News of Osama bin Laden's Death Ignites New Viruses and Spyware

Monday, 02 May 2011 21:57

The news of Osama bin Laden's death has ignited a new wave of malware.  Be careful when you click on an image purporting to be of bin Laden.  Technolog on MSNBC.com has a good article 'Bin Laden Death Brings Malware Explosion' about what to look for and how to avoid the threats.  Remember if you are in doubt, do not click on it.  If you have any questions or need a free diagnosis, give us a call at 225-275-6262.

From the Article:

"Web searches and links to a variety of stories — real and fake — about the death of Osama bin Laden are sprouting with all kinds of malicious software as cybercriminals look for a big payday tied to the appetite for news about the Al-Qaida leader's demise.

Cybercriminals, Gentile said, have begun search engine optimization efforts, where they "take popular search terms," like bin Laden or anything associated with him or his death, "and use them to direct people to malware ... in popular search engines, trying to lure users to install rogueware."

Search results in Google images have been poisoned, he said. "Some of the search results are leading users to malicious pages. Upon clicking on this search result or image, the user will be redirected to a malicious domain which can infect the user’s computer."

Also, on Facebook, where an "Osama bin Laden is DEAD" page sprouted up, there are some advertising offers celebrating bin Laden's death and offering "free tickets or free sandwiches, in some cases," Gentile said. "By clicking on these ads, users will be redirected multiple times, each time asking for more information, resulting in the potential gathering of email addresses or sensitive information." "

Click here to read 'Bin Laden Death Brings Malware Explosion' about what to look for and how to avoid the threats.