Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have warned of
a electronic greeting card that has been spammed out to email
addresses around the world, but really attempts to install a Trojan
horse onto recipients' computers.
The spammed out email messages have the following
characteristics:
Subject:
You got a greeting card
Message body:
Hello
You got a greeting card. Click on the below link to collect
your card.
<Link removed>
Best Regards
<Link removed>
Clicking on the link in the message can install
a malicious Trojan horse.
However, when users click on the link their computer attempts to
download the malicious Troj/Dloader-UT Trojan
horse. Once a computer is infected by the Trojan horse, hackers can
spy on users' activity including stealing passwords and monitoring
the keyboard.
"You may think you've received an electronic greeting card from
a secret admirer, but in fact it's a hacker who is going to be
showing an unhealthy interest in you," said Carole Theriault, senior
security consultant for Sophos. "People really need to think twice
before they click on a web link in an unsolicited email, as it
could lead to them putting their data and finances into
danger."
Sophos experts note that there is a growing trend for hackers to
use spam techniques to spread their malicious code to as many
potential victims as possible.
"It is becoming more and more common to see Trojan horse creators
and spyware authors using spam technology to maximize the number of
people they can infect," continued Theriault. "It is essential that
all computer users are defended with up-to-date protection against
the latest viruses, spyware and spam."
Sophos recommends that companies protect their email gateways
with a consolidated solution to defend
against viruses, spyware and spam which automatically updates
itself.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.