http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/01/stealthy_click_fraud_malware/ By John Leyden The Register 1st July 2009 Miscreants have developed one of most sophisticated click fraud malware applications to date. The Trojan code - dubbed FFsearcher by security firm SecureWorks - plugs into a Google API that allows webmasters to add a Google-powered search widget (called "Google Custom Search") to their website. In normal use, search results made via the widget are displayed alongside Google AdSense ads, with webmasters receiving a small fee every time a surfer follows an ad. The malware hijacks this feature so that every search an infected user makes is performed through a search widget under their control, so that they get paid by Google every time a surfer clicks on a sponsored ad. Hackers have also worked out a means to pull off this sleight of hand without giving any indication to surfers that anything might be amiss. Google might find it hard to unravel instances of fraud. As such, the attack is more sophisticated than previous click fraud approaches, which relied on tricks such as changing a surfer's start page and searches to point to a third-party search engine, types of behaviour that might more easily be detected. FFsearcher works on both IE and Firefox. [...] _______________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, July 25-30 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Network with 4,000+ delegates from 50 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.comReceived on Thu Jul 02 2009 - 05:49:35 PDT
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