User error

Somehow, while I was away for several months, the extra laptop I leave in my apartment became infested with spyware.  I’m sure it was user error.  I’m not sure who the user was.

It doesn’t matter.  I’m worried, for some reason, about the poor little laptop.  I don’t even use it, except on nights when I’m too beat to carry home my usual laptop from the office.  But it’s like some innocent lamb that I left alone and now is a mess.  I’ve run three different kinds of scans time after time, I’ve downloaded every possible update, and I’m not comforting the machine at all.  Even with no online connection, new stuff shows up in each scan.  I’m distracted by this - I’m spending hours trying to win this battle.  And it’s completely fruitless.

Moral:  Don’t leave your laptops alone for months at a time.  Something horrendous could happen to them.   Or get a Mac.

December 28, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized 

Comments

4 Responses to “User error”

  1. Mac Law Students » Blog Archive » Don’t Leave Your PC Alone on December 29th, 2007 12:14 am

    […] of Law at the Univ. of Michigan Law School, teaching cyberlaw and communications law. This brief story tells the tale of how her PC, when left to its own devices, started going […]

  2. Don Marti on December 29th, 2007 1:37 am

    Ouch. Can you copy off your data and reinstall your OS and applications? I don’t know what software your laptop has on it, but on the server side most cautious people won’t trust a machine once it has been “rooted”.

  3. admin on December 29th, 2007 9:38 am

    I don’t need the data on this laptop. I think it won’t be connecting to the internet again - I think the end of its life has come.

  4. Night Life Los AngelesNight Life Los AngelesNight Life Los AngelesNight Life Los Angeles on January 3rd, 2008 5:16 am

    I’m sorry to say that once spy ware has been introduced to your computer, It can be really hard to get rid of it.
    (and I really wonder if some of these companies who sell software to Clean Up your computer of the spy ware are not the guilty party introducing it into the computers).
    I mean , think about it, you get something in an e-mail, and then pretty soon after that you start getting notices that your computer is “infected with a virus” and that so n’ sos software can solve your problem.
    I just wish there was a way to prove it ! It really is one big shake down. a real danger to your computer . James

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