Tags.bkrtx.com

Tags.bkrtx.com is a website in the business of gathering marketing data through cookies, potentially allowing advertisers to get an accurate view of their audiences. Unfortunately, malware researchers also have seen evidence of suspicious activities from Tags.bkrtx.com that may include the distribution of threats. Although unsafe content hosted at Tags.bkrtx.com has been confirmed, at this time, it's unknown whether this content was hosted deliberately, or is the result of a security breach that allowed third parties to inject content into Tags.bkrtx.com. Until the situation is resolved, malware researchers advise any PC user who encounters Tags.bkrtx.com-associated content to scan their PCs and verify that threatening software hasn't been installed automatically.

The Unexpected Danger that may Come with a Little Data Collection

Tags.bkrtx.com is a tracking domain that uses temporary browser files known as 'cookies' to collect aggregate data for Web traffic. Although some privacy advocates consider this behavior invasive, it's practiced by most prominent companies to various degrees and isn't used to compromise confidential information, such as passwords. What makes Tags.bkrtx.com of interest to malware researchers isn't its business, so much as the unrelated content that's been detected on its website.

Tags.bkrtx.com is a confirmed host of the NeoSploit Exploit Kit, also known as the Fiesta Toolkit. Visitors to Tags.bkrtx.com that are exposed to this attacker will have their PCs scanned for software vulnerabilities that could enable the Fiesta Toolkit to install threats immediately, without showing any symptoms or needing your consent. In the past, malware experts have seen the NeoSploit Exploit Kit install advanced rootkits, as well as fraudulent anti-malware products and other scamware.

This notable fact doesn't necessarily imply that Tags.bkrtx.com is being maintained by ill-intended people. This exploit kit and others like it have histories of being inserted into innocent websites that have been hacked. However, until this threat is removed from the Tags.bkrtx.com website, you should assume that any PC that comes into contact with this domain could be compromised.

Tracking Your Way Away from the Perils of a Risky Tracker Domain

Since Tags.bkrtx.com, in its current state, could infect your PC without any visible evidence of the attack's success, using anti-malware software to analyze any machine that comes into contact with Tags.bkrtx.com-related content is strongly advisable. Malware experts also recommend updating all software as a general protection against many (but not all) of the exploits used by exploit kit-based threats like the Fiesta Toolkit. You also may consider disabling scripts by default, which can cripple many Web-based PC threats. Finally, most anti-malware products should be able to detect and block these attacks, even when you can't detect them happening.

Although the information on this campaign still is being gathered, there may be other players at work in exposing victims to Tags.bkrtx.com. Be particularly attentive to unwanted redirects to Tags.bkrtx.com, Tags.bkrtx.com pop-ups and other attacks that could cause this site's content to load automatically. The cause of this may be the installation of threats, although unwanted browser add-ons and other PUPs also may be responsible.