Virus on Tiller game?

[BigBlueFleet]

I've been trying to install the copy of John Tiller Guadalcanal occasionally for a number of years and I get virus flags.  This is the first time I tried since my new version of Kaspersky. 

I did a search regarding this virus and Tiller CDs and came up empty.

Any thoughts or help on how to proceed?

Thanks!!

[Philippe]

Depending on whether you bought the game from JTS Software or HPS, contact support at the appropriate site immediately.

The email will be answered by the same person (he works for both companies), but he can shed some light on what is happening and/or needs to know.

How certain are you that you aren't trying to install a pirated copy masquerading as the real thing?  There are apparently a lot of them out there, though I've never actually seen one (Chris Dean has, and can tell you about them).  If you bought a hard copy from NWS or HPS you should be getting a legit copy.  Same thing for an HPS or JTS Software download. 

I own a lot of JTS and HPS games, and have never encountered a virus.  I don't own that particular game, so I can't really comment.

[Huw the Poo]

Virus scanners pick up on games all the time.  Unless you download from somewhere shady they're always false positives.  By all means email the dev, but if it was me I'd add it to the whitelist and just play.

By the way, it's been a while since I've used Windows but I was always of the opinion that the built-in protection (Essentials?) was good enough.  Commercial virus scanners cause more problems than they solve in my opinion.

[sandman2575]

Did the Exclusion rule you set up not work, BigBlueFleet?  I've used Kaspersky for years, and mostly find it to be a very unobtrusive AV solution. The only game it's really gone bonkers on (for me anyway) has been Distant Worlds Universe, which it is utterly convinced is a trojan... but I managed to set up an exclusion and can play DW no problem.

@Huw -- in the back of my mind is always the suspicion that there's no need to shell out for AV when Windows Defender is probably good enough... but I always wind up renewing my Kaspersky subscription 'just to be on the safe side'

Probably just another reason to finally switch to Linux, right?   :)

[Nefaro]

Virus scanners pick up on games all the time.  Unless you download from somewhere shady they're always false positives.  By all means email the dev, but if it was me I'd add it to the whitelist and just play.

This.

The heuristics on modern anti-virus programs are pretty agressive, depending on which one you're using, and regularly produce false positives for legitimate games.  Notably EXEs for niche or rare games because all the popular games which garner false positives from them get reported quickly and the AV company patches in the exception.  I usually only see false positives or "deep scans" on the rare ones.

By the way, it's been a while since I've used Windows but I was always of the opinion that the built-in protection (Essentials?) was good enough.  Commercial virus scanners cause more problems than they solve in my opinion.

I wouldn't trust the built-in Windows AV by itself.  No way.  At least a free commercial AV should be used.

[Huw the Poo]

Probably just another reason to finally switch to Linux, right?   :)

Absolutely!  It gets harder to justify sticking with Windows with each passing day. ;)

[chemkid]

it's not only sunshine on linux...

2014 was a tough year for Linux users from a security point of view, coupled with the fact that some of the most important security issues of the year were reported for applications that usually run on Linux systems.

http://www.gfi.com/blog/most-vulnerable-operating-systems-and-applications-in-2014/

http://thehackernews.com/2015/02/vulnerable-operating-system.html

btw, i also use kaspersky av (not pure) with win7. but one still has to read a little and work with that information.
use your operating system with av-protection consciously rather than believing the hype and feeling falsely secure.
know your friends AND enemies! cheers!
chem!

[Huw the Poo]

I'll have to remember to address that when I get home tonight.  For now: no, Linux isn't bulletproof but it's a hell of a lot more secure than Windows.

[chemkid]

For now: no, Linux isn't bulletproof but it's a hell of a lot more secure than Windows.

i think so, too.
but still, it's not for everyone - especially for someone clueless with his friends shouting in the back that eg. 'Mint is so popular and easy'.

take care and have a nice weekend!  :)
chem!

[Boggit]

Depending on whether you bought the game from JTS Software or HPS, contact support at the appropriate site immediately.

