Latest sleazy virus tricks
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The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
There seems to be no end to the ways those responsible for pushing viruses try to snare victims. Consider these recent schemes:
One new twist was discovered recently by Google and centers around the use of sponsored links to lure the unsuspecting to sites where an attempt would then be made to install password stealing software. The user would eventually get to the site they were seeking, but only after being misdirected to smarttrack.org where the malicious software would attempt to install itself.
"We detected about 20 different search strings that resulted in links to smarttrack.org," said Roger Thompson of Exploit Prevention Labs. "There were multiple ads linking to a single site, a high level of planning, and cunning by the bad guys."
Another ruse was tried in London and made use of USB thumbdrives deliberately left in a car park. (That's a parking lot, for those of you who speak only American.) The drives were infected with "Trojan banking software that swiped users' login credentials from compromised machines" and scattered around in the hope that "finders-keepers" would pay off - for the non-weeping "losers". Thieves pay big money for the virus programs themselves, so apparently spending a few extra pounds to help spread them around town is no big deal. Honest folks who turned the drives in to the Lost & Found not only avoided being infected themselves, but also helped to crack the case.
If those responsible for releasing viruses would apply the same creativity to more traditional money-making endeavors they might find it possible to actually make an honest living.
One new twist was discovered recently by Google and centers around the use of sponsored links to lure the unsuspecting to sites where an attempt would then be made to install password stealing software. The user would eventually get to the site they were seeking, but only after being misdirected to smarttrack.org where the malicious software would attempt to install itself.
"We detected about 20 different search strings that resulted in links to smarttrack.org," said Roger Thompson of Exploit Prevention Labs. "There were multiple ads linking to a single site, a high level of planning, and cunning by the bad guys."
Another ruse was tried in London and made use of USB thumbdrives deliberately left in a car park. (That's a parking lot, for those of you who speak only American.) The drives were infected with "Trojan banking software that swiped users' login credentials from compromised machines" and scattered around in the hope that "finders-keepers" would pay off - for the non-weeping "losers". Thieves pay big money for the virus programs themselves, so apparently spending a few extra pounds to help spread them around town is no big deal. Honest folks who turned the drives in to the Lost & Found not only avoided being infected themselves, but also helped to crack the case.
If those responsible for releasing viruses would apply the same creativity to more traditional money-making endeavors they might find it possible to actually make an honest living.
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