Strange behaviour makes me think of a virus.

[snorretik]

Well, it got worse. Yesterday it spread to my TV. It was flashing black and back again like 3 times every 5 seconds for about a minute. Then I turned it off and turned the whole media box off (which does TV and internet in one). Now today turning it back on it seems normal again and the flashing is gone. But yesterday to me that was a signal that it was definitely a form of malware.

So I contacted Avast, they can only guarantee safety for Windows, and not the modem/tv or anything related to Linux.

And next time it happens I can contact my internet/tv provider.

So I myself don't think it's hardware. I had problems on both my Dual Boot PC and then the laptop. Then I saw screens flashing by on both my Android Phone and Android tablet. And then the TV stuff. So yeah if that changes things for you guys let me know. But if I can't solve this some other way I'm going to prepare to stick to Windows.

[EuclideanCoffee]

This appears to be a network security question.

This community forum assists in "Questions about security in Ubuntu and the official flavours."

Though I believe many users here have years of professional experience, network administration really isn't simply Ubuntu.

When your router has been attacked, we can assist with suggestions, but that support lands with your ISP and network administrator.

You're better off looking for support from a general security or network focused board, which there are many on the net.

[TheFu]

So I contacted Avast, they can only guarantee safety for Windows, and not the modem/tv or anything related to Linux.

That's just funny. Avast cannot guarantee anything. A/V is, at best, 50% effective. There have been studies by security professionals. Running the top 20 A/V programs on a Windows system only finds 80-90% of known viruses.

We're getting to a place that "ghosts" are the most likely answer from the problem expansion. People who believe in ghosts are much more likely to see ghosts when they look. Someone has to be specifically targeting you for this sort of stuff and few people would have the skills to do it. That means some organization wants to drive you crazy. Is that likely?

Getting a virus on Linux is extremely unlikely.
Getting a virus on Windows is behavior dependent.
Do you have a router? Is it patched at least monthly? Is it still supported by the vendor? If not, then some "bad people" may have complete access to your LAN and might have come in to accomplish something specific. Would they have a reason to bother?
Do you use Windows on the internet? Do you do other high-risk activities? Is your smartphone connected to your LAN? Is your wifi using a trivial password? Do your neighbors know with wifi password? How else might some virus or "bad person" gain access to your LAN?

I'm back to the loose video connector or failing power supply types of issues. Is the power to your house solid? Can you see the input voltages?

My systems are on UPSes. I know that right now the incoming power is 60hz and 121V. The UPSes condition the power to be 120V at 60Hz. One is using 128W and the other is using 90W of power. There are 5 computers connected, 2 routers, 3 switches, a 4-port KVM, 2 external disk arrays and a cable modem all going through those UPSes.

Had 3 HDDs fail in the last 3 weeks, about a week apart. They were mostly really old and didn't completely fail, but one was under 4 yrs old, so that one was just a not-so-great lifespan situation. I watch the SMART data monthly, but create reports for all disks weekly. I saw the errors growing on these disks over time. Your SSD does indeed seem fine. SSDs aren't like spinning disks. When they fail, they just stop working. Sometimes we'll get lucky and the SSD will go into read-only mode for a month before it dies completely. I've seen both happen. Dead without warning and read-only for a few months before dying. Same for flash storage (USB/SDHC/microSD).

A laptop does have some key presses that happen without anyone touching it at all. Probably a pinched keyboard connector or some faulty key input contacts. It has been doing that for a few years. I jiggle the key and it stops for about a month. Today it was the down-arrow. Usually it is the 'd' key. That's just a 10 yr old laptop with an issue, not a virus.

No ghosts here. But I doubt I can convince someone else.

[daveginboav]

Could sophos be of any use to you?
https://www.fosslinux.com/2852/how-t...-in-ubuntu.htm

[snorretik]

I will look into Sophos, thanks.

As far as Avast goes with guaranteeing stuff, it's the same as insuring yourself from storms doesn't stop the storms from coming. Once I got a virus on my Windows PC, Avast has to do their part of the deal and get to work on it. I expect them to do the work when things go wrong. Not prevent it from happening altogether. That's a difference.

[TheFu]

An excerpt from the Avast software license if you have the paid Assurance Plan:

13.8.2. If you request Vendor’s assistance under the Assurance Plan, and if you and your Device qualify for assistance under Section 13.8.3, Vendor will use commercially reasonable efforts to assist you to remove the viruses or other Malicious Code affecting your Device. You hereby acknowledge, accept and agree that Vendor’s efforts may not be enough to remove certain viruses or other Malicious Code from your Device, and that Vendor, in the course of providing service, may alter, delete or corrupt data on your Device, change Device settings, or otherwise interfere with the proper operation of your Device.

Avast/AVG damaged their reputation when they were caught selling user and system data in 2019. That doesn't matter to everyone. Google and Mozilla removed their browser addons from their "stores" over it. Seems google only approves when they do the spying.

[snorretik]

Right. I wanted to add a bit saying "insurance companies try to get out of certain costs as well", which is true. So I know it's probably still going to be an issue if something happens. However you can't first sell something and then talk your way out of it through all kinds of legal trickery. Cause that would just be deception in the end. If that's what it all boils down to, it doesn't hold in court. And you just need to prove it. I'm convinced about that... but the only real test would be if it actually happens and is important enough. They sell it by using "commercially reasonable". That's the key thing there, if it wouldn't have included that it would be nonsense.

I didn't know about their reputation though.

Edit:
I guess if it's a really professional attack reasonable will at some point be a problem.

[snorretik]

@ EuclidianCoffee

Could you perhaps point me in the right direction when looking for other boards? I'm not finding the boards you referred to.

[EuclideanCoffee]

Maybe Reddit or StackOverflow?

[snorretik]

Right, the big ones. I'll give them another go, thanks.