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23 May 07 - 03:33 PM (#2059248) Subject: BS: One every minute... From: beardedbruce Free computer virus finds willing victims POSTED: 12:03 p.m. EDT, May 23, 2007 HELSINKI, Finland (Reuters) -- Computer specialist Didier Stevens put up a simple text advertisement on the Internet offering downloads of a computer virus for people who did not have any. Surprisingly, he found as many as 409 people clicking on the ad saying "Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here!" during a 6-month advertising campaign on Google's Adword, said the IT security expert. "Some of them must have clicked on it by mistake. Some must have been curious or stupid," said Mikko Hypponen, head of research at data security firm F-Secure. There was no virus involved, it was an experiment aiming to show these kinds of advertising systems can be used for malicious intent, Stevens told Reuters. |
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23 May 07 - 03:41 PM (#2059251) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: Peace Mikko Hypponen is out to lunch. There were no more than 408 people. I clicked it twice. |
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23 May 07 - 03:56 PM (#2059264) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: Bee-dubya-ell "Curious or stupid?" Nah. I'd say most of 'em probably thought it was a joke of some kind and clicked to find what the punch-line was. Anything so blatant is probably not going to be for real. If someone wants to infect your computer they're probably going to try to trick you by offering something desirable, not tell you up front that they're going to infect your computer. "Stupid" is clicking on a link to a "FREE photo of Britney Spears' tits!" and getting a virus instead. |
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23 May 07 - 04:03 PM (#2059269) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: Peace No virus, just bad sniffles. |
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23 May 07 - 04:54 PM (#2059305) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: Rapparee Peace, that poor girl is going to catch a nasty chest cold if she's not careful. |
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23 May 07 - 05:00 PM (#2059311) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: Peace Like Bill Clinton, I did link to the pic but I didn't actually LOOK at them. |
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23 May 07 - 05:01 PM (#2059312) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: Peace Ahem: Like Bill Clinton, I did link to the pic but I didn't actually LOOK at tit. |
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23 May 07 - 05:02 PM (#2059313) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: Peace AHEM: Like Bill Clinton, I did link to the pic but I didn't actually LOOK at it. |
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23 May 07 - 05:11 PM (#2059319) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: gnu Minds me of the old Playboy cartoon with the caption, "But, honey, it's okay. I don't care if the right one is bigger than the left one." |
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24 May 07 - 03:26 AM (#2059583) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: Gurney I have a virus pinned to my office wall. It's a MANUAL virus, suggesting that I delete all the files on my computer. Sent, apparently, by Paddy O'Hacker at paddy@bejasus.com Honestly. |
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24 May 07 - 03:55 AM (#2059598) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: JohnInKansas Anyone who's curious about it, can find a bit more about the free virus offer. I had planned to post it, but the 'cat was down for a few hours when I came across it. Drive-By Download Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here! drive-by-download.info There's more, but I'll omit other details, except for the researcher's comment: "Stevens says that he designed his ad to make it look fishy, but he had no problem getting Google to accept it and has had no complaints to date. And, although a healthy amount of people clicked on it, he said there's "no way to know what motivated them to click on my ad. I did not submit them to an IQ-test." John |
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24 May 07 - 04:00 AM (#2059601) Subject: RE: BS: One every minute... From: JohnInKansas Oooops. I clicked preview, but must have "dragged" it off when I hit submit. Anyone who's curious about it, can find a bit more about the free virus offer. I had planned to post it, but the 'cat was down for a few hours when I came across it. Hundreds Click on 'Click Here to Get Infected' Ad The ad that was posted read: Drive-By Download Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here! drive-by-download.info "Stevens says that he designed his ad to make it look fishy, but he had no problem getting Google to accept it and has had no complaints to date. And, although a healthy amount of people clicked on it, he said there's "no way to know what motivated them to click on my ad. I did not submit them to an IQ-test." John |
