Security news19 July 2007
D'oh! Spammers exploit interest in The Simpsons Movie Springfield's favorite family used by cybercriminals trying to confirm email addresses are "live"
Sophos, a world leader in IT security and control, has reminded computer users of the importance of not responding to unsolicited email surveys following the discovery of a spam campaign exploiting interest in "The Simpsons Movie", due to be released in cinemas this month.
The spammed emails claim that recipients will receive a $500 Visa Gift card for participating in an online survey. Each email contains a graphic of Homer Simpson sitting on his sofa wearing a Superman crop-top and tighty-whities. The image asks:
Clicking on the image takes surfers to a web page branded with similar graphics of The Simpsons, which asks for a valid email address.
The spam pretends to be related to The Simpsons Movie.
"You would be as crazy as Krusty the Clown to enter an email address on that page," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Not only are your chances of receiving a gift less than zero, but you are delivering a valid email address to a spammer on a platter. Lists of living breathing email addresses are what keeps the spam industry afloat - by confirming your contact address you are helping the spammers and increasing your chances of being deluged by junk email."
Sophos experts note that this is far from the first time that cybercriminals have exploited Hollywood movie characters.
"Last month Sophos discovered a worm that infected USB drives claiming that in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" the eponymous teen wizard would die, and in May, we saw a threat spammed out that pretended to be a trailer for the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie," continued Cluley. "The public's hunger for new blockbuster movies coming out of Hollywood gives cybercriminals an endless stream of riches with which to tempt the unwary. Too many people click on links in an unsolicited email without thinking of the possible consequences."
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About Sophos
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.
