Saw this on 2peas. Virus from Photobucket

[BernardandMissBianca]

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2783160

Not sure if it's true but better safe than sorry. DH says don't click on any links!!!! DH says either buy a Mac or become Amish! LOL

Ok i got a virus last night from Photobucket, i had been looking at some pics and saved 2 gifs to my computer, seconds later i get a box popping up saying my computer may be at risk from a virus, and it starts scanning. Well it wasnt my virus protection that was running this scan it was some other software which i DID NOT install. I run my virus protection and sure enough i have 2 Trojan viruses on the computer. More boxes kept popping up every 10 seconds or so wanting me to click activate virus protection now....IF YOU GET THIS DO NOT CLICK YES....the program was called Spyware protect 2009...look it up and you will see it is a virus programme and a destructive one it will log keystrokes etc etc. Luckily my Dh was able to call our virus protection tech support people and they talked him through it, as we couldn't find where it had installed itself.
I know it was photobucket as i got one a few weeks ago, i should have learnt my lesson then but went back like a dodo and look what happened. I dare not even log on to their website to tell them they have got viruses hidden in the pics on there.
So an FYI i thankfully have a savvy hubby and i never click on boxes that i dont understand!! and i knew i had not downloaded that program, it was in my bottom tool bar and everything and you cannot get rid of it until you find out where it is hidden.

 

[patchchild]

Get a Mac, it solves so many of those problems.

 

[piratesmate]

DD does her school online & it uses a LOT of videos. A couple weeks ago she couldn't play one she needed for Spanish - supposedly it needed both a new video codec & update for Java downloaded. She knows better than to use the pop-up links for Java updates & went to the appropriate site to get it. But the video codec ended up downloading when she tried to close the window with the "X" in the upper right corner...and of course it came with one or more of the Vundo Trojan viruses. She had all of the symptoms described above except that one of the pop-ups was called "VirusRemover2009". It was particularly nasty & it ended up shutting down our entire network. Mine wasn't actually infected, but the firewall shut it down & refused to let me online for nearly a week while we dealt with the problem. AUGH!!

Still, I much prefer a Windows-based system to a MAC. Old school reasons really as I was in the industry when there was no way for the home user to fix a MAC when something went wrong. Just for the records, there are idiots out there who create viruses for MACs as well, but because there aren't as many out there it isn't as much "fun" for them...they can't bring down companies & frustrate half the planet at a time.

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

So it is just for pop-ups. Not your own photos?
If I can't upload photos to it for swaps and things, I don't know what I'd do.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Honestly I have no idea Ann. I would maybe wait a day or 2 to see if Photobucket can hash it out. This is not the first time they have been hit with a virus.

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

Okay. My swap isn't due for a while yet. I had better stop posting prototypes too.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

DD does her school online & it uses a LOT of videos. A couple weeks ago she couldn't play one she needed for Spanish - supposedly it needed both a new video codec & update for Java downloaded. She knows better than to use the pop-up links for Java updates & went to the appropriate site to get it. But the video codec ended up downloading when she tried to close the window with the "X" in the upper right corner...and of course it came with one or more of the Vundo Trojan viruses. She had all of the symptoms described above except that one of the pop-ups was called "VirusRemover2009". It was particularly nasty & it ended up shutting down our entire network. Mine wasn't actually infected, but the firewall shut it down & refused to let me online for nearly a week while we dealt with the problem. AUGH!!

Still, I much prefer a Windows-based system to a MAC. Old school reasons really as I was in the industry when there was no way for the home user to fix a MAC when something went wrong. Just for the records, there are idiots out there who create viruses for MACs as well, but because there aren't as many out there it isn't as much "fun" for them...they can't bring down companies & frustrate half the planet at a time.

I know there are idiots that make Mac viruses too but the odds are slimmer that you will get hit by one. But now you can get your Mac fixed relatively easily.

Sorry you got hit too Deb!

 

[mountdew1]

There is a chance that the "infection" was due not directly to photobucket, but to 3rd party ads on their site. Many "drive-by infections" are due to people taking advantage of vulnerabilities in Flash/IE and embedding malicious scripts in the ads. Or, alternatively the pop-up warning you of an infection was simply a pop-up ad, and you had already picked up some nasties somewhere else earlier that you anti-virus hadn't yet caught. Both are completely possible. Make sure that you get all the updates from Microsoft, think about switching to Firefox (Might I recommend the AdBlock PLus plugin....), as well as periodically checking for updates to Java, Flash, Shockwave, along with any other software you have installed. Never install video player type software just because some random site tell you to. Stick with the well known sites and you become much safer. It's all about common sense and you should end up staying safe and clean.