Fergie's Tech Blog

A Step in The Right Direction: Twitter Suspends Accounts of Users With Infected Computers

Jeremy Kirk writes on InfoWorld:

Twitter is suspending the accounts of some users whose computers have fallen victim to a well-known piece of malicious software that has targeted other sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

The malware, Koobface, is designed to spread itself by checking to see if person is logged into a social network. It will then post fraudulent messages on the person's Twitter account trying to entice friends to click the link, which then leads to a malicious Web site that tries to infect the PC.

The popular microblogging service has had a strong impact as a new communication platform, such as providing on-the-ground insight from participants in the recent protests over the presidential election in Iran. But it is also being targeted by fraudsters and hackers, who using it as a way to infect people's PCs with malicious software.

Twitter is the latest site to be targeted by a Koobface variant, said Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor for Trend Micro. Other sites have included Bebo, Hi5, Friendster and LiveJournal, according to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team.

"Koobface has a long, inglorious history and has been relatively successful at infecting machines," Ferguson said.

posted by Fergie @ 7/10/2009 05:21:00 PM