Symantec: Be wary of email attachments
By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 11:13:00 10/23/2008
Filed Under: Technology (general), Software, Computing & Information Technology
MANILA, Philippines -- Antivirus firm Symantec warns users to be wary of email messages containing attached files, which are actually disguised computer malware.
Symantec noted an increase in spam carrying malicious "payloads' in the form of compressed files that, when opened, spreads viruses into PCs. Symantec said in its latest “State of Spam” report.
This is another significant trend in spam: email messages carrying payloads instead of simply including links to Web pages than contain malicious code.
Since June, there has been an increase in the number of detected email messages carrying malicious payloads, based on data retrieved from customers running Symantec's antivirus software.
The majority of this malware appeared in compressed files using “zip” and “rar” formats and were detected by antivirus filters, Symantec noted in its report.
Some of these files are "downloaders" or programs that receive and install other malware or viruses.
One email detected, for example, carried the title "Play iPhone on your PC today". The message comes with the zip file "Penguin.Panic.zip."
According to Symantec, the source of these spam emails carrying the zip and other malicious files appears to be varied, sent out from compromised servers around the world, led by China, Korea and the US.
Meanwhile, Symantec pointed out that spam that contains links to Web pages differ from those typically selling a product
An example is an email with the subject line "The beginning of the Third World War". The message contains a link to the “cnnworld.org,” an obvious play on the well-known news channel CNN.
The link directs users to a Web site where a legitimate looking style for CNN content is presented and the user is encouraged to download a video of the US president, which is actually malware.
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