Several web servers have been hacked to attack web site visitors.
An increasing number of web servers were hacked last year and now they are affecting visitors of those web sites hosted on the hacked servers. It seems the hacking has spread malicious software storing logon information from various websites. Finjan Software, a major online advertising company that was recently affected. Finjan Software is currently targeting the ISP of the single hacker gang to shut it down.
The attacks of this particular hacker group was identified last year but has since grown to affect a broad rang of servers. The code that the hackers developed finds the vulnerabilities to place a Trojan program on a users system. The group of hackers have used several methods of covering their tracks by infected only a certain maximum number of PC's to avoid being discovered.
PC Tip: A fool proof solution for using a website that has been infected by the hackers attack is not out yet. LinkScanner is one product that analyzes web page content for malicious code such as the code that Finjan Software Company recently discovered. It is always a good practice to keep your current Virus Software, definitions and spyware software updated regularly in an effort to ward off attacks from hackers.
How does this malicious hacker code spread to that many web sites?
JavaScript code is used in the hacker attacks on the servers in an attempt to avoid security scanning programs and services from identifying the malicious code. Once one server is attached it can then spread the code to hundreds of websites that are hosted on the given server.