Hackers target artist's MySpace pages

New York (NY) - Myspace appears to be a popular new vehicle for spreading malware, as professional artists find their profile pages being hacked.

Exploit Prevention Labs has released a report, claiming that hackers have gained access to the Myspace pages of French funk band Freements of Fortune, Irish rock band Dykeenies, and US R&B singer Alicia Keys.

In all of these cases, hackers added external links disguised as video clips that would send users to a Chinese malware site. Upon clicking the malicious link, users are asked to install a special codec, which is not out of the ordinary for downloading legitimate video files.

If the user allows the download, they’ll find out it actually contains a rootkit and a DSN changer, which allow hackers to seize the computer.

Exploit Prevent Labs CEO Roger Thompson said it was a dangerous attack because it’s not easily detectable as a malicious code. In the company’s official blog Thompson wrote, "This is a a very rich media page, as are most MySpace pages. There is every expectation you are going to see a video… It’s not at all unreasonable to think you might have to install something."