Java virus

Viruses and worms
1

Hello,
I run regular Avast boot-time scans and once every couple of months they find some viruses. Under ‘status’ in the scan logs it always says Java: something and they always appear in the same folder. Does this mean I have a downloader somewhere? Also should I be worried about the damage they could have done? I know nothing about computers by the way.

Thanks in advance.

2

I honestly don’t see why you are running a boot-time scan as it is a specialist scan normally used if an infected file can’t be dealt with in normal mode.

You don’t say what folder, file name and malware name ?

Anything related to JAVA and in the JAVA cache, class, etc. are generally related to old versions of JAVA being exploited. So you should ensure that your JAVA is the latest version, which I believe is JRE 7, update 3.

3

Ah thanks.

It was a java exploit. Java:Agent-APW. There were two of them in C:\User\myname\appdata\locallow\sun\java\deployment\cache\6.0.…

4

Oh also, I run full scans weekly, but then boot scan less frequently to be on the safe side. Boot scans are the only scans that ever seem to find anything though.

5

OK, next step is to ensure that you have the latest version of JAVA to close any potential vulnerabilities from being exploited.

6

I have the most up to date Java (and my Java is usually up to date) but I still end up with these exploits (associated with older versions of Java), is it possible that older versions of Java are still on my system and that is why I keep getting these viruses? I had Java uninstalled for about 3 months but even during that time I occasionally got these viruses. Should I manually remove them?

7

with exploits you usually have double protection…
if you are the type that keep your OS / Browsers / programs updated then the exploits want work even if not detected by your antivirus

8

Run Javara http://singularlabs.com/software/javara/ to remove the old versions

9

Thanks for all your help so far guys.

I ran JavaRa, pressed ‘Remove Older Version’. It then says that it has created a logfile on my computer and do I want to open it. I click yes and it opens notepad. Notepad says that no such file exists. I do not understand what is going wrong.

10

Nevermind sorted it.

Thanks again for all your help guys.

11

Hi ljbrooks500,

Now keep your OS software up to date and all your third party software also updated and patched. This could help, run it regularly: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/online/

Stay safe and secure online,

polonus