Watch out for this IM + website attack!

WhiteEagle · March 31st, 2008

Hey all,

I'm writing this to warn my fellow MSN Messenger users about a virus out there that attacks in the following way:

You receive a PM from a contact with this message:

Quote:

hey is this you? :S http://gallery.aokhost.com/viewgallery.php?=user_id

where user_id is your email you use to sign into Messenger.
Click on the link and you download a MS-DOS file.
Run the application thinking it's gonna show you a picture of yourself and it actually is a virus that spreads itself via the same message, this time with your contact's email in each one.

A firewall can stop this virus from spreading. Just refuse to allow "msn" to make outbound connections. It won't hamper your Messenger, just the virus.

I'm gonna post about this on my blog as well, to warn as many people as I can!

screwballl · March 31st, 2008

or if you don't know the person sending you the IM, block them or at least close out the IM window....

Parker · March 31st, 2008

Get a Mac. 

Leave the virus's behind.

WhiteEagle · March 31st, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parker

Get a Mac. 

or Linux

theburan · March 31st, 2008

Actually, I've been hit by this exact virus, about 2-3 months ago. And you know what? It didn't do crap to my vista x64 machine. Completely messed up my friends laptop running xp though. (I was running avg at the time, although I didn't get any warnings or anything.... it managed to spam the link out to everyone in my contact list, but it didn't do anything to my computer... my friends lappy had norton on it... and it needed a format to get it back to 100%).

WhiteEagle · March 31st, 2008

turns out I got hit by the Storm worm...arg!

I have to dl KIS now to rid myself of it or risk getting kicked off my ISP!

**Hitman** · March 31st, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parker

Get a Mac. 

Leave the virus's behind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteEagle

or Linux

Or use safe downloading practices.

Smart Computing FTW!

WhiteEagle · April 3rd, 2008

My computer is down, due to a virus corrupting my HD's recovery partition. I'll have to save up some money to buy a new HD and Vista Premium (total = $462) before I can fix it myself, unless a friend can fix it for me.

My only worry about going this route is that some of my favorite programs (some necessary for business) may not work with Vista.

To read more about this latest problem in my life, please read this blog entry.

qazwsx · April 3rd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteEagle

My computer is down, due to a virus corrupting my HD's recovery partition. I'll have to save up some money to buy a new HD and Vista Premium (total = $462) before I can fix it myself, unless a friend can fix it for me.

Cant you just borrow a XP CD off somebody? or try to pick one up without a licence key as you should already have one.

WhiteEagle · April 4th, 2008

I'm taking it into a friend today who'll hopefully be able to fix it and let me stay with XP.

The good thing about this is that I learned that my PC has 3 SATA ports.

March 31st, 2008	#2
screwballl Colonel Calamity Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sandy South Posts: 6,283 Blog Entries: 6	Re: Watch out for this IM + website attack! or if you don't know the person sending you the IM, block them or at least close out the IM window....

March 31st, 2008	#3
Parker i will hunt u. Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: East Bay, CA Posts: 1,394 Blog Entries: 1	Re: Watch out for this IM + website attack! Get a Mac.  Leave the virus's behind. Last edited by Parker; March 31st, 2008 at 17:50.

March 31st, 2008	#5
theburan Packers Fanboi Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rapid City, SD (ish) Posts: 777 Blog Entries: 2	Re: Watch out for this IM + website attack! Actually, I've been hit by this exact virus, about 2-3 months ago. And you know what? It didn't do crap to my vista x64 machine. Completely messed up my friends laptop running xp though. (I was running avg at the time, although I didn't get any warnings or anything.... it managed to spam the link out to everyone in my contact list, but it didn't do anything to my computer... my friends lappy had norton on it... and it needed a format to get it back to 100%). e6300@3.33ghz\|Asus P5k-e WiFi\| 4gb OCZ ReaperX\|2x 3870's\|1.3tb storage space\|MSI tv tuner.

March 31st, 2008	#6
WhiteEagle Gamer at large! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 956	Re: Watch out for this IM + website attack! turns out I got hit by the Storm worm...arg! I have to dl KIS now to rid myself of it or risk getting kicked off my ISP! Last edited by WhiteEagle; March 31st, 2008 at 18:12.

April 3rd, 2008	#8
WhiteEagle Gamer at large! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 956	My compuer is off-line for about 3 weeks! My computer is down, due to a virus corrupting my HD's recovery partition. I'll have to save up some money to buy a new HD and Vista Premium (total = $462) before I can fix it myself, unless a friend can fix it for me. My only worry about going this route is that some of my favorite programs (some necessary for business) may not work with Vista. To read more about this latest problem in my life, please read this blog entry.

April 4th, 2008	#10
WhiteEagle Gamer at large! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 956	Re: Watch out for this IM + website attack! I'm taking it into a friend today who'll hopefully be able to fix it and let me stay with XP. The good thing about this is that I learned that my PC has 3 SATA ports.

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