So, what’s a codec and why do you care?

Technically a codec is a compressor/decompressor, but the technicalities are only useful for some techies. To you and I it means software that is required to view movies. Telling you that you need to install a codec to view a movie is a popular way of infecting computers. Generally this trick has been associated with pornography sites where a message comes up that the person needs to install a codec for QuickTime or some other media player. When the person tries to install the codec they actually install malicious software instead. While this trick is usually used with porn sites, it can and almost certainly will be used with other types of sites as well.

If you are told that you need to install any software for any product, including Windows updates, always go to a trusted and known vendor’s web site for the software.

I would expect to see this type of attack on YouTube, MySpace, and other social sites. Don’t accept software if you don’t know exactly where it is coming from and you will save yourself some serious headaches.

Randy Abrams is the Director of Technical Education for ESET LLC