back to article Fake flash player site used to spread malware

Hackers have developed a new ruse that attempts to trick users into downloading malware from a fake Adobe Shockwave Player download site. Prospective marks who stray onto lure sites - such as a game site related to RuneScape - are presented with broken icons in an attempt to convince them that their copy of Shockwave (if …

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  1. Lawrence

    Many people will be infected

    I've come across a site featuring this and was about to hit that download button. I didn't because I'm ultra-paranoid about stuff like this.

    I suspect many people are going to fall for this as it's very well done. Kids in particular should be careful as they tend to play online games.

  2. Rob

    DOH

    last comment about bored cornish activists not shockwave hijack... sorry.

  3. Dillon Pyron

    News sites

    I've now seen it on at least two news paper or TV sites. I've informed them, but received no response. I've notified that I will go public on Monday. We'll see what happens.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Many people infected?

    Erm... PCs actually, and only Uncle Bill's rat-infested OS at that.

    Ubuntu anyone?

  5. Stuart Morrison

    When..

    ..will people learn to approach download links with the same skepticism as they would a syringe lying on the ground with a sign saying "This stuff will make you live longer - please inject it into your eyeballs."

  6. Mark W

    Content Filtering

    Let's face it, the only way we're going to eradicate this kind of attack is for a sea change to happen with the ISP's who provide home broadband to enable content filtering the way that many corporates do now. Many of the upper tier ISP's are starting to bring this option in, but it's still optional (plusnet / bt / orange et. al).

    Having it turned on by default for all users will kill phishing and spyware attacks overnight.

    Especially if they filter outbound known port activity from machines, won't that kill the botnets too?

    I feel that the responsibility is now with the ISP's who have been transparent before. I know it's all not what we wanted as those of us who have used the internet since the year dot are still all for net neutrality (and I'm sure it can be set up so that those of us techies who want unfiltered connections can do so). However, the net isn't the same animal it was when we first used it. The world has changed and our attitude needs to change too.

    The bottom line is that there is a huge raft of people out there who just want to rip us off and get the money our of our pockets and into theirs by any means.

  7. David Gosnell

    americangreetingsc.net

    Something like this was also the payload on a recent americangreetingsc.net spam. Curious as to the latest scamming strategy, the "Flash installer" was digitally signed by someone distinctly not Macromedia but I guess would have got round some warnings about unsigned downloads. AVG now picks it up with latest updates as "Downloader.Generic4.XYX", thankfully.

  8. Stephen Gray

    When.. LOL!!!

    Stuart, thanks for a laff on a Friday night, perfectly put and so true!

  9. Stephen

    Many people infected?

    [anonymous wrote]

    Erm... PCs actually, and only Uncle Bill's rat-infested OS at that.

    Ubuntu anyone?

    And what happens when Windows is replaced by Linux/MacOS...yes all those virus/malware writers out thre will attack that OS. The only reason Windows is targeted is because it is the most popular, computer viruses are just like biological viruses and exist ONLY if there is a viable host.

    Mark, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. If ISP's filter this crap out (and we know they can, they jus choose not to) then a lot of botnets used for spam/DOS/DDOS will die off. Inline malware would be cut down a lot as well, you won't get 100% of this stuff 100% of the time but it would be a big help. Hell, it would also make the internet go faser too! Imagine, an internet that isn't clogged with spam and malware....utopia.

    There is some light at the end of the tunnel though, most anti virus systems now do NOT ask you to update, they just do it. And it's about bloody time too!

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mark W

    "The bottom line is that there is a huge raft of people out there who just want to rip us off and get the money our of our pockets and into theirs by any means."

    And this is different from the real world - how ?

    Have you seen the price of blank DVDs in high street shops ?

    Remember, a fool and his money are soon parted, so surely the onus is on people not to be foolish, rather than protecting them and thereby encouraging ignorance.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This article.

    Well, not all ISPs are going to be so kind as to offer such powerful blocking services, if you want those, some ISPs want you to pay more money to them just for that extra amount of coverage.

    I think they have their reasons for doing this, so long as corporate politics dominates the industry scene, we have not been able to see any major breakthrough in the fight on malware.

  12. Rick Stockton

    REAL flash player site distributes malware

    I downloaded some software like this, from a site called "adobe.com".

    Now my PC keeps infecting itself with advertisements, they're so LOUD and JUMPY that I sometimes suffer convulsive attacks. (Wear sunglasses!) And most of the web sites suddenly start using weird menus they don't work and I can't figure them out.) And my dial-up connection acts like I've fallen from 56KB back to 300 baud.... maybe even 110.

    Bad Malware.

  13. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    Guess what, Steve

    Make a few thousand syringes with the label you cite and fill them plain old water. I think we'll all be surprised at the number of numbskulls who go ahead and actually inject their eyes.

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