Comcast Suggesting We Need "Constant Guard Service"

[Greenday]

My mom got an email from Comcast today. It read: "Dear XFINITY Customer,
XFINITY identified one or more of your computers may be infected with a bot. You might have already seen an Alert from XFINITY informing you about bot activity.
We strongly recommend you take action to remove malicious software from your computers.
We appreciate your prompt attention to this important security notice.
Sincerely,
Constant Guard from XFINITY"

Now, are they full of shit as I believe and just trying to make money off of dumb people? I'm running my Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and nothing's come up on my laptop. I'll scan my sister's laptop later but I'm pretty sure nothing is wrong with it.

My mom just doesn't listen to anything I say unless I have some proof to back it up. God forbid she just takes my word for once.

[Greenday]

I don't torrent anything nor does anyone else in my house. I DO use Netflix a ton though.

They have a link that takes you to their website. It suggests four steps:

1. Update Windows
2. Make sure you have updated security software (Which it then suggests downloading their security software.
3. Suggests downloading malware removal tools from Microsoft.
4. Suggests downloading more software (Immunet Protect or Secunia).

https://constantguard.comcast.net/?C...ampaign=Email1

[PepperElf]

is this really from comcast?

[Greenday]

is this really from comcast?

online.communications@alerts.comcast.net

[PepperElf]

online.communications@alerts.comcast.net

just asking in case it was a spoofed email. which would mean the address would be the right email, but the person sending it would be a hacker of course.


cos the first thing that came to mind was that windows virus where they tell you "you have a virus but you can pay us $$$ to download this program to get rid of it"

[shopgirl15]

Maybe call the company and ask?

My brother got the fake "FBI" malware a few weeks back and really freaked out, but we managed to fix it.

[Kaylyn]

If you play any MMOs, check for a program called Pando Media Booster running on your computer in the background. I know games such as Aion and Lord of the Rings Online use it in a similar way to a torrent service, where your installed game is used to seed patches and files to other users. I believe League of Legends uses it too.

When I reinstalled Aion on a lark after moving here and switching to Comcast, where I checked my usage meter frequently, I saw a huge spike in the meter. As in, it used 10% of my total data for the month in 2 days. I poked around and found Pando running and shut it off and made sure it didn't automatically start back up.

I dunno if that's even what your issue is, but it's something to check that sneaks onto a lot of gamers' systems. It's just something to check for. It even gets its own place on Windows Control Panel if you do the list view rather than the category view.

[Greenday]

The torrenting thing may make sense. I was trying to look for movies online and kept getting prompted to download iLivid. I chose not to download it but perhaps that triggered the alert?

[RootedPhoenix]

If you call Comcast, they might be able to tell you if that is one of their emails.

[Zapper]

Try Spybot, too. It's free, and it's pretty good. It won't conflict with any other anti-malware software on your machine.

[Pagan]

If you call Comcast, they might be able to tell you if that is one of their emails.

That's what I'd do. Even with that e-mail addy you posted, that still doesn't mean it's them. Honestly, it smells like a scam to me.

[RichS]

If what I'm reading from this article by PC Magazine is correct, it's legit.

All the Constant Guard Service does, however, is notify you that one of your machines may be infected. It's not an anti-malware defense in itself unless paired with Comcast's Symantec Norton Security product. And, as the OP found out, Comcast e-mails you if it suspects a problem.

My advice: You don't need the Constant Guard Service; Just make sure that you have a good antivirus/antimalware solution and do regular scans on all of your connected computers. I use avast! free antivirus that's worked well for me, and there's other free and paid-for solutions available.

[Titi]

If what I'm reading from this article by PC Magazine is correct, it's legit.

All the Constant Guard Service does, however, is notify you that one of your machines may be infected. It's not an anti-malware defense in itself unless paired with Comcast's Symantec Norton Security product. And, as the OP found out, Comcast e-mails you if it suspects a problem.

My advice: You don't need the Constant Guard Service; Just make sure that you have a good antivirus/antimalware solution and do regular scans on all of your connected computers. I use avast! free antivirus that's worked well for me, and there's other free and paid-for solutions available.

Rich is right. I got one from my ISP as well. It seems that certain sites may or may not have been infected. I use comodo and they just blocked the pages (there are still some blocked, just in case of a virus (it's usually because the page is parked and for sale.) .

[PepperElf]

The torrenting thing may make sense. I was trying to look for movies online and kept getting prompted to download iLivid. I chose not to download it but perhaps that triggered the alert?

that may make sense too since some ISPs may be taking a stronger stance against torrents.

i know in Japan, for example, the ISPs voluntarily shut you down for it.