Yahoo Messenger Acai Berry Virus

Written by Saran on May 24, 2009

acaiWhat in the world is an acai berry? If you are into fad diets, then you probably have heard of the acai berry. It is purported to be the next wonder drug, which is all natural by the way. It is supposed to make you lose weight like no other substance in existence. It is also supposed to make you feel better and younger because of its curative properties.

Anyhow, I have nothing against the acai berry fad per se. I mean, these fads come and do and it’s up to you if you want to try them or not. What is happening to me is another story, however. You see, I have somehow been victimized by the acai berry virus (or so I’d like to call it) on Yahoo messenger.

I didn’t have any inkling as to what was happening until I suddenly got this slew of offline messages last week. People on my contact list – even those with whom I had not spoken for months and months – suddenly started sending me offline messages. Their messages seemed to be in reply to something I had sent.

Yesterday, an old friend sent me an SMS saying that I might have a virus. He said that I kept sending him messages on Yahoo Messenger about this acai berry thing. Obviously, it was not me.

I am pretty sure that I am not alone in this thing. I have scoured the web for similar reports and have found a lot of other people complaining of the same thing! The solution? I scanned my laptop for malware using Spybot last night. I am about to scan again using Avast. Then I am changing my passwords. Let’s see if I can get rid of this thing.

Any suggestions?

Categories: IM, Instant Messaging, Malware, Real-World Issues

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Mac OS X Has Java Security Flaw

Written by Saran on May 20, 2009

mac_os_xOne reason that some people prefer to use Macs over PCs is the fact that the former is considered to be far more superior to the latter when it comes to security. However, that does not mean that Macs are not totally immune to security issues. As a matter of fact, security experts recently warned Mac OS X users of a security flaw that involves Java.

CNET tells us all about it:

Macintosh security consulting firm SecureMac.com on Tuesday issued a critical warning for what it says is an unpatched Java security vulnerability in Apple’s Mac OS X.

According to the man credited with discovering it, Landon Fuller, the Java flaw even affects the latest version of Mac OS X, 10.5.7, released just a week ago. Fuller has gone so far as to release a proof of concept for the security hole.

The vulnerability could be used to perform what SecureMac refers to as “drive-by-downloads,” or the ability to infect a computer by simply visiting a Web page. Fuller explains that the flaw allows malicious code to run commands with the permissions of the current user.

While the fact that a security flaw is certainly acceptable, the fact that it has remain unpatched to date is hard to understand. It is even more perplexing as the flaw had been discovered before the latest update to the OS was released. Is Apple not aware of the flaw (I seriously doubt it) or are they not seeing it as a serious threat?

Categories: News, Operating Systems

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