Kaspersky tackles Twitter malware with ‘Krab Krawler’
By Dave Parrack
The average Web user is a savvy individual who tends to err on the side of caution when surfing, sticking to trustworthy sites and only opening attachments to files they know are safe. But links are a different matter, especially if they are shortened into the random jumble of letters and numbers which populate social networking sites these days. Luckily, the spammers and scammers don’t have it all their own way.
Most of us are aware that not everything on the Web is as it first appears to be. Although a certain percentage of people still get scammed every year via email, most users know what not to do when using email. Unfortunately, rather than just give up, the cybercriminals have moved on to pastures new, with social networking sites their new target of choice.
The problem is exacerbated by the use of URL shorteners, especially on Twitter with its 140-character limit. Although a site’s true nature could always be disguised, URL shorteners make it a lot easier.
Twitter has responded to the issue of malware by introducing a filtering system, but it’s not perfect. Hundreds of links to malware escape the system every day, which is where the third-party anti-malware vendors come in.
Trend Micro already monitors tweets for malware, and Finjan’s free browser plug-in, SecureTwitter, warns users of any links that look suspicious, on Twitter, Gmail, MSN, MySpace, Google, and Yahoo. And now Kaspersky has joined the good fight with its Krab Krawler tool.
According to CNET, Krab Krawler analyzes every single tweet which appears on the site every day. It extracts any URL in them, even if it’s in the form of a shortened URL, and follows it to its destination. Of the 500,000 tweets analyzed every day, 26 percent contain a link, and between 100 and 1000 of these were found to contain links to malware.
It’s important for Web users to be on their guard against viruses, malware, and spam at all times. But a helping hand is always appreciated. Which is what Krab Krawler is offering to those of us who use social networks regularly and find ourselves blindly clicking on shortened on URLs.
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