September 2007

We have been informed by our partner of a technical problem due to what Recurring payments are currently failing and many regular credit card payments are delivered with delays.

Issue started 20:13 GMT

We will advise once the issue has been resolved.

UPDATE: Issue was resolved at 23:54 GMT

We are currently facing technical errors with credit card payments. All payments with Master Card and Visa credit card currently fail.

We shall update the incident unce the issue is resolved.

UPDATE: Issue has been resolved 11:05 GMT, 28.09.2007

We will be performing maintainance on credit card payments starting at 04:15 GMT. Maintainance should be finished by 10:30 GMT. During the period some payments may fail. We will update the incident once maintainance is successfully finished.

UPDATE: Maintainance was finished at: 07:27 GMT, payments are processed normally.

We are making technical maintainance for credit card payments in our systems. This may cause some payments to fail. Maintainance should not last more than 20 minutes.

We will update as soon as the maintainance is done and all systems are working normally again.

UPDATE: Issue was resolved at 09:30 GMT

We have been informed by our partner that they are experiencing some technical issues due to what many credit card payments are currently failing. We shall inform as soon as payments are working normally again.

We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.

UPDATE: Issue was resolved at 04:34 GMT and payments are working normally again.

We are making some updates to our credit card payments which will cause payments to fail. The maintainance will be finished shortly.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

UPDATE: Maintainance was finished at: 15:05 GMT and payments are working correctly again.

Our payment partner for bank transfers has informed us that they are experiencing technical issues and due to that it is not possible to make bank transfers at the moment.

We apologize for any inconvenience this is causing.

UPDATE: This issue lasted from 12.09.2007 12:13 GMT until 2:12 GMT. The issue is now resolved and all payments are working normally again.

(updated at 16.30 GMT, added Symantec reference)

(update at 17.15 GMT: FSecure now calls the virus W32/Skipi.A. Symantec has named it W32.Pykspa.D.)

(update at 9 am GMT on Sep. 11: Our security team is actively engaging with domain owners to shut down malicious websites that are being used to spread the virus.)

The new week has started with a bang. And not the kind of bang we like.

Skype has learned that a computer virus called “w32/Ramex.A” is affecting users of Skype for Windows. Users whose computers are infected with this virus will send a chat message to other Skype users asking them to click on a web link that can infect the computer of the person who receives the message.

Please note that Skype users ONLY become infected after they have downloaded the link and run the malicious software. The chat message, of which there are several versions, is cleverly written and may appear to be a legitimate chat message, which may fool some users into clicking on the link.

Skype has been in contact with the leading antivirus software companies about this worm, and we know that they are updating their software to effectively stop this worm and as well as its side effects. Currently, F-Secure, Kaspersky Lab and Symantec have already updated their antivirus products to detect and remove the worm.

We would like to encourage our users to ensure that they are running anti-virus software on their computers and to download the latest anti-virus updates in order to provide the best protection against this and other viruses.

Here’s a more detailed look at the situation for those who understand techier talk:

When a Skype user receives the chat message — either from their Skype contacts or users not on their contact list — it includes an internet link. Instead of a .jpg image that it seems to point to, the link actually leads to a virus file. By clicking on the link, the Windows Run/Save dialog box will pop up, asking for permission to save or run a .scr file. This is the virus file and should not be downloaded or run.

If the user accepts the file, however, their Windows PC will be infected with the w32/Ramex.A virus. The worm uses Skype’s public Application Program Interface (API) to access the PC.

There are two ways to get rid of the worm: the normal way and the techhead way. Most users should NOT attempt to edit their computer’s registry manually. For most people, downloading and/or updating their anti-virus software, and scanning their computer to detect and remove the worm, is the way to go.

Expert users — and only expert users — who know what they’re doing can also remove the worm manually.

1. Restart the PC in safe mode
2. Run regedit
3. Go to HKLM/software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/runonce find entry with mshtmldat32.exe. Delete this entry.
4. Go to Windows\System32 directory and delete following files: wndrivs32.exe, mshtmldat32.exe, winlgcvers.exe, sdrivew32.exe
5. Go to windows/system32/drivers/etc
6. Find file hosts
7. Open it with notepad, ctrl+a and delete all entries (this will resume your antivirus updates), save, close.
8. Restart the PC.

Wishing you a virus-free week.