Swayze scareware: hackers exploit death

Hackers are exploiting the death of Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze to sell fake anti-virus software and to infect people with malware.

Swayze, 57, died of pancreatic cancer yesterday, sparking tributes from all over Hollywood and the world.

But just as web miscreants have recently used immense interest in the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett and Natasha Richardson to lead people to virus-laced web pages, Swayze's death has led to an avalanche of bogus websites purporting to provide information about his death.

As computer security company Sophos demonstrated in a recent video, the cyber criminals use search engine optimisation techniques to ensure their bogus websites remain on the first page of results in search engines such as Google.

The sites appear to be legitimate news sources but, upon visiting them, the target is advised that their computer urgently needs an anti-virus scan. The scan then starts and is designed to look like an authentic Windows scan.

The target is soon advised that their computer is infected with hundreds of Trojans - which don't really exist - and offers to sell them fake anti-virus software to remove the infections.

At the same time, many of the sites also infect the user with viruses designed to send personal details such as passwords and credit-card numbers back to the hackers.

Security firm F-Secure has published screenshots showing how the scam operates on its blog.

Similar tactics - known as "scareware" - have been used in recent weeks by hackers to exploit public interest in Serena Williams's US Open outburst and the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

"Clearly the cybercriminals are no slackers when it comes to jumping on a trending internet topic, and are more professional than ever before in spreading their fake anti-virus scams," Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley said

- © Fairfax NZ News