Malware Scam Spotted Related to Gaddafi’s Death

According to Sophos the security company, cyber-criminals are running one fresh malware scam based on Muammar Gaddafi the ex-Libyan ruler who was recently assassinated.

Describing the scam, the company states that it's distributing one e-mail that normally is captioned, "Fw: AFP Photo News: Bloody Photos: Libya dictator Moammar Gadhafi's Death."

Also it's written in the e-mail that Moammar Gadhafi the Libyan dictator, whom the world sought most, has been assassinated, as per the insurgents of the country on October 20, 2011. The rebels cornered the ostentatious autocrat so long known for keeping his countrymen as also a large part of the globe in fear for 42 years when he ruled despotically, after finding him in Sirte the town of his birth and massive supporters, the e-mail stated.

A file attachment titled "Bloody Photos_Gadhafi_Death.rar" inside the e-mail in reality has a malware named Mal/Behav-103, reportedly a PC-virus, which multiplies on the computer systems that it contaminates. Originally the virus attaches its duplicate to the contaminated computer's registries for ensuring that it's run at every startup of the system. This makes the virus harder for eliminating.

Remarking about the above mentioned malicious campaign, Senior Technology Consultant Graham Cluley at Sophos stated that Colonel Gadhafi the Libyan dictator's death had almost unavoidably led to online crooks exploiting the news, with people apparently being enthusiastic about seeing gruesome videos as well as photographs showing his last instances. Huffingtonpost.co.uk reported this on October 21, 2011.

Cluley further stated that just like the above e-mails' authenticity might appear unlikely -in the current instance, the fresh pictures getting forwarded to e-mail users through a file attachment- the event's declaration represented often extremely fascinating news for the general public to overlook. Online operators required using commonsense while handling major news stories, while never ceasing to be suspicious about uninvited web-links or attachments during hunts for shocking pictures or news updates, he added.

Hence, incase anyone truly wished becoming informed about any breaking news story, it was safest for visiting trustworthy websites rather than hastily opening attachments provided in dubious e-mails despite them arriving from a friend or relative, he concluded.

Related article: Malware Authors Turn More Insidious

» SPAMfighter News - 11/1/2011