Malicious Content at Broadwaybox?

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:45pm

I just wanted to give you guys a heads up about this if you haven't discovered it for yourselves. So many of us use Broadwaybox and it annoys me to think that some hacker attacked it. So just be aware that if your browser doesn't notify you when you open an "attack site" or if you don't have your preferences set to notify you broadwaybox is currently an "unsafe" website.

I've always had my preferences set to tell me if I'm visiting an attack site but have never gotten a warning regarding BWB before. I certainly hope that BWB gets this taken care of.

"Reported Attack Site!

This web site at www.broadwaybox.com has been reported as an attack site and has been blocked based on your security preferences.

Attack sites try to install programs that steal private information, use your computer to attack others, or damage your system.

Some attack sites intentionally distribute harmful software, but many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners."

I clicked on the "why did I get this message" link and got the following:

"Safe Browsing
Diagnostic page for www.broadwaybox.com/

What is the current listing status for www.broadwaybox.com/?

Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 17 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 1 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 07/08/2008, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 07/07/2008.

Malicious software is hosted on 2 domain(s), including apidad.com, adbtch.com.

1 domain(s) appear to be functioning as intermediaries for distributing malware to visitors of this site, including adbtch.com.

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, www.broadwaybox.com/ did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?

In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

Next steps:

* Return to the previous page.
* If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Center."

You can chose to "ignore the warning" but once you do you get the "attack site" warning every time you click on a link.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:47pm

And here's a screenshot.

Huh. Weird.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 12:27am

Wow. Thanks for the heads up.

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 12:35am

:-o Thank you, Eris. That's scary.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 12:37am

Just when we thought it was safe to go back to Broadway...

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 9:51am

Or you can get a mac, and not worry about malware, spyware or viruses.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 9:53am

So BroadwayBox works for you if you have a Mac?

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 9:57am

Because the browser gives me the message, if I try to go, it keeps giving me the stupid message. So the answer is yes and no.

Must learn to read posts BEFORE I hit the post button.

Updated On: 7/9/08 at 09:57 AM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 9:59am

So what's the point?

We get that message too.

[fishergirl819]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 10:00am

Well that makes sense now...I went to broadwaybox for the first time in a while Monday night, and since then my anti-virus has been picking up some malicious files and quarantining or deleting them...weird, weird, weird.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 10:20am

The point is had I gone to the site, I would not have picked up any malicious files and indeed, I did go there Monday night.

[heathurrr]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 10:54am

How do you set up your browser to report attack sites like that?

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 10:56am

Use Firefox - it's free and really a great browser.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 11:21am

Using Firefox I believe it's under "Tools" and "internet options" and then "security"

I'm at work where the browser is MIE but at home I use firefox. I'm not sure how to do it with MIE. They like to make things more difficult.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 11:42am

So BroadwayBox works for you if you have a Mac?

No. I have a Mac.

And I took that screenshot in FF 3.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 11:47am

My browser wouldn't go there either, but the point I was making is that macs don't pick up malware and such from websites, etc.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 3:30pm

macs don't pick up malware and such from websites, etc.

That was true until recently. Read on...
Twin Trojans attack Macs

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 5:12pm

Not a big deal, not a real threat. Read on:

http://www.macnn.com/articles/04/04/08/trojan.horse.details/

[morosco]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 8:58pm

Not a big deal, not a real threat.

That article that you are linking to appears to have been published in 2004. Am I reading that right?

The only point I was trying to make is that even though macs are considerably less vulnerable to attacks, folks should never assume that because they are on a mac they are free from risk.

The recent attacks haven't seemed to have spread wildly. Here is an article that was published in the Washington Post a couple of weeks ago:
New Trojan Leverages Unpatched Mac Flaw

[Mikerophone]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 1:46am

It's Wednesday night. I just visited BroadwayBox.com and the Google "Malicious Code" message no longer exists. Looks like they made a quick recovery from the attack.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 1:49am

I'm so glad to hear it! Thanks for the heads up - I hadn't even checked today.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 1:07pm

July 23, 2008
Hackers start to target Apple Macs

Bernhard Warner

When Apple beat Wall Street expectations convincingly on Monday after its best quarter ever, its share price fell. Financial analysts were worried about Apple's once stellar profit margins, the health of its irreplaceable chief executive, Steve Jobs, and fears that a slowing global economy will mean weaker sales of iPods, iPhones and MacBooks.

Amid this uncertainty, a different type of analyst told me of another troubling development for Apple, one that is probably not yet written into any financial models: Apple is beginning to attract the attention of hackers and malware writers.

A big factor in Apple's success in selling 2.5 million computers last quarter is growing user disaffection with Windows. Everything from recurring Vista headaches to security fears are driving Windows users into the Mac camp. Ironically, the resulting Mac sales are coinciding with – and causing – a new upsurge in malware written specifically for Apple users.

"It's still a drop in the ocean compared to Windows vulnerabilities, but [Mac vulnerabilities] have become more sophisticated and more criminally minded, rather than just proof of concept", Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the security company Sophos, says.

The company reports today that two new Mac-ware Trojans that emerged in February and June ought to shake Mac users of their misconceptions that their computers (and, eventually, iPods and iPhones) are impenetrable. To put this in perspective, the first really pernicious piece of Mac malware emerged only in October, 2007, Mr Cluley adds, suggesting that a worrisome trend is about to get worse.

The piece of Mac malware identified in June, named "OSX/Hovdy-A Trojan", is the nastier of the two. It is capable of infiltrating a Mac, stealing passwords and opening the user's firewall to enable future exploits. If the modus operandi sounds familiar, that 's because a lot of the same virus gangs who perfected their exploits on Windows machines are now tweaking them for Macs, Mr Cluley adds.

Scarier still, the same tech-novice PC owners who failed to fortify their computers properly, allowing them to become spam relays and zombie DDOS attackers, are now making the switch to Macs. "I think the Mac user base will end up becoming polluted by some of the same people who have been infected time and time again in the Windows environment,” Mr Cluley says. “It's mainly the same people who buy a computer primarily to download porn and visit file-sharing sites."

For this reason, he says, "I think Apple will start to become a victim of its own success. I think hackers will see this community as a soft target."

The particularly craven hackers, phishing fraudsters and malware writers ply the trade for cash, not kicks. They follow the big fish, looking to infiltrate victims' machines to take advantage of their high-speed broadband connection and herd them into a botnet attack force. Or they aim to dupe them into turning over passwords and bank details. Until now, these miscreants have been content to target Windows users because there are more of them, making them more profitably prey. But as the Mac user base goes mainstream, cyber criminals will no doubt make the jump too.

It's a pattern that has security analysts uneasy. Apple will be hoping that it doesn't grow large enough to alarm the financial analysts.
Hackers start to target Apple Macs