On 6/5/09, aki <
aki275@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Spam, malware spread by Google Groups. Spammers are using thousands of
> Google Groups to spread unwanted email and malware.
>
> Sep 15, 2008 13:47 EDT
>
> Spammers are using thousands of Google Groups to spread unwanted email and
> malware.
>
> In a blog post, the anti-spam company MailChannels reported that the
> spammers sign up for Gmail accounts, then create new groups, usually with
> random-looking names. The spammers use the Gmail accounts to send
> keyword-rich posts to the fake group. These posts include a link to a URL
> that either directs the user to a to phishing scam or to a malware
> executable.
>
> “We were able to find thousands of Google Groups that were created for the
> purpose of forming posts that people would stumble upon when looking for
> common keywords,” Ken Simpson, CEO of MailChannels, told SCMagazineUS.com on
> Monday.
>
> Simpson stressed that users don't have to join the Google Group to be hit by
> the infected posts. The posts come up during a search within Google Groups
> -- not during a typical Google search.
>
> One such search string is “Verizon bill pay online,” Simpson said.
>
> “Users think they are getting a post that explains how to pay their bill
> online, and they click on the link," he said.
>
> In his example, the URL took the user to a drug store website. Other links
> directed users to malware.
>
> “What the spammers are doing is exploiting temporary weaknesses in the
> algorithm Google Groups uses to find results,” Simpson said. “Google's
> search engine is great for weeding out spam. Google Groups is a closed
> environment and there isn't enough information from internet users to know
> which groups are significant and which are spam.”
>
> Google said it knows about the problem.
>
> “Google takes the security of our users very seriously,” a Google
> spokesperson told SCMagazineUS.com, “and we actively work to detect and
> remove sites that link to malware. We are aware of this particular issue and
> are working now to resolve it.”
>