Symantec Spots One Fresh and Fascinating E-Mail Campaign

According to Symantec the security company, one fresh spam outbreak has been detected online that's attempting at attacking users with e-mails laced with malicious software. Reportedly, there's one web-link embedded in the spam messages supposedly providing details, while the same messages try to pull down a .zip file attachment that the more wary end-users would know should be avoided especially when it arrives through an unsolicited electronic mail.

Nonetheless, an interesting aspect regarding the new spam mail relates to the inclusion of a password that the recipient earlier used.

Remarks Symantec, finding personal information within the above kind of e-mail will surely stir up doubts that the writer bears certain association with the recipient alternatively managed to hijack the latter's account. However, his (writer's) eventual aim is to make the recipient inquisitive enough to click on the .zip file that'll inevitably deliver malware, the company explains. Symantec.com published this on June 3, 2011.

Reportedly, the malware as mentioned above has been identified as Trojan.Zbot or Zeus a Trojan which tries to grab secret data after compromising an end-user's PC. Further, it may take down updates and configuration files online, according to Symantec.

Besides, the security company points out that the e-mail ids and their corresponding passwords within the above unsolicited electronic mails, arrive from one prominent social gaming website, known internationally and currently being most widespread inside Asia.

Worryingly, from the above kind of spam runs, it becomes evident that spammers attempt at any kind of trick for luring Internet users to view malevolent files inside attachments dispatched through their fake e-mails.

Hence, Symantec advises all those who think they've fallen prey to compromised accounts to scan their PCs with an AV program followed with resetting all vital passwords, particularly online banking passwords. Additionally, they must also keep a watch over their accounts should they suspect any fraudulent operation.

Eventually, it's because of the above kind of spam runs that Symantec stated in its May 2011 security report that there's been a 2.9% increase to 75.8% in worldwide spam to the total e-mail from fresh as also earlier unfamiliar malicious sources since April 2011.

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» SPAMfighter News - 6/13/2011