and the printing press shut down. Everyone's computers were infected.
SO, not as a paranoid person, just as normal thinking person, I think I had a realization when Herb spotted what was clearly a threat. It has nothing to do with being suspicious one of one's Internet neighbor on the PG Forums.
It just made me realize for the first time in five years that I NEED to be careful.
And I think THAT is sad.
Also, not knowing how servers like this work, I was just asking if safeguards COULD be put into place because I don't know. I was just asking, which is what I always do when I don't know the answer to something. I ask.
Hope that makes sense.
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If we need a 'wake-up call' just search TED TALKS under Internet Security. Even benign picture formats can carry terrible viruses and malware.
I believe that my sister-in-law's address book has been hacked and she is inadvertently spreading malware. It becomes necessary to know and recognize what would be NORMAL communication from even our family members.
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Don,
You have hit the nail on the head and that is exactly what I am talking about.
In the publication hack I was talking about, no one could have known the email with the bad link in it was fake. It was a perfect forgery. But one click shut down a major organization. Bam.
I get emails all the time from major companies that look exactly like they came from the known company except I find ONE misspelling that tips me off--like a British spelling I know what not have been made by an American company.
It is scary.
I basically don't click on anything in emails anymore. I even ask my wife if she sent me something before I click.
It is scary and malicious and growing trickier even day. It's not just me. My friends are tech writers for media giants. They talk about it all the time.
So, I am down to basically clicking on nothing. Very sad, but it can ruin your life.
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I just spent the better part of 2 days trying to clean up my computer. Finally got it done after spending weeks putting up with a slow running computer that consistently tried to direct me to download Adobe Flash, Mackeeper etc. My “music” computer is offline 99% of the time an as a result I haven’t had a problem.
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Good points, David. Good for Herb, being on alert.
As I thought about it, one of the pitfalls is that we might be drifting into a false sense of security, because the PG forum is such a laid back friendly place, here we are, throwing links around, nonchalantly.
Something tells me there must be a company that will allow forum operators to route inquiries through a safe proxy. Yes, kind of on the order of Sandbox or a VPN, where the inquiry becomes anon.
Not too long ago I started a forum on the topic of rural development. Let me tell you, forum operating is no country for old men. Almost immediately, I started getting registrations, 12-14 of them, that just did not look right. Even as little as I know, I was able to trace the registrations to a school server in the Orient.
I wouldn't conclude the worst, but one thing I knew, I was over my head; so, I bailed.
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Some of the "interesting links" could lead anywhere, or be linked to anything.
Are there protections against clicking on any link here on the forum? I would guess NOT--but I don't know much about web forum security other than I think it is smart to keep running Norton.
Even a soundcloud link can be spoofed, right? Email accounts are spoofed all the time.
Theoretically, any one of them could lead to a ransom site, malware site or phishing site right? I'm not sure what you mean when you talk about spoofing here. With regards to emails, spoofing typically refers to using fraudulent headers in the email. For example, it is very common and easy to spoof the "FROM" header in an email message, and that's why spammers can send you an email that appears to come from your friend or whatever. It seems like you're just talking about the url that a link is pointing to. Maybe this link for example. A link is just a link - If you're unsure about it, don't click on it, just hover your mouse over it and look at what url it points to, usually the lower left corner of your browser window. Or you can right-click on the link and select "copy link address" (or similar) and paste into notepad. The vast majority of the time it is dead simple to tell if the link is valid or if it's just someone trying to get you to go to their site. You can do the same thing with your email messages. The only way it can really be spoofed is if the link is made to APPEAR it's a valid site because of it's similarity to a well known url. For example, www.pgmusic.biz or www.pgmmusic.com. (the spammer would have registered the similar domains and created a site) There are tons of spammers that try to post messages on forums, and in their message they include a link to some site. Typically they want to increase traffic to the site so they can make money from ads. Our forum doesn't allow any new user to post a link without being moderated, and there are lots of other criteria that needs to pass for a post to get through unmoderated. The recent spammer was quite smart it seems, in that they seemed to be trying to troubleshoot an audio recording problem. Although we did miss a few obvious things about that user, and let him through when we shouldn't have (Still his links didn't seem "malicious" in the sense of phishing /viruses.)
