Warning sounded over 'flirting robots'
Those entering online dating forums risk having more than their hearts stolen.
A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personal information from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PC Tools.
The artificial intelligence of CyberLover's automated chats is good enough that victims have a tough time distinguishing the "bot" from a real potential suitor, PC Tools said. The software can work quickly too, establishing up to 10 relationships in 30 minutes, PC Tools said. It compiles a report on every person it meets complete with name, contact information, and photos.
"As a tool that can be used by hackers to conduct identity fraud, CyberLover demonstrates an unprecedented level of social engineering," PC Tools senior malware analyst Sergei Shevchenko said in a statement.
Among CyberLover's creepy features is its ability to offer a range of different profiles from "romantic lover" to "sexual predator." It can also lead victims to a "personal" Web site, which could be used to deliver malware, PC Tools said.
Although the program is currently targeting Russian Web sites, PC Tools is urging people in chat rooms and social networks elsewhere to be on the alert for such attacks. Their recommendations amount to just good sense in general, such as avoiding giving out personal information and using an alias when chatting online. The software company believes that CyberLover's creators plan to make it available worldwide in February.
Robot chatters are just one type of social-engineering attack that uses trickery rather than a software flaw to access victim's valuable information. Such attacks have been on the rise and are predicted to continue to grow.
Update 4:10 p.m. PST: Mike Greene, vice president of product strategy at PC Tools, said that the company learned of CyberLover's existence earlier this week as part of its regular monitoring of IRC chat rooms and other places where talk about malware takes place.
Greene said that it is hard to tell how prevalent use of the program is in Russia.
"We don't have exact statistics, but I think it's early on," he said.
Greene said that the perceived anonymity of the Internet has desensitized people to the fact that information disclosed in an online chat can cause real-world damage.
"People are used to not opening attachments or maybe not clicking on a link that shows up in their IM," he said. "But this emulates a real conversation, so you more are likely to give over personal information, click on a link or send your photograph."
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.
aware of. Early versions were pretty hilarious and easy to spot.
I am assuming that the current programs are much more sophisticated, but there is one trick you can try, to confirm this is
a real person, or not. Ask the sender a question that does not
make sense to a real person, and watch the CyberFlirt program try
to answer the question. The result is generally entertaining.
Randys2Cents
Randys2cents,
And when the added sophistication to the Program is a human pleasure robot 42 make Beta Sense of any Nonsense, will the entertainment be even deeper embedded. And that is a statement and not a question.
...
In Turing Test Two, two players A and B are again being questioned by a human interrogator C. Before A gave out his answer (labeled as aa) to a question, he would also be required to guess how the other player B will answer the same question and this guess is labeled as ab. Similarly B will give her answer (labeled as bb) and her guess of A's answer, ba. The answers aa and ba will be grouped together as group a and similarly bb and ab will be grouped together as group b. The interrogator will be given first the answers as two separate groups and with only the group label (a and b) and without the individual labels (aa, ab, ba and bb). If C cannot tell correctly which of the aa and ba is from player A and which is from player B, B will get a score of one. If C cannot tell which of the bb and ab is from player B and which is from player A, A will get a score of one. All answers (with the individual labels) are then made available to all parties (A, B and C) and then the game continues. At the end of the game, the player who scored more is considered had won the game and is more "intelligent".
...
http://turing-test-two.com/ttt/TTT.pdf
The a good flirt bot would be worth millions to Japanese dating sim designers alone and even more to the US adult gaming industry.
For example
Q What's your fork 123?
A "fork 123"?
could be human, could be a bot, you'd not know unless you wee on the lookout for a bot.
at a time - in chat rooms.
*******. Does the chat action escalate until one explodes?
I can see it now, the total bandwidth of the internet is taken up by
lovebots, idiotbots, dogbots, seniorbots, etc. all trying to talk to
one another. It will make spam look like a minor problem.
Also, I did an Google image search with the term ?*******?. The
image I posted on my blog (www.pwnership.com) was the first item
returned on the search.
So what will the Web 2.0 version of ******* be?
The problem is that such data can be used for illegal or not fair purposes, controlling which IS a real problem.
Flirtation can start out as a way of relieving either the tension or the boredom.
[Plus: love affairs can give you naughty nights on-line and in person. Affairs of the heart can be so romantic! One night stands can be so sexy... "casualencounter.wordpress.com"]
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by canbebegim
December 25, 2008 7:33 AM PST
- http://www.talasatis.com
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