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SWF exploit threat

  • 19-05-2016 8:48am
    #1
    the watchman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 835 ✭✭✭


    windows XP.

    Hi all,
    AVG detected SWF exploit threat. When I tried to quarantine this it said that object does not exist or is missing. I was in hotmail account at the time. Now although I see a list of emails in inbox I cannot open them.

    Further info from AVG:
    SWF/Exploit

    • Rank this week: Nº 200
    • Websites affected: 5073
    • Users affected: 500,000 - 1,000,000
    • Affected Operating Systems: All Windows OS
    SWF/Exploit Summary
    SWF/Exploit is a malicious software that once it is executed has the capability of replicating itself and infect other files and programs. These type of malware, called Viruses, can steal hard disk space and memory that slows down or completely halts your PC. It can also corrupt or delete data, erase your hard drive, steal personal information, hijack your screen and spam your contacts to spread itself to other users. Usually, a Virus is received as an attachment on an email or instant message.
    More Trends and Statistics for SWF/Exploit

    Any thoughts on this please.


Comments

  • #2
    the watchman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 835 ✭✭✭the watchman


    update. hotmail seems ok now.


  • #3
    Fysh
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 11,078 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    SWF objects are usually Flash animation wrappers, most commonly used by web browsers. They can easily be used to deliver a virus to your machine, so it's worth being cautious. Especially if (as is likely on XP) you are running with Administrator permissions.

    It sounds like AVG detected something amiss with some file loaded by Hotmail/Outlook.com as part of the web interface and blocked it, thereby interfering with how the interface responded. Most likely the resolution to this would be down to refreshing the page - if the component was malicious (e.g. from an advert) it wasn't served again after refreshing, and if it wasn't malicious (e.g. a false positive, which has happened a few times recently for SWF/Exploit reports from AVG according to posts on their forums) then AVG probably updated their signatures to reflect this.

    On a different note - you may be sick of hearing this, but you should seriously consider moving to an OS which receives regular security updates. Or at least not going online while you're using XP.


  • #4
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 92,550 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    TBH if you are still running XP or Vista on the original hard drive then maybe you backup everything now as the drive is well past it's best before date ;)


  • #5
    the watchman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 835 ✭✭✭the watchman


    A bit late coming back to this thread but thanks for the replies, all appreciated. All files backed up and also now on a new windows 7 computer... yes I know still dragging my heals with the OS's, but I'm happy, everything working much faster but I do miss my old Microsoft word docs where it had a built in dictionary, using Office 2013 now it seems to be able to use the dictionary you have to connect with Microsoft. Also I miss the works calendar for the same reasons. I'm going to try and download the old programs mentioned but they are probably not compatible with Win 7.

    Anyway thanks again.
    PS. And I still can't get my old Lexmark X2470 printer to work properly on Win7, I can print but no interface to allow scanning and tonight I need a scan!!


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