In this screenshot from Facetime, clicking the link for a photo album could get your computer infected.
(Credit: Facetime)In yet another new way to infect people, criminal hackers are using a Twitter page, according to one security researcher.
In a blog, Chris Boyd, director of malware research for Facetime, explained how a Twitter page is being used to lure victims. To lend credibility to his discovery, the Twitter page lists 17 followers, however each appeared to be fraudulent. Boyd said Twitter had been notified.
The messages, written in Portuguese, attempt to get visitors to download a photo album. In order to view the album, you'll need to download a Flash update, which is really the infection files themselves. Boyd and his team have identified the infection as Orkon.
Once installed, the infected files do various things to the compromised desktop, such as attempt to gain your Orkut account log-in information, or displaying a browser image of a man identifying himself as the "Trickster."
Orkut has been targeted in the past. Here, the infection itself is not so interesting, as is use of Twitter as a vector. Boyd recommends that even if you don't use Orkut, if you see a Twitter page referencing an Orkut photo album, stay away.
Sample image from GTA: Hood Life
(Credit: FaceTime Security Labs)Someone is using a Grand Theft Auto mod video as a way to trick viewers into infecting themselves. Although YouTube videos remain safe to view, that hasn't stopped criminals from finding new ways to entice YouTube viewers to get . The latest example is a Grand Theft Auto video for a mod called Hood Life. According to Chris Boyd, Director of Malware Research at FaceTime Security Labs, the graphics in the mod are lame. He says the images used in the video are circa 1986, crudely rendered, not up to the high standards of the GTA game itself, yet at least 54 people have nonetheless downloaded the game.
GTA: Hood Life download image
(Credit: FaceTime Security Labs)Watching the You Tube video is safe. The danger comes at the end when the video displays a site where you can download the game mod itself. Should you download the file and install, your computer will be compromised upon reboot. Boyd says that if you really want this gangsta game, "switching off the PC pretty much spells doom, gloom, and other things ending in "oom," because once the desktop reappears, you'll discover that the only drive-by performed today was on your computer."
Boyd notes that he's seen other YouTube video where the criminals teach you how to write and distribute viruses. In this case, the video acts only as a distribution for an already complete package of malware hosted somewhere else.
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