My Space Page Booby-trapped With Windows Update Malware

This just in from The Register . Researchers at Mcafee have discovered a booby-trapped profile on MySpace that tricks users to download malware on their computers.

How? When you visit that page, you see a pop up that looks strikingly like the windows update alert. It prompts you to download updates for your computer. One click on the pop up, or around it will start the process of downloading a malware cocktail from multiple servers.

Why? If you look closely, you will see the pop up is actually a superimposed image on the profile page. It has a hot spot that covers the pop up and all the area around it. Any accidental click on the page can bring doom. The update window has been designed to appear close enough to the windows update alert, so the uninitiated can be easily fooled.

What you should know: The profile belongs to a person called “Rita”. It is a good looking, well decorated page. You can see a screen shot here. The scammers are sending out friends requests at random. The downloaders seem to come from Russia and Malaysia. DO NOT accept friend requests from unknown people—for the sake of your safety and that of others.

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