November 09, 2007

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

Hackers are targeting the MySpace pages of several artists, most notably that of Alicia Keys, in an effort to spread a computer virus.

A computer security firm called Exploit Prevention Labs discovered the attack, which also targeted French funk band Greements of Fortune and Dykeenies, according to The New York Times.

The affected MySpace pages asked viewers to download a codec needed to view a video file. Downloading the file inserts various malware and rootkits that allow hackers to completely take over an affected computer.

MySpace responded by blocking the source of the attack, but a few hours later the Keys profile was affected again. At last check, the profile was functioning normally again.

On his blog, a researcher at Exploit wrote that media-rich sites like MySpace are prime targets for such attacks, as asking users to download special technology to view certain video or stream certain audio is rather common.

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