[Steve]

Security analysts have warned about a malicious software program pretending to be an installer file for the chat and voice/video program Skype. After fooling the user into installing it, the program sends the victim's Skype logon details, as well as any other logins or passwords stored in Internet Explorer, to another server.

This Trojan horse appears as an installer with Skype's logo and the name "65404-SkypeDefenderSetup.exe." Once the program is executed, users see a convincing Skype login interface, although the graphic for the "sign in" button is different from that of the genuine Skype application.

The Trojan has been spread through Spam as well as through instant-message conversations with a link to the Malware

[ChrisRabior]

It still amazes me that people would be silly enough to install 'skype' software from anywhere other than the skype website.

[Steve]

Its not really silly, more a case of being uneducated and unfamiliar with the way it works. The internet is quite a complicated place for beginners and Skype may just be one of the reasons to get online (free/cheap calls to relatives abroad etc) so by targeting Skype users directly these people would have quite a good success rate I would have thought.

You are absolutely correct though, only download software and patches from trustworthy sources.

[Soupdragon]

Get rid of the internet!
It will be then end of society if we don't!
Mark my words.

[Rob Barron]

How silly is it to do something you don't know about?

Is it silly to forget to put oil in your car? Perhaps to most but what about a recently widowed lady who has lost the man who always looked after the car? How should she know?

Is it silly to not know the capital of France? Well, maybe to most Europeans but someone living in South Korea has no more reason to know the capital of France than we do of knowing the capital of Burkina Faso! (Save you looking it up, it's Ouagadougou!)

The person who writes the questions for Mastermind knows the answers to every single question (after researching them of course!) so to him once the program is aired he knows the answer to everyone of them. Every question is easy if you know the answer!

I am amazed how 'silly' English-speaking people are with their lack of knowledge of the grammar involved in our language. Hope is clinged to when you ask what an adverb is that the questions don't get any harder. Ask them for an example of a 3rd Conditional and their eyes glaze over! But it's dead easy for me.... but then i am an English teacher. So no, you're not silly if you don't know the answer to that one!

You see, people are not silly, they are, as Steve said, simply uninformed of the world of computers and the internet. Let's not pour scorn on those who know little of the online world. After all, someone might know nothing of phishers, trojans and worms but can perform a life-saving operation ... and his next patient might be you!

Cheers,
Rob

[Steve]

As Rob says it's more about educating the people who don't understand the dangers not mocking them because we have that knowledge and take it for granted.

99% of the news I post about software updates are related to safety fixes and security and I would guess that the majority of our readers would already know to check their software is running the latest versions and indeed where to go to download it safely, however if one of the news posts here helps just one person then that to me makes it worth it.

[JMitchell]

Originally Posted by Rob Barron

Hope is clinged to ....

Totally agree with you Rob...but isn't it clung ?

[silkstone]

It's really a clanger.

Totally OT I guess, but I'm really disappointed by the disintegration of the English language in this Brave New World of ours. I'm not blaming people who don't know the difference between 'their', 'there' and 'they're', or who scatter apostrophes about with gay abandon (and yes, I object to the hijacking of that word to mean something else).

We went through an era when it was unfashionable to teach grammar, and now there's a shortage of English teachers who were actually taught properly themselves. English is a beautiful language, but not when reduced to TXT MSGS.