BuddyLinks == Bad
A new IM pseudo-virus is circulating. It's name is BuddyLinks. Although many would not qualify it as a virus, I think it's penchant for doing things and telling people about something you did not explicity want (forgetting what you may have inadvertently authorized with the "Click-Agree" User Agreement) surely puts it into the viral category.
I received a link to it a few days ago from a friend working at Reuter's. I was definitely surprised to see his message and even responded to him after receiving the message. I haven't spoken to him in a couple of months so I was surprised he was sending me something as silly as that without saying anything. Once I arrived at the site and it asked for permission I said no (which in general is what we should always do).
In any event, the guts of this thing have been summarized and analyzed all over the place (1, 2, 3, 4) but here's a good description from ZDNet:
"The application sends an IM to every person on an America Online user's buddy list and includes a link to a fake TV news Web site. A dialog box then asks if the user wants to install a "news player." However, the program instead plays a simple animated game, reconfigures AOL's instant messenger to receive advertising and once again sends a link to the fake news Web site to everyone on the new victim's buddy list."