[InHam] [QST] Warning about an infected Amateur Radio website - QRZ.COM

[Steve Jewell - WR9G]

> Starting late Friday evening, my computer repeatedly picked up a virus 
> from QRZ.COM.
>
> Other people in our club have reported the exact same thing to me.
>
> I clean the virus off, checked security setting, re-visited QRZ.com, 
> enter a callsign, and immediately get re-infected.
> I'll not visit QRZ.COM again until I know that they have taken care of 
> things, and Microsoft releases a security patch to address the 
> "zero-day exploit" vulnerability.
>
> I'm a computer/IT person and have all the latest patches for my OS, 
> IE, and applications.  Of course I have anti-malware and anti-virus 
> running continuously and also have my Internet security settings 
> properly set.
> Also, I didn't click on anything or download anything.
>
> Apparently a new "hole" has been found in computer security and is 
> being exploited at this time.  ( most new exploits are released going 
> into long holiday week-ends, so this fits the pattern. )
>
> The virus is calling itself "XP Antivirus 2012" ( also "Vista 
> Antivirus 2012", and  "WIN-7 Antivirus 2012" ) but is masquerading as 
> a Microsoft security warning.  It constantly pops up fake warning 
> messages and asks for your credit card number to activate protection.
>
> It also blocks attempts to go to legitimate anti-virus websites to 
> have it removed/cleaned.
>
> What do I recommend?
>
> 1. Avoid QRZ.COM for a few days ( especially if you use Internet 
> Explorer )
>    ( there are probably a significant number of other websites 
> infected too )
>
> 2. If infected, use a different computer to download cleaning programs 
> to get rid of XP Antivirus 2012
>
> ( I used
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-xp-antivirus-2012 
> )
>
> If you did enter your credit card number, call your Credit Card 
> company immediately and tell them what you did.
>
> Hope this information is helpful.
>
> 73
>
> Lloyd - N9LB
>
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