YouTube's "invite-a-friend" feature exploited.

Sophos has advised computer users to be on their guard after it uncovered evidence that spammers are exploiting the popular video website YouTube in order to promote their own goods and online stores. Spam emails seen by Sophos claim to come from the email address service@youtube.com, and attempt to lure users into visiting dating websites or offering prizes of the recently released Halo 3 arcade game for the XBOX 360 console. By putting their spam message in the 'comments' section of the 'invite-a-friend' facility on YouTube, hackers have been able to hijack the website for the purposes of sending unsolicited email.

"src="/images/common/misc/youtubespam. gif" width=570 border=0 The emails arrive from 'YouTube Service '.

"Normally spammers take over innocent people's PCs to send their unwanted messages across the internet. In this case, however, they don't need to do that. Instead they are using a website to relay a message on to their intended audience," said, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "The criminals are hoping that by embedding themselves inside a YouTube email they will be able to slip past spam filters at the recipient's email gateway." Sophos experts question, however, how successful the unsolicited messages will be at generating cash for the spammers.

www.sophos.com