A quick warning for Twitter users today, a new Twitter worm exploit has been discovered that uses the Google URL shortener service, sending users to fake antivirus sites.

The worm works by sending users through a goo.gl link to a site that offers a service called “Security Shield” which is in fact a piece of malware.  The malware as detected by Sophos virus scans is called Troj/FakeAV-CMG.

Twitter is aware of the worm and their safety account claims they are “working to remove the malware links and reset passwords on compromised accounts.”

If you’ve followed a Goo.gl link in the last 24 hours, I would recommend running a full system scan and changing your Twitter password as soon as possible. read more

When it comes to being scammed, even the big guys can be taken in from time to time.

Gizmodo, Gawker Media’s hugely popular technology/gadget blog, has had to apologise to its readers for allowing ads containing malware to be published on its site during the past week.

Their ad sales team was duped by an elaborate scam that would have infected some users with software that may have caused random passwords and possibly initiated phishing attacks. read more

A leading security company claims that Twitter is being exploited by those who own and control botnets — clusters of computers taken over without owner knowledge and often used to launch denial of service attacks.

Arbor Networks suggests that Twitter accounts are being set up to broadcast links to malicious code. Those computers already part of the botnet would then follow these links, via RSS feed, in order to get new instructions/targets. read more

Internet security company F-Secure has announced the discovery that Twitter is now following its advice to filter all posted URLs, including shortened ones, for malicious content.

Their screenshot, copied below, shows what happens if you try to post a link to a site that Twitter considers leads to malware.

The message “Oops! Your tweet contained a URL to a known malware site!” pops up and the message cannot be posted. read more

Personalities on Twitter are being hijacked to spread spam, scams and malware – look out! read more

According to Investor’s Business Daily, evil is sweeping social networks, moving beyond email and blogs to where you like to virtually hang out and congregate:

Security experts last week warned that a new strain of the Koobface virus is hitting Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites. It looks for links and passwords to other social networking sites.

Social networking site owners work actively to put a lid on nefarious activity. On Tuesday, a federal judge in northern California issued a temporary restraining order against three people accused of widespread spamming and phishing attacks on Facebook. It comes three months after Facebook won a suit that prevents another group of spammers from using or accessing Facebook data and applications.

Virus creators are increasingly targeting social networking sites and other Web 2.0 technologies such as the micro-blogging site Twitter and instant messaging services from Google, AOL and others. Virus writers are also creating fake profiles of celebrities, real friends or business associates hoping people will link with them. Users can be tricked into linking to the fake profile, which can be loaded with various forms of malicious software.

The article by Brian Deagon showcased Facebook users who responded to an email from a “friend on Facebook” to visit a link that initiated a program that “rifled through his hard drive, installed malicious software and sent the same e-mail to all of Daradics’ friends on his Facebook profile.” read more

SecurityFocus reports an estimated 3.5 million computers have been compromised due to a “Downadup worm,” a malicious bot that spreads through websites and blogs.

The Downadup worm, a malicious program that spreads using a recently patched Windows flaw, has compromised more than 3.5 million computers, security firm F-Secure stated this week.

The Downadup worm has successfully spread because it uses a major flaw that Microsoft patched in October to remotely compromise computers running unpatched versions of the Windows operating system. However, the malicious program’s greatest strength appears to be a feature that allows worm-controlled computers to download malicious code from a random drop point.

The program generates addresses for 250 different domains each day. The botnet controller need only register one of the domains and set up a download server to update the bot program with different functionality, said Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer at F-Secure.

“The bad guys only need to predetermine one possible domain for tomorrow, register it, and set up a website, and they then gain access to all of the infected machines — pretty clever,” Hyppönen said in a blog post.

According to the report, the Downadup worm uses Windows XP’s vulnerability in processing remote procedure call (RPC) requests. While a patch was issued and warnings announced, not everyone has upgraded. The top countries hit by the MS08-067 Worms, as F-Secure calls them, are China, Brazil, and Russia, but it is expected to spread further unless server administrators and webmasters update and patch their Windows Servers and Windows programs immediately, including Internet Explorer.

ZD-Net Security Threats reports that the first sign of infection is usually found when users accounts cannot access their accounts and they are locked out of the Active Directory domain as the worm tries to crack passwords in Windows Servers.

Tracking the Downadup infection, F-Secure reported that reports of infections are up by more than one million within just one day, and growing. As last check, they estimate 3,521,230 infections worldwide. read more

The 2008 first half Security Threat Report, published by computer security company Sophos, has identified Google’s Blogger as being responsible for 2-percent of the world’s malware.

Apparently, hackers are setting up free blogs that host malicious code. You’ll also find evil links lurking in the comments section.

According to Google:

“Using Blogger, or any Google product, to serve or host malware is a violation of our product policies. We actively work to detect and remove sites that serve malware from our network.”

The United States received the distinct honor of being the home of the most infected Web pages (accounting for two out of every five). Following behind are China, Russia, Germany and the Ukraine. Let’s hope we carry this winning streak into the Olympics!

Up next, the infiltration of your mobile device. I can hardly wait.