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security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:48 am
by woodgnome
as this threat has particular relevance to users of bgafd, we think it's worth drawing your attention to the existence of a malicious program which can affect people who download images onto their computers. it is the slightest of risks at present but it's not only boy scouts who should 'be prepared' while surfing the net:

the cause for concern:

what needs to be done:

note the inclusion of IE6 (service pack 1) in the software affected list. this will include many of you.

Re: security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:57 am
by Holden MacGroyn
Cheers Gernome but you think this might be a sly way of getting every to up to XP service pack 2?
I've heard a few horror stories about it causing big time conflicts.


Re: security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:39 am
by woodgnome
Holden MacGroyn wrote:

> Cheers Gernome but you think this might be a sly way of
> getting every to up to XP service pack 2?
> I've heard a few horror stories about it causing big time
> conflicts.

i've experienced those conflicts myself (in relation to anti-viral software, mainly) and as a result ended up deinstalling sp2. however, i'm assured by 'experts' that most people do not experiencing the level of aggro that i suffered (constant crashing of my o/s). so, i guess it's all a matter of pros and cons depending on where you go and what you do on your pc.

don't take my word for it though. let the people speak...

still, here's a reply i emailed to someone who was having problems after installing sp2:

"i've restored my pc to the day before installing sp2 and that seems to have done the trick.

click on your desktop and hit the F1 key - this will bring up the windows help and support center.

click on 'system administration' then click on 'tools' (towards the bottom of the page) - here you will find 'system restore'.

click on it and accept the 'restore my computer to an earlier time' option which should come up as the default.

clicking on the calendar until you should find the day on which you installed sp2.

click on the day before that (or any prior date with a restore point) and proceed through the wizard doing as it advises.

you computer will travel back through time and you can start enjoying your pc again..."

Re: security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:17 am
by mobo
Had lots of problems with service pack2 also, internet connection lost as result of installing it which made it hard to remedy the the problems at the time. In the end uninstalled got connection back and left it at that.


Re: security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:42 pm
by joe king
xp2 update - no probs except for nero burning rom (had to uninstall and reinstall previous version)


Re: security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 3:55 pm
by Easter Egg
The more I'm reading these kind of horrorscenario's, the more I'm so glad I use a Mac. Internet today on a PC almost feels like going to a bar in Pattaya/Thailand without a condom, picking up a girl, and find out in your bedroom that "she" is actually a "he" and (s)he is suffering heavily from all kinds of scary and infectious diseases. You were just looking for a nice shag, but got really severely fucked in the end.

Re: security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:03 pm
by David Johnson
Hi Woodgnome,
First of all, thanks for:
Highlighting the problem
Giving the solution to the problem
Mentioning the problems with the solution
Providing a solution to the problems
if you know what I mean....

However, my own experience tonight is
Loaded the Service Pack
Couldnt restart Windows at all.
Had to go in to Safe mode and run System Restore to rollback

If I had not done that I would have been totally fucked.

Thanks for sharing the solution.

Cheers
Woodgnome

Re: security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:13 pm
by woodgnome
David Johnson wrote:

> Had to go in to Safe mode and run System Restore to rollback
>
> If I had not done that I would have been totally fucked.
>
> Thanks for sharing the solution.
>
> Cheers
> Woodgnome

it seemed to be in my own best interests to cover all eventualities and it looks as if i was right! ;-)

sorry to hear of your grief at the hands of 'the most thoroughly tested piece of programming in pc history' - or some such press release bollocks...

Re: security alert - poisoned pictures!

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:21 pm
by Deuce Bigolo
Thanks for the warning

I wonder what the next vulnerability in Windows will be

Given the plethora of vulnerabilities already on record so far



It won't happen overnight but it will happen again...count on it

cheers
B....OZ