Hi,
My system is a W7 64 prp; MSE,MBAM and PC Tools Firewall. I decided to replace MSE with AVAST free; soon after instalation a spam message was sent from my hotmail account to everybody in my contact list; there is another post about the same thing.
Any relationship with Avast installation??
Thanks,
Claudiu
Your hotmail contact list is not on your system but on hotmail/msn so I can’t see how the two are related and the fact that your avast installation has no email client to be able to send anything.
How do you access your hotmail account, via your browser or through something like MS Outlook or windows live mail, etc. ?
My email is with Hotmail. The messages were sent as soon as I login; the same issue was reported by another user, that’s why I posted here. Souldn’t be related with Avast installation but who knows…
I don’t know what topic or user you are talking of.
But I haven’t seen or heard of a case where spam being sent to all your contact list (within your hotmail account and not stored locally) when you login to hotmail. The only interaction with hotmail (when viewed through your browser) and avast would be the web shield monitoring http traffic for malware.
What you are talking of (spam to your contact list) is more likely that your hotmail account may have been hacked. So I would suggest that you change your hotmail password and user name (or logon name).
Must be this:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=98202.msg783076#msg783076
but is totally unrelated because he is asking for e-mail protection. Besides Avast! does not protect web base e-mail as already mentioned by Pondus in the above thread.
This is the post i was talking about:
"Newbie
Posts: 1
EMAIL SECURITY
« on: Today at 07:47:09 PM »Quote
Hello there
I recently installed avast Free Antivirus and have had my email invaided where they sent an email to all my contacts. I never had this problem with my other antivirus but was told Avast was better. Could someone please tell me how to go into Avast and mark it to cover email also. "
Seems to be related to Avast instalation.
Claudiu
When you installed Avast!, does it ask you anywhere for your Hotmail password ?
I do not remember , but I had to register with my email in order to get 1 year free.
Is it possible that the installer package is compromised somehow?
Claudiu
For Avast! free you registered on line and Avast! will send you a welcome note. It may also send your license if you register off line.
The installer package is downloaded from Avast! servers and it comes clean unless you downloaded it from somewhere else. Otherwise Avast! will not give your e-mail to anybody else and evenless your password since you have not provide it to Avast!. Other places you can use your password would be here in the forum or your account with Avast! if you have one; However, none of those Avast! sites have been compromised.
Word of advice. Never use the same password for all your sites, e-mail, bank accounts, web sites. Also switch them and change them regularly.
This is an answer from one of my contacts who couldn’t open the spam and this is the site which will open if you click on link
URLVoid
http://www.urlvoid.com/scan/ww130.mqwdc.com/
Zulu analyser
http://zulu.zscaler.com/submission/show/90adabd9790c95fe44239405036a74ea-1336627482
note that avast does not send spam to ur hotmail contacts.
these issues might be that ur hotmail accounts are compromised (u need to change ur password and ensure that there are no keylogging tools on ur system)
always download avast from trusted sites such as cnet.
it might be also linked to the recent vulnerability in hotmail, resulting in hotmail accounts potentially compromised
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=98375.0
Cannot be a coincidence; now I am almost sure that is related to Avast! installation/update.
claudiu
The fact that there is one other topic, is hardly a co-incidence as avast is pretty popular and given that there has been a security breach in hotmail/msn very recently. So my thoughts are on the security breach as your contacts are stored on hotmail/msn not on the local computer.
As I have said, the avast installation has no email client to be able to send anything and the sending is being done from your hotmail account, not locally. So avast would have to be able to log-on to your hotmail account (it doesn’t know your user name and password) to be able to send anything and it just doesn’t have that functionality.
Sure. It’s impossible to avast! do know any username and password of an email account.
Hi David,
Thank you for your answer!
I am not saying that Avast! is sending spams emails but I an quite sure that is related somehow to Avast! install package ; I am member on some other forums (MBAM, Avira, Emsisoft) but nobody complained there about spam emails.
Is to big of a coincidence that in the last week 3 members complained about that and this happened to me IMMEDIATELLY after I installed Avast!
Thanks,
Claudiu
Hide your e-mail so it can not be harvested by spammers. Go to Profile > Account Settings > untick " Allow members to email me "
I’m aware of that topic as I have already posted in it.
It is nothing other than a coincidence as big as you like to make it, avast can’t protect your hotmail account and hotmail/msn has suffered a security breach.
How can it possibly be related if emails are being sent from your hotmail account (not locally) to your contact list, which again isn’t stored locally, but in your hot mail account.
With over 150 million active avast users there are certainly going to be a large number also using hotmail/msn.