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Mon, 23 Feb 2009 eBay auction tool Web site infected with malware

Google warning of infected auction tool

Jeremy Kirk

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A Trojan horse lurking on servers belonging to Auctiva.com, a Web site offering eBay auction tools, infected people's PCs last week.

The problem became very public when Google's malware warning system kicked in as people tried to browse the site, saying Auctiva was infected with malware. Google will display an interstitial page warning people of certain Web sites known to contain malware.

"It appears the reason these virus alert warnings started showing up on our site is because some of our machines were injected with malware originating in China," according to a post on Auctiva's community forum.

"The malware we believe to be at fault has also hit a number of other high-profile websites over the past six months."

It appears that the malware targeted Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. Auctiva recommended using Firefox, as that browser is "less susceptible to this sort of malware than Internet Explorer."

"Found eight trojans on my system that seemed to have snuck through my on-access protection, or maybe because, like a fool, I clicked 'ignore the warning' to get to Auctiva's front page," wrote one user on Auctiva's forum.

If Google displays a warning about a dangerous Web site, it still gives people the option of browsing to the site. Auctiva said it was working with Google to ensure the warning is not displayed now that it has cleaned up its servers.

However, people who browsed Auctiva between Thursday and Saturday afternoon until 2 p.m. Pacific time should ensure their machines are not infected.

Auctiva recommends clearing the browser cache and deleting all temporary files. Also, Windows PCs should be up to date on patches, and antivirus software should be used, Auctiva said.

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Comments received


Michael said on Mon, 23 Feb 2009

Perhaps these PC people should just buy a Macintosh.

Daniel J. Buchner said on Wed, 25 Feb 2009

I would like to give you all a current status update. Our Systems Engineers identified the location of the malware and immediately took the infected servers offline.

Existing Threat? After the threat was identified late last week, we took the appropriate and responsible corrective action. Normal operation has since been restored and there is no risk to users visiting any portion of the Auctiva.com site.

Similar attacks have been made on other large Web sites recently that used the same methodology for malicious code injection. Other targets have included:
• CBS
• Monster.com
• and many others

Daniel J. Buchner
Product Manager
Auctiva Corp.

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