Ad Assignment Goes Awry on MySpace.com
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RICHMOND, Virginia - A university student appears to be responsible for an advertising class assignment that went awry when the teacher's pug was threatened to be killed online, the school said.
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(InfoWorld) - The social networking site MySpace.com is under what one computer security analyst calls an "amazingly virulent" attack caused by a worm that steals log-in credentials and spreads spam that promotes adware sites. The worm is infecting MySpace profiles with such efficiency that an informal scan of 150 found that close to a third were infected, said Christopher Boyd, security research manager at FaceTime Communications. MySpace, owned by News Corp., is estimated to have at least 73 million registered users. The worm works by using a cross-scripting weaknessÂ found around two weeks agoÂ in MySpace and a feature within Apple Computer's QuickTime multimedia player. The exploit starts with a user who visits a MySpace profile infected with an embedded QuickTime movie. The movie loads JavaScript code that overlays a row of menu options on a MySpace profile with a bogus menu. A QuickTime function, called the HREF track, can direct the player to use JavaScript commands to load Web pages into a browser frame or window. The JavaScript feature in QuickTime has legitimate uses, "but there are a lot of legitimate uses for technology that can be misused," said Ross Paul, senior product manager with Websense Inc. If an option in the bogus menu is clicked, the user is directed to a fake log-in page hosted on another server where the person's log-in details are captured. Websense has posted a screenshot of the fake log-in page. MySpace's "seemingly random tendency" to expire user sessions or log out users makes it less noticeable to victims that an attack is under way, according to a Nov. 16 advisory by the Computer Academic Underground . Additionally, the worm places an embedded QuickTime movie on the user's profile, which will then repeat the infection process for anyone who visits the profile. The worm has another malicious function. Once a profile is infected, the worm sends spam to other people in the user's contact list. Those spam messages contain a file that appears to be a movie but instead is a link to a pornographic site that also hosts adware from Zango, Boyd said. Zango, formerly 180 Solutions,Â settled last monthÂ with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for $3 million over complaints it didn't properly ask the consent of users before its adware was installed. Boyd said he's heard anecdotal stories of users removing the worm's JavaScript manually from their profile, but the worm reappears after some time if one of their friend's profiles is infected. Several variants of the worm have also appeared, he said. While some of the Web sites hosting the malicious QuickTime movie have been taken down, others have appeared, Boyd said. The Firefox 2.0 browser was flagging some of the bogus log-in sites as phishing sites, Boyd said. However, phishing sites can be active for several hours before they are flagged, he said. MySpace officials in London couldn't immediately comment Monday morning.ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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Strange stirrings at advertising broker
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MySpace lands two new sites while Viacom counts its pennies.
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Most musicians today have a Web site which they use to market their CD's, band schedules and merchandise. Among the many marketing options, one approach is to customize a Web page on MySpace to use for your band. This week you'll learn how. By Lee Underwood. 0604
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By Bob Dyer, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio  Jan. 30--Regular users of MySpace may have noticed numerous changes during the last five days.
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After an uglyÂ name-calling flapÂ last month, News Corp.'s MySpace and Photobucket will end up as part of the same company.
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By ANICK JESDANUN NEW YORK - At first glance, the posting looked like any number of Internet classified ads explicitly seeking sex.
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As the online networking site MySpace is discovering to its chagrin, there is ancient wisdom to the Arab saying, &quot;Do not allow a camel to put his nose under the edge of your tent, for soon you will be sleeping with a camel.&quot; The problem for MySpace right now is that its tent is surrounded by fifty camels, otherwise known as the attorneys general of the various states.
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A months-old backdoor in MySpace exposes photos in private profiles to lechers and snoops.  Ad-supported websites have risen to help people exploit the bug, and teenagers' private photos are being ogled on message boards.
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Nasty ActiveExploit Security flaws in an ActiveX control used in MySpace upload images onto the social networking sites leave users open to attack. Facebook users may also be at risk.â¦
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A screensaver targeting spam-related websites appears to have been too successful.
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Under mounting public pressure, MySpace.com had little choice but to hand over to state authorities information on registered sex offenders who might cruise the Internet to lure unsuspecting youngsters.  But more remains to be done to protect the vulnerable from online predators.
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Exploit code affecting an unpatched flaw in an image uploader used by both Facebook and MySpace is circulating publicly.
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In an attempt to block spammers and devious advertisers, the popular social networking site makes some changes to its F8 platform.
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If you're waiting to add Cassie as one of your MySpace.com friends, just be patient. There are a few million people ahead of you.
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Playing a rigged video on MySpace embeds the malicious file and adds phishing links to people's profiles.