New Skype virus unleashed
On September 10th, 2007 a new fast-spreading virus has been unleashed on the Skype community. Similar to the previous Skype parasites, this virus sends the victim a link to a screensaver, which usually looks something like this:
http://www.[random website].net/erotic-gallerys/usr5d8c/[random filename].jpg
This link contains an infected file that, once executed, compromises the system and spreads further using the victim’s Skype contact list. Only Windows systems are affected.
If you have been infected with this new parasite, use these instructions to manually remove it from your system:
1. Restart your computer in Safe Mode by pressing F8 during the Windows load-up.
2. In the Windows start-menu, press "Run…", type in "regedit" and press Enter.
3. In the Registry Editor, go to entry "HKLM/software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/runonce", look for "mshtmldat32.exe " and remove it.
4. Delete these files from the C://Windows/System32 directory: wndrivs32.exe, mshtmldat32.exe, winlgcvers.exe, sdrivew32.exe.
5. Find your HOSTS file (its default location is in C://Windows/System32/drivers/), open it with Notepad, and remove all the entries except "127.0.0.1 localhost”. Save the file.
6. Restart Windows.
This virus also installs several keyloggers into a victim’s PC, so it is recommended to run an anti-virus or anti-spyware scan after you have removed this threat.
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