StarDestroyer.Net BBS

MySpace adware attack hits hard
By John Leyden
Published Friday 21st July 2006 13:20 GMT
Online banner ads running on MySpace.com and web sites infected more than one million users with adware, according to net security firm iDefense.

The attack exploited a Windows Metafile (WMF) exploit, fixed by Microsoft in January, to infect vulnerable Windows machines with malware from PurityScan/ClickSpring family of adware. The malware surreptitiously tracks internet usage while bombarding infected users with pop-up ads.

The banner ad that played a staring role in the attack ostensibly advertised a site called deckoutyourdeck.com. In reality, machines were directed to Russian-language website in Turkey, which tracked the number of times adware programs were downloaded, the Washington Post reports (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/security ... to_mo.html).

Data on the site suggested that the adware had been installed on 1.07m PCs, a huge figure that equates to a big payday for the unknown perpetrators of the attack and plenty of pain for ordinary surfers.

Dave wrote:Agreed, but I'm surprised it hasn't happened earlier/more often/more prevalent.

What's the point of MySpace anyway? What is so interesting about my life that I want to waste time telling the rest of the world about it?