Bogus Twitter Profile Targets Orkut Credentials

Facetime, a security research company, says in a news that cyber miscreants like malware authors and spammers are employing a counterfeit Twitter profile to disseminate malware that would capture login credentials from Orkut members.

According to Chris Boyd, Director of malware Research at IM Security Company Facetime, 17 miscreants are apparently following the latest news reports of the malicious Twitter profile; however, they are all false, as reported by The Register on September 9, 2008.

Security investigators and analysts at Facetime say that the new Twitter profile is created to attract visitors for viewing an image folder on Orkut that seemingly requires a Flash update.

Security researchers at Facetime further state that the phony Flash update is infected with malware called the OrkutTron Trojan. This Trojan allows a cyber criminal to gain full control of an infected computer by managing to remain on the system before creating a backdoor.

Facetime security investigators and analysts give an explanation of what possible results could follow the download and execution of OrkutTron on a targeted system. According to them, the Trojan performs various malicious acts such as stealing login details for Orkut, which is being especially large in Brazil, prompts the use of Portuguese language to write the said Twitter profile.

While attacks from phishers, spammers and malware writers targeting Orkut are frequent, Boyd notes that using fake Twitter indicates how hacking attacks are being innovated. As per practice, computer hackers, from time to time, make attacks more innovative to increase the number of users tricked into clicking on bogus URLs and thereby, allowing their systems to be compromised.

Further, discussing the fake Twitter, security investigators and analysts state that it is highly capable of spreading illegal links, Trojans, viruses and spam on any given site exactly what it attempts to do on Orkut.

Additionally, the fake Twitter goes from bad to worse as Twitter suffers from vulnerability, which empowers an attacker to force his victim follow the instructions given by him. Although Twitter has fixed the vulnerability some extent, it can still exploit Internet Explorer.

Related article: Bugs Swell In Browsers in 2006

» SPAMfighter News - 22-09-2008

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