WARNING: Fake Twitter Invites Carry Malicious Worm

Mashable ^ | 6/21/09

[FromLori]

ecurity sites are warning web users to beware fake Twitter invites in their email inboxes. The reports, based on an alert on Wednesday from Symantec, say the emailed invites come with a malicious attachment which, if downloaded, harvests email addresses from your computer and copies itself to removable drives and shared folders.

The emails carry the subject line “Your friend invited you to twitter!”, while the sender’s address is spoofed as “invitations@twitter.com”. Unlike a typical Twitter invite, however, the email contains no invitation link: instead it carries the attached file Invitation Card.zip, tempting the receiver to download it. The attachment, of course, contains W32.Ackantta.B@mm – a nasty, email address-harvesting worm.

Twitter Spam = Mainstream Recognition Unlike previous, resolved “Twitter worms” (eg. Mikeyy), this one has nothing to do with Twitter: it doesn’t spread via the Twitter.com website or even target Twitter users specifically. Rather, it seems that Twitter has reached the mainstream appeal required to make it a worthy topic for email scams. A good proportion of web users, the spammers must assume, will have heard of Twitter and therefore might download the attachment.

If you receive one of these mails, simply mark it as spam without downloading the attachment. And if you think you might be infected, update your anti-virus software and run a full virus scan.

[umgud]

I’m not even sure I know what Twitter is, what it does or why I’d need it. I think I know what Facebook is, but I don’t go there either. I surely know what Myspace is and I’m not there either.

[FromLori]

Me either but just in case people think it’s ok to open them be warned.

[netmilsmom]

I’m on MySpace to keep in contact with my family around the country.
A friend invited me to Facebook. In my opinion it’s pretty lame.

I got on Twitter during the #dontgo movement when the Rs sat in a dark room when Queen Nancy turned the lights off.

Generally, I don’t go there but now I did make my location “Tehran” and switched my timezone to support the Iranian revolt.

[Matchett-PI]

“I’m not even sure I know what Twitter is, what it does or why I’d need it.” ~ umgud

Info:

URGENT: Use Twitter to help Iranian protestors.
Americans supporting Iranian liberty & those fighting for it ^ | June 19, 2009 | Jeff Head

Posted on Saturday, June 20, 2009 1:26:09 AM by Jeff Head
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275713/posts

I just got this note from another poster and twitter on the Americans supporting Iranian liberty & those fighting for it site on Facebook.

This is pertinent right now to the situation in Iran.
Twitter Folks-set your location to Tehran and your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut Iranians’ access to the internet down.
We have to help protect the Freedom Fighters.

Please pass the word. There are ways we can help. This is one of those ways.

<>

Vanity for Freepers on Twitter: A Way to Help the Iranian Protestors
6/16/09 | me Posted on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:50:23 AM by Slings and Arrows
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2272692/posts

I just got the following tweet:

RT @pennjillette Changed settings so I’m from Iran. don’t know if it’ll confuse any bad guys, but maybe if we all do it . . . .#Iranelection

Hey, it can’t hurt.

[devane617]

Anyone involved with the cesspools known as FaceBook, and Twitter, deserves a worm. Nothing but a breeding ground for terrorists...

[SaveTheChief]

Quite simply, you can think of Twitter as a text broadcast of short messages (I think 240 characters per "tweet"). Anyone following you receives that message in their "feed" as well as anyone who visits the homepage of your Twitter account. Twitter is a great tool that can be used to stay connected to a group of people, which is why it was used so effectively by the Democrats last November.

[SaveTheChief]

Anyone involved with the cesspools known as FaceBook, and Twitter, deserves a worm. Nothing but a breeding ground for terrorists...

You don't know anything about Facebook or Twitter, do you?

[devane617]

Probably much more than you...

[Utilizer]

Using Linux here. Going on ten years no virus’s, worms, trojans etc. *grins*

[AUH2O Repub]

The people that start these viruses have a special place in hell waiting for them. Wish we could help them along to it.

[amom]

Thanks for this post.

[Jeff Chandler]

Using Linux here. Going on ten years no virus’s, worms, trojans etc. *grins*

Sounds great. Now if I could just get the Adobe suites to run on Linux...

[Utilizer]

Well, if Adobe does not market a Linux version, you could try running ‘doze under a VM. That is the route I am taking for some preferred programs, although I have not had time lately to finish setting up the VM due to several ongoing projects.

[Jeff Chandler]

Thank you for the help, but my problem is that I need to see my web designs the way my clients see them, which is 98% IE and Firefox running on Windows.

[Sarajevo]

Anyone involved with the cesspools known as FaceBook, and Twitter, deserves a worm. Nothing but a breeding ground for terrorists...

A-hem....

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[Star Traveler]

My birds twitter; I don’t... :-)