New procedure to reduce wait time in the Virus Removal Section

As some of you may have noticed, there is a user called HelpBot that is posting replies in the Virus Removal section. This user, or bot actually, is an application at BleepingComputer that will respond to virus removal topics that are at least 10 days old and will prompt them to click on a link and respond with whether or not they still need help. If the user states that they still needs help, then they are requested to supply the various logs that logbot requested as a new reply in their virus removal topic.

This new procedure was put into place to help reduce the wait time that our visitors incur in that section of the forums. We know its frustrating to have to wait a long time, but with 40-50 new virus removal topics per day and a limited volunteer base to help you with them, there are only a few things we can do to speed up the process. One of these things is the new HelpBot application. This application allows us to remove any topics from our queue that no longer require help in an automated manner. This also allows the Malware Response Team and other helpers to focus on helping and posting to only those topics that they know they will receive a response from. Ultimately, this allows those of you who are still waiting and who still need help, to get help faster.

If you have an open virus removal topic that HelpBot posts to, please follow all the directions in the post. The most important step is the first one. In this step you are requested to click on a link and then let us know if you still need help or if your issue is resolved. If you do not let us know, then we will assume that you no longer need help and will close your topic after 5 days of no response. Therefore, by following this step you allow yourself to get help sooner.

If there are any questions please feel free to ask and we hope this new process allows you to get the help you need in a more timely manner.

Thanks,

The BleepingComputer Staff.

Many thanks to you Grinler and Animal for the time and effort to create this app. It will be a great help to both the our malware team and a real help to our members.

Excellent work & a great idea--good luck with that! It's stuff like this that make this site what it is...#1 in it's class, IMHO.

It's a good thing you guys came up with this HelpBot thing, I heard thru the graspevine that some of the multitude of members with compromised systems were gonna start using a GrovelBot app to beg plead and....well...Grovel for help and bombard the staff with a flood of automated PM's for assistance of biblical proportions to the point of a DDoS.

I have noticed that, great idea guys, well done.

I guess I am here due to the response time lag, and the methods used to figure out whether a person is indeed still waiting for assistance, or whether they have moved on and solved their problem elsewhere.

I posted a malware removal post about 3 days ago. After making that post, other things have occured that (I thought) were important to add to the original post. By editing my original post, or in this case, making a personal reply to my own post, I'm getting the feeling that my post is being overlooked, as if a BC volunteer is assisting me, when they are not. While I do understand that there are those that attempt to bump their topic, there are also those (like myself) that are adding additional information that they consider pertinent to solving the initial problems that they were seeking assistance for. I don't claim to know the methodology here, but if ANY reply to an initial post is dealt with as if it were a BC volunteer making a reply, as opposed to the initial poster adding new information, then I'd suggest you need to find another way to identify posts that have not been addressed by a BC volunteer up to that point.

I'll explain it like this; if I were a skilled sniper, sitting up on top of a mountain in Afghanistan, realizing my position has been compromised, and making a call for help or extraction (our initial posting of logs, etc), if I MAKE A 2ND CALL (an edit to our own post) giving new information or coordinates to update the responders, my initial request for help shouldn't go to the bottom of the line, just because I've added new information. The initial posting should somehow be marked as "urgent" and "still needing assistance" UNTIL a BC volunteer adds a reply, not the intial poster.

The problem with malware attacks is that they persist, and things do get worse. We all know, it's nearly impossible to live without our electronic gear these days, whether it be mobile or desktop, and with all of our problems created by hackers, malware/spyware & viruses, we do need places like BleepingComputer to come and seek assistance. The truth is, that assistance is only beneficial if the system works to insure that those in dire need are assisted in the order they arrive. That being said, I know we're all supposed to wait 5 days for a response, but in reality, who can stop breathing for 5 days when your position has been compromised (as in the sniper analogy above), especially when you're updating the intial post with new pertinent information? Also, who among us can avoid taking any action (themselves), when no action is being taken by anyone else (the volunteers)?

This is meant as a constructive criticism, not a flame or bash. I'm hoping it's taken in that way.

Thanks for listening and at least creating the safe harbor for those in need.

Joe

The New Method that is mentioned in this topic does include a way of identifying topics that have not been picked up by a helper. Rest assured, your topic is in that list. At the moment, we have over 130 unanswered log topics, the oldest dated 7/21/12 11:12:52 Eastern Daylight Savings Time. 41 of those topics are older than yours. We do try to take the oldest topics first, but for various reasons which include the skill levels of the various helpers, newer topics may be picked up.

Orange Blossom

Thanks Orange Blossom. Will wait my turn...