Worm Infected Alaska Candidates' Website

Fran and Ted Gianoutsos, a couple contending for the posts of lieutenant governor and governor in Alaska experienced the same thing. A computer bug infected their computer. When the Webmaster of candidates logged in to update the site, he found that his firewall had become insane. It seems that a Visual Basic script worm, called variously as I-Worm Gedza, Gedza A and Gaggle D, had wiggled its way in every page of the couple's minimalist political campaign site at http://www.tedandfran.com/who.htm.

Photos of Canadian vocalist Avril Lavigne replaced the site of write-in candidates that was meant for officially approved campaign promises.

David Molletti, Webmaster, told News.com that it just try to replace the home page with an Avril Lavigne photo, otherwise it is harmless. It is a nuisance but was fixed in there.

Ted Gianoutsos even got calls from the "Alaska Division of Elections Representatives" to inform that people complained that the contenders were spreading virus.

Gianoutsos said that the unknown hacker was targeting him and his wife because of their opposite political views.

The site was cleaned but was re-infected on October 23, 2006 to warn the visitors that the site was hosting malware. The website was later shut down and reconstructed with changed passwords. Ted has no access to Internet. He came to know about the hack when he got calls from angry users.

However, the attacks have not been an "all bad news" for Ted. He reveals that the attack has brought his campaign into spotlight. His campaign features some debatable policies like opening of wildlife refuges of Alaska to oil and gas exploration and lowering of the healthcare costs for Alaskans, specifically military veterans.

Later, the website was cleaned of every worm again and each password of administrator level was reset.

Related article: Worm Spreads With Random Subject Lines

» SPAMfighter News - 10/31/2006