04 November 2006
Malicious Editing of Wikipedia
The German version of Wikipedia has had a page describing the Blaster worm updated to contain a description of a new version of the worm and a link to the fix. Unfortunately the page is fake and the fix is actually a different piece of malicious software. After this page was created, spam emails were sent linking people to this page and encouraging them to fix their computers.
Fortunately, Wikipedia was able to quickly notice the problem and remove the page. Unfortunately though, the page was still in an archived version of the site and was still being used.
It is said that Wikipedia has currently removed all versions of the page though.
A more complete story can be found here.
The lesson in this story is that while sites like Wikipedia are very powerful, viewers still need to be cautious when viewing them. When dealing with virus information and patches, trust antivirus companies over these types of sites. They are less likely to lead to anything malicious.
Fortunately, Wikipedia was able to quickly notice the problem and remove the page. Unfortunately though, the page was still in an archived version of the site and was still being used.
It is said that Wikipedia has currently removed all versions of the page though.
A more complete story can be found here.
The lesson in this story is that while sites like Wikipedia are very powerful, viewers still need to be cautious when viewing them. When dealing with virus information and patches, trust antivirus companies over these types of sites. They are less likely to lead to anything malicious.
Labels: internet, wikipedia, worm
