Warning, Warning - Attack of the SlutBot

Every now and then it's nice to do a good turn for our tight-ass, right-wing friends - the sort that seem to pervade internet chat rooms. The Russians now have these types in their sights.

Enter the SlutBot, a Russian software robot properly known as CyberLover. From the Sydney Morning Herald:

"Romantic comedies. Reality television. Online dating websites. Speed dating. Documentaries about American women and their sexual obsessions with toasters. There is no limit to the amount of vocalised love being shared across every available medium, in particular the internet.

Cue CyberLover, a Russian software robot (known as a "bot") that poses as a would-be paramour in sex chatrooms. While the use of love to hoodwink unsuspecting dorks is as old as the dirt, the use of so-called slutbots is a relatively new innovation.

According to a report from the tech site PC Tools, the slutbot can conduct automated "flirtatious" conversations with up to 10 people in 30 minutes. During conversations it is programmed to garner personal information and lure correspondents to other websites where they are infected with malware (malicious software).

"CyberLover demonstrates an unprecedented level of social engineering," an expert in software designed to damage computer systems, Sergei Shevchenko, told the site.
"It employs highly intelligent and customised dialogue to target users of social networking systems."

It can operate in a number of different personality modes, varying from "romantic lover" to the particularly appealing "sexual predator". Not to mention that CyberLover could present an even greater risk if paired with emerging technology.

Updating your virus protection and limiting the amount of personal information you give out to strangers on the web are the best ways to protect yourself from CyberLover at the moment, PC Tools says.

However, it offers no advice on what to do if the minxbot is in your lounge room, dressed in a small black dress and patent leather pumps, smiling demurely as it surreptitiously uploads your credit card details to a server in Vladivostok."