“Skype is being used by hackers to spread a ‘malicious worm’ that infects Windows PCs and could result in computers being held to ransom,” The Week reports. “The video chat service, owned by Microsoft, said yesterday it was ‘aware of this malicious activity”‘ and warned users not to click on any ‘strange’ or ‘unexpected’ links.”
“A number of users received instant messages saying ‘lol is this your new profile pic?’ By clicking on the link, they unwittingly downloaded a file containing Trojan horse malware,” The Week reports. “The malware allows hackers to hijack infected PCs and recruit them into a ‘botnet army,’ reports the BBC”
The Week reports, “Users can also be locked out of their machines and held to ransom. A message will threaten to delete all the user’s files unless they pay $200 within 48 hours.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Enjoy your Microsoft Tax, Windows sufferers!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Scott Kopp” for the heads up.]
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Newsflash: By Installing Windows on your PC, you’ve already paid the Microsoft ransom – the Stockholm Syndrome abduction ransom.
I have Skype installed on my Mac, iPhone & iPad for those times that I need to talk to Windows doofuses who don’t have FaceTime or iMessage.
The one thing that differentiates Apple from Microsoft, apart from the ‘it just works’ tagline is that Apple delivers on what it says it will. In other words, when you look at an Apple ad, you know within a 100% certainty that your real life experience will be somewhat like that ad or a close approximate to it.
MS, on the other hand, touts features for its software that is far from the truth. MS says that all conversation threads in Skype shall henceforth be synchronized across all devices from the previous upgrade onwards (about a couple of weeks ago). Nope, sorry, doesn’t work as advertised. It’s still a clunky, shitty disorganized mess.
F*** you MS.
1.5 billion MSFT users…. 66 millions OSX users. Nuff said. Why would anyone at this point target the feeble few who use OSX? Wait as iOS is about to get hit and it will be ugly as iOS user numbers now makes them relevant to the fine folks who write malicious code.
P.S. F You too!
A billion people live in crushing abject poverty. Large numbers of victims don’t mean something is good. And, in the case of Winblows, that’s certainly true.
You forgot Windows surface phone and iOS, loser.
I’ll bet you that the number of people buying their own Mac or iPad are close to the number of people buying their own Windows PC or Tablet.
explain this than.
over 250 million iOS users, not one virus/malware.
how many Android virus/malware are there?
you cite “security through obscurity” even though it has been disproved multiple times.
You really have no idea, have you. If I was a hacker/virus writer, don’t you think that your greatest glory & world credibility with all you peers, would be to get inside a Mac. The world would know your name & that you mean business, but it must be that no one wants that prize.
So have a back up in place and let ’em wipe it out. Who cares?
Always have a fresh, non-infected disk image handy. Always wear clean underwear. Your mom is the best IT support person.
But that doesn’t help if:
– You have a backup, but it’s out of date and missing your newest files.
– You have a backup, and it IS up to date and has all the latest files, which includes the trojan.
– You have multiple backups at many different dates, but you don’t know when the trojan first infected the computer.
– You have multiple backups at many different dates, and you know when exactly when the computer got infected, but you have important data from after the infection.
– Or, the far more likely scenario, you don’t have a backup.
Nice one, Kayan. Well said.
Isn’t $200 what Ballmer cited as the “Apple Tax”?
So much for that vaunted security form the’I’m a Mac’ TV ads!
Cancel or Allow?
” So much for that vaunted security form the’I’m a Mac’ TV ads”
If you think that this comment actually makes sense, it probably explains why you use a PC.
Hold your Windows PC for ransom?? That’s a joke. Worst case, simply remove the HDD and install a freshly formatted one with a new OS load. It will still be Windows, but at least it won’t be a ‘bot (for a few minutes, anyway).
Pull the plug, turn off the WiFi, replace the software and OS, start everything up again, rinse and repeat.
Windows tax?
My current computer (i5, 8gb, 1tb) with OS and all peripherals cost less than the cheapest Mac mini. Yeah, I’m really feeling the pinch from that Windows tax you speak of.
The pinch is the user experience.
And cheap components that often fail.
And malware that periodically destroys your Windows install.
And your Windows install just periodically melting down all on its own.
The Windows Tax isn’t the price you pay up front, Luke. It’s the price you pay long term.
Exactly, including your 4 hours of time, installing everything to how it was. Your time is much more important.
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