Rated PG

I’ve been receiving a lot of instant messages (IM’s) for the past few days with URL/websites that contain malicious code to activate a worm (or something similar, but I think it’s probably a worm) in your computer. PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT ONCE YOU CLICK THAT URL/WEBSITE (in the message), IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY RESEND ITSELF TO ALL YOUR CONTACTS (IN Yahoo! Messenger. That’s what a worm does anyway).

TIPS:

DO NOT CLICK ON ANY URL/website unless youo’re conversing with that person IN REAL TIME!

DO NOT CLICK URL’s/websites in OFFLINE MESSAGES, even if the site looks reputable/decent. (See examples below)

To make it seem like it’s an authentic message from your friend(s), MOST of those URL’s/websites are contained in a message with something like (not a complete list):

"have you seen… [website]?"
"do you know who’s [website]?"
"oh my god! who is this… [website]?"
"DO NOT CLICK… [website]!"
"i told you not to click… [website]!"
"check out my new site… [website]"
"here’s my new site… [website]"
"new pics… [website]"
"oh my god, i won… [website]"
"screenshot of new windows version… [website]"
";) 1 of my vacation pictures… [website]"
"wtf is this ? wanna give me a shit ?  [website]"
"damn, she is so cute :x… [website]"
"have you ever seen such a silly man like this ?… [website]"
"do you realize who is in this image:… [website]"
":( the page cannot be displayed… [website]"
"shot in Iraq _ The war will never end… [website]"
"check this link for me : … [website]"
"making money online never be easier : … [website]"
"look at my new lover : … [website]"

ALWAYS RUN AND UPDATE YOUR ANTIVIRUS OR ANY SECURITY SOFTWARE THAT YOU ARE USING!
Install and use (in the background, recommended) anti-spyware software.

From someone in my list

(Removed my contact’s details;
I replaced the display picture):

(Click image to enlarge. The Yahoo! Messenger
client I am using might look different) 

If the creator of that worm is smart enough, I’d think that he’d block messages from friends trying to contact the infected user, informing him/her that his/her PC is infected, or maybe even make a stand-alone program that’ll connect to the Yahoo! Messenger server and send the message to the infected user’s contact list. If not, well, then maybe that’s a new idea/challenge for the author! =P

Here’s a list of examples of sites that probably contain malicious code. These sites might seem to be funny looking, or may look blank, but there are probably hidden scripts in it that can activate the unwanted program. (I couldn’t verify, since I didn’t click these links. Too scared to. I think it’s pretty obvious, though.  Not hyperlinked for obvious reasons!):

http://thec%6folpics.com/mylottery.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/goudtimer
http://thec%6folpics.com/vista.jpg
http://thec%6folpics.com/who.jpg
http://thec%6folpics.com/dontclick.jpg
http://thecoolpics.net/vacation2.jpg
http://mytermex.com
http://mytermex.com/darling.jpg
http://mytermex.com/?id=tips
http://nsl-school.org/?id=news
http://nsl-school.org/?id=miss_world
http://nsl-school.org/?id=stories
http://nsl-school.org/?id=forum
http://thecoolpics.com/who.jpg
http://thecoolpics.net/error.jpg
http://thec%6folpics.com/Iraqwar.jpg

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 18th, 2006 at 4:46 pm and is filed under Web/Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.