Text 24416, 70 rader
Skriven 2009-05-26 10:54:48 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Ärende: Warning!!!
==================
Lee Lofaso wrote:

-> Hello Everybody,
-> 
-> For those who downloaded the free KFC coupons for
-> the grilled chicken dinners, please heed this warning -
-> 
-> THE FILE AND COUPONS ARE MALWARE!
-> 
-> INFECTS/DESTROYS REGISTRY!
-> 
-> DELETE IMMEDIATELY USING APPROPRIATE SOFTWARE!
-> 
-> THIS IS NOT A JOKE!
-> 
-> --Lee


For those of you who'd like more information about this without 
the screaming capital letters, here's the story.

The coupon file itself is just a data file.  There is no spyware
or malware in that part.   However, in order to print the coupon,
users had to go to a third-party website, where a file called
CouponPrinter.OCX would be installed.

CouponPrinter.OCX keeps users from printing more than the limit
set by the sponsor.  I doesn't store any information on your 
computer, but it does track some compute-specific information 
such as your IP, which coupons you print, when, and how often. 
If you object to this type of information gathering, you should
set your browsers to disable cookies as well, because website
cookies do much the same thing, and more. Legit coupon printers 
aren't keylogging passwords, delivering malware, gathering 
account numbers, or installing viruses, and when you uninstall
them they uninstall cleanly.  

Anyone who downloaded the KFC coupons from the actual legitimate
website endorsed by KFC and Oprah has nothing whatsoever to fear
from the files.  No malware.  It doesn't "infect" anything.  You're
fine.

However, the popularity of the coupon during the limited time it
was available for download led to it being retransmitted by file
sharing networks - a distribution method which is illegal for
copyrighted files and which is known to be fertile ground for
corrupted and infected files.  It would have been a simple matter
for someone to spawn a hacked or malware-version coupon printer
with the coupon file and put it up for torrent.

At any rate, the coupons are now void and there are no LEGITIMATE
sources for them.  Why would anyone bother downloading something
which isn't going to be honored anyway?  This story is nearly a
month old already.  So as part of your normal computer maintenance,
it would be a good idea to remove the KFC coupons anyway.

And if you got your coupons legitimately, you don't have any malware.
Relax.

And stop shouting.


---
http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/ - Dave's Cupboard - Food and 
Restaurant Reviews; If I post it here in NCE, you'll find it 
blogged with photos at Dave's Cupboard.

http://bacon-labels.blogspot.com/ - A gallery of bacon package labels.
(The extra shelf in Dave's Cupboard.
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)