[1] VIRAL MARKETING’ STOOPS TO NEW LOW

Internet security company Sophos is warning of a new marketing scheme reported by its Australian tech support team, which tricks users into visiting a Web site featuring free comic video clips and then installs software that sends out e-mails from their computers to people listed in their address book. The Web site, run by Curacao-based Avenue Media, uses ActiveX to display a humorous video clip and at the same time downloads an additional software component called ‘Internet Optimizer’ onto the PC, which then sends the e-mails. Peter Ducklin, head of technology at Sophos’ Asia Pacific division, says: ‘What tricks a lot of people is that the ActiveX control which kicks the process off is digitally signed. Many users assume that a program which has been signed in this way is automatically both trustworthy and desirable. Ironically, even though Internet Explorer presents a ’security warning,’ many people treat this as some kind of a ’security approval’ and are more inclined to go ahead.’ (ZDNet Australia 16 Jul 2003)”

Source: NewsScan Daily: July 17, 2003