Instant Messanger virus?

[zigzag_8336]

Is it possible to get a virus from an instant messanger if I only chat with people I know? I have AIM and am running AOL 9.0 optimized and have Win XP.

[slick8790]

well, if you are just sending messages of just text, you are fine. however, if you are trading files, even with friends, you may become infected if a friend sends you and infected file. but just text messages, you should be safe. i still reccomend to keep AV running though...


slick

[Fatphantom]

Its not possible, but you should also watch what links your friends give you. If your are sure that you only chat with your friends, might want to set it to buddy list only. Go to the privacy options and select allow only users on my buddy list to contact me.

So now if someone not on your buddy list wants to talk to you, you have to get there screename first.

[Tedob1]

i wouldnt say its "not possible" rather that an exploitable vuln hasn't been discovered/released for it to date. i know thats what you meant Fatphantom i just tjink it needs to be made clear. there could be a 0day working right now. As far as following links go i would recommend against following links your friends send you. although if you feel you must make sure the person who sent it is net savvy and well aware of the hazzards involved and hope for the best. if a person isnt the brightest bulb in the string s/he's the one that will get you infected for sure.

[|The|Specialist]

Normally with mIRC and pirch you could make a worm drop scripts. For example script.ini in mirc then in pirch its events.ini I think and then in xirc you could simply tweak the registry. As for things such as MSN messenger, yahoo, & AIM... they all have guess what!! They have some very interesting API to play around with.

Hehehehe.... fun :cool:

Anyways with all that stuff you'll have just enought control over IRC and IM clients to send copies of the worms or direct peaple to sites with some nasty scripts.

Its not only possable but its very common now & not to mention easy as **** to do.

[scriptkiddie18]

LOL you need to be careful even when it is text sometimes beacause one of my friends used some software which makes a link special for AIM only and once you click it you will get a website that does not exist and the person who sent you the link has your IP :D
There is a way to see into it and its simple lol...just point your pointer onto the link if it shows a ip address then it's his ip and he is trying to get ya ip....if it shows a link to a website then you should be ok...Just wanted to point that little thing out in a big paragraph...duh dummy thats me :D

[SDK]

Norton Anti-Virus 2004 will can IM.. (It scan MSN Messenger) and other.. (Does it realy work, no idea)

[eXplict]

I dont think its possible just from talking but it is possible if you click a link or open files. My friend as virus that radomly spit links into an aim convo and if u click them u will be infected.

[PM8228]

As everybody said, I'm sure links can infect you. Text messages most likely will not. However, if you found a way to send a message to the "Targets" computer via text it would be incredible. The problem however is that the text window does nothing to the messages, just posts them. So a "text virus" would probably execute on a "on arrival" command. That is more psuedo psuedo code, but I'll look into it a little.

-Cheers-

[GbinaryR]

Just a note:
Don't use this crap. It's safer to use mIRC than this instant messager crap.

[zigzag_8336]

I would use mIRC but most of the people I chat with don't know much about computers/irc so I just use AIM.

[|The|Specialist]

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=251824#post694535) by GbinaryR
Just a note:
Don't use this crap. It's safer to use mIRC than this instant messager crap.

Actually no I disagree... but I guess thats personal choice but anyways with mIRC your more likely to find a larger range of targets for example the 30 or so peaple who enjoy chating and downloading in #warez. And with random peaple jumping in and out of channel you'll have even more & more targets. These targets move to other IRC networks & channels then with more peaple joining in on the fun thus the cycle of stupidity begins. Meanwhile IM is usually limited to some form of buddy lists.

[SDK]

I agree with |The|Specialist, with IRC. Everyone can know your IP, Dns and stuff.. With Instant Message, it's alot harder to get those information that most script kiddie are decourage!

[Cybr1d]

--|| VIRUS ALERT : A new virus is spreading via AIM Profile links.. Read More ||--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Do NOT click on links that say something like "whoaa look at what i found click here" or "I can't believe I found %n's Picture"

There appears to be a new virus/worm/spyware that is spreading via AIM profile links.

Apparently, malicious code is being placed on computer systems when victims visit either realphx.com or talkstocks.net (there may also be other domains).

This code is executed either when a visitor OKs at the prompt or automatically if the visitor has not patched Internet Explorer for known vulnerabilities (see Windows Update to patch your system).

Once the victim has been infected, their AIM profile will be changed to reflect only a link to one of the above mentioned sites with the text description as "Whoaa...look at what I found, click here" (there may also be other text descriptions). If the victim attempts to reset their profile, the link will reappear after a reboot or restart of AIM.

Due to variations of the virus/worm/spyware it may take a little work to completely clean it from your system.

