Rising Spam segment capitalizes on consumer fears during economic uncertainty

11/7/2008. PandaLabs discovers alarming shift in spam content that preys on economic woes of consumers.Spam related to personal finance increased twice as much as all other spam over September and October

PandaLabs, Panda Security´s malware analysis and detection laboratory, today announced research revealing overwhelming evidence that cybercriminals are adapting their messaging with changes in the economic landscape. Two weeks ago, PandaLabs reported a staggering correlation between stock market declines and increased malware attacks. Upon further investigating the content of spam campaigns that have experienced the most growth over the last two months, it is evident that cybercriminals have become more sophisticated and are preying on the current economic misfortunes of consumers.

According to PandaLabs, spam continues to make up 90-95 percent of all email traffic, with spam related to the economy representing ten percent of total spam. Since the stock market began to take a steady decline in September, Cloudmark reported that while overall spam has increased five percent, the new spam related to the economy and personal finances has increased by twice that amount, or 10 percent, during this period. Examples include malware attacks targeting consumers with credit card debt, as well as phishing attacks targeting individuals undergoing property foreclosure. By offering consumers relief for their financial woes, these attacks dupe users into clicking on links included or embedded in the emails, an action that automatically downloads viruses or redirects them to phishing sites.

Socially engineered content from the most recent malicious spam includes:

- “What’s Your Credit Score? Get it Now!”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/3007727354/
- “Premier Loan Provider.com: The Cash You need Now; Loans up to $1500”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/3007697914/
- “Payday Loan Finder”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/2964190480/in/set-72157608268537733/
- “An Online Loan Gives You Money Now”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/2964190478/in/set-72157608268537733/
- “A VA loan will give you a home” ? “Are you drowning in debt? Get the cash you need”
- “Credit In Crisis: Get Your Free Credit Report Today”
- “Don’t let your lender foreclose”
- “Legally Erase Your Debt - As seen on MSNBC”

“One of our biggest concerns for 2008 was that cybercriminals would improve their targeted spamming tactics to dupe consumers, and the content and volume that we have seen during these tough economic times is proof that unfortunately, our assumption was spot on,” said Luis Corrons, Tecnical Director at PandaLabs. “With content this timely and this targeted, there is no doubt that cybercriminals are upping the ante with their tactics, and we are doing everything we can to stay ahead of them.”

About PandaLabs
Since 1990, its mission has been to analyze new threats as rapidly as possible to keep our clients safe. Several teams, each specialized in a specific type of malware (viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, phishing, spam, etc), work 24/7 to provide global coverage. To achieve this, they also have the support of TruPrevent® Technologies, which act as a global early-warning system made up of strategically distributed sensors to neutralize new threats and send them to PandaLabs for in-depth analysis. According to Av.Test.org, PandaLabs is currently the fastest laboratory in the industry in providing complete updates to users. More information is available in the PandaLabs blog.

For more information: http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/security-info/

Source: Panda Software International
http://www.pandasecurity.com/

2008-11-10 12:15

Back

IT News: