TechCrunch Europe is sounding the all clear after recovering from a recent attack by hackers who planted a malicious script on the popular site. However, the comments section remains locked down while TC attempts to “track down” any remaining malware “issues.”
“[Yes], the issue is now fixed, but if a browser like Chrome stills tell you there’s malware here, it’s because we’re also waiting for Google to re-crawl our pages and give us the all clear,” confirmed TC Europe’s Mike Butcher.
“[Still], if you are at all concerned, feel free to check your computer with an up-to-date anti-virus solution of which there are many on the market. Thanks for your patience.”
Meanwhile, Sophos security expert Graham Cluley explained that TechCrunch Europe had fallen victim to an iFrame-based malware variant concealed in a nefarious WordPress JavaScript file.
“This attempts to serve up a malicious PDF file, exploiting a vulnerability that brings to your computer a nasty infection from the ZBot (also known as Zeus) malware family,” said Cluley.
“The problem appears to have been present on TC Europe’s website for some time, and yet there’s been no obvious warning to visitors posted on its site nor – seemingly – no attempt to remove the malicious script or block users from visiting the infected pages.”
Nevertheless, Cluley emphasized that TC was the victim of a cyber-criminal act and therefore could not be blamed for spreading malware.
“[Still], it would have been nice if TechCrunch had posted a warning on its site as soon as the problem was identified – but this is better than nothing!
“[So], if you visited TechCrunch Europe’s website at the beginning of this week you would be sensible to scan your computer now – just in case.”
