Hacked Alicia Keys MySpace Page Could Leave You With a Virus
MySpace is a minefield. Time magazine even put the social-networking site on its list of 'Five Web Sites to Avoid.' Even we here at Switched have posted endless coverage of the sexual predators, spammers, and hackers that have made the MySpace risky at times for anybody not browsing with a sandboxed Firefox browser.
Now, the hackers have managed to expand their attacks beyond the usual faux profiles or hijacks of your friends pages. They're starting to hit the MySpace pages of celeb musicians such as Alicia Keys.
The hack is actually quite sophisticated and involves multiple avenues of infection. Just visiting Keys' page prompts spyware to attempt to install itself on your PC.
If that fails, the page will then ask you to install a codec to allow you to view a video. The codec is fake and if you accept the installation, you will get instant spyware infection! If that fails, the entire background image of the page is a link. Miss any of the legitimate links on the page and you'll be taken to a Web site registered by a Chinese company Xiamen Hua Shang Sheng Shi Network Co. Ltd. That Web site also tries to install malicious code on your computer.
It's a big mess!
Security experts at Exploit Prevention Labs, a company that tracks pages containing malicious code, spotted the hack when Keys' s MySpace page was flagged by users of the company's LinkScanner system.
Keys's page has been confirmed as being cleaned by MySpace and LinkScanner.com, but all that could change in a matter of days.
From PC World
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Oshawapilot @ Nov 9th 2007 8:03PM
No worries if our a Mac user.
It's things like this that remind me of why I left the Windows platform.
Moe Man @ Nov 9th 2007 8:48PM
get off loser windows AOL!!
Leon @ Nov 10th 2007 1:40PM
Thanks for the warning, this is usefull Information That all myspace users should be aware of! - at least someone cares enough to try & warn Innocent people, That are taken advantage of by Ignorant, immoral Lowlife's
Thanx again....Leon~
LoPhat @ Nov 11th 2007 8:13AM
I'm sorta sick of typing this now, but this is pretty outrageous so here we go again.
Chris Boyd, of facetime security labs, found this more than a week ago and it was widely puclicized.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139137-c,hackers/article.html
Then a week later some other company comes along and "forgets" to give credit.
http://explabs.blogspot.com/2007/11/whoops-sorry-chris.html
Perhaps you should update your article?
TuMadre @ Nov 12th 2007 6:08PM
Oshawapilot, no one makes viruses on macs because nothing of value was ever on a mac to corrupt in the first place.
Peter Danek @ Nov 13th 2007 6:19AM
I was scamed a couple months ago with a check in the mail for $4790 and it said I won $5ooo contest,the check was bogas!
Gummie @ Nov 20th 2007 10:14AM
www.myhighschoolsucks.com
I hear this site is going to be big. Did Tom from myspace make it?
steve ballmer @ Nov 28th 2007 10:17PM
Look at her! Oh, she makes me tingle!