Malware links discovered on StartUp Britain page
By Deborah Bates
31/03/2011
Malware links have been discovered on the newly-launched StartUp Britain website, according to IT Pro.
It is thought that the website - which was created as part of the government's small business start-up scheme of the same name - has been inadvertently directing its users to a site that promote "fake anti-virus software."
The site in question, bankling.com, issues fake warnings to visitors that claim their system had been infected with a virus and should click the download button in order to get ride of it. Although the link only appeared for those visiting StartUp Britain via Internet Explorer, it still could have proved highly detrimental to thousands of internet users.
A statement was made confirming the news by a representative of StartUp Britain, who said: "There were some issues with a link on the website at the launch."
"This issue has been addressed and any links that were not operating as intended have been amended or removed."
The officials behind the StartUp Britain website may consider investing in some remote IT support software, in order to help mitigate the risk of such a situation arising again, or if it should happen, to rectify the problem as soon as possible.
As the government had been so forthcoming in its pledges of support for the StartUp Britain scheme, BBC News reflected that it surely would have been embarrassing for them to have potentially infected visitors' computers.
The news outlet claimed: "The slip will be embarrassing for the government, especially as Prime Minister David Cameron had helped launch the site, and the Number 10 website linked prominently to it."
Music-sharing service Spotify also fell foul of malicious links earlier in the week, according to reports. The attack saw adverts promoting a fake, free version of the service displayed, and the cyber criminals behind it manged to hack into Windows-based systems using a "Blackhole exploit kit."