The email will be answered by the same person (he works for both companies), but he can shed some light on what is happening and/or needs to know.

How certain are you that you aren't trying to install a pirated copy masquerading as the real thing?  There are apparently a lot of them out there, though I've never actually seen one (Chris Dean has, and can tell you about them).  If you bought a hard copy from NWS or HPS you should be getting a legit copy.  Same thing for an HPS or JTS Software download. 

I own a lot of JTS and HPS games, and have never encountered a virus.  I don't own that particular game, so I can't really comment.

I agree with all Philippe say. I do have the game in question, bought from HPS (via their UK outlet/dealer), and can say I have never had any virus warning with it - and I use Norton 360, which in the past has tried to say my some of games were stuffed with Trojan's etc, but were actually false positives.

Philippe's advice to contact Rich at JTS/HPS is definitely the best way to get closure on this.

[amandachen]

Several websites (e.g. VirusTotal, Metascan) let you upload a file and then check it against multiple antivirus engines. That's what I use to reassure myself that an alert is likely a false positive.

[Philippe]

There's a very simple decision tree here.

If you're getting a virus alert from what you absolutely know is an absolutely legitimate copy, it's probably a false positive and Rich at JTS/HPS support will have seen it before.

If you bought a disk from anyone other than HPS, JTS, or NWS, there's a realistic chance that the copy you bought comes from a pirate factory in Singapore with a photocopy of the cover insert of varying qualities.  If that is the case, I would not assume that you are getting a false positive because the pirate burner that made the cd might have been intentionally or unintentionally infected.

I have a vague recollection of hearing about a few pirate copies being inadvertently sold through a major retailer about five or six years ago, though that is somewhat rare (Ebay is more usual) and I can't remember the country involved.  One of the tip-offs for a pirated copy is apparently the quality of the cover insert:  some are in black and white to save money, some are a little off-kilter and poor quality color photocopies.  God is in the details.

 

[bbmike]

Several websites (e.g. VirusTotal, Metascan) let you upload a file and then check it against multiple antivirus engines. That's what I use to reassure myself that an alert is likely a false positive.

Interesting, I didn't know sites like that existed. Thanks!

[Huw the Poo]

but still, it's not for everyone - especially for someone clueless with his friends shouting in the back that eg. 'Mint is so popular and easy'.

It isn't for everyone, no, but the popular distros are so easy to use these days that the only people to whom I wouldn't recommend it are people to whom I wouldn't recommend a desktop as their main device.  In fact, Linux is easier to use than Windows in many ways.

To address the earlier point, those security issues that have arisen in the last year can be directly attributed to corporate greed - no more, no less.  Much, in fact the vast majority, of software upon which the entire world relies to keep our systems secure is in fact free and open source, yet the people who are responsible for their maintenance and development often do so in their free time.  They're underfunded and underresourced, and given that everyone relies on them, this is a deeply immoral situation.

I mean, sure, after Heartbleed a number of major tech corporations eventually coughed up some cash for OpenSSL, something they should have done a long time ago.  It's irresponsible to blame the developers of OpenSSL (I believe there are two of them, part-time, underpaid and relied upon by banks, governments, basically anyone who uses the internet for more than watching kitten gifs) who are working their arses off to keep the code secure.

Shellshock - again, as serious as this issue was, it wasn't even a bug in bash itself, it was stupid, lazy implementations of bash by developers who not only should know better, but are responsible for some of the most critical infrastructure in the world.

Open source software is demonstrably more secure than closed-source, but there are real Human beings behind it, and if they're irresponsibly (and immorally) underresourced, shit's going to happen.  I hope the world has learned its lesson after 2014.

take care and have a nice weekend!  :)

You too, buddy! :)

[Tuna]

Just because the file might be from a 'legit' seller.. Always be cautious.. Huge Corporations with Large Security divisions get infected all the time, so always be cautious!

A lot of developers do like to use DRM that makes AV very suspicious and rightly so. But a lot of times there is no threat, but still search around get more info, try other scanners, to be sure.