Twitter hack opens popups, causes havoc

Poorly protected computers vulnerable to malicious coding in Twitter popups

Published September 21, 2010 1:20PM (EDT)

A new way to cause mischief is spreading through short-messaging service Twitter as mysterious "tweets" of blocked-out text propagate themselves and cause popup windows to open.

The hack spreading Tuesday morning is extra nefarious because the tweets activate without being clicked on -- it's enough for Web surfers to move their mouse cursors over them.

However, the hack only affects visitors to Twitter.com. Various third-party programs used to send and read tweets appear to be unaffected.

The popups can contain malicious code that could take over poorly protected computers.

 


By Associated Press

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