# Picked up Trojan.w32.generic.pak.cobra from the dope **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 28, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567 "2010-12-28T02:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/21 "2010-12-29T15:41:23Z")
Seems odd to call someone a big fat dummy and then ask them for something. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/22 "2010-12-29T16:11:37Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Who pissed in your cheerios? I do have a nasty habit of pissing in my own cheerios. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/23 "2010-12-29T16:40:57Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Who pissed in your cheerios? > > I didn’t ask for sympathy, or even help; I got the malware off my system on my own. I was informing the board because that is what gentlefolk do in such circumstances. > [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > I do have a nasty habit of pissing in my own cheerios. > > 😃 You guys might want to try this thing called milk. Just sayin’. I would like to thank a moment to thank the members of this board for providing me with the information I needed to (probably, so far anyway) prevent a problem by their simple suggestion of using Firefox with a few extensions (Adblock, Noscript, and the like). If you’re browsing the web, much less The Dope, with IE, I would like to add my voice to the people clamoring for you to make the change. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/24 "2010-12-29T17:13:10Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > You guys might want to try this thing called milk. Just sayin’. > > I would like to thank a moment to thank the members of this board for providing me with the information I needed to (probably, so far anyway) prevent a problem by their simple suggestion of using Firefox with a few extensions (Adblock, Noscript, and the like). If you’re browsing the web, much less The Dope, with IE, I would like to add my voice to the people clamoring for you to make the change. Ordinarily I use Firefox for everything but the few stupid company sites that require IE. Now that I think on it, I am going to open IE and delete all the bookmarks so I don’t make the mistake again. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/25 "2010-12-29T18:24:27Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Ordinarily I use Firefox for everything but the few stupid company sites that require IE. Now that I think on it, I am going to open IE and delete all the bookmarks so I don’t make the mistake again. Actually I have the same problem. A couple of my company sites require IE or they are just unusable. I use IE only to go to those sites. I’ve switched to Firefox across the board otherwise. (And my use of the word “you” in my previous post was meant as a suggestion to the masses and not proof that I hadn’t read your post correctly.) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/26 "2010-12-29T18:46:45Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Ordinarily I use Firefox for everything but the few stupid company sites that require IE. Now that I think on it, I am going to open IE and delete all the bookmarks so I don’t make the mistake again. > [@Lare](#): > > Actually I have the same problem. A couple of my company sites require IE or they are just unusable. I use IE only to go to those sites. I’ve switched to Firefox across the board otherwise. (And my use of the word “you” in my previous post was meant as a suggestion to the masses and not proof that I hadn’t read your post correctly.) There’s a FireFox add-on that lets you open an IE tab in FireFox. I don’t know if it would have the same vulnerabilities. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/27 "2010-12-31T03:58:49Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > You guys might want to try this thing called milk. Just sayin’. MILK? Eww! I prefer my piss, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/28 "2010-12-31T04:16:56Z")
Whats this ? Internet Explorer is more vulnerable than Firefox ? Can anyone elaborate ? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/29 "2010-12-31T16:04:31Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Whats this ? Internet Explorer is more vulnerable than Firefox ? Can anyone elaborate ? Virus creators exploit IE vulnerabilities more so than other browsers. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/30 "2011-01-02T09:26:15Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > There’s a FireFox add-on that lets you open an IE tab in FireFox. I don’t know if it would have the same vulnerabilities. I think that IE Tab is opening an actual instance of IE in Firefox, exactly as if you had opened IE concurrently. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567/31 "2011-01-02T12:27:33Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think that IE Tab is opening an actual instance of IE in Firefox, exactly as if you had opened IE concurrently. Yip. It has the same vulnerabilites. However, there is a version that works with Adblock Plus, so you can at least get protection from rogue ads. And it’s still safer to only use IE for one site. Also, you may want to look into upping your security where only the sites you want to use are on the accepted list. That would help you whether you use IE Tab or not. Of course, you’d have to have administrator access, which you may not have on a work computer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picked-up-trojan-w32-generic-pak-cobra-from-the-dope/565567.md?page=1)