The “Tiga Lipa Are” Virus

The Lipanians must be really proud.

I accessed MY COMPUTER and clicked on the Hard Disk C: icon. I noticed that the said link isn’t opening. Apparently, nothing happens. Then I tried the other partition still with no avail. When I tried the Removable Drive icon, it opened but in another window. I know there is a problem. Simple yet it would cause big harm in the future. So I opened the web browser to check the cause. To my surprise, the Title bar shows the web page title and “Tiga Lipa Are” words. Waaaaah! There really is something wrong. A Trojan Virus has infected my machine. Poor Norah!

Upon my research, I realized that this virus has been created by a student from Mapua. Your computer is infected if:

- The words “TAGA LIPA ARE” on your Internet Explorer title bar
- Inability to change your IE7 homepage
- Inability to double click to open any of your disc drives (this includes removables, but you can open them in Windows Explorer)
**Take note: This wouldn’t take in effect with Mozilla Firefox.

Apparently, Norah has these symptoms. Also take note that this virus is acquired through removable devices such as your USB. Here are some tips to eliminate the possibility of acquiring viruses through that drive:

- Always scan your USB drive before using. AVG, Norton, Kaspersky, and AntiVir are good anti-virus program for this.
- When the auto run program pops up, CANCEL it. Open your USB drive using the RUN program instead. This is because of the autorun.inf file installed inside your USB.
- Before opening your USB, show all hidden files by:
a. Clicking the TOOLS > FOLDER OPTIONS
b. Choose the VIEW tab
c. Under the HIDDEN FILES AND FOLDERS, choose Show Hidden Files and Folders
d. Uncheck the Hide Extensions for known file types and the Hide Protected Operating System Files
* These will enable you to see the hidden dangerous files and delete them manually. Though take note of the System Files that you might delete accidentally.

Luckily, there is a program developed to fight this virus. I have seen this through this blogsite Winning the fight against the “TAGA LIPA ARE Virus”

Just download the mini program there, run the executable file, and restart your machine. This program will delete the script that causes the problems and automatically change the settings of your registry (apparently, just deleting the instances of this virus)
Indeed, Pinoys are great virus developers. But we really have to take into consideration the danger this might bring. We might be famous because of this creation but will eternally be condemned due to the effect it will bring.

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