Hacker & Virus in MySpace

MySpace website users are warned by computer experts that the interactive website with regular users in millions, is linked to viruses in circulation. MySpace that is virtually a storage mine of personal information has become a prime target for identity theft. This fact was stated by Ross Paul a senior product manager at Websense, the makers of security software.

Users of the social networking website, MySpace have been made targets for phishing attacks according to security watchers. The attacks are disguised as hyperlinks directed at potential marks in an AOL instant messaging message.

With young users in a culture that thrives on swapping personal details, it has more than its fair share of opportunities for more and more advanced means of retrieving information. Users are misled by unsolicited instant messages into disclosing account details. What's worse is that nearly a dozen spoof sites have duplicated the MySpace log-in page.

Once a user clicks on the link, he reaches a fake website that has the appearance of the MySpace.com login page. The unsuspecting user proceeds to enter his account details unknowingly to thieves. Once this vital information has been divulged, the user is redirected to the genuine MySpace website.

Each time a user, after logging in, visits another member's profile page under infection of the ACTS. The Spaceflash worm redirects the user to the URL that contains an infected Macromedia file. This file substitutes the profile page of the visitor with a poorer version. It might appear as an innocuous nuisance for users, but then it is also capable of other malicious actions and stealing important information.

The threat to MySpace users is real enough and a number of viruses specific to MySpace have been known to emerge. It is unfortunate that users don't suspect anything under the impression that the site is safe. However even a harmless-looking picture of a fluffy creature could be concealing a virus that can damage your machine.

The reaction of MySpace has been reasonably fast upto now to make sure it doesn't happen again, although some issues are yet to be addressed. One can simply hope that the issues are would be dealt meticulously, especially the external modification of profiles to avert the damage imposed.

Related article: Hacker Adds Backdoor to WordPress Server

» SPAMfighter News - 8/24/2006