Nokia lumia 520 virus?

[WPCentral Question]

Hello
I was browsing the web on my Nokia Lumia 520 and a pop up came up saying I have (4) virus on my phone, at that point I clicked "OK" and it started to take me to other site, at that point I closed the page before it loaded and turned off the internet connection. How do I get rid of these virus if they are there?
The thing is my phone hasn't been doing anything wired, it's running at normal speed and there has been no glitches that weren't there before.
Is there anyway to scan my phone to find the viruses?
I am just a little worried so if anyone can help that will be great
Thanks

 

[Guytronic]

That's just a redirect trick by the website you were looking at.
I think you're safe.

 

[manus31]

Windows mobile is generally considered safe from viruses and malware. Being a computer security graduate,the first app I looked for on my phone was for antivirus. I was surprised to see there were none, but having done the research I can see that windows mobile has really covered all the bases. There is no way a virus can execute because microsoft signs all trusted apps and components that are safe. An unsigned app(virus) will simply not run.Check out the security overview in windows 8.1, especially the section titled malware resistance:

Download Windows Phone 8.1 Security Overview from Official Microsoft Download Center

That does not mean the phone can can protect you from yourself. You still have to use common sense in not clicking scamming links to warnings about viruses or anything else suspicious. Never give out your credit card details, unless you are sure about the website. It is always a good idea to check if a website is pci compliant. These are sites that deal with sensitive information in the most secure fashion. They will not store or pass your information to a third party:

How Do I Tell If a Website Is PCI Compliant? | eHow

One thing I would watch out for though is fake antivirus programs that have in the past managed to make there way onto the windows store. But generally I would just say to be smart when your online. I dont think you have anyhing to worry about with viruses though

Hope this helps

 

[maurierose]

I wondered about AV protection as well - great info, thanks!

 

[arjan wolthuis]

Windows Phone is not virus free. I have had malware on my phone once (police virus) And I removed it by a hard reset

 

[KarmaEcrivain94]

Windows Phone is not virus free. I have had malware on my phone once (police virus) And I removed it by a hard reset

Yup,well you seem to have been incredibly unlucky. Was it a jailbreaked wp7? Because I haven't found any reports of this anywhere on the web.

 

[arjan wolthuis]

No windows phone 8.1


it's in dutch language.

 

[Karthik Naik]

Windows Phone is not virus free. I have had malware on my phone once (police virus) And I removed it by a hard reset

thats impossible,it would have become a huuge thing by now,windows phone is the most secure OS after BB10

 

[a5cent]

thats impossible,it would have become a huuge thing by now,windows phone is the most secure OS after BB10

Why do you say that? I'm not aware of any reason why BB should be considered more secure than WP. BB has its reputation, but I think WP is the most secure commercial OS ever built. That might actually be the one thing WP does better than ever other OS.

 

[arjan wolthuis]

unfortunately it's not inpossible. I thought wp could't get a virus. I was wrong. i called the police and they said it was a virus. they would never do that. If they were searching for you they would come to your door.

 

[manus31]

A virus on windows phone is possible, although threats are unlikely/low. Here is a great lecture on windows phone 8.1 security. The guy explains it very well. He starts on security around 6 and a half minutes in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdrKP1wHays

 

[arjan wolthuis]

I think WP should have a (build in )virus scanner. How harsh it sounds, it's not virus free. And if you are unlucky. You need a hard reset to get rid of it

 

[berty6294]

Lol I wouldn't call that a virus, just a sneaky website.

 

[arjan wolthuis]

I wish it was. It was popping up when II opened the browser every time

 

[berty6294]

Just had to close the tab and/or delete history. Backing out of IE alone, it will think its doing you a favor by opening up what you left off with.

 

[arjan wolthuis]

I tried. I didn't work

 

[a5cent]

unfortunately it's not inpossible. I thought wp could't get a virus. I was wrong. i called the police and they said it was a virus. they would never do that. If they were searching for you they would come to your door.

Based on what a quick internet search told me, this 'police virus' is ransomware that locks down your PC, making it unusable, and falsely promises an unlock after payment.

There are a few things that are very fishy about your post:

1)
Infection with this virus requires that the user is ignorant enough to run shady software on their PC (received in dubious e-mails, downloaded off dubious websites, etc), meaning this is windows/x86 based malware! Such software simply can not run on ARM based WP.

2)
All you've provided is a screen shot of a webpage being shown in mobile IE. You could just have closed the tab, and ignored the whole thing. Worst case... reboot the device, clear IE history, problem solved. That isn't locked down in any way.

Any explanations (oh, and what is the URL to that webpage)?

 

[berty6294]

Yeah see I'm quite confused as IE on WP will not download any file type that can be executed. Not only that but WP OS will not run any executable files. On top of that, WP only runs code that is signed by Microsoft. On top of even that, it would have to be able to run on an ARM processor. The odds of all that happening are about the same as Jesse from Full House being gay!

 

[arjan wolthuis]

Your Interpretation is right. I don't know the URL to that webpage anymore. It was in Bing search. When I clicked on that website it popped up. And won't go away. I agree with you it windows desktop malware. The screenshot says multiple times computer or PC. But never locked down my phone. (it does on a computer)

 

[a5cent]

Your Interpretation is right. I don't know the URL to that webpage anymore. It was in Bing search. When I clicked on that website it popped up. And won't go away. I agree with you it windows desktop malware. The screenshot says multiple times computer or PC. But never locked down my phone. (it does on a computer)

Okay Arjan, you just stumbled over a scam web page.

It may have have been scripted to screw up your back button. You never actually had a virus.

For another time, first just attempt to close the tab, not by backing out of the page, but by showing the tab view and using the close-button. In the unlikely case that doesn't work, do a reboot and then clear IE navigation history. A hard reset wouldn't have been necessary.