Fake, infected media file

[Analogman]

In what's being called the largest fake media file outbreak in three years, some 500,000 people have fallen prey to a phony music or video track that is actually a spyware-infested Trojan horse.

 

Usually purporting to be a music track with an MP3 file extension (in this case, an MP3 track from the UK group Girls Aloud), the file is actually an installer that claims to require a special codec and a special media player to play back the file.

 

Install the codec and what you really get is a computer screen full of pop-ups delivered through a variety of malware programs. You can see what the infection process looks like by checking out the video on this post. The attack is being distributed primarily through peer-to-peer networks.

 

This is hardly an original attack, but the scale is immense: Those 500,000 attacks occurred in the space of just one week. That's substantial.

 

The bright spot is that according to McAfee, which provided the data in the BBC report, only about 10 percent of those who downloaded the infected file actually installed it.

 

The infected file incorporates all manner of potential file names. Though the BBC story includes a half-dozen, the real list of names is exhaustive to the point where it would make little sense including it here. It's likely that that list will continue to grow, too, as the attack continues to develop.

 

You already know what you need to do now, but I'll say it again: Update your antivirus software, make sure it's running real-time scans, and keep off those peer-to-peer networks.

 

Story source -

 

Fake MP3s Running Rampant

 

Photo

 

Tuesday May 6, 2008 at 12:08 pm CST

Posted by Craig Schmugar

 

 

Trackback

 

Detection of a trojan named Downloader-UA.h was added to the McAfee DAT files several days ago. Since that time more than 360,000 McAfee VirusScan Online users have reported detections, a whopping 32% of those reporting in the past 24 hours alone. Now Downloader-UA.h is not your everyday trojan, this detection covers fake music and video files associated with fastmp3player.com.

 

When a user attempts to load one of these MP3 and MPG files, they don

[caliber66]

It will kick your computer into a crick.

[bjorn_skurj]

peanut butter jelly peanut butter jelly peanut butter jelly peanut butter jelly

[So Long]

so...what exactly does it do?

[caliber66]

so...what exactly does it do?

 

It will kick your computer into a crick.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

so...what exactly does it do?

It plays a "Girls Aloud" song.

 

Actually, it says what it does right in the article...

"the file is actually an installer that claims to require a special codec and a special media player to play back the file.

 

Install the codec and what you really get is a computer screen full of pop-ups delivered through a variety of malware programs. You can see what the infection process looks like by checking out the video on this post. The attack is being distributed primarily through peer-to-peer networks"