Slashdot Mirror
Blogs Latest Source of PC Infection
smooth wombat writes "The BBC has a story which indicates that filtering firm Websense believes at least 200 fake blogs are in existence which have malicious code that could infect your pc. Websense said it had seen examples of some computer criminals creating a legitimate looking weblog, loading it with keylogging software or viral code, and then sending out the address of it through instant messenger or spam e-mail. Websense warned that viruses hosted on weblogs might be a danger because they get round the filtering systems many firms have created to ensure malicious programs do not reach employees." From the article: "In separate cases some blogs were being used as storage lockers holding chunks of malicious code that the controller of a network of zombie machines wants those remotely-controlled computers to use."
.. I couldn't give a crap about the General Public's blogs, so I don't view them.
I guess its bored Housewives that get caught by the virii
"Sweet llamas of the Bahamas !"
Maybe the problem isn't that the fake blogs are carrying malicious code; rather that the browsers (coughIEcough) being used to surf the fake sites aren't secure enough.
Malicious websites will always be around; however, if we try and educate the public about security, they'll be rendered useless.
IGB: More fun than eating oatmeal!
I do have a blog, or at least people call it a blog.
What I'm asking myself right now, reading this article is...
"What's the difference between a blog and a website?"
I mean, how could a proxy know it's a blog?
It can't, unless you talk about blogs hosted on big blogger networks.
But I'm not the only one having a blog on another hosting service, with my own domain and so on.
The same could happen with "personal home pages", the problem is, as usual, people click on anything that seems interesting, without checking the website where they'll end.
It's always a matter of Social Engineering, users have to be educated I think...
-- Personal Blog: http://www.delymyth.net/ (italian)
So there are 200 fake blogs among 8,000,000 that were drawn up with malicious code and this is a story?
The story is that blogs are dangerous. Blogs are the tool of the devil, and they will install keyloggers, spy through your webcam, and solicit your children. Blogs are the tools of criminals and miscreants.
Good people should stay away from blogs and instead obtain all of their entertainment and information from the large corporate media outlets.
Seems more like a case of the BBC trying to publish an article with a buzzword in it.
A responsible journal would have gone on to say that any web site, not just a blog, could potentially attempt the same sort of behavior. This isn't anything new and has nothing much at all to do with blogging.
Actually.. why am I blaming the BBC? It made the front page here..
I am a bit baffled why this is news. How is this any different than any other attack via a web page? And how is a weblog any different than a vanilla web page? (That was meant an ironic, rhetorical question for those itching to answer that.) The techniques used to phish and to infiltrate a target machine via web pages are identical for weblogs ... since weblogs == web pages. (And yes, I do appreciate there are persons in the world who do not understand the two are the same.)
How on earth can one conclude that blocking people from all weblogs will protect them? Unless you also block them from all web pages to boot, ie the entire world wide web.
Can someone confirm this? Are you telling me companies actively track if a site is a weblog ... and if so lower the security precautions for it?
I am a bit disappointed that BBC reported this article. Talk about FUD.
The article says it all...
"Users were urged to keep anti-virus and patches up to date, regularly scan machines with anti-spyware products and exercise caution when reading unsolicited messages sent via e-mail or instant messenger."
C'mon, people...This stuff should be habit by now.
GET FREE APPLE STUFF!
username:_________
password:_________
Thank you, I'm sure you use the same username/password for all your accounts and now i have access! HAHAHA
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
It seems that blogs are another offshoot of the failure of mainstream media. The blog Baghdad Burning: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ provides insight into the Iraq war that inbedded journalists have missed.
This is my last post.
[6th Estate]
Websebse making a big deal about blog bugs should be taken about as seriously as Symantec making a big deal about cell phone or Macintosh viruses. At best it's self-serving.
But there's something bigger that really bugs me: Websense is part of that big conglomeration known as "them" or "they". Sometimes it's hard to tell where the government stops and "they" start. The American media is another big member of "them" and blogs are a threat. So "they" have to do whatever they can to steer people away from them--make it unclear what exactly a blog is, tell people their computers will get viruses if they read blogs, censor their content--we'll hear more in the next few months I'm sure.
Those in control are just trying to draw devil horns on blogs so that they can stay in control.