New virus - what took them so long?

Submitted by Adam on July 2, 2007 - 3:20pm.

Riding Shotgun with Adam

There is a new virus going around that pretends to be a postcard from a friend, family member, schoolmate, etc. Within the email are links to where you can download the "postcard."

In reality you will not be getting a postcard, you will be getting a virus. How sneaky.

While this method of spreading viruses usually doesn't work well because the host site is taken down quickly, I thought this one was worth commenting on not because of the nastiness of the virus or the way it spreads.

I am writing about it because I am surprised it took clever virus writers this long to come up with this approach. I searched for other viruses that have used the "You have a greeting card approach." If it has been done before, it didn't make any of the major antivirus database sites.

Be careful as you search the web. Send real greeting cards and you will be much safer.

If you liked this post, consider buying me a beer!

HELP

Submitted by Smart Computer User on July 5, 2007 - 12:41am.

Ok, I have outlook express, and do not open unfamiliar email. Since it usually consists of enlarging a part of my body, or enhancing same, or some other sales pitch. + I do not use the preview option.

So WHERE/HOW did I get the following? Especially since I do NOT have Norton (I switched to Avg last Aug) My card games have been invaded, as with many other files well over 100 of the following 2 items in the avg vault:

Norton Internet security pro 2004 reg file zip - Trojan horse downloader.generic4.ylu
AND
Virus identified Win32/GaelicumA

How do I go about cleaning up this mess???
I NEVER open in safe mode. And I NEVER go into the registry.
AND, I am NOT a smart computer user.
Thankyou, ANYONE?!

New Virus

Submitted by Smart Computer User on July 3, 2007 - 5:34pm.

Thanks for the timely warning. I encountered this virus on a computer where I volunteer. Actually, our ISP discovered it and quarantined it on their server. I still had the choice of downloading the contaminated email, or not. Thanks to your timely warning, I did not.
Harold in Cedaredge.

Like they say...

Submitted by Rick on July 2, 2007 - 3:25pm.

Yes, Senor Adam, there was a similar string of viruses disguised as greeting cards in 2002. Like Adam said, always be weary of unexpected emails. And this latest round of attempted mayhem begs us to restate our email rules and how to spot a bogus email by reading this tip.