14 DAY TRIAL // Hackers have always been concentrated on the websites promoting popular events and, if there was a vulnerability to be exploited, they showed no mercy. This is exactly the case with multiple pro-Tibetan websites as some hackers managed to discover an unpatched vulnerability and used it to gain access to the servers. Moreover, they placed links to malicious pages which, once visited, they attempted to drop dangerous applications to take over the control over the affected system.
According to The Guardian, nobody knows for sure the reason for the attacks but it seems that the hackers come from Taiwan.
"Our initial analysis suggests that it downloads monitoring software to your computer, which would allow the attack to have remote control of those PCs. We've contacted the sites affected and tried to give them an early warning," Eldar Turvey of ScanSafe told The Guardian.
What's interesting is that the owners of the two websites expected the attacks because similar attempts were recorded in the past quicker than this time. "We've been targeted in many other ways in the past, and I'm actually surprised it's taken this long," a representative of FreeTibet.org, one of the affected websites told the same source.
As I've said, hackers are always willing to exploit vulnerabilities found in websites promoting popular events or campaigns. Just think at that Euro 2008 ticket selling webpage that was attacked by hackers due to its popularity among soccer fans. With the Euro 2008 tournament quickly approaching, it was obvious that more and more users would try to buy tickets, so hackers turned to the website in a move supposed to compromise the page and drop dangerous malware.
Just like usual, users are advised to keep their security products up to date with the latest definitions signed by the parent companies and avoid downloading or installing applications that look suspicious.