Site Exploits Linux Programmer's Death On Rainier To Hawk Malware

File this under, "How low can you go?" A Web site is trying to capitalize on hiker-programmer Eduard Burceag's tragic death on Mount Rainier on Tuesday to hawk malicious software.

Paul McDougall, Editor At Large, InformationWeek

June 13, 2008

2 Min Read
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File this under, "How low can you go?" A Web site is trying to capitalize on hiker-programmer Eduard Burceag's tragic death on Mount Rainier on Tuesday to hawk malicious software.I was doing a Google search today on Burceag, who by all accounts died trying to protect his wife and a friend from freezing to death after a climbing trip on Rainier went awry.

I wanted to know more about the man, and what sort of background might have informed his heroic actions on that Washington state mountainside.

I came across a site that promised to show video of Burceag, a 31-year-old Seattle-area resident who was director of Linux engineering for communications vendor Active Voice, if I would just click on the link. Immediately, I was redirected to a URL for OnlineScannerXP.com. It hijacked my browser and tried to sell me some malware.

Typically, it wouldn't let me close without first clicking on a link that would have installed this crap on my computer. I had to reboot. A "Whois" search revealed that OnlineScannerXP.com is registered through a private domain service in the Netherlands. That's not surprising -- the cowards that perpetrate these scams never can stand a little daylight.

The original site I landed on before getting redirected used the domain name kuprin.blogtocash.com. Blog To Cash, it turns out, is a Web network that offers "free online publicity while making money." A little more checking showed that Blog To Cash is operated by an outfit in Florida called Quadrant -- In Touch Marketing.

I called up the company's chairman, Bob Cefail, to ask why he's allowing a member of his network to exploit the death of an honest programmer, an immigrant from Romania who came to this country for a better life and died a hero on top of one of its highest peaks, to sell malware.

So far, Cefail hasn't called me back.

About the Author

Paul McDougall

Editor At Large, InformationWeek

Paul McDougall is a former editor for InformationWeek.

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