November 2007

Some users have received the following message through Skype chat:

www.alertscan.net/?q=update

If you receive something like this through a Skype chat message, do not be alarmed. Instead, ignore it and block the sender. This is chat spam aimed at scaring users into purchasing an alleged antivirus product.

The purported remote virus scan performed by the site behind the URL is also a fake: it is a harmless movie, not a real scan. The “results” of this fake scan are also false.

That said, if you receive a chat message from an unknown user and/or an internet link that you’re not sure of, please err on the side of caution and do not click on such links.

Update on Nov 29: The issue is now resolved. For more details, please read my post on the Skype Mac blog.

Like a lot of people in the Mac community, we’re excited that Mac OS X Leopard is now out in the wild. As you may have read, Skype runs into trouble when Leopard’s firewall is activated. At the moment, this affects a minority of Skype users.

However, we wanted to let you know that we’re embracing Apple’s new security efforts. By doing so, we’re continuing to ensure that Skype for Mac is the most secure internet-calling platform a Mac user can get. Our engineers are tweaking Skype for Mac and as soon as safely possible, the issue will be resolved. In a few weeks, the fix will be included in an updated version of Skype that has a loving relationship with the Leopard firewall.

It has come to our attention that some Skype for Windows users have been affected by a piece of malware that masquerades as a chat message aimed at finding a lost girl.

Please do not follow any internet links you may receive in chat messages that resemble the following: “Please help me to find this Girl”.

Clicking on the link will lead you to download a worm that is currently best described here.

Currently, this piece of malware — a new strain of the Stration/Warezov worm — can be detected by the following antivirus software: AntiVir, ArcaVir, AVG Antivirus, BitDefender, F-Secure, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft, Norman Virus Control, Panda Antivirus, Sophos Antivirus, TrendMicro, VBA32.