Over 100 forums running outdated versions of vBulletin or IP board software compromised and foisting malware (passwords, Firefox)

[Xircal]

Researchers at security firm Cyphort have discovered that over 100 user forums running outdated versions of vBulletin or IP board software have been compromised whereby malware redirects users to a site hosting the Fiesta exploit kit according to Softpedia: Over 100 Forum Websites Foist Poorly Detected Malware - Softpedia

The vulnerability appears to be confined to Internet Explorer prior to version 11 and Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 17.0.0.134. You can test your flash player version here: https://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

To test which version of Internet Explorer you have installed, click the gear icon top right and then scroll down to: "About Internet Explorer". Users still running Windows XP cannot update Internet Explorer and should switch to using an alternative browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox or Opera. On Google Chrome, Flash Player is integrated and updates itself automatically.

According to Softpedia, none of the 62 virus scanners at VirusTotal.com was capable of detecting the malware at the time the issue was discovered which was last Friday, April 10.

Cyphort researchers believe the ultimate goal to be click-fraud. However, once a machine has been compromised, trojans can be downloaded to try and capture banking passwords and the computer can also be hijacked to form a botnet. If you don't understand what a botnet is, please see this Wikipedia article on the subject: Botnet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Click-fraud works by increasing the earnings of users hired to click ads as a source of income.

To scan your PC for malware of this type, download the free version of Malwarebytes from here: Malwarebytes | Free Anti-Malware & Internet Security Software

If you have an Android phone, download the free Malwarebytes mobile scanner from here: Malwarebytes | Mobile Security - Free Android Anti-Malware