Skype Virus Threat

rolfw

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Any of you who use Skype and allow people to contact you or join the messenger chat who are not on your contact list, beware.

There is a virus doing the rounds and it will disable any updates to your antivirus, plus send itself to everyone on your Skype contacts list.

Sep 12, 2007 04:30 AM

EBay Inc.'s Skype Internet phone service, which broke down for two days last month, said a virus that sends a fake chat message may infect customers' computers.

The "w32/Ramex.A" virus is affecting users of Skype for Windows, Skype said. Customers with infected computers may send a chat message to other subscribers asking them to click on a link that will infect their computers.

Skype, with more than 196 million subscribers in July, has asked anti-virus software companies to update their protection systems to stop the spread of the virus. The alert follows an August software glitch that left many subscribers without Internet phone service for two days.

_http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/255518

_http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=79183

So as an interim measure and until all antivirus software is updated to spot it, don't allow contact from people who are not on your contacts list and don't click on any links in messages unless you have confirmed with the sender that he/she has sent it to you.

f you have a request from someone on your contact list to view a web-page or download something, confirm that it WAS they who sent it... there is a skype virus spreading very fast... be aware, copy this text and tell your contacts!
 

2cvbloke

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It's handy that I hardly ever log into skype then... :D
 

rolfw

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Well mine fires up when I start up the PC, but I don't accept calls or chat from people who are not on my contact list, so it should be relatively safe. I wouldn't follow a link from a stranger anyway and at least now being fore warned, I am fore armed. :)
 

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But there are many numpties out there that would do just what we wouldn't Rolf, I have family who are on skype and they would , they accept invitations to chat and then wonder why their pc is running slowly once it has been reconfigured as a repeating station sending out spam, honest I have seen it happen
 

rolfw

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Yes I agree, so even if we don't accept unknowns, a person on our list may well do so. Had to find out why a friend's computer was running slowly last year and found something in the region of 20 "Free" toolbars and auto running utilities which had been installed, all trying to load at startup and competing with each other.

Reloaded windows in the end, fortunately they had no information they needed to save apart from the documents directory. :)


I would also add that when I upgraded to the latest version of Skype, the default had changed to accepting messages from non-contacts, so check that your version hasn't reset itself after update.

Tools/options/Privacy/Privacy Settings/
 

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rolfw said:
I would also add that when I upgraded to the latest version of Skype, the default had changed to accepting messages from non-contacts, so check that your version hasn't reset itself after update.

Tools/options/Privacy/Privacy Settings/

The cheeky bar stewards thanks for that Rolf yes you are correct. I have 10 to do at work tomorrow, luckily I can do them remotely
 
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