virus SUSPECT ITEMS

[ChloeBaby Xue]

I received an item from a person whom I did not feel comfortable with. I suspect the item may be adware or a virus. How do I have it examined?   

 

Chloe

[Chic Aeon]

37 minutes ago, ChloeBaby Xue said:

I received an item from a person whom I did not feel comfortable with. I suspect the item may be adware or a virus. How do I have it examined?   

 

Chloe

Delete it and empty your trash. BEFORE you empty your trash though look carefully and make sure there is nothing that you didn't put there :D.

No one will "examine" your object. 

There are no "adware" and "viruses in SL per se but there are things that you do NOT want to open. Best to just dump it. 

 

[Nalates Urriah]

There is no good way to examine the object if it is No-Mod. Otherwise, you can consider traveling to a sandbox and rezzing the thing. That is risky. But, you can then open it and read the scripts, which only helps if you understand Linden scripting.

Adware and viruses are generally not a part of SL as they cannot load into the SL Assets. The Lab filters for problems.

However, tricky as they are, griefers have figured ways to cause problems. So, various things in SL can be set to access web sites and have the page load things into your computer. Others ask for permissions being as misleading as possible. Phishing exploits are common. If at all possible, they are going to take debit permission for your account. Fortunately that requires a keyboard or mouse response. In other cases they will send you to fake SL web sites and ask you to login, stealing your ID/password.

A viewer is not as vulnerable as an email program is. Like most other things, do NOT grant permissions you do not understand, do not click on things you do NOT trust, and do NOT rez questionable objects, meaning anything from a stranger or new friend.

[Lindal Kidd]

Chic and Nalates are right.  However, if you wish, and if the object is transferable, you can get in touch with me in world and I'll check it out for you.  And I will not blame you if it blows up in my face.

If you want to examine it yourself, one of the safest ways is to create another account, an "alt".  Then transfer the suspect item to her.  Logged in as your alt, go to a public sandbox, rez the object, and see what happens.

If it asks for permission to take money from you, click DENY.  Abuse report the person who gave it to you, then delete the item.

If it sends you a link, don't click it.  Abuse report the giver and delete the item.

If it vanishes and then you start seeing messages from it, offering everyone in the region "free stuff", don't accept the free stuff.  See this link for instructions on how to find and delete the object.  http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/exdepart  Once you've deleted it, Abuse report the giver.

You might consider sitting on it.  Before you do, get the Firestorm viewer (if you are not using it now).  Then, in Preferences>Firestorm>Protection, change the "revoke permissions" setting to "revoke on sit and stand".  Better yet, don't sit on suspect objects.  (They can permanently take the permission to animate your avatar.  Then, the perpetrator can make you do embarrassing animations any time both of you are in the same region.)

If you sit on it or wear it and it deforms you into a bizarre shape, simply delete it, and relog to correct the problem.

If it is a wearable item, check it for scripts that listen to and relay nearby chat, or your location, to the person who gave it to you.  If the script(s) in the item are modifiable, they can be inspected.  If you can't view them, best to simply delete the suspect object.

I teach an Avatar Safety class on Sundays at 10 am SL Time, at Caledon Oxbridge University.  It's free to attend, and we cover these and many other Second Life hazards.

 

[AidenStorm28]

On 11/28/2017 at 7:57 PM, Nalates Urriah said:

There is no good way to examine the object if it is No-Mod. Otherwise, you can consider traveling to a sandbox and rezzing the thing. That is risky. But, you can then open it and read the scripts, which only helps if you understand Linden scripting.

Adware and viruses are generally not a part of SL as they cannot load into the SL Assets. The Lab filters for problems.

However, tricky as they are, griefers have figured ways to cause problems. So, various things in SL can be set to access web sites and have the page load things into your computer. Others ask for permissions being as misleading as possible. Phishing exploits are common. If at all possible, they are going to take debit permission for your account. Fortunately that requires a keyboard or mouse response. In other cases they will send you to fake SL web sites and ask you to login, stealing your ID/password.

A viewer is not as vulnerable as an email program is. Like most other things, do NOT grant permissions you do not understand, do not click on things you do NOT trust, and do NOT rez questionable objects, meaning anything from a stranger or new friend.

if permissions were given how to revoke them?

[Lindal Kidd]

16 minutes ago, AidenStorm28 said:

if permissions were given how to revoke them?

Aiden, you can do this at least temporarily.  In Firestorm's Avatar menu, select Avatar Health/Stop Animations and Revoke Permissions.  However, the owner of the object can defeat this by deleting the object and rezzing another copy of it from his inventory, so it is not a permanent fix.  The only permanent solution is to not be in the same region as the object and its owner.  And of course, the BEST solution is don't accept animation requests from people you don't know, and don't sit on objects they rez and invite you to sit upon.

If you are speaking of debit permissions, there is NO way to revoke them, once you have clicked "Allow" in the offer window.  This is why this exploit is so dangerous.  However, if you delete the object or take it back into your inventory, it will no longer function.  It has to be rezzed in world or worn on your avatar to be able to take money from your account.

Edited April 1, 2018 by Lindal Kidd

[AidenStorm28]

thank you you've been a great help Lindal