There is now a new artificially intelligent identity theft group using software called “cyber lover” and this program is one, which flirts with people online. Unfortunately, it is now being used by Russian hackers in the hopes of using social engineering to trick people into giving out personal information or luring them to a website that will give their computer malware. The program is able to flirt online either through e-mail or in chat rooms and dating websites.
The person you think you’re flirting with is not a human and all rather an artificially intelligent program that mimics human behavior in a flirtatious way. After the individual target thinks they are flirting with a real person, the program tells them to go to a blog or a personal website on a social network, which then delivers malicious code to their computer.
Just one copy of CyberLover, can carry on 10 different relationships online in 30 minutes and its victims cannot distinguish it from being a human.
One might say that the old cliché; Don’t Trust Anyone; now needs to be rewritten: Don’t Trust Anyone or Any Computer. Apparently, the identity thieves are getting to be quite good at their trade and they are using the best trick of all, social engineering. Folks who are lonely and looking for friends on the Internet are much more vulnerable to such attacks and sophisticated Mal ware can spread the virus through social networks like wildfire.
The government authorities now say that the US Internet users must be very careful and they recommend the following things to protect your self online:
- Never give your personal details to anyone over the Internet.
- Consider using aliases/fake names on social networking sites and when chatting online.
- Carefully monitor the online behavior of your family members and educate them of the dangers.
- Ensure you have up-to-date AntiVirus and Anti-Spyware installed, with real-time and behavioral protection
Of course, this may not be enough, because if a user is lured to a website to watch a video or look at a picture, even if the antivirus or anti-spyware catches it, the user may still open up a dialogue with the computer, and later be handed off to an individual to steal their identity. Something to contemplate in 2008.