Hackers seem to get more savvy as the plethora of opportunities to scam innocent Web-users multiply every day.  Through the use of YouTube and other trusted sources online, hackers are finding new ways to scam users while hiding their tracks completely.

It’s long been known that downloading software from sources that aren’t reputable can cause several problems and open the door to hackers to manipulate your computer without you being the wiser.  Now, with the popularity of YouTube and various social networking sites, hackers are using innovative methods to hack your system.

MSNBC is reporting on a new method of hackers, using fake YouTube pages to spread their malware.  By using pages that look identical to YouTube pages, users are getting duped into downloading malicious software to view videos sent to them via email.  To make it worse, a free program is floating around the Internet that allows anyone to create these fake pages.

The hack works by first sending out thousands of emails to unsuspecting users.  The emails point to one of the fake pages.  Users would then see an error message that claims the chosen video won’t play without installing new software first.  That error message includes a link that the hacker has provided to a malicious program, which delivers a virus to your system.

To make things even worse, the hackers have gotten smarter about covering their tracks.  Once the computer is infected with the virus, it’s simple for the hacker to silently redirect the victims to a real YouTube page to see videos they were hoping to see in the first place.  It hides the crime, and the user will almost never know the virus is on their system.  “It’s spot-on accurate, and that is scary,” said Jamz Yaneza, threat research manager for security software company Trend Micro Inc. “If I were watching YouTube videos all day I would probably click on this one.”

The problem is that with the rise in social networking, people are constantly sharing video links, profile links, etc., that give hackers more and more opportunities to launch their attacks.  As it gets easier to replicate trusted Web-pages, the problem only gets worse, and harder to track.

Related:

Entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 10:49 pm under Malware, Scams, Security.

Read more entries by Justin Montgomery.
Stumble It!