Cottage Rose
3rd April 2011, 23:41
http://s.huffpost.com/images/blank.gif (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/02/watch-top-youtube-videos_n_843963.html)
I would like to warn everyone about the attack described below.
I have been hit by it 5 times in the past two weeks. If you find yourself re-directed from a site you normally visit, Shut your Computer Down Immediately, before this fake anti-virus program takes over. If exe files are found and deleted, they immediately reinstall.
The program begins running before an anti-virus program has time to load and will not allow it to open when a re-boot is attempted.
A system restore takes care of it. But, if the program has enough time, it begins to progressively lock the user out of permission to access system restore files.
I have had a problem with this type of attack sporadically in the past. But, this one is much worse and has now attached itself to many mainstream sites. I was redirected from Huffington Post.
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http://s.huffpost.com/images/blank.gif (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/01/ipad-2-sales_n_843700.html)
Malicious Attack 'LizaMoon' Hits A Million Web Pages
More than one million website pages have been hit by a sophisticated hacking attack that injects code into sites that redirect users to a fraudulent software sales operation.
The so-called "mass-injection" attack, which experts say is the largest of its kind ever seen, has managed to insert malicious code into websites by gaining access to the servers running the databases behind the Internet, according to the technology security company that discovered it.
Websense, which first found evidence of the attack earlier this week, has called it 'LizaMoon,' after the site to which the malicious code first directed its researchers.
Users can see that they are being redirected when they attempt to visit an infected address, and can close the window with no ill effects, said Patrik Runald, a senior manager of security research at Websense.
The attack has largely affected small websites so far, he said, with no evidence that popular corporate or government websites have been compromised.
If users do not close the window after typing an infected address, or clicking an infected link, they are redirected to a page showing a warning from 'Windows Stability Center' -- posing as a Microsoft Corp security product -- that there are problems with their computer and they are urged to pay for software to fix it.
Websense said the site appeared to be set up by sophisticated fraudsters out to make money, but it was not clear whether the site also planted malicious software on users' computers if they made a purchase on the site, or if the operation was linked to an identity theft scam.
The presentation of the bogus website, as shown by Websense, is high quality but clearly fraudulent. Microsoft has no product called 'Windows Stability Center". The company did not immediately have a comment on the attack.
Websense said some third-party Web addresses containing information about podcasts available on Apple Inc's iTunes service had been compromised, but said Apple appeared to have prevented the malicious links from working. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
The attack may take some time to be tamed, warned Runald, as researchers first have to identify the software being compromised, and then website operators have to install updated software.
"Attacks like this tend to stay for a very long time," he said. "Once they are onto something, it tends to stay with us. This LizaMoon event won't disappear over a day."
I would like to warn everyone about the attack described below.
I have been hit by it 5 times in the past two weeks. If you find yourself re-directed from a site you normally visit, Shut your Computer Down Immediately, before this fake anti-virus program takes over. If exe files are found and deleted, they immediately reinstall.
The program begins running before an anti-virus program has time to load and will not allow it to open when a re-boot is attempted.
A system restore takes care of it. But, if the program has enough time, it begins to progressively lock the user out of permission to access system restore files.
I have had a problem with this type of attack sporadically in the past. But, this one is much worse and has now attached itself to many mainstream sites. I was redirected from Huffington Post.
*************************************************
http://s.huffpost.com/images/blank.gif (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/01/ipad-2-sales_n_843700.html)
Malicious Attack 'LizaMoon' Hits A Million Web Pages
More than one million website pages have been hit by a sophisticated hacking attack that injects code into sites that redirect users to a fraudulent software sales operation.
The so-called "mass-injection" attack, which experts say is the largest of its kind ever seen, has managed to insert malicious code into websites by gaining access to the servers running the databases behind the Internet, according to the technology security company that discovered it.
Websense, which first found evidence of the attack earlier this week, has called it 'LizaMoon,' after the site to which the malicious code first directed its researchers.
Users can see that they are being redirected when they attempt to visit an infected address, and can close the window with no ill effects, said Patrik Runald, a senior manager of security research at Websense.
The attack has largely affected small websites so far, he said, with no evidence that popular corporate or government websites have been compromised.
If users do not close the window after typing an infected address, or clicking an infected link, they are redirected to a page showing a warning from 'Windows Stability Center' -- posing as a Microsoft Corp security product -- that there are problems with their computer and they are urged to pay for software to fix it.
Websense said the site appeared to be set up by sophisticated fraudsters out to make money, but it was not clear whether the site also planted malicious software on users' computers if they made a purchase on the site, or if the operation was linked to an identity theft scam.
The presentation of the bogus website, as shown by Websense, is high quality but clearly fraudulent. Microsoft has no product called 'Windows Stability Center". The company did not immediately have a comment on the attack.
Websense said some third-party Web addresses containing information about podcasts available on Apple Inc's iTunes service had been compromised, but said Apple appeared to have prevented the malicious links from working. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
The attack may take some time to be tamed, warned Runald, as researchers first have to identify the software being compromised, and then website operators have to install updated software.
"Attacks like this tend to stay for a very long time," he said. "Once they are onto something, it tends to stay with us. This LizaMoon event won't disappear over a day."