Malicious links signal another Skype virus outbreak

Skype virus has always been one of the most active cyber infections out there, changing its form and approaches, but always succeeding to infect numerous computers worldwide. In the last couple of weeks, though, reports about the supposed infections have significantly intensified. The users claim to receive strange links from random Skype contacts pointing to the Chinese search site called Baidu.com. The link strings are complete with the receiver’s username at the end. Apart from that, no additional information is given. Nevertheless, you can be certain — these messages were never your Skype friend’s intention. If you are still not sure about their reliability, you can always check back with this person to find out whether he/she has really sent the link or some malicious infection has put it there for you. This can save you from being unexpectedly redirected to some dangerous domains and infecting your device with malware. In fact, this is what usually happens during the Skype virus attack. Instead of landing on Baidu.com, you will be automatically redirected to Coolinfovip.com, a fake domain which imitates the well-known American business magazine, Forbes. You can only imagine what dangers await when operating on this bogus site further. Thus, you should leave this website immediately and inspect your computer for potential malware infection.

With more and more users finding their computers infected with this Skype parasite, it becomes quite obvious that the situation is getting out of hand. Skype owners at Microsoft Corporation, however, have not issued any official statements about this issue yet. Information on how to protect your account from being hacked can only be found in Skype community forums. It seems that we will have to learn from each other’s experiences until any formal guidelines are released. Luckily, the information people share gives a relatively defined picture of how this virus works which may also help to avoid it. The infected users are advised to change their Skype account passwords and scan their devices with reputable antivirus tools, while the ones who receive the infectious links via private messages should stay away. It is also recommended to let the infected users know that suspicious links are being sent from their accounts and urge them to inform other people in their contact list to ignore these messages. This might help curb the spread of the infection.

About the author
Lucia Danes
Lucia Danes - Virus researcher

Lucia is a News Editor for 2spyware. She has a long experience working in malware and technology fields.

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