Posts Tagged ‘MacBook’

Dad walks in on Daughter Facebook clickjacking attack helps scammers earn money

Published by pratyushkp on June 15th, 2011 - in Social, Technology

Image via CrunchBase

Once again, scammers are running rings about Facebook‘s built-in security measures by spreading a clickjacking scam between users’ accounts.

The latest attack poses as a link to a video of a dad walking in on his daughter.

Dad walks in on Daughter.. EMBARRASSING!
[LINK]
This really must have been an awkward moment.

We’ve seen scams which use language like this before, of course, and sometimes they’ve been used to trick you into installing software onto your computer.

Interestingly, on this occasion, the image used in the messages is the same as that used in the recent “Baby born amazing effect” scam which has spread with similar ferocity in the last couple of weeks on the social network.

Clicking on this latest link takes users to a webpage, where it looks as though you need to press the “Play” icon to watch the video.

However, clicking the icon secretly tells Facebook that you “Like” the page (via the use of a clickjacking exploit), helping the scam to perpetuate.

It will be no surprise at all to regular Naked Security readers that the scam is designed to drive traffic to online surveys – which earns commission for the scammers behind the attack.

When I tried it, the surveys claimed that I could receive a free iPad or MacBook or even a flat-screen television.

If you’ve been hit by a scam like this, remove the messages and likes from your Facebook page – and warn your friends not to click on the offending links. Clearly there’s much more work which needs to be done by Facebook to prevent these sorts of messages spreading so rapidly.

Source :- http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com

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Peeping Tom tricked women into taking hacked webcams into shower, claim police

Published by pratyushkp on June 10th, 2011 - in Social, Technology

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The problem of perverts and cyberstalkers using malware to grab control over female victims’ webcams is one that has been around for quite some time.

Hackers can secretly spy upon people in their bedrooms, and even exploit technology to blackmail young women into posing naked, threatening that they will send other compromising photos to their online friends.

It’s pretty unsavoury stuff, and has probably made some women cautious of handing over their computers to that ever-so-friendly repair man, fearful of what they might install while the computer is in their care.

In the latest case, a 20-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly infecting young women’s Apple Mac computers with spyware that could commandeer their webcam.

Trevor Harwell, of Orange County, California, is said to have rigged the MacBooks with error messages that would increase the chances of him capturing nude pictures and movies of the young women.

You’re probably wondering what kind of error messages would achieve such a result.

"You should fix your internal sensor soon. If unsure what to do, try putting your laptop near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor."

According to Fullerton Police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich, the error message tricked many victims into taking laptops into their bathroom while taking a steamy shower.

The sleazy scheme was only brought to light last summer when a mother became suspicious about the unlikely messages appearing on her daughter’s computer.

Hundreds of thousands of surreptitiously taken still images, videos and cellphone videos were seized from Hawell’s computer according to a report in the LA Times.

Anyone woman who believes they might have been a victim is invited to contact Fullerton Det. Kathryn Hamel at (714) 738-5327.

Of course, and perhaps most disturbingly, there was nothing stopping the victim of the alleged surveillance being under-age.

It’s true of people of any age, but young people’s PCs must be properly protected with the latest anti-virus software, security patches and firewalls. It is also essential that young people are taught how to behave safely online, to avoid being exploited by sick-minded hackers.

  • Find out more about how to protect children from online threats at www.getsafeonline.org
  • Find out about the Virtual Global Taskforce – a group of police forces working around the world to fight online child abus

Source :- http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com

Related articles
  • Peeping Tom tricked women into taking hacked webcams into shower, claim police (nakedsecurity.sophos.com)
  • Crooked Technician Hacked Laptops To Become Peeping Tom (escapistmagazine.com)
  • Technician Arrested for Installing Webcam Peeping Software on Women’s PCs (techland.time.com)
  • Cops arrest alleged high-tech peeping Tom (cbsnews.com)
  • Peeping Tom Mac spyware suspect cuffed (go.theregister.com)
  • Police: Computer tech installed peeping software (seattlepi.com)
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