Warning IE users

A bunch of major websites (including msn search, they aren't saying exactly what sites) were hacked, and have been spreading a trojan to anybody visiting their pages using IE.

zdnet
us-cert
news.com

A fix is available here, you don't need it if you have installed XP SP2 RC2, which is unlikely.

Tee hee...

hmz ... I think i was protected by my firewall, cuz I can't find any of the dll's listed for the virus. (at Mcafee)

What are the DLLs?

here ya go cass

http://nl.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=126241

Norton tells me when this stuff occurs, I've seen it happen from some websites. As well I just ran a few other scans last night by habit and had nothing. Besides I don't support those corporate websites and very rarely visit them. :razz:

I'm not gonna get affected then.

/me uses Mozilla FireFox :smile:

I just want to point out that, even though I don't like IE, there's no reason for Mozilla users to get too cocky here. The only reason why IE is getting these viruses is because more people use it, that's it.

If more people used Mozilla, it'd be getting more attacks.

You're computer is NEVER safe.

Someone once said that the only way to secure your computer from attacks was to put it in a lead safe and toss it in the atlantic ocean ... you should probably chain it to the ocean floor just to make sure.

[/meaningless rant]

This is true to some extent, but the reason that IE has been cracked so many times cannot entirely be that it is the most popular browser. Mozilla is more secure than IE, to a degree (whitelisted XPIs, integrated popup blockers, etc), so don't assume that if it became more popular than IE it would suddenly be the victim of the same level of attacks. It would certainly be targetted the same amount, but it wouldn't be the victim as often.

I didn't say IE had more or even the same amount of security as ... any other browser; but this is a funny term when talking about browsers, really, because it depends on the user using it.

All I was pointing out was that no one's computer is really safe, that's all.

In other words. Mozilla can be as insecure and unprotected as IE and vice versa. But, by default, Mozilla has more blockers from outside material and generally refuses raw executable files. These are probably the only BIG reasons why Mozilla is generally 'more secure'. It's just with IE the bugs, problems, and holes are more obvious.

That, and Mozilla is updated more often..

Yeah, well once is more often then never

Mozilla's bugs are addressed faster then IEs, of course.

Come on guys, don't get into another "Teh Firefox vs. Teh IE"-struggle.

It's not about the browser. It's about the internet experience. :biggrin:

I've had equal amounts of garbage stuff try and download from both my FireFox and IE. Since I have to turn on most of the options to actually view pages normally.

i have always used IE, i prefer it.. but would like to say that i have never received any virus's/trojans/bugs that i didn't actively seek.. in other words, if i was stupid enuff to visit questionable sites, well guess what? :rolleyes:

if you are stupid enuff to open an un-scanned zip file, you deserve what happens, and if you are crazy enuff to open an unidentified .exe file.. you do NOT have my sympathies.

i have had a router, through all of my broadband experiences, and nothing has slipped in to my knowledge.. anything i have gotten, was directly due to visiting iffy sites.

/ IE supportive rant.

It starts downloading without your knowledge Orph. You'd never know unless you had a virus scanner. It starts download .jar, .exe and other garbage and potentially harmful files. It's not something you voluntarily do. I have a router too...but it wouldn't block this kind of stuff as it's requested traffic.

Genuinely I didn't mean to start any kind of browser war. I know we get a fair few 'help me with virus/spyware' threads, and I just wanted to make sure people who don't visit tech news sites knew about this new 'critical' security risk.

Gorbachev said:
It starts downloading without your knowledge Orph. You'd never know unless you had a virus scanner. It starts download .jar, .exe and other garbage and potentially harmful files. It's not something you voluntarily do. I have a router too...but it wouldn't block this kind of stuff as it's requested traffic.

then, if its something i didn't actually seek, then the virus scanner is my only real option, cause.. if its gonna come to me unbeknownst.. actually i dunno what to say.. other than a trojan/virus isn't enuff incentive to switch browsers IMO..

lets hope, its restricted to some sites i don't visit :smile:

It can happen with any browser. As crono said it's just how it's set up.

IE is only half the problem - the other half is IIS, which gets constantly updated yet remains vulnerable regardless.

Can you tell I like Apache?

OH MY GOD!! IIS is Satan.

Dear Lord! what a piece of s**t!
Its only beaten in amount of bugs by sendmail.

Apache is alright for free stuff. Granted it can be fairly good ... I've seen some really cool SAP stuff though :biggrin:

Crono said:
OH MY GOD!! IIS is Satan.

Dear Lord! what a piece of s**t!
Its only beaten in amount of bugs by sendmail.

Haha ... sendmail =

Apache is alright for free stuff

I thought two thirds of the internet is running apache?

more than that