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Posted by: Samker
« on: 06. August 2008., 07:34:50 »
Micro-blogging service Twitter has fallen prey to malware. Users of the micro-blogging service are being offered up links to booby-trapped sites from a compromised profile.
The approach is being used to spread malware in the form of links to a supposed skin flick featuring Brazilian pop star Kelly Key. Prospective marks are told they need to download a new version of Adobe Flash to get their goodies.
The fake Adobe Flash download actually contains the malware payload, a downloader that attempts to inject ten banking Trojans into the infected machine. These malicious files are disguised as MP3s, net security firm Kaspersky Lab warns.
Fake Flash downloads have become a popular VXer tactic of late - unknown miscreants have simply transferred the tactic to Twitter instead of targeting instant messaging or email users.
"The footprints of this particular crime are pure Brazilian – ranging from the Portuguese, to the web servers hosting the banking malware to the email embedded in the malware which is used for receiving data from infected machines," writes Kaspersky researcher Dmitry Bestuzhev.
"This technique does not require any serious programming skills – buy some Trojans, upload them onto a web server and create a chain of Twitter profiles following each other."
Twitter has lately become the focus of security concerns. Last week security researcher Aviv Raff warned of an unpatched auto follow-me vulnerability on the service. The cross-site request forgery flaw makes it possible for an attacker to gain scores of followers simply by tricking punters into visiting a rigged website, security commentator Ryan Naraine notes.
IE users are still at risk, despite a partial security fix from Twitter's security team. Raff, who has set up a site called twitpwn.com to honour the vulnerability, is withholding details of the security bug pending a complete fix.
The Brazilian Trojan downloader attack reportedly does not use this technique, which is just as well for Twitter users as well as the wider internet community. Google indexes unprotected Twitter profiles, so hacker-created sites promoted using malvertising tactics are liable to appear high in search page rankings.
News Source: The Register