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Presidential Hopefuls Threaten The Browser
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-11-02
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Criminals who are registering domain names that resemble legitimate websites for campaigning Presidential candidates hope to infect visitors with malware.
There is no particular method to how politicians and their campaigns have registered the official websites for each candidate. Latecomer Fred Thompson has his official site at www.fred08.com while John McCain has www.exploremccain.com, and many Democrats have domains that are simply firstnamelastname.com.
Someone clicking a link in a web search to what looks like a real candidate website could be in for the kind of unpleasant surprise they wouldn't normally get until the candidate has been in office for a couple of months.
Security firm Webroot said fraudulent sites have been cropping up in searches for candidates. Malware hidden in videos or screensavers offered for download on these fake sites could cause problems for people.
"We initially saw these types of spoofs surrounding the Barack Obama and Ron Paul websites," said Webroot COO Mike Irwin. "But we are finding that the spoofs intensify at the end of the month and will expect to see them intensifying as the candidate sites begin to see more traffic during the later phases of the campaign or during major fund-raising drives."
Hundreds of fake sites exist, as Webroot has discovered to date. They have provided a list of candidates and their legitimate online presences as a public service:
Joe Biden: http://www.joebiden.com/
Sam Brownback: http://www.brownback.com
Hillary Rodham Clinton: http://www.hillaryclinton.com
Rudy Giuliani: http://www.joinrudy2008.com
Chris Dodd: http://chrisdodd.com
Mike Huckabee: http://www.mikehuckabee.com
John Edwards: http://johnedwards.com
Duncan Hunter: http://www.gohunter08.com
Mike Gravel: http://www.gravel2008.us/
John McCain: http://www.exploremccain.com
Dennis Kucinich: http://www.dennis4president.com
Ron Paul: http://www.ronpaul2008.com
Barack Obama: http://www.barackobama.com
Mitt Romney: http://www.mittromney.com
Bill Richardson: http://www.richardsonforpresident.com
Tom Tancredo: http://teamtancredo.org
Fred Thompson: http://www.fred08.com
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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