Internet Users Take Note
Malicious Software or "Malware" is rampant on the web. Some experts have estimated 1 in 10 web pages contain malicious code that could infect a user's PC. While Twitter can't actually host malware, it does allow hyperlinks and is therefore not immune to those who would attempt to point others directly towards malware elsewhere on the web.
We've already removed the Twitter accounts being discussed today in news articles and blogs and we'll continue along these lines. However, the news is a good reminder. Ne'er-do-wells prefer the web for spreading computer viruses and the like. If you happen across a web page—including a Twitter profile page—and you have reservations about what lies on the other end of a hyperlink, think before you click. Especially if the page seems a little sketchy to begin with.
Also: If you think you've found someone linking to malware on Twitter, please let us know.
We've already removed the Twitter accounts being discussed today in news articles and blogs and we'll continue along these lines. However, the news is a good reminder. Ne'er-do-wells prefer the web for spreading computer viruses and the like. If you happen across a web page—including a Twitter profile page—and you have reservations about what lies on the other end of a hyperlink, think before you click. Especially if the page seems a little sketchy to begin with.
Also: If you think you've found someone linking to malware on Twitter, please let us know.
6 Comments:
Great news - how about adding a report user button to the UI to help identify these spam accounts?
related to anonymous’s question: if a large number of people block an account, does that trigger something to alert you guys that they might well be spammers?
I agree with your sentiment but wanted to note a couple of things. URL shorteners (is.gd and the like) sometimes obscure how suspicious a URL looks. Also some research suggests a lot of legit sites host malware: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1629
Trust your sources, Twitter users
Google has a great little web service called the Safe Browsing API.
http://code.google.com/apis/safebrowsing/developers_guide.html
It'd be really nice if you could implement this since just about every link goes through some kind of url shortener, hiding the domain. Perhaps twitter can block or add an "are you really sure you want to go here?" prompt for suspicious URLs.
for me, just be careful!
I can't believe the statistic about malicious code. Granted there is plenty but that number seems really high.
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