X-Labs
February 11, 2010

Spammers already using Google Buzz

Forcepoint

With all the buzz  this week about Google Buzz, we were just waiting for malicious activity to show up on the newly launched service. We didn't quite expect it to happen this fast. Today we saw the first spam using Google Buzz to spread a message about smoking:

The spammer is already following 237 people, and we can only imagine that he or she has sent similar messages to all of them. This particular message leads to a site hosted on a free Web hosting service talking about how to quit smoking.

When Twitter was launched, it took a while before it was used to send spam and other malicious messages. In this case, it only took two days. It's clear that the bad guys have learned from their experience using social networks to distribute these type of messages.

We hope that Google is geared up for dealing with the volume of spam it's bound to see on the new service. Until then, we advise users to be careful, as usual, when clicking on unknown links. 

Forcepoint

Forcepoint-authored blog posts are based on discussions with customers and additional research by our content teams.

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