Russian Firm Pays to Infect PCs with Adware

Jaidev writes "Information week is reporting that a Russian site (IframeDollars) is paying web developers 6 cents for each machine they infect with spyware or adware. One security expert estimates that iframeDollars could collect as much as $75,000 annually from the adware it placed on the infected machines during the third week of May, which cost approximately $12,000 in payments to place"

Comments

Prevention

[kschawel]

First of all, this exploits holes that already have patches on Windows systems:

The code exploits a number of patched Windows and Internet Explorer vulnerabilities, including some that go back as far as 2002. Systems that haven't been updated would be vulnerable to the exploit.

So patch and you'll be fine. Second, if you don't want to patch, you can just block this company's IP:

According to the Internet Storm Center, companies can prevent the downloading of adware and spyware from iframeDollars' servers by blocking the IP address 81.222.131.59.

Re:Prevention

[Baron_Yam]

So what if everyone here started clicking here?

Is it morally acceptable to launch a preemptive strike when you absolutely, positively know the bastard is attacking you? Given that I get a timeout when I click on that link, I'd guess many people have already said, "Yes".

Re:Prevention

[Baron_Yam]

Oh, and since going to iframedollars.com or iframedollars.biz takes you to 195.95.218.170 and not the address mentioned in the parent post, you might want to click on the link above a few times as well.