Twitter virus strikes – Stalkdaily Worm and Mickeyy Worm strike 24 hours apart

If your profile has been splashed with messages by and about “Mickeyy,” you’ve picked up the latest worm on Twitter.

The first thing you should do is delete the code from you Twitter profile. So clear everything out of there. Then log out. Clear your browser’s cache and cookies. Now log back in and put your information back on your profile, and delete those mystery messages.

As for keeping it off, you’ll want to stop visiting other user’s profile pages for a while – until Twitter announces they’ve fixed the problem.

Keep in mind also that Twitter announced they’d fixed this problem the day before, when the Stalkdaily worm did more of the same. This vulnerability is caused by a cross-site scripting vulnerability. Twitter recently updated so that they could support OAuth, and from there the malicious started pranking everyone’s account.

Since it’s questionable what Twitter has done, or will do, to prevent this from happening in the future, your best bet is to stop visiting Twitter directly and use a third-party client such as:

· Tweetdeck

· Snitter

· Spaz

· Twhirl

These do not appear to propagate the worm, and are currently being deemed safe.

Keep in mind, for what it’s worth, that I acquired the Mickeyy worm when I was on Twitter using my G1 Phone. (Which I got when I valiantly but foolishly tried to inform another user that something was posting garbage on his account.)

To be honest, I always assumed something would actually happen from third-party sites that need users’ Twitter log ins, since people give this information away so easily. As always, though, the problem crops up through code, likely because this provides more challenge. After all, if you want to know why this most recent attack was launched, the teen taking responsibility for the worm has said he did it “out of boredom.”

Well enjoy your 15 minutes of fame here, kid – I have a feeling you’ll be spending it sifting through a lotta, lotta hate mail.

Post script: Monday, 4/13/09, 1:18 am: 24 hours have passed, and the Mickeyy worm is hitting Twitter accounts again. This only 12 hours after Twitter said they had sealed their leaks and it could not happen again. I strongly urge you to switch over to one of the aforementioned Twitter clients long term, as it doesn't look as though this problem is going to go away anytime soon.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)

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