Viruses from KaZaa and Napster alternatives.

Automated PC Solutions

VACM - Virus Alerts for the Common Man

Viruses from KaZaa and other Napster alternatives.

Greetings from The VACM Team,

In this issue:
------------------------------------
- KaZaa and viruses !

NOTE:
If you do not use KaZaa, AudioGnome, or other Napster
alternatives, this issue is not pertinent to you.

The Bottom Line
-----------------------------------------------
When Napster went down the tubes, KaZaa (KaZaa.com) quickly became the most popular "file sharing" alternative.... BUT...

Files on KaZaa and other Napster alternatives are not always what they seem to be (just like email attachments).
According to an article in the U.K.-based IT site, The Register, 6% of all the music downloaded from KaZaa is virus-laden.

If you have done the three things VACM has suggested in past issues, fear not- you're safe.

The reason people are getting viruses from what they think are MP3 or other files is that KaZaa's filtering allows viruses to be renamed as song titles on MP3 files. A search for a particular title will deliver a file with a .VBS extension that is not visible to the user (unless you took our previous advice).

Hacker's Digest Labs said it has found the Love Letter virus disguised as videos, images and executables available from KaZaa.

What You Should Do
-----------------------------------------------
If you haven't already, go to the VACM archives at

http://vacm.webhop.net

and do the first three items under the "VACM Archives" heading. Once you disable hiding of file extensions, it will be completely obvious if a file you downloaded ends in ".VBS" - in which case you know from previous VACM issues that you should NOT double click on it.

The complete list of file extensions that you should not double click on is in the "Disable Hiding of File Extensions Now!" article on the VACM web site.

Basically, though, if you download what you think is an MP3 and the filename ends in something other than MP3, just delete it.

One other thing you might want to know is how to avoid downloading an MP3 that isn't an MP3 in the first place.

When you run KaZaa and you do a search, your search results will show you the actual filename of every item. However, the "Filename" column is quite a ways to the right side of all the columns, so you simply have to scroll to the right to see the filenames. Or, you can drag the filename column to the left so that it appears next to the "Title" column. By looking at the filenames of your search results, you can tell right away if an MP3 is actually a .MP3 file or not.

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:

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******** 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.

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