Online videos secretly infecting your computer.
  Which ones should you avoid? Which ones infect your PC?

Greetings from The VACM Team,

In This September 17, 2006 Issue:
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- Online videos secretly infecting your computer. 
     Which ones should you avoid? Which ones infect your PC?

 You are free to forward this critical information to anyone
 you wish as long as it is not modified in any way.

 People wishing to subscribe to the VACM Alerts may do so at:
     http://apcsnh.com/vacmsign.htm


***************************************************
* The Bottom Line...
***************************************************
Trust us... you don't want to be a victim of this. 
You usually won't even know you've been had. 
Here’s how it works…

You’re surfing the web, and you find a video that you really
    would like to watch, (no, not one of “those” videos…
    necessarily).  You click the link to start the video, but
    your browser or media player says that you must install
    a codec or a "plug-in" or some other "thing" in order
    to be able to view the video. 

You click the button to allow the codec or other "thing" to be
    installed.  What you don't realize is that
    your computer has just been infected, without any
    antivirus or other bells going off.

More often than not, if the video you are trying to access
    requires installation of a codec or some other "software"
    to access it, and if that software is NOT one of the
    "standard" web media players, like Macromedia Flash,
    ShockWave, QuickTime, or Windows Media Player,
    then you are most likely allowing malware to be silently
    installed on your computer.  And you still may never
    see the video you were trying to play!

These days, serious rootKits, bots, and myriad other
    spywares and malwares are silently installed on
    innocent web surfers' computers by the tens of
    thousands every day.

As spywares and bots evolve and become more
    advanced, they are frequently not detected by your
    antivirus and antispyware software.  And that is why
    you need to keep this info in mind when surfing the net.
    As they say, "you never hear the bullet".  But in this case,
    you often don't see any blood, either.

***************************************************
* What You Should Do
***************************************************
So how can you tell if a codec is safe, or if it’s a rootkit or
    other evil malware?

1  You can’t, unless your antivirus software recognizes it before
    it installs. But, with tens of thousands of these things on the
    web, there is no antivirus on the planet that will catch them all.
    Once it installs, it’s invisible, so even as your antivirus updates
    itself, it is probably too late… because your antivirus may never
    be "able" to see it.

2.  Bottom line … if you have to install a codec to watch a video
    on the web… you should probably just close/cancel the window
    that is asking you to allow a codec or some other "thing" to be
    installed (unless it's Flash, QuickTime, Windows Media, etc.)

3. Do NOT "give up" on antivirus or antispyware software, and
    do NOT let your subscriptions expire.  If you do, you will be
    on your way to some PC rebuild/repair costs in a hurry. 
    If you do not have antiSpyware software yet and would like
    the #1 VACM rated product, click here to get a trial copy of
    today's #1AntiSpyware Software.  VACM recommends
    CounterSpy not only because it protects against the
    largest number of spywares, but also because it works
    automatically, very much like your antivirus software works.

4.  When Windows says "there are updates for your computer",
     always allow them to be installed as soon as you can.

5. And, of course, if you do not have AntiVirus software on
    your PC, you are lucky to be able to get to this web
    page at all. If you haven't already installed
    a good quality AntiVirus software such as Norton, you
    should not be going online until you do so.

6. Don't rely on the Windows Firewall...
    Get a top rated Firewall product  (STRONGLY recommended
    to further protect against spywares and viruses).  Our VACM
    testing and research is the reason why ZoneAlarm Pro is installed
    on our PCs (and our clients' PCs).  You can get your copy of
    the #1 ZoneAlarm firewall by clicking here.

********************************************************
* Additional Details
********************************************************
Codec stands for compressor/ decompressor.  A codec is like a
    filter that a video file passes through, where it is converted
    into a stream of pictures that you computer knows how to display.

In the case of "bots", allowing installation of what you thought
    would make your video play might just open the back door
    to your computer that will now allow some perpetrator(s) to
    have complete and secret control of your system.  They
    can then use your computer to carry out whatever illegal
    or harmful activities they want, and it will look like you are
    the culprit.  For one common example, if your computer
    is used, via a bot, to send out spam, it will look like you
    were the sender of the spam.  Not good for you... or the
    slowdown it will cause to your computer(s).

Best Regards,
Marc Deschenes, VACM Editor
The VACM Project at
Automated PC Solutions

 

 

*** Be sure to check out the appendix at the end of this alert if you are having trouble booting your computer into "Safe Mode". The process is all spelled out for you there.   Why should you be very concerned about Spyware? Learn how to avoid Identity Theft and Windows corruption in this free VACM Video:      VACM-tested #1 AntiSpyware Software How did they steal my Identity? Why do I get so much SPAM ? Why is your computer running so slow ? Today, every PC needs just a few protection softwares. Find out what and why. Visit our Links Page to avoid Indentiry Theft and costly computer repairs.    VACM Links to Protection Tools and Softwares Keep your PC Safe and Avoid a costly trip to the shop... with these VACM approved tools. You need 3 things to protect your PC(s) automatically. Use these links to go directly to the Download and Purchase pages: the best AntiSpyware product the best Firewall product the best AntiVirus product           Old Shotgun Shell Boxes are collector's items and worth good money!  (yes... just the empty boxes) get your   ShotShell BlueBook price guide now.     To cancel your subscription to VACM, reply to this email with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject. If you click on the link below, the "unsubscribe" email will be created for you and you can simply hit "Send" in you email program: Create My Unsubscribe Email IMPORTANT: please include the email address at which you are currently receiving VACM Alerts in the body of the message.     ******** APPENDIX - Handy How-To Tips **********   * How To Boot into Safe Mode Shut the computer down so that the power is off. Turn the computer on, wait 1 second and begin pressing the F8 key on the keyboard, once every second repeatedly. Do this until the Windows Startup Menu appears. If you get a keyboard error, press F1 to resume and then continue pressing the F8 key once every second, or your PC may tell you to press another key for BIOS setup. Select Safe Mode from the Windows Startup Menu, then press the Enter key on the keyboard. Windows will then boot into Safe Mode. NOTE: This may take longer than a normal boot. At the end of the boot process a dialog box will appear informing you that Windows is in Safe Mode. Click OK on this dialog box. Windows is now in Safe Mode. If you miss hitting the F8 at the right time, Windows will boot normally and you will not see the "Safe Mode" message.  In this case, start from the top of these instructions until you get the boot menu screen where you can choose "Safe Mode".  This can be a little tricky the first time you do it.