DHL Express spam campaign leads to fake AV

A new spam campaign impersonating the popular mail service DHL Express is currently underway, warn Bkis researchers.

The email in question looks like this:



Once the user downloads and opens the attachment, the worm contained in it downloads a fake AV solution from a server located in Russia.

The fake AV ("XP Home Security") immediately starts its work and tries to trick the user into buying a full version that will supposedly remove all the infections it found.

Users are warned to be careful when reviewing emails purportedly coming from DHL express or any of the other well-known express mail services - more often than not, they are fake emails containing malicious attachments.

[net-security]

A Good Decade for Cyber Crