Buon Giorno! You're Broke Now
In what many are calling "The Italian Job," cyber thieves have infected a host of legitimate Italian websites with a redirect code that sends the unwitting user's browser to a server that downloads a keylogging tool called MPack. MPack is a sort of off-the-shelf malware sold by crooks to other crooks.
Although attackers have hit targets around the world lately, more than 80 percent of the infections are on Italian Web sites, said David Perry, global director of education with Trend Micro. "Almost all of the Web sites we saw this weekend were in Italy; We were referring to it as 'Italian Job 3,' in-house," he said referring to the Michael Caine heist film that was remade in 2003.
Most of the infected Web sites are legitimate, Perry added. "These aren't porn sites, they aren't gambling sites; they are hotels, fish-and-tackle sites, tourist information," he said.
Even local Italian government Web sites have been infected, and most of the affected sites are hosted by one of Italy's largest Web service providers, Trend Micro said.
The exploit works with most any web browser, including Firefox and Opera, but only if you're not running an up to date version. So get those browsers up to date, and maybe consider visiting Italy this coming tourist season. Florence is lovely in the spring, and all the hotels are going to be empty with the bad publicity this exploit brings.
