The economy continues to be the focus in spammers’ unique version of an economic stimulus plan in March 2009. With the worsening economic situation, unemployment figures have risen worldwide. This has led millions of people to search for jobs, using whatever resources they can find. One of the most common is online job search sites.
Malicious code writers are making use of this opportunity to distribute their malware. Symantec has recently observed emails with malicious attachments, informing the recipient of a job rejection and including an attached copy of their purported application. These emails pose as though they have been sent from a genuine recruitment agency. If the receipient opens the attachment, an attack from the Hacktool.Spammer virus. is triggered, which is used by hackers to attack mail boxes by flooding them with email.
It will be difficult to ignore emails from job agencies, but we should definitely be cautious of file types, particularly executables (.exe). Any email with this type of application extension should be considered suspicious, particularly if it’s coming from an unknown sender.
Given the global nature of the economic downturn, spammers are also casting their net wider and not just targeting the U.S. alone. Symantec is observing recession-related spam in a variety of languages from English to Chinese, using a range of tactics such as: bogus work-from-home schemes; spam messages sent under the guise of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to encourage recipients to “submit your Economic Stimulus Payment form”; and spam attacks claiming to provide government economic stimulus grants.
Email users should be aware of these type of ruses during this difficult economic period, and avoid letting spammers collect personal information that may be used in the future to prey on unsuspecting individuals and infect computers with malicious content.
The spammers’ economic contribution has caused spam levels in February 2009 to average 86%, pushing spammers one step closer to obtaining their own “pot of gold”.
Other report highlights from Symantec’s March State of Spam Report include:
· Spammers Go Green: Everyone is talking about going green these days, and with the renewed attention on environmental responsibility, spammers seem to be inspired and have decided to contribute with green spam. Symantec recently observed a spam attack offering to help the recipient lower their electric bill to $0.00 per month.
· Getting “paid” to write blogs…another spam “offer”: Blogs and microblogs are all the rage now and spammers are looking to recruit writers and “pay” them to write blogs, using messages like “freelance writers are needed” and “post in blogs”—all packaged together nicely with an offer to get paid anything from $12 to $50 per hour. The catch: applicants have to provide their personal contact information and credit card details to log-in to an exclusive, members-only area.
· Spammers give their Oscar to ….drum roll please… Brangelina: During February Symantec analyzed spam messages focusing on celebrities nominated for an Oscar for best leading actor or actress. Of the ten artistes nominated, only three appeared in spam subject lines in February. Anne Hathaway received an honorable mention with one spam message. The rest of the spam went to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
· The United States, Brazil, India, Russia and China continue to retain their positions as the top 5 regions of origin for spam, with Romania and Poland having the dubious honor of joining this club.
To read about these and other trends in the Symantec Monthly State of Spam Report, please visit the State of Spam website and the March State of Spam Report.
