USENET and Viruses

[SuperTech]

Just curious if anyone thinks that USENET is worth it anymore? I've been using newsgroups since 1996 (16 years) and lately there seems to be an insane amount of viruses on it. Files that have perfectly legitimate names, but harbor an EXE payload. I seem to be ending up going to Warez-BB and IRC for my file needs, which seems to be the last elk of its kind (I miss the old VDOWN, sniff).

Where are you guys going for your "needs"?

[johhny]

learn to search on usenet,spam posts can be easily avoided and get your files from trusted sites like nzbmatrix.com

[anon]

get your files from trusted sites

:yup:

I mostly use the NZB section here, and never got any infected downloads. There are other good places as well. This (http://filesharingtalk.com/threads/396406-NZB-Indexing-sites!) thread could help.

[sandman_1]

Mysterbin and Binsearch allow you to see what is in archives. That and usually common sense prevails in most situation, like looking at file size and if the archive is passworded.

[LazyGuy]

I myself find my content at FST, NZBSrus and Gingadaddy which are user indexed(safe) and absolutely free to use
but the content is much less than what you will actually find on Mysterbin/Binsearech

[Hole69]

Its called common sense. Know what sizes your files should be, know the groups and posters you usually frequent, and make use of the the free indexers who will tell you if there is a password, an .exe or an archive in an archive. And you've been using for 16yrs and signed up in 2011 - ? And you don't know all this after 16yrs - ?

[SuperTech]

Wow, harsh Hole69! Let's just say the content of USENET was much better in yesteryear and when I do a search in Newsbin Pro, about 95% of what I see is viruses with perfectly legitimate names with believable file sizes. I just tried Mysterbin and this does show me in a better format who the troublemakers are.

Thanks for the tips guys.

[sandman_1]

...when I do a search in Newsbin Pro, about 95% of what I see is viruses with perfectly legitimate names with believable file sizes.

That was your problem to begin with. Even though you can do some more advanced searching with Newsbin Pro, I have found it no better than the free sites and you have to pay monthly for the service. Mysterbin is the best one out there in my opinion but sometimes it might miss something. I use several different raw search because one might not catch everything:

binsearch.info
mysterbin.com
nzbindex.nl
nzbclub.com (I like this one when they are up and running. If they added the ability to look into an archive, it would be the best IMO due to the fact that they have a rating system and other info on content.)

[Cascadeur]

I've had too many viruses in software downloaded from Usenet, but never in a video. I use nzbs.org & nzbmatrix.
I almost exclusively use private trackers and private forums to download software, never had a virus.

[Sometwo]

Use masterbin and click on the video or disc image filter. That will eliminate almost all malware. I've found a couple DVD ISOs that had a program (probably malware) in them configured to autorun. Now I open the image with winrar to make sure it's just the video before I burn it.

[mjmacky]

Use masterbin and click on the video or disc image filter. That will eliminate almost all malware. I've found a couple DVD ISOs that had a program (probably malware) in them configured to autorun. Now I open the image with winrar to make sure it's just the video before I burn it.

It's mysterbin.

Someone should come out with a usenet indexing site for porn called masturbin.

[johhny]

Viruses can of course be a concern, but no more than from any other sources,just get a scene release if you're worried and scan every download (which you should be doing anyways).

[mlindsay]

Viruses can of course be a concern, but no more than from any other sources,just get a scene release if you're worried and scan every download (which you should be doing anyways).

Yes Johhny, I couldn't have said it better myself :) I am a little paranoid myself, so I treat scene releases like any other file. I would tend to agree that virus' are more prevelant with usenet, but only because there is a servere lack of comments and reviews on most usenet sites. I bet if folks blindly downloaded torrents the way people do with usenet, there would be just as many virus' and corrupt files. I have only experimented with usenet and have downloaded probably only about 100 or so video files ( torrents are my main squeeze ) but I would say 90-95 percent of my usenet files are clean whereas almost 100 percent ( no sh_t ) of my torrent files have been perfect. I don't mean to sound like a torrent fanboy, I see the advantages of both torrents and usenet. For very old and rare files usenet is sometimes the only way to go. :)

[nntpjunkie]

Agree with @Hole69 - if you are an old school Usenet user you likely searched for content using headers (which can still be done successfully with a trained eye) If you can't spot bogus payloads you need to go after content using NZBs, plenty of free options for public search sites many already mentioned. Search the forum for nzb sites and you can get a whole list.

[CyberCitizen]

Also look for the fake rar files.

If the files are labeled
something001.rar
something002.rar
something003.rar
They are usually fake.

Look for
something001.rar
something001.001
something001.002

etc.

[mjmacky]

Also look for the fake rar files.

If the files are labeled
something001.rar
something002.rar
something003.rar
They are usually fake.

Look for
something001.rar
something001.001
something001.002

etc.

You forgot .rar, .r00, .r01, .r02, etc., which tend to be legit.

[CyberCitizen]

Thanks mjmacky,

You are correct, I did forget that one as well, was on an iPhone posting & was going by memory, as long as you use common sense your pretty lucky. Had the odd password file that hadn't been flagged by binsearch.

The other one that annoys me is rars in rars with passwords. As they are normally not detected by binsearch.

[Hole69]

Thanks mjmacky,

You are correct, I did forget that one as well, was on an iPhone posting & was going by memory, as long as you use common sense your pretty lucky. Had the odd password file that hadn't been flagged by binsearch.

The other one that annoys me is rars in rars with passwords. As they are normally not detected by binsearch.

nzbclub flags archive within archive with an exclamation mark. Of all the free indexers I'd say nzbclub has the overall edge as the best. Just edges out mysterbin.

[CyberCitizen]

Thanks Hole69, Didn't know about that one, added to my list of sites :P