Paris Hilton infects thousands

[djbaxter]

Paris Hilton?s Web Site Infected by Malware
by Matthew Dworkin, Geek Squad
1/15/2009

Without meaning to, Paris Hilton has infected thousands of her fans with a computer virus downloaded from her Web site. She is not alone?Major League Baseball's Web site did the same thing a few weeks ago.

In what is becoming a common trend with malware, genuine Web sites are being used and altered without the knowledge of the site's owner. This means even if you are avoiding the "bad places" online, you may still accidentally download a Trojan (virus) designed to steal your personal information. The worst part is you may pick up the virus doing something usually simple and harmless like checking sports scores or confirming the release date of the new Jonas Brothers album.

It is unclear how these infections are breaking through, although some speculate it could be an open source content management solution used to author many Web sites. Geek Squad wants to remind you to make sure you are protected both as a Web site viewer and a Web site author.

Here are some simple things you can do to protect yourself:

• Make sure you have anti-virus and anti-spyware protection on your computer if you do any sort of online activity, regardless of whether you browse only "safe" Web sites. Past high-profile targets have included CNN.com, Microsoft.com and Apple.com.
• Use either a software or hardware firewall, and keep your operating system up-to-date.
• If you are a Web site owner, make sure you are always using the most recent version of your web-authoring software, to ensure any vulnerabilities have been found in the code generated by the website have been patched.

 

[Joseph Ratliff]

Thanks for passing this along.

 

[djbaxter]

Thanks for passing this along.

I imagine that's what those infected are saying to Paris Hilton right about now...

 

[Joseph Ratliff]

I imagine that's what those infected are saying to Paris Hilton right about now...

ROFL Now that's funny right there....I don't care who you are!

 

[Zila1]

I just don't understand people producing viruses. Nevertheless I'm not a fan of Paris Hilton, I often have to protect my computer from viruses on the Internet.

 

[djbaxter]

I just don't understand people producing viruses. Nevertheless I'm not a fan of Paris Hilton, I often have to protect my computer from viruses on the Internet.

I really shouldn't pick on poor Paris...

The post was more to warn about even quite public sites being hacked or infected. It's certainly not like she's the first... or the last. Remember that even Obama's site got hacked.

 

[val2009]

No me never really paid attention to her. valerie

 

[Myth]

Wow thanks for posting this. Now people have to be careful which sites they visit.

 

[motivebrendan]

i read the title and ran too the doctor to get checked!!!!! now i see its a computer virus we are talking about...Glad i use a Mac

 

[thomprecision]

This is news to me...but I can see that it would become more popular now that more and more people are going online. I think it's a good idea for any major site to have good webmasters who monitor these types of things, because while you can't necessarily blame the site owner, there is some accountability and it could harm your image if you are not proactive about keep the site safe for everyone.

 

[Dane Grey]

There are many people who have nothing better to do than to invent nasty viruses to try and infect everyone on the net. We spend our time trying to sell stuff (marketing), they spend their time trying to destroy things. It's not new, it's never going away, and Minstrel is absolutely right. You need to protect yourself against this type of malicious activity. You need a good spyware program, a good firewall and antivirus. Never open email from an unknown source that has an attachment, no matter how enticing.

 

[yollyp]

what???

QUOTE:"....still accidentally download a Trojan (virus) designed to steal your personal information. "

Whatttt? Trojan virus can steal personal information? I thought this was not that harmful. Oh my!!! my computer was infected with this "thing" and was hard to remove.

 

[victory08]

Wow thanks for posting this. Now people have to be careful which sites they visit.

Exactly! I didn't know that it's possible. I will protect my computer more carefully.