Warning: Hackers Using Sexy Girls to Infect Twitter Users

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 by Andy Beal

Warning: Hackers Using Sexy Girls to Infect Twitter Users

Some people get on my case because I don’t follow everyone on Twitter, who follows me. Well, for one thing, I’d never keep up with 3000+ Tweeple, but I also live by my mantra of building meaningful relationships with social media–I don’t care about any popularity contest.

Well, there’s another reason why you–and I–should think twice before we add a friend to Twitter. Viruslist is reporting how easy it easy for hackers to trick Twitter users into downloading Trojan software.

In this case, a sexy girl, an enticing link, and voila!

If you click on the link, you get a window that shows the progress of an automatic download of a so-called new version of Adobe Flash which is supposedly required to watch the video. You end up with a file labeled Adobe Flash (it’s a fake) on your machine; a technique that is currently very popular.

In reality, this is a Trojan downloader that proceeds to download 10 banker Trojans onto the infected machine, all of which are disguised as MP3 files.

Please, be careful who you add as a friend–on any social network–a hacker may not be as obvious as the one above.

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20 comments on “Warning: Hackers Using Sexy Girls to Infect Twitter Users”

Seologia Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 9:50 am

The title has a double meaning. Lol.

Seologia’s last blog post..Un poco más acerca de Google Knol
Andy Beal Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 9:58 am

Yeah, I noticed that after I published. I hope Twitter users are not now worrying about catching an STD from Twitter.
Harry Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 10:17 am

Let’s hope everyone practices safe Twittering.
Tom Royce Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 10:26 am

I only friend people that I either know in the real world, have watched in the spaces that I cover, or have a close ratio of following to followers.

Hot babes with 100-1 following ratio’s have no interest to me.

Tom Royce’s last blog post..By: Cash For Keys – A Way To Keep Foreclosures From Being Trashed ? The Real Estate Bloggers
Svetlana Gladkova Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 12:10 pm

Andy, I don’t think that there’s a chance of catching the virus by simply looking at the profile or following it – from what I’ve read on Kaspersky Lab’s blog you need to click the link in the tweets from that account to start downloading the trojan. It’s very similar to fishing emails and general spam – you are safe unless you click the links.

And the tweets have been deleted from the account already (though I don’t see why the account itself still exists).

Svetlana Gladkova’s last blog post..by: Svetlana Gladkova
Nick Blackman Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

Ive had more that a couple of these requests myself. The days of auto-follow are over! Quality tweets and ratio are my guidelines now.

Thank You Andy!

http:\\twitter.com\nickblackman Im safe BTW!

Peace,
Nick
Nick Stamoulis Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

Thanks Andy for the heads up. I have not seen this as of yet, but I am sure it is a matter of time before I do…
MarketingDeviant Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 3:17 pm

Hackers are getting smarter in the marketing aspect…

MarketingDeviant’s last blog post..Having a Mind of Steel
Fifty Studio Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Never, never judge a book by its cover!
The hot girl on twitter doesn’t really want you either Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 9:09 pm

[...] Warning: Hackers Using Sexy Girls to Infect Twitter Users: [...]
WebTrafficROI Says:

August 5th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

hackers are going the spammer way..getting ahead of the race

WebTrafficROI’s last blog post..How do I find a good Affiliate program ?
Nicole Price Says:

August 6th, 2008 at 12:38 am

This has been happening in Orkut too quite frequently. I am seriously thinking of quitting all these networks as they do not add any value to my professional life.

Nicole Price’s last blog post..Best Companies to Work for
Warenwirtschaft Says:

August 6th, 2008 at 2:46 am

I never used twitter, and I won’t use it anyhow. I don’t need it. But it’s very interesting how hackers fake twitter users. The best way of being safe from them is to don’t use it, I think.
Jeff O'Connor Says:

August 6th, 2008 at 9:48 am

Oh, thank God I’m gay!
Utah SEO Pro Says:

August 6th, 2008 at 11:50 am

I call this the “MySpace Effect”. How lame.

Utah SEO Pro’s last blog post..Mobile SEO – SMX Local Mobile 2008 Presentation
PS3 Says:

August 7th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

I’ve never used Twitter (hides in embarresment (: ) – does it suffer from auto friend adder problems like most of the other social media out there?
Symbian Says:

August 8th, 2008 at 4:07 am

It’s bad for Twitter that they replacing all links to tinyurl format.

Symbian’s last blog post..Nokia Chat – new location based messenger
Ps3 Says:

August 8th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

Happens on all social media websites. Damn Hackers
Millionaire Says:

August 12th, 2008 at 1:44 pm

some people just can’t hold themselves back… i use twitter sparingly… i still don’t completely see what all the rage is…

Millionaire’s last blog post..Richkiss.com (Meet Rich People Online)
john Says:

December 27th, 2008 at 5:59 am

hahaa, you should be careful when you are online,

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