The micro-blogging site Twitter has been at the centre of yet another scam warning after experts uncovered an attempt to distribute fake antivirus software.
The attack emerged after a large surge in the number of “tweets” (messages posted by users) directing people to a “Best Video” supposedly hosted on YouTube. In reality, the messages linked to a PDF document designed to infect unsecured versions of Adobe Reader. Victims then received an urgent message reading; “Warning! You’re in Danger! Your Computer is infected with Spyware!”
Users were then directed to a software window titled “System Security” that claimed to clean their PC system and remove traces of spyware.
Experts believe that the attack is the first known “for profit” attack to have been launched on Twitter although it far from the first security threat to have been launched on the site.
Previous attacks have included worms that repeat a phrase or link over and over by tricking users to click on links that automatically leave a post. As more posts are generated, more and more Twitter users are bombarded with the malicious links. One such worm landed its creator, 17-year-old Michael Mooney from New York, a lucrative job with a software development company.
Twitter have claimed that the problem had been contained after temporarily suspending accounts that had been compromised. No confidential information was intercepted, they added.