Below are some links to removal tools we found (but did not test) followed by some manual instructions that were posted on other sites:

Removal tools
http://j.wftp.org
http://digitalmatter.net/index.php
http://rcc.bgsu.edu/faq/FixMessageTrojans.htm

Manual Removal Instructions
http://www.ncsu.edu/resnet/pages/security/realphx.php
http://j.wftp.org



taken from: http://www.imchaos.com/alert.asp

just some info that you might consider.

[zigzag_8336]

Thanks Cybr1d, I have allready heard of that one. Some body on AO got it actually.

[|The|Specialist]

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=251824#post694652) by SDK
I agree with |The|Specialist, with IRC. Everyone can know your IP, Dns and stuff.. With Instant Message, it's alot harder to get those information that most script kiddie are decourage!

Actually I was talking about malware... about how mIRC worms are common, easy to make, & there are usually more peaple in IRC than some dumb contacts list. Also about info... why would it be so hard when aww hell I mean you're talking to the peaple. 9 outta 10 if you find some bozo who is dumb enought you can usually tell them to open command promt, tell them your going to teach them "neat PC tricks..."

[Cybr1d]

LOL...you know something :), this idiot was messing with my GF's head creating a new SN talking weird to her. I created another name such as 'h0tgrl" and talked to him. I already had the IP of a person whom I suspected of being the idiot using IMCHAOS. I made the Idiot think i was going to send him a pic of me and I wanted to meet him :) so he glady opened a dc. U know the rest ;)

[PM8228]

Har Har. *Wags Finger* Improper use of knowledge. The police and such entities are there for that purpose. Although a little payback never hurts.

-Cheers-

PS: I'm just learning about DoS and DDoS attacks, so if you wanna pass the IP this way I "practice" ;)

[zigzag_8336]

Oh just give'em hell. Let's steal his password and delete his account. lol.

[Cybr1d]

I never said I Ddosed him or did anything to him. lol..i just called him, told him i knew it was him, Punched him in the face the next day and that was the end of it. I dont like to crash pple's comps for silly things. They could have vital information in there which could really get them in trouble, ex: saved copy of his senior project due tomorrow at 8 AM. I dont want him to fail college because he's an idiot sometimes :). I'm a kind and frienly person :D

[PM8228]

dont want him to fail college because he's an idiot sometimes . I'm a kind and frienly person *Shakes head* If he fails it will be due to his being a stupid dunder head :). Oh well, dinner. Later..

-Cheers-

[zigzag_8336]

Oh I see Cybr1d ;)

[Turmoil]

Kind of off topic.. But I do know of a prank that exists for MSN 5.5.... It is a program/mod for msn called "Demonic Seed" and it lets you do all sorts of fun things with MSN messenger.... But there was a feature that let you "Upload" fake viri and to fake port scans :S hehe, anyways, I just thought I'd share that :)

[GbinaryR]

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=251824#post694594) by |The|Specialist


Actually no I disagree... but I guess thats personal choice but anyways with mIRC your more likely to find a larger range of targets for example the 30 or so peaple who enjoy chating and downloading in #warez. And with random peaple jumping in and out of channel you'll have even more & more targets. These targets move to other IRC networks & channels then with more peaple joining in on the fun thus the cycle of stupidity begins. Meanwhile IM is usually limited to some form of buddy lists.

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=251824#post694652) by SDK
I agree with |The|Specialist, with IRC. Everyone can know your IP, Dns and stuff.. With Instant Message, it's alot harder to get those information that most script kiddie are decourage!

Originally posted here (http://www.AntiOnline.com/showthread.php?threadid=251824#post694684) by |The|Specialist


Actually I was talking about malware... about how mIRC worms are common, easy to make, & there are usually more peaple in IRC than some dumb contacts list. Also about info... why would it be so hard when aww hell I mean you're talking to the peaple. 9 outta 10 if you find some bozo who is dumb enought you can usually tell them to open command promt, tell them your going to teach them "neat PC tricks..."

If you use TDS-3 to chat you have nothing to be affraid of.
It can so great trojan and virus identifing system that can found even blaster and sobig.
I have tested of my own as i don't believe reviews easily.
*TDS-3=Trojan Defence System 3

[kaoskontrol]

You cannot be infected with a virus, if u only chat! if u open links, to infected documents, then you may get infected (although this depends upon the effectiveness of ur AV scanner!). also, if ur initial distro was infected , then of course, u'll have a fullblown virus on ur machine!

Abt yahoo IM - if i'm invisible, den a 'patched" version of yahoo IM can see me whereas all other legit versions cannot! Does anyone kno how to fix this problem from my client or is there a crack available ?