Monday, Apr 13, 2009    Text size: 

According to online sources, the first worm originated at a Twitter-tracking site that most news outlets are advising users to avoid. The site, which should not be visited, is called StalkDaily.com and lets users monitor the activities of specific Twitter users.

StalkDaily.com has denied responsibility for the worm, but most online sources still recommend that users avoid the domain for now.

The worm attributed to StalkDaily likely found a foothold on Twitter through a single profile and then propagated itself whenever a user visited an infected profile. Once inside a profile, the worm would change a user's "About Me" section to include a link to the worm.

According to a recent Twitter staff blog post, the company has resolved the problem. "Earlier today we were informed of a malicious site that was spreading links to StalkDaily.com on Twitter without user consent via a cross-site scripting vulnerability," the post read. "We’ve taken steps to remove the offending updates, and to close the holes that allowed this worm to spread. No passwords, phone numbers, or other sensitive information were compromised as part of this attack."

But that wasn't the only issue for Twitter this week. A second worm, called Mikeyy, has spread across the site. Once again, the Twitter staff said that they have this one under control, too.

For the uninitiated, Twitter offers microblogging services. Users build a simple profile and send out 140-character messages about their current activities. As with other popular social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter has become a popular way for adult performers and professionals to promote themselves and stay in touch.

One adult company, PhotoVision LLC, has launched several sites that track the activity of the dozens of adult industry members who use Twitter.