Video clips with bugs attached? That’s right. It was only a matter of time before the malicious coders out there turned to putting viruses into video clips. YouTube is not the only target, though, with so many new video sites cropping up.
More codecs are booby-trapped and some file compressors are being tainted before requiring you to use them to view certain video formats. You download to view the video and you’re tagged with spy-ware, malware or a virus. Everyone is watching movies and videos these days so why not target a huge audience?
Many secuirty firms are finding codecs full of pop-up advertisements, installed keyloggers so that confidential information can be accessed and other malware opportunities that advertisers take advantage of. What is even more dangerous is that many programs look virus-free when scanned but once installed, they “call home” for updates that you must install to continue…and that’s when you get hit with the bad stuff. Downloaded with your permission, in most cases, to update the program–and then installed by you full of viruses.
We’ve moved from email viruses to video viruses and it won’t stop there. Keep your computer protected and secure and don’t download or install a program without looking up reviews first. Don’t begin to feel safe, because that’s most likely the time you will be caught off-guard by new things like this that attack you indirectly and take over your system.
alotta morons now adays dude
i dnt think just running a dam avi will get u a virus. i mean if i burn it then play it…only way ppl will get the virus is if the avi says “download blank.exe” then some moron will download it.
of course “calling home” is the last thing a hacker/virus writer wants. Ad-ware will be another story though…
are these in the swf player or are people actually dumb enough to install a seperate program