Super Glue website comes unstuck after Javascript attack
Company fails to fix site five days after issue reported
By John E Dunn | Techworld | Published: 16:51, 10 August 2011
Five days after it was first discovered, the website of the Super Glue Corporation is still serving visitors with a malicious script, pushing them to sites selling fake security software, security company Avast has revealed.
“This infection seems to be sticking like glue,” said a company note on the discovery put out on Wednesday, the first of what will be a long string of glue-themed jokes at the company’s expense.
The attack itself – a redirection attacking hooking Javascript to send users to a series of third-party sites in Russia – is pretty standard but the malware code behind it, JS: Redirector-HX, appears to be a modestly-trending type, having been detected by the company on 500 websites in a single day.
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The second notable theme – again not an especially uncommon issue- is the lack of response by the affected company. Yet again, days on, Super Glue seems to be oblivious to the problem thanks to an apparently disorganised chain of reporting between the company and its host.
“Avast Software has informed Super Glue by email and telephone about this malware. However, as is usual with most firms, contact details on their site are designed for customers and not for reporting security issues,” read the security alert put out by Avast.
Javascript is regularly used in browser-based malware and redirection attacks, usually by loading an exploit for one of a number of software vulnerabilities. The technique is actually years old but in recent weeks has played its part in the Willysy attack that appears to have affected large number of sites. A competent security program should spot this and other Javascript-launched attacks.
