The Auto-Dialer Virus Strikes Again

by Darren Miller

Published on this site: November 11th, 2005 - See more articles from this month

I've Been Infected By An Auto-Dialer Virus

The Auto Dialer Virus Strikes Again - Here at Defending The Net, we receive hundreds of e-mails daily regarding various computer security issues. Because we receive so many e-mails and requests for information, we typically write an article that provides the answer. However, from time to time, we receive requests that seem important, or critical in nature, and do our best to try and help.

On October 4th, we received an e-mail from a visitor we felt compelled to assist. This person appeared to have a home computer infected with the Auto-Dialer virus, a malicious piece of Malware that can cost you a tremendous amount of time, and more importantly, money.

An Unwelcome Letter From a Long Distance Carrier

Unfortunate results of the auto dialer virus - Our visitor received a letter from a well known long distance carrier indicating they had blocked all long distance calls from their telephone number, the reason; there were hundreds of phone calls to 1-900 numbers with fees in excess of $1,500. Our visitor had contacted his internet provider, explained to them what was going on, and the Internet provider directed them to and article located here at Defending The Net on auto-dialers.

The long distance carrier who contacted him was not even his provider, they represented the company with the 1-900 number. He contacted the long distance provider and explained to them that he had no idea what was going on and that he has never dialed a 1-900 number. They explained that there was nothing they could do for him and they were going to turn over the charges to his local service provider for collection.

As you can imagine, this was a very strange and stressful time. The fact of the matter is, these auto-dialers can be quite stealthy, masking themselves as legitimate software, or installing themselves in a way that keeps you unaware it has infected your system. These nefarious pieces of software can even re-program your modem to turn off the speaker so you are unaware that it is making unauthorized calls. I cannot stress how dangerous and how much of a negative impact something like this can have on your computer, and your checkbook.

How Do I Protect Myself

One thing you must always be aware of is what type of sites you are visiting. If the sites you visit have tons of pop-up's and banners, some of which may be less than moral / ethical, you can bet there is a high chance of getting infected with something. There are other things you should keep in mind or do on a routine basis:

1. Make sure you have anti-virus software installed and keep the virus signatures up to date. Out of date virus signatures are a major cause of computer infection;
   
   
2. Install spyware detection software, keep it up to date, and run it regularly. I run mine at least twice a day. Some of these software packages have real-time protection similar to anti-virus software;
   
   
3. If you now have high-speed internet access, like cable or DSL service, and you no longer need the internal modem for faxes or anything else, remove the phone cable from the modem or remove the modem from the computer altogether. Many people leave these devices connected and are at risk for auto-dialer impact; And,
   
   
4. If you are on a site that has a lot of pop-ups do not just click ok when they present themselves. You may be agreeing to something that can cause you problems.

Conclusion

If you think you have become infected with an Auto-Dialer, or receive a letter from a long distance carrier stating you owe them money for 1-900 or like calls, contact your telephone service provider right away. Also, disconnect your modem to make sure no additional calls can be placed and run your anti-virus / spyware detection software to try and locate the problem. If you can't locate the malicious software, you will need to back up all your data and reinstall your computers operating system. This is the only "real" way to feel confident you have eradicated the Auto-Dialer that infected your computer.

Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with over sixteen years experience. He has written many technology & security articles, some of which have been published in nationally circulated magazines & periodicals. If you would like to contact Darren you can e-mail him at [email protected]. If you would like to know more about computer security and auto-dialer virus please visit us at http://www.defendingthenet.com