Messenger Pop-ups

[Lou]

Need instructions to stop messenger pop-ups that appear to
have Microsoft connection. I have a security/firewall
program installed and tried deleting Yahoo Messenger.

 

[Steven L Umbach]

A properly configured firewall should stop messenger pop ups [gray box] from
the internet. I would go to http://scan.sygatetech.com/ and do a self scan
of your network for basic vulnerabilities. Otherwise you may also want to
try a browser pop up blocker like the Google Tool Bar that works great. ---
Steve

http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm -- info on Internet Explorer
hassles and how to deal with them
http://toolbar.google.com/

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

As Steven says, you need a firewall. 'Messenger spam', is not in itself
harmful, but is symptomatic of a larger problem - your computer has ports
open from the Internet.

You can disable the Messenger service, but that is unwise as a solution as
you'll still have the underlying problem that caused you to get the messages
in the first place - consider the messages a useful warning that you have no
protection from the Internet. This is all too important now, given the
recent rash of RPC worms....

For a standalone machine, see www.sygate.com for a free personal firewall,
or if using Windows XP, you can enable the built-in internet connection
firewall (ICF).

See http://securityadmin.info/faq.htm for more info. Also,
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/nopopups.htm is a good resource - although
for browser popups, you might want to consider http://toolbar.google.com -
it works like a champ and is also handy for searching.

 

[Karl Levinson [x y] mvp]

I would recommend checking a web site or discussion group for your
particular firewall manufacturer to see why it is not blocking these things.
Possibly either this is a vulnerability in your firewall's default settings,
you might need a security patch from your firewall manufacturer, or maybe at
one time it asked you if you wanted to permit something inbound and you
accidentally clicked "yes / allow / permit," at which case your firewall is
no longer protecting you from that. I wonder what else it isn't blocking
for you and should be.

Also check your firewall configuration and logs.

Generally your firewall should be blocking inbound TCP and UDP destination
ports 135 through 139 and 445 to block this kind of thing.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Whooops - just re-read your post. As Karl says, you need to check your
firewall settings, as you shouldn't be allowing this traffic in.