Tuesday, Jun 2, 2009    Text size: 

High-profile experts in the field have made repeated warnings about the danger of following unfamiliar links in YouTube's comments fields, which generally don't permit HTML code but into which users can easily post links to external websites.

In addition, users who post videos are welcome to add hyperlinks into the description of the video, which appears at the tops of a video's page. YouTube automatically parses HTML links into hyperlinks.

These vulnerabilities sound harmless enough, but porn-hungry surfers — many of whom log onto YouTube to follow their favorite adult stars — may be the most vulnerable to attacks made with dangerous links.

Security firm PandaLabs noted on its blog that comments fields are vulnerable to attack. Moreover, the firm said that a detailed search through YouTube uncovered more than 30,000 links to a phony site called PornTube.

Adult industry fans should be aware that the actual adult tube site PornTube.com isn't associated with the "PornTube" site listed in PandaLabs' report.

"By targeting these keywords the cyber-criminals are able to optimize and improve their success rates by infecting those who are truly looking for pornographic material," said PandaLabs researcher Sean-Paul Correll. "In this case, cyber-criminals aim to profit from human vulnerabilities and inherent curiosities."