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Sophos - Website of British Communist Party Infected

According to an online security vendor Sophos, hackers have installed malicious software on the website of the British Communist Party.

The security company states that attackers changed the website's Silverlight script from Microsoft so that a malevolent JavaScript could be run. According to it, the infection from the malicious iFrame-F script happened at a time when the European and local elections in Britain were taking place, a period when more than normal visitors would access the website.

Paul Baccas, Senior Threat Researcher at Sophos, elucidated that iFrame-F represented a common form of web-based attack. According to him, most of the infections via iFrame-F came from attacks using SQL injections against flawed sites, but in the case of the British Communist Party's website; just one file seemed to be contaminated, indicating that the hack was specific, as reported by The Register on June 5, 2009.

In the meantime, it is said that the infection affecting the particular site is invisible since it is implanted quite deep into a plugin code for its pages.

Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant, Sophos, says that the plugin code has been created to deliver video effects and animation to the site's visitors, but in reality, it downloads malware unnoticeably from servers located in Russia and China, as reported by PC ADVISOR on June 5, 2009.

According to Cluley, the hacker might have avoided attacking the website as it is political in nature, still web users must watch out for compromised sites.

He further said it is important for every computer user to understand that not only gambling and adult websites are dangerous in nature, but also any website that is not adequately secured could be fatal. Cluley was citing the website of the British Communist Party that users regarded as a trusted and secured site, without any malicious code or similar content.

Meanwhile, Sophos informed the Communist Party about the latest problems affecting the Party's website via both phone and e-mail. As a matter of fact, a spokesperson of the Party phoned up on June 4, 2009 to substantiate that the website was indeed infected.

Related article: Spike in Attacks Causes Early Release of Windows Patch

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