Internet users visiting some of the most popular sites on the Web may unwittingly be downloading malicious code that compromises
their computers and sets up a relay network for a future onslaught of spam, a security services company warned Thursday.
NetSec Inc., which provides managed security services for large businesses and government agencies, began detecting suspicious
traffic on several of its customers' networks on Thursday morning, said Chief Technology Officer Brent Houlahan.
Examining firewall logs and other data points on those networks, NetSec found that when users visit certain popular Web sites
-- including an online auction, a search engine and a comparison shopping site -- they unwittingly download a piece of malicious
JavaScript code attached to an image or graphics file on the site.
Without the user's knowledge, the code connects their PC to one of two IP (Internet Protocol) addresses in North America and
Russia. From those systems they unknowingly download a piece of malicious code that appears to install a keystroke reader
and probably some other malicious code on the computer, Houlahan said.
The code may be gathering the addresses of Web sites visited by affected users and the passwords used to access them. In addition,
the IP address in Russia is a known source of spam, and the code may be creating a network of infected machines that could
be used to relay spam across the Internet at some later date, he said.
He stressed that NetSec is still examining the code and has yet to determine the exact payload or the intent of the attack.
The SANS Institute is also studying the outbreak, he said.
NetSec declined to name the affected Web sites for liability reasons but said they are "big, big sites." It is probably the
Web hosting facilities that cache content for those sites that are infected, rather than the "origin servers" at the Internet
service providers themselves, Houlahan said.
"The tricks used in this particular attack method are nothing new. What's significant about this is the fact that it impacts
major Web hosting facilities," said Dan Frasnelli, who manages NetSec's technical assistance center.
The attack affects only users running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and Internet Explorer browser, he said. It
was unclear Thursday how the attack originated, but it may exploit a known vulnerability in Microsoft's IIS (Internet Information
Services) Web Server software at the Web hosting facilities, Frasnelli said.
It was also unclear Thursday afternoon how many systems had been compromised and how widespread was the problem. NetSec said
it had protected its own customers by writing custom intrusion detection signatures and blocking its customers' PCs from visiting
the IP addresses involved in the attack.
"There's a potential for widespread impact because currently the (antivirus) vendors don't have a signature for it," Frasnelli
said.
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