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Cyber crooks still targeting legitimate sites

Online security experts are warning internet users to be wary of the risk of being exposed to online threats even when on legitimate websites, reports ZDnet.

According to the website, cyber crooks who recently attacked social networking site Facebook have now switched their attention to trusted domains like Google's Picasa and ImageShack.

"Analysis highlights that Google Picasa Web Albums is the latest of Google's hosted services to be exploited by spammers," said the August 2008 MessageLabs Intelligence Report.

"Adobe Flash redirection techniques are also being abused by spammers to host Flash-based .SWF, Shockwave Flash, files that cause web browsers to re-direct to the spammer's site."

The internet security expert warned that despite both techniques accounting for less than two per cent of spam in August, "these tactics will increasingly generate more spam in the coming months".

Internet users are advised to ensure they have proper online security, which should be regularly updated.

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