14 DAY TRIAL // Security researchers from Sophos warn that the 2010 FIFA World Cup page on Wikipedia has been defaced today to include a big link directing users to pharmacy spam. It seems that Wikipedia is struggling to prevent spammers from editing the page, which so far has been modified several times.
The numbers are still coming in, but the 2010 FIFA World Cup has most likely been the most watched television event in history. And even though the competition ended on Sunday, with Spain taking home the trophy, the Wikipedia page dedicated to it is still seeing a lot of traffic from people looking for information about the matches played.
This makes the page an appealing target for spammers who managed to insert a huge link reading “Want to be inches larger?” at its beginning today, directing users to a Canadian Pharmacy website. “Unlike the usual spam for [...] pills and cheap Canadian drugs that uses a couple of 'medical professionals' to promote the site, this campaign uses a photo of a satisfied couple,” Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor as Sophos Canada, notes.
Of course, Wikipedia is the result of community effort and anyone can theoretically edit pages, however, the more important ones benefit from additional restrictions. The 2010 FIFA World Cup page is semi-protected, which means that only verified accounts can make changes to it.
Checking the page's history reveals that the spam was added on two separate occasions today and by two different users – Jarjarbinks10 and Jetlagorange. Both accounts have since been blocked from the website, but judging by the notes left by the Wikipedia moderators, they were responsible for spamming multiple pages.
“Please refrain from making unconstructive edits to Wikipedia, as you did at 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Your edits appear to constitute vandalism and have been reverted or removed,” a warning message read. “This is the final warning you will receive regarding your disruptive edits. The next time you insert a spam link, as you did to Wiki, you may be blocked from editing without further notice,” another moderator wrote.
According to wikirage.com, a website monitoring Wikipedia edits, the two accounts were used today to post spam links to the pages of Ashley Benson, Public Enemies (2009 film), 2014 FIFA World Cup, Sharon Osbourne, English language, Hank Steinbrenner, Downfall (game show), Troian Bellisario, FV Cornelia Marie, Matthew Bomer, Digital object identifier, Joe Girardi, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Shannon Tweed, 2010 in film, Main Page, Oksana Grigorieva, Sela Ward, List of Pretty Little Liars episodes, Phil Harris (fisherman), Pretty Little Liars (TV series), Deadliest Catch, Deaths in 2010, Inception (film), The Expendables (2010 film), Cystic fibrosis, John Dillinger, Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Pretty Little Liars and even a 404 error page.
You can follow the editor on Twitter @lconstantin
