It seems more and more videos downloaded from the Internet are coming with their very own surprise.
Security firms are reporting increased instances of booby-trapped Windows codecs - file compressors - required to play some video formats.
Some of the codecs do help to play clips, but others are disguised as a variety of nuisance or malicious programs. Some fake codecs plague users with pop-up adverts, while others invisibly install key loggers that try to grab confidential data.
Anti-spyware firm Sunbelt Software was able to track down one of these software bundles hidden in a codec, and reveal that upon execution, it would state that there are security problems with their PC and demand payment for repair.
"Everyone is watching movies on their PC. They are downloading the latest, greatest clips," BBC quoted David Robinson, UK head of security firm Norman Sandbox as saying.
Security experts now fear that it is only a matter of time before these hackers find their way into video sharing websites like Youtube, which by their very nature are not regulated.
"Youtube is almost by definition unregulated," he said, and was ripe for exploitation by malicious hackers. "It gives an almost endless stream of stuff to tap into."
Robinson said the growth of booby-trapped video codecs was just another example of how hi-tech criminals have moved on from the old days in which a virus only traveled by e-mail.
Already spyware firms are known to be using the popularity of some clips on Youtube and social networking site MySpace to install their wares on the PCs of more victims.
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