Virus!!!

anon(5619589)

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Jan 24, 2013
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I connected my phone through the

USB cable to a computer...but then I wasn't able to view my phone's files on that computer because of driver problems..but the problem is my fren said that the computer that I connected my phone contains virus..it seems that my fren got insert the pen drive into the same computer before...all his data changed into shortcuts...so, what should I do now??how to check whether my phone now infected with virus or not???

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Tapatalk
 
I connected my phone through the

USB cable to a computer...but then I wasn't able to view my phone's files on that computer because of driver problems..but the problem is my fren said that the computer that I connected my phone contains virus..it seems that my fren got insert the pen drive into the same computer before...all his data changed into shortcuts...so, what should I do now??how to check whether my phone now infected with virus or not???

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Tapatalk

Virii don't work that way. There is zero chance that a Windows (x86/64) virus could affect a Windows Phone.
 
So, windows phone will never get infected by a virus huh???

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Tapatalk
Exactly:) But, if you still have some doubts about it, do a full back up of you phone and then hard reset it. That way, you will be sure there are nothing but system files on your L920. :)
 
If it wont get infected, then im not goin to do hard reset..btw, thnk u very much... :)

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Tapatalk
 
I connected my phone through the

USB cable to a computer...but then I wasn't able to view my phone's files on that computer because of driver problems..but the problem is my fren said that the computer that I connected my phone contains virus..it seems that my fren got insert the pen drive into the same computer before...all his data changed into shortcuts...so, what should I do now??how to check whether my phone now infected with virus or not???

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Tapatalk

Please don't take this the wrong way, this is not meant as an offense, but either you or your "fren" (gooby, pls!) are/is a complete computer illiterate. There's so much wrong with this statement, I do not even know where to begin. First of all, it is highly unlikely that a computer virus will behave that way. Here's an accurate venn diagram of the most common causes for virus problems.
https://xkcd.com/1180/
This clearly shows that often users scream "this must be a virus" even though it was caused by something they did wrong or didn't understand. So, you'll always have to make sure to check a possibly infected computer using a proper Antivirus software, preferably one that is run off a clean, definatelly non-indected system (Linux Live Systems come to mind) before running around screaming "VIRUS!".

There's nothing for a Virus to gain to "change everything into a shortcut", that would be a pretty stupid virus, modern viruses try to stay as hidden as possible, not to get the users attention (except for scareware, that try to get the user to either buy an advertised antivirus software or a fee to make the computer usable again). Changing files to shortcuts would seem like a pretty obvious way to get the attention of a user but since there's no indication of scareware it was most likely cause by the wrong use of a different, non-malicous software.

Virii don't work that way. There is zero chance that a Windows (x86/64) virus could affect a Windows Phone.

This is only half true. When you connect a phone (be it android or windows Phone) to your PC, the device will be mounted as what is known as an MTP device. Applications on your computer (including malware) will be able to store files on the device. These could be infected files. YOu are right in saying that there's no way for Windows to store a virus on the device that will be *active* on the phone, but it could use the phones MTP storage as a way to spread itself to other x86/64 PCs. With android it's even worse, as malicous software could actually be installed on your phone in the background (using adb) and actually a similar attack could possibly be implemented for windows phone (provided the windows phone is developer unlocked). For windows phone, this should not actually cause any issues as installed apps (even sideloaded) have very limited rights and are pretty much restricted to their sandbox so you could simply remove the software from your phone again and be clean.
 
This is only half true. When you connect a phone (be it android or windows Phone) to your PC, the device will be mounted as what is known as an MTP device. Applications on your computer (including malware) will be able to store files on the device. These could be infected files. YOu are right in saying that there's no way for Windows to store a virus on the device that will be *active* on the phone, but it could use the phones MTP storage as a way to spread itself to other x86/64 PCs. With android it's even worse, as malicous software could actually be installed on your phone in the background (using adb) and actually a similar attack could possibly be implemented for windows phone (provided the windows phone is developer unlocked). For windows phone, this should not actually cause any issues as installed apps (even sideloaded) have very limited rights and are pretty much restricted to their sandbox so you could simply remove the software from your phone again and be clean.

From what I understand, it's not easy to transfer data like that to an MTP device. I know it's possible with a Mass Storage device profile, but MTP is designed to let data transfer only with user consent.

Also, with regard to your FUD about Android, that is only possible if the user has enabled USB debugging which is a hidden feature (you have to tap the build number 7 times just to activate the developer menu and then go to that menu and enable USB Debugging. Without that, ADB won't even see the device).
 
From what I understand, it's not easy to transfer data like that to an MTP device. I know it's possible with a Mass Storage device profile, but MTP is designed to let data transfer only with user consent.

Also, with regard to your FUD about Android, that is only possible if the user has enabled USB debugging which is a hidden feature (you have to tap the build number 7 times just to activate the developer menu and then go to that menu and enable USB Debugging. Without that, ADB won't even see the device).

While I am no expert on the mtp protocol, I am not sure what exactly would keep an mtp device from being accesses by software. Afaiu, they will show up in media players (like windows media player) and the software can transfer data to it. I can't see why software running in the background shouldn't be able to do that as well.

Also, I object to the term FUD. Yes, it requires USB debugging to be enabled, but you'd be surprised how many have that enabled because they had to enable it at some point for various hacks. Be it to root, be it for a fancy app that does fancy stuff (gesture controls, etc) or other reasons. For me myself that was the case with all my android devices. And I also explained that something similar could be facilitated with windows phone, just the sandboxes keep it from going rouqe (sp?).


Sent from my Lumia 920 using Tapatalk Beta
 
From what I understand, it's not easy to transfer data like that to an MTP device. I know it's possible with a Mass Storage device profile, but MTP is designed to let data transfer only with user consent.

Also, with regard to your FUD about Android, that is only possible if the user has enabled USB debugging which is a hidden feature (you have to tap the build number 7 times just to activate the developer menu and then go to that menu and enable USB Debugging. Without that, ADB won't even see the device).

USB debugging is an option right into the settings menu under developer mode. No 7 taps. Not hard to activate.
 
USB debugging is an option right into the settings menu under developer mode. No 7 taps. Not hard to activate.

I think that starting with android 4.2.2 you have to tap build )as localhorst86 said) in the about Page to activate developer mode, then you can activate USB Debugging.
 

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