When Spyware Performs as Advertised

A few words of caution to any Myspace users out there considering "free" software designed to let you spy on unsuspecting others online: Be sure to read the fine print when a product like this says "free," and don't be surprised if the software is used to spy on you.

Take, for instance, the latest scam being passed around like a digital disease on MySpace: a message advertising software that promises users the ability to track who is viewing their profile pages. This thing, brought to my attention by the folks at Fortinet, arrives as a Myspace bulletin (bulletins allow Myspace users to send messages to all of their "friends" simultaneously) and directs users to visit wwx.myfriendspy.com, which claims the visitor can download the software after clicking on an icon that automatically posts the same bulletin to their friends.

When the MyFriendSpy page finally loads, with everything else on the page it's very easy to overlook the message notifying visitors that the tracking software isn't really available quite yet -- but hey, there's some free adware from 180Solutions Inc. instead!

When you click on the icon that reads "After posting a bulletin CLICK HERE to gain access to myfriendspy.com info," an installation agreement for Zango pops up. Zango is the much-maligned product of adware maker 180Solutions, which of course monitors what you search for and where you go online.

Security Fix

This myspace is becoming a pain in the but.

Here is a pic of a computer I got that was involved with myspace alot. The police confiscated it and it was searched. They were not kind to the computer either, leaving an old grandma very unhappy.

http://www.bluetack.co.uk/firstaid/evidence.jpg

http://www.bluetack.co.uk/firstaid/evidence1.JPG

I wiped everything related to myspace from the box. It looked like either a child selling himself or some type of drug connection. I had never seen a box with so many active connections. It had AOL, Net Zero, 2 local highspeed connections, and some I had no Idea we could get in this area. His broadband bills must have come close to 500 a month. The box was full of pics with this child holding wads of cash and dressed all pimped out. In one picture alone he was holding at least 7 grand in 100 dollar bils. I never got the full details, but I know this grandma was not supporting this in any way. This goes to show, you have to be carefull who you let on your computer.


firstaid

That sounds like a pretty rare case, as I follow most of the MySpace stuff posted into various security related sites. Got a link for that one? Or was it local?

I have yet to hear of anyone getting directly infected via MySpace, but I suppose it's a matter of time before the scumbags start to invade them, lord knows there are certainly enough 'targets' on the site.

You can read some more about this from Paperghost at the SpywareGuide Blog

Screenshots also.

Yeah, it was local and the grandmother did bring me the pc when she got it back from the officials. I had worked on another box of hers that she had put out to the pasture because it was infected with the spyaxe crap. She thought there was no way to fix it, but I wiped it and got it up and running for her. She told me at that time she had this box taken away and was trying to get it back. I was surprised when she actualy did get it back. The box did also have downloaded music on it, prolly about 200 files, and The "FBI" ( not sure on this one, maybe local FBI crime lab but she said FBI) did not delete them, so I think it had to be the Myspace stuff. This child lived near a casino and people could easily get plain tickets or bus tickets to the casino for free. I only asked her for permision to show the box, no pictures, I deleted them, but, they could prolly be considered child porn. The internet is not for children without adult supervision, this computer had over 5,000 links saved of myspace and nothin else.

I would like to add that most of my boxes that I get that the parents gave their child are full of pictures of them smoking drugs, having sex with other girls to impress guys, drinking alchohol at home when parents are gone etc. and the parents have no clue until I tell them. Most are what one would consider as good looking, like they use it to stroke their ego. This is the first one with such a big link to Myspace that I have run into. These have all been 11-16 year olds and in a way, their computer being hijacked was a godsent for the parents. some had already had investigations started on them before I got there boxes some had Internet messenger logging in on startup that were full of sexual preditors. It is a crying shame that we can not make a list to stop these peeps on the net as most do use some type of Internet messanger.

Without all this fuss about myspace lately I would not have even known what it was, lol. They had better hire a team of people to patrol myspace for this type of thing or shut it down, IMO.

firstaid

That's amazing stuff no doubt.

And for those of you not running SiteAdvisor:
SiteAdvisor Analysis