Does the STEX have Virus's?

[-Raven- 0]

I'm just wondering if you scan all of the uploaded content, because I'm always worried that I'll download a virus,
from the STEX

That stops me from downloading new or not commented content.

So yeah please awnser thank you.

[Godzillaman 21]

Nothing should have a virus in the stex...

[JakeMD 107]

There should be No viruses on the STEX. Commenting is harmless

Before you unzip your downloaded file, you can right click on it, and choose "scan for viruses".

[Chptrk 86]

Thats the same thing I do, I wait a bit for people to have commented and I read to see if they had any problems with it. Just to be on the safe side. So far, I've gotten nothing bad, but I remember one thing where comments warned how it could easily mess up your game, so I was saved there.

[-Raven- 0]

Yeah lol the people who first upload it are my test subjects

And yeah I know commenting is harmless and also useful

[Magicman9363 1]

I've downloaded plenty of stuff and never had any problems. Plus my anti=virus program checks before starting the download anyways so I'm sure it is safe.

[WillG_75 19]

You can always run a virus scan on your file. It's a good habit to do that with all files that you download.

[Cleaner475 151]

I've been using the STEX for years and never had a problem. I understand why you want to be careful though.

Richard

[ReikaKalseki 52]

As long as you have a functional antivirus program - a necessity when on the internet regardless of download activity - you should be clean.

A program with a Realtime/Resident Shield is always optimal. For example, my copy of AVG Free 8.5 has kept my system clean for 18 months, and I download gigabytes from the internet per year, from various sites.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Well, on the other hand antivirus software can be the very reason (a) of carelessness (why should I bother, my antivirus will handle it), and (b) - as we are seeing here - of unfounded anxiety (oh my god, it says I'm downloading a virus!).

I've seen many "virus reports" on various SimCity fansites, all of which caused heated debates - and turned out to be false alarm, i.e. one of those stupid antivirus products overreacted again. The problem is that when people feel insecure and trust their antivirus software, they can go so far as to attack uploaders and accuse them of spreading malware intentionally, and when a site admin tries to reassure users that everything is ok, he or she gets attacked as well. Fortunately, your attitude is much more mature and considerate, -Raven-.

If you use antivirus software (I don't), at least never trust it more than you trust your own common sense. In any case, what Chptrk mentioned - waiting for some comments and being careful with first uploaders - is a good approach to being safe. If you follow this approach, you don't really need a virus scanner. And if you don't have enough common sense to adopt such a cautious behaviour, chances are even the best software won't help you.

So unless someone unknown uploads something without in-game screenshots and without a clear description, you are rather safe on the STEX. Even then, as swat-medic correctly stated, you can scan any downloaded item on demand. ZIPs themselves cannot cause much harm - it's when you see a dll, scr, or executable file (or anything else that comes unexpected) inside the ZIP that you should be wary. In this context, deactivating that stupid "hide extensions for known file types" option can be more helpful than AV software, because it will enable you to see the actual extension.

[slightly OT] Personally, I regard sitting behind a router with hardware firewall and using a non-Microsoft browser with restrictive settings plus Brain 1.0 as best virus protection, and antivirus software as a very last resort, because when it springs into action, the actual problem has already happened before. I've been two years without any AV software, and when I made a check by means of scanners that cannot be corrupted (i.e. nothing installed locally, for example online scans or live CDs), I found my computer to be squeaky clean - and I'm a rather heavy internet user, plus I don't restrict my internet usage to large, trusted sites. I don't want to advocate dumping your AV software, though - if it makes you feel better, then stick with it. It's just my personal opinion that AV software isn't worth as much as its vendors claim, because it treats the symptoms of a problem and not its cause. [/slightly OT]

[TheOneAfter909 0]

Funny that I found this thread. I am new to downloading STEX and have run into a problem with getting a virus alert by downloading buildings from a particular user. It is a shame because they really had some good commercial building that I wanted to add to my cities.

[Cockatoo 2,262]

I'd almost guarantee there isn't a single piece of malware anywhere on the STEX. Like others have said, it pays to be safe, but the chances of coming across an actual (non-false alarm) virus are like... you get the point.

If ever anyone were to come across an STEX upload containing malware, I'd ask you to report it to an STEX moderator as soon as possible.

[Nomadic 23]

Viruses usually come in exe formats. I know the BSC team uses EXE aka Installers to install the custom content. But other than that SC4 files are just simple images and text (values) that can't do nothing but "be used" by SC4 and sometimes override simple functions.

I'd say always read the comments and check to see if the author isn't "shady" lol.

[Andreas Roth 646]

No, viruses don't come in EXE format per se. They might hide inside an EXE, but "modern" viruses can have all kinds of shapes, such as executable scripts, manipulated HTML code, ActiveX plugins, using security holes in Java or Flash and whatnot. As T Wrecks aaid, antivirus software can only try to cure the symptoms, but the first step to a secure system is common sense. Update your Windows and installed programs on a regular base by using the automatic updates, so security holes are patched as soon as possible. If you ever need to reinstall your computer, download the updates before wiping your HD and store them at a safe place, and do not connect the computer to the internet before you've installed the updates, otherwise, it'll be infected in no time, and that is even if you don't download a single file or even surf the web.

If you download files from well-known developers off the STEX, you can be sure that those don't contain any viruses - we use antivirus software and common sense as well, and there's virtually no chance that a virus could accidentially slip into an installer. We would have to place it there manually, which is obviously nothing we'd ever dare (aside from the fact that I doubt someone actually knows how to do that). If your antivirus program reports a virus in a brand new file that was uploaded, an alert here in the forums might be appropriate, but if it was an old file that has been downloaded dozens or hundred times before without any problem, there's a high chance that your antivirus program gives you a false alarm.

[_vortex_ 0]

im a bit worried too with my comp bc a program called "coinminer" is always popping up on windows defender and i always remove it but somehow it always comes back! anyone have any suggestions on what it might be? it might even not be related to simtropolis but idk i was curious... :/

  Edited May 12, 2012 by _vortex_