Real Player Malware

[JohnBoucher]

If you use Real Player, you should be aware of this;
http://www.computerworld.com/action/...=NLT_AM&nlid=1

All ads served up by Real Player were compromised.

[Cynette]

This sounds intense. Can anyone put it into non-geek speak for those of us who are probably the most vulnerable because we don't have a clue as to what that article just said?

[synth3tk]

OK, basically you know how the player have the ads in them? Well Real Media just pulls that information off a server, which a hacker had now gained access to and replaced some of the code. So when a person clicks on the ad, it sends you to the site which the hacker created, then it gathers information about your computer. Once it finds out whether you're vulnerable, it leaves a Trojan horse virus on your PC.

Hope that was simple enough. Let me know if you need clarification.

[Chief Pride]

doesnt surprise me... ive always hated real player

[Cynette]

Good start David!

Now...how do we know if we are vulnerable and what do we do to make ourselves invulnerable?

[EHaskins]

Originally Posted by Cynette

Good start David!

Now...how do we know if we are vulnerable and what do we do to make ourselves invulnerable?

You'll never be invulnerable. All you can do is install anti-virus software, and don't use Real.

[whytheheckme]

I didn't even know Real was still around....... (alright, I did, but c'mon now...)

I lost faith in Real and Real Networks when Real Player took over your computer and started launching processes on start-up. Thats when you knew it was embedded. Once the ads started going up, and then pay services, proprietary formats, oh my!!

My suggestion is that unless you have a very specific need for Real Player (like playing all of those .rm files you have stored on your computer and burned to CD and DVD and on your flash drives and your GDisk or wherever else you may keep .rm files ), then just get rid of Real Player while you still can (or don't download it if you don't have it now.)

My 2% of a dollar,
Jacob

[artdutra04]

Eww, Real Player.

My rule for media is that if VLC Media Player cannot play it, I don't like it.

[whytheheckme]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

My rule for media is that if VLC Media Player cannot play it, I don't like it.

YES!

Definitely reccomend VLC. Has nice Transcoding features too (If you can ever get them to work properly.....)

Jacob

[Chief Pride]

yes, VLC is amazing... i dont think ive ever run across a file it couldent play

[Elgin Clock]

Speaking of bad softwares and the annoyances associated with them, I have a technical question for anyone who can answer them.

Real player, and Quicktime have files that start when the computer starts.

QTTASK & such...

I disabled them in Start>Run>msconfig.

They are still in that list.

Is there any way to completely remove a process that is in that list?

I've had these and other more serious spyware diabled in that list, but they are still showing up there which is just annoying to say the least, and with the Real Player and Quicktime task, they randomly start themselves again in msconfig without me authorizing it.

Any way to disable them completely, or remove them without removing the associated program (Quicktime or Real Player)


Also, since Real Player kinda stinks, but I still have vids in .rm format, can anyone suggest an alternative?

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Speaking of bad softwares and the annoyances associated with them, I have a technical question for anyone who can answer them.

Real player, and Quicktime have files that start when the computer starts.

QTTASK & such...

I disabled them in Start>Run>msconfig.

They are still in that list.

Is there any way to completely remove a process that is in that list?

I've had these and other more serious spyware diabled in that list, but they are still showing up there which is just annoying to say the least, and with the Real Player and Quicktime task, they randomly start themselves again in msconfig without me authorizing it.

Any way to disable them completely, or remove them without removing the associated program (Quicktime or Real Player)

Real Player and Quicktime aren't the only programs that start processes as soon as you start your computer. Microsoft Office, Windows Media Player, iTunes, AIM, Java, Picasa, Virus/Spyware scanners, Firewalls, and now a whole multitude of automatic Updaters (Adobe, Google Pack, etc.) have taken advantage of the surge of available RAM nowadays to pre-load their processes as soon as you start the computer.

Many of these help launch applications faster, and others, like Picasa Media Detector, help detect when you add new photos to your computer to automatically update your Picasa photo albums.

If you're worried about RAM usage, you can uncheck almost all processes in the startup queue (except on laptops! some of the processes are the 'drivers' for the keyboard and touchpad), but make sure you leave the virus scanning/Firewalls enabled. Even though the processes are still listed in msconfig, if they are unchecked they aren't running. (They leave them listed there in case you need to re-enable them.)

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Also, since Real Player kinda stinks, but I still have vids in .rm format, can anyone suggest an alternative?

Try the SUPER Media Converter. It's like the VLC of media converters. It can convert any (non-DRM) media file format into nearly any other file format.

[synth3tk]

I agree with those who said get VLC. It plays almost every file type (proprietary or not) and just has a few features that you can't find on any of the other players. It's not very UI friendly persay, but it's your best bet. Oh, it also does Video too, in case you were wondering.