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Malware Probably Spreading Via OpenX.org

According to a warning by the Safe Browsing facility of Google, openx.org, which is associated with a prominent advertisement server of the open-source type, may be distributing malicious software. Softpedia.com reported this on January 7, 2011. Sucuri, the Web security firm, reportedly spotted the aforementioned problem.

Explaining it (the problem) further, David Dede, researcher at Sucuri posted on a personal blog that his organization was tracking some websites, which were presently blacklisted as well as were displaying a Google alert that the infection was because of the openx.org website. Sucuri.net reported this on January 7, 2011.

Additionally according to Dede, openx.org, during the last 90 days, seemed like a medium facilitating the infection on 82 websites, some of which were drtuber.com/, thelocal.de/, and solovenezolanas.com/.

That, however, did not imply that openx.org itself was hosting the malicious software, instead it was merely functioning like a doorway. As per the Sucuri researchers, it implied that the OpenX network could be allowing the serving of malevolent ads through it.

Besides, the researchers indicated that they were continuously monitoring to determine the advertisements that were causing the problem, alternatively to know whether the servers for OpenX as such were hijacked. In the meantime, for users who might be using the openx.org site's tracking code, the researchers advised them for verifying whether malware wasn't getting pushed onto them.

Sadly, it indeed would not be the sole instance of incorporation of malevolent advertisements into an ad network. Previously, OpenX encountered issues of malvertizing that however rather than being via its network for advertisements, were due to its software flaws, the researchers discovered.

For example, cyber-criminals abused the vulnerabilities for hijacking ad servers reliant on OpenX that other online sites ran, and thereby thrusting malevolent advertisements onto them. Such assaults occurred during September 2010 when the victims were like reputed websites namely eSarcasm.com, Popbitch.com, AfterDawn, Tucows and The Pirate Bay.

Conclusively, it's because of the above kind of malevolent activities that there's a rise in malware which's putting everyone in danger. Hence, security specialists recommend that end-users must load and run a high quality anti-malware application on their computers.

Related article: Malware Authors Turn More Insidious

» SPAMfighter News - 1/18/2011

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