New IM Worm Installs Own Web Browser

Aquafinality writes "A new IM worm discovered recently takes the novel step of installing its own web browser onto the victims PC. Ironically titled "The Safety Browser", its default settings actually make your PC less secure - switching on pop-ups, changing your home page and hijacking your desktop with a looped music track that plays every time you switch your computer on. It's clear people cannot resist clicking "yes" to anything they're presented with via IM - with this in mind, what on Earth can we do so stop the spread of garbage like the above? To put it another way, will reducing the amount of potential "suckers" out there dissuade the bad guys from coming up with ever-more elaborate ideas such as this latest scam? Or is IM safety a lost cause?"

Comments

It seems there's only one thing we can do.

[Ant P.]

Make "Yes" buttons, by default, HURT people physically.

Geeks want to know

[Giant Ape Skeleton]

The question on every Slashdotter's mind:

does the browser pass the Acid2 test?

Isn't gonna happen.

[Dorsai65]

When you try to make everything idiot-proof, you just raise the quality of the remaining idiots.

My quarter to two in the morning idea

[craznar]

Split the friggin' internet in half.

Give out odd numbered IP addresses to Linux users, and even numbered addresses to Windows Users.

Then Linux computers just turn off access from even numbered source addresses.

Problem solved.

Ok - time for bed.

The browser it installs is....

[madnuke]

Internet Explorer 7!