Malware aimed at tweens downloading High School Musical 3 content

by Steve Ragan - Nov 24 2008, 23:19

Not even Disney is safe from Malware authors. According to a report by Panda Labs, pre-teens are the new target for Malware authors spreading malicious content across P2P networks.

Panda says that the Malware is showing up on various P2P sites like eMule, eDonkey, etc. when users search for music and video of High School Musical 3. As parents of the aforementioned movie will tell you, the following the High School Musical movies have collected is nothing short of cult like.

Once the malicious files, ranging from videos, pictures, or music are launched, the system is infected with what Panda has labeled VB.ADQ, the Agent.KGR Trojan, Adware such as Koolbar, or other various malicious payloads. Sometimes the malicious content does nothing when accessed, a video error perhaps, and other times the user will see exactly what they expected.

Panda said that the easiest way to spot these malicious files is to pay close attention to the file extension. Most of the Malware are EXE files, so a file that looks like imagename.jpg.exe is more than just a simple picture.

For parents, this is yet another opportunity to talk to your kids about what they do online. Ask them if they are using a P2P service and if they can show you how it works. Mention the malicious files to them and ask them how they go about preventing malicious files from being downloaded.

While at the computer, it would also be a good time to update the installed anti-Virus protections and other software.

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