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Cyber criminals use credit crunch fears to spread Malware
- 24 October 2008
- Cyber criminals have begun masquerading behind several well-known bank names such as the trusted Bank of America name to spread malicious malware to members of the public. These attackers took advantage of the current economic decline and began distributing a phishing email which included a link designed to look like part of the relevant bank website.
This attack was unlike standard phishing scams which typically intend to steal user’s details as it was designed to infect users PCs with a malicious Trojan downloader. If users clicked on this link malware would automatically infect their computers potentially allowing the attackers to take control of the machine remotely to potentially either send spam of launch attacks on other machines.
A Trojan downloader is a program typically installed through an exploit or some other deceptive means and that facilitates the download and installation of other malware and unwanted software onto a victim's PC. A Trojan Downloader may download adware, spyware or other malware from multiple servers or sources on the internet. All ScanSafe customers have and will continue to be protected from such malicious content.
“Scammers have no conscience and typically exploit even the most horrendous of current events in order to trick users.” comments Mary Landesman, senior security researcher at ScanSafe. “The world’s attention on the global credit crisis spells opportunity for would-be attackers; already fearful users are more likely to click first and think later. This knee-jerk reaction to scary sounding emails will be to their detriment. No matter the message, users should avoid clicking any link in an email allegedly sent from a bank or commerce site. Instead, they should visit the site by typing the known URL into the browser.”
For those users who fear that they have been targeted by this attack, ScanSafe recommends running an anti-virus solution to clean up your machine.
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