Last edited by Andrew - PG Music; 01/07/19 05:03 PM.
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
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Andrew,
Thanks. The simple explanation that you are monitoring this kind of thing makes me feel better already.
Thanks again.
It's just a crazy world out there now, and like I said, I don't know what I don't know, but I have seen some frightening stuff happen in recent months from people I know.
Thanks for the lessons and reassurances--and tips.
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Andrew,
Of the several sites that I frequent, PG forums are the best moderated among them.
We have had a few trolls disrupt things over the years but they quickly disappear when they see the family atmosphere and talent to be found here.
Kudos to the moderators for keeping this a great place to visit.
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It's a crazy world in my sandbox.
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Knock wood but I never click on a link if I don’t recognize the source w/o doing what Andrew suggested, i.e., vetting the link. I get virtually no unsolicited email, no spam in over a year and I always use a new email addie for any company or entity that I must give an email addie to. One spam or weird email from that addie and I kill it. And I am a Mac (generally safer than the Windows environment) but I still use anti virus/malware software. Yeah, it could all blow up tomorrow but I do my best to avoid the worse. I don’t find it much of a hassle but then I’m long into retirement and can keep my contacts limited.
Bud
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I'm very careful about clicking links. I read in a respected computer magazine than you have to treat the Internet as if everybody is out to get you. Most aren't of course, but when you drop your vigilance you can get snagged.
But I know more savvy people than myself have been duped so....
1) I make an Acronis disk image at the end of every day to an external, removable 'toaster' drive. The external drive is never on when I'm working so the malware people can't write to it.
Of course I could be backing up an infected drive so I make sure I have at least a half dozen backups before the oldest gets erased. So I have almost a week's worth of disk images.
2) I also use another removable drive that I put in the 'toaster' once a month and backup, and I keep more than 9 months of complete disk images on that drive. It's removed from the system except for backup time.
So if I get malware, I can go back to a point where my computer was before it got infected. Disk images are not like simple backups, they 'clone' the disk itself.
3) But what about my data? If I restore my computer to its state a few months ago, what will I lose? Hopefully nothing because I also use Microsoft's free SyncToy app to backup my data every day. That includes every folder that I think the data changes on like documents, pictures, e-mail, music, etc.
The Acronis Disk Image and SyncToy backup can be run at the same time but I found it's better to start SyncToy about a minute before booting Acronis. It usually takes about an hour, and Acronis can turn your computer off after the backup is finished.
Backing up your computer and data are like going out to sea with life jackets and life boats. Chances are you will never need them, but if you find yourself in a situation where you do need them, you will be very glad they are available.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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PGMUSIC:
I keep my ENTIRE BIAB installed on my D Drive along with various data files and my OS on my C Drive.
If I need to reinstall my OS for some reason (upgrade, corruption, drive failure, a dreaded virus, etc...) what should I save from the C Drive (if possible) before reinstalling the OS so my BIAB keeps it's activation.
I have multiple computers at my house (2 desktops and a laptop for traveling) so I have used all 3 activations and cannot afford to loose one.
This question has always puzzled and worried me. I know there are activation tickets and can those be backed up to a thumb drive for safekeeping in the event something catastrophic happens to one of my computers?
BIAB2024
Windows 10 Pro
WA6NCB
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Notes, You are truly a man after my own OCD heart. In every way.
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PGMUSIC:
I keep my ENTIRE BIAB installed on my D Drive along with various data files and my OS on my C Drive.
If I need to reinstall my OS for some reason (upgrade, corruption, drive failure, a dreaded virus, etc...) what should I save from the C Drive (if possible) before reinstalling the OS so my BIAB keeps it's activation.
I have multiple computers at my house (2 desktops and a laptop for traveling) so I have used all 3 activations and cannot afford to loose one.
This question has always puzzled and worried me. I know there are activation tickets and can those be backed up to a thumb drive for safekeeping in the event something catastrophic happens to one of my computers? jcland, The Support Staff is great about getting you going again in such cases.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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