In the same way that social trends seem to start on the West Coast and spread across the US, spam trends have a way of starting in South America and then spreading worldwide. True to form, a new spam campaign spreading banking malware is novel, and devious – and a little sad. The message is supposedly from the mother of a missing child
Human Rights
A mother speaks to you completely desperate.
My son Lucas Souto of 4 years has disappeared on the 3rd of February 2009 in the city of Belo Horizonte.
I am using all forms to try to find my son, including this email asking for help to PLEASE look at the videos and photos which should also be shared with friends and family.The video was filmed on his 3rd birthday party: {link} (289KB) Photos of Lucas that might help: {link} (234 KB)
Like any good piece of social engineering this email is designed to get you to lower your defenses. The mother's plight is sad. Perhaps you could help. There are videos and photographs. What does the little boy look like? Perhaps we should take a look?
You should never open files that arrive in unsolicited emails. If curiosity did get the better of you in this case and you open the zip file, you'll find a Microsoft Windows Control Panel Extension – a .CPL file. This is just another type of executable, and is NOT how videos or pictures are sent. In this case, it's how malware that steals bank passwords – Trojan Banload in this case – is sent.
Barracuda Networks customers using the Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall are protected from these emails.
Christine Barry est blogueuse en chef et responsable des réseaux sociaux chez Barracuda. Son travail consiste à rédiger des articles captivants en lien avec les services Barracuda et à faciliter la communication entre le public et les équipes internes. Avant de rejoindre Barracuda, Christine a été ingénieure de terrain et chef de projet dans l'éducation et auprès de PME pendant plus de 15 ans. Elle est titulaire de plusieurs diplômes technologiques, d'une licence de l'université du Michigan, et d'une maîtrise en administration des affaires.
Connectez-vous avec Christine sur LinkedIn.