Fraudsters have set up websites supposedly containing info about 9/11 but actually geared towards running fake anti-virus (scareware) scams.
Net security firm Sophos reports a number of "9/11-related" webpages that actually host malicious code are using search engine manipulation techniques to boost their rankings on Google.
"The websites we've seen point unsuspecting users to a fairly bog-standard fake anti-virus page," explained Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
Visitors to the malicious web pages - whether they are using a Mac or a PC - are confronted with a list of viruses that have supposedly infected their system and invited to try out fake security software of little or no utility.
"Some of the search results we have seen contain content related to a woman, called Tania Head, who claimed to have been in the Twin Towers on 9/11 but was later exposed as a fraud," Cluley added.
The ruse joins a growing list of incidents whereby unscrupulous cybercrooks latch onto interest in tragedies, natural disasters and other news events to distribute junk. Similar attacks also accompanied the recent death of Michael Jackson and the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.
Sophos reckons the wrong 'uns running scareware scams appear to be "running a round-the-clock factory, pumping out new websites that exploit the hot trending search terms of the day".
"Clearly, no topical report, however tragic is exempt from the attentions of the criminal mind," writes David Harley, director of malware intelligence at anti-virus firm Eset. "Using Google and other search engines for information and reports about 9/11 is likely to generate results with a load of links leading to rogue antivirus-related sites."
Scareware scumbags exploit 9/11 ? The Register
Net security firm Sophos reports a number of "9/11-related" webpages that actually host malicious code are using search engine manipulation techniques to boost their rankings on Google.
"The websites we've seen point unsuspecting users to a fairly bog-standard fake anti-virus page," explained Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
Visitors to the malicious web pages - whether they are using a Mac or a PC - are confronted with a list of viruses that have supposedly infected their system and invited to try out fake security software of little or no utility.
"Some of the search results we have seen contain content related to a woman, called Tania Head, who claimed to have been in the Twin Towers on 9/11 but was later exposed as a fraud," Cluley added.
The ruse joins a growing list of incidents whereby unscrupulous cybercrooks latch onto interest in tragedies, natural disasters and other news events to distribute junk. Similar attacks also accompanied the recent death of Michael Jackson and the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.
Sophos reckons the wrong 'uns running scareware scams appear to be "running a round-the-clock factory, pumping out new websites that exploit the hot trending search terms of the day".
"Clearly, no topical report, however tragic is exempt from the attentions of the criminal mind," writes David Harley, director of malware intelligence at anti-virus firm Eset. "Using Google and other search engines for information and reports about 9/11 is likely to generate results with a load of links leading to rogue antivirus-related sites."
Scareware scumbags exploit 9/11 ? The Register
