Kim Jong-il YouTube Video Used to Spread Malware

The North Korean dictator’s death is still a good story which cybercriminals rely on to spread their malicious schemes. The latest, promises a video of his death for anyone that clicks on an apparently innocent link.

ESET researchers from Latin America found a piece of malware being spread with the help of a YouTube video that allegedly presents the death of Kin Jong-il.

Unlike other schemes where the clip is actually a fake, in this scenario the video is real, but it displays only a couple of still images, urging users to check out the complete video at a URL displayed in the description.

Once the link is clicked, the victim is taken to a blog that allegedly offers movies and TV shows, but almost immediately, a pop-up window advises users to install an add-on called ClickPotato which comes with additional suspicious toolbars.

ESET Antivirus prevents from installing the malicious element, but users who access the site without protection can end up with basically anything from spyware to data-stealing Trojans.

This is not the first time when Kim Jong-il’s death is being utilized in a malicious campaign. Right after the dictator passed away a malevolent PDF file attached to an email threatened the integrity of the devices it landed on.

India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) reports that this variant is currently targeting users from their country.

YouTube videos are considered to be harmless by most people, especially if they’re viewed directly on the website, but as it turns out, the links contained in their descriptions are an entirely different story as they can point to anything.

I advise you to avoid such scams and make sure you have an up-to-date security solution installed on your computer. In many cases, a good antivirus and some common sense can protect you against unfortunate incidents.