MSN Messenger Virus
 

Anyone else been a victim of this?

Thanks Swati ;) :thumb:

it's been doing the rounds for a while.

Just be careful and use common sense when opening files.

(oh and have good AV software)

Couple of my contacts have it. Fooking annoying!

I got it a couple of weeks ago from NeilO :( I trust him so very stupidly opened it :rolleyes:

:brickwall

I only signed in for a minute this afternoon to check my hotmail emails. I have put a clear message under my username "PLEASE DON'T OPEN ANY FILES SENT FROM MY MSN ADDY". We have been talking about that stubborn virus for ages in the other place. Now, you go ahead, click on the links, who's fault is that, my sweet numptie? :razz: :D

Nevertheless I really apologise for that, Dave. I must uninstall my MSN, and apply some rescue remedy to the system.

If anyone has any MSN virus killer links, please tell.

Thanks.

lol no worries, I just pulled the network cable to stop anyone else getting it, just ran 2 virus checks and all is well again :thumb: phew.

My own stupid fault, I didnt even check it was a MSDOS application, just trusted you with the file so routinely double clicked :o

Have a look at this which gives details of how to remove the various messenger viruses that are out there. After following the advice there, I'd make sure your AV/Spyware software is up-to-date, then reboot into Safe Mode (Reboot the machine and keep pressing F8 until you see a menu allowing you to select "Safe Mode") run a full scan of your system with your AV and Spyware software, then reboot into safe mode again, run another full scan (just to be absolutely sure), and then reboot normally.
You probably want to turn off System Restore before doing the scan, and turn it back on afterwards as this, I think, will ensure the restore point it will create when you boot normally will be a clean one.

You can always trust me, you know that:cool:
But this stupid virus is driving me nuts :mad: becuase It prohibits me to send any files to my contacts now, as it may confuse them :( I don't know where I got that virus from???:confused: My kid might have kindly received it from one of her 1018 contacts :rolleyes: :D Can you send me any useful links for MSN virus checks, Dave? If you could email or PM them to me, please. Thanks :cool:

Thanks, Markus :cool:

Makes me glad the first thing I do with a new build is uninstall MSN :thumb:

The worrying thing about Swati's MSN virus is that it runs a junk mail service on your computer (outside of MSN completely). I got it off her, and within 30 mins my ISP had sent me an automated email threatening to cut me off. My ISP is very hot on junk mail senders.

For me the removal process was simple as I make daily backups, I just rolled back my system to the previous backup (which happened to be about 30 mins before I got the virus).

I have analysed the virus with a lot of common virus killers, none of the ones I have used have detected the infection in the files Swati sends out. However, those tests were done many many weeks ago (cannot believe you still don't have it sorted Swati)

Hey, Looms :cool:
LOL I definitely don't send out any irrelevant random files, it was the computer virus that did it.
No, I haven't sorted it till today as I hardly use MSN, so I didn't bother. My very limited contacts know that my MSN sends dodgy virus link (that doesn't really cause any other lethal threat but of automatically sending irrelevant links to other contacts from your address). My friends who wanted to communicate with me still had convos with me whenever they saw me on line, no prob. They just wouldn't open sent links, that's all.

About this automated spam emails outside MSN, none of the contacts have received it but you, Andrew. It's a news to me. Obviously, my MSN received a dodgy link from someone else to get this virus. I never got any email from my ISP that it would cut me off :confused: And, I hardly get junk emails myself LOL:D

Hiya Swati :D

I did try to explain that the virus you have does more than you think. Its not just an MSN virus. It was caught through MSN, and it is passed on to other through MSN. However the virus itself has a purpose other than sending itself on to many people. That purpose is to join your machine to a botnet that is remotely controlled by someone else. That person then uses your machine to send junk mail to many recipients.

Those recipients are NOT your normal contacts. The type of mail you are sending out are those vigra style ones that have no working return address. So far you will have sent millions of the buggers all over the world.....

Hopefully you will manage to get it sorted at some point.

LOL What it is Loomy that it's not ME, the way you put it, mate. Someone else obviously has kindly infected my MSN. And, you obviously have researched it to a great degree, but I won't get parnoid about it, or make others too paranoid. It ain't that bad. On the other hand, my contacts can always communicate with me by other means, they have my number :thumb:

I am pleased to know that I am not the only one "guilty as charged" LOL :D

Thanks, Paul :cool:

However, I am gonna sort that bast@rd virus out now! I have had enough! :mad:

:D

He sent me the same thing quite a few times and I told him not to as it had a backdoor trojan but he still sent it again :confused: I have kaspersky anti virus and it picked ikt up everytime but it scares the hell out of you when hear the scream it gives when it detects a trojan :D

Loom, since you have a good knowledge of the virus any chance you know how to get rid of it other than trashing my machine? My virus protection doesnt find it when I scan my system but it is stopping the emails being sent as Im getting multiple pop ups constantly saying it blocked the email as it looks like Spam.

Many thanks

If it is the one swati has it can be removed very easy!

LOL how though??? Googled it and cant find anything, its defo the one Swati has cause thats who I caught it off

dave I don't have an answer for you sorry. At the time I got the virus the first thing I did was to recover my machine as fast as possible, so I used an image.

After doing that I had a look at the virus with all the well known scanners, not one of them could detect it at the time I got it (months ago). Hopefully they can now, and that will sort you.

I'm sorry I cannot help you further as I thought this had all been dealt with and deleted my samples :( If Jamie has a known good solution I'd suggest you try and follow that rather than me reinvent the wheel.

Dave, a contact sent me this link <below>
They used it successfully and sent it to me. Uninstall MSN, run the scan, kill the nasty virus prim and proper apparently. I am trying it now. I shall let you know if it's any good.

You can check it out.
Free Antivirus: Trial Versions

swati go on msn and send me it :)

mcafee 8.0 stops it :D

Swati that file was clean :(

I never sent any file, Jamie. I just went on MSN for a minute to save my contacts before uninstalling it. The file (clean or unclean) might have been automatically sent to you by the mighty virus as soon as I signed in.

Well thats just crap that is :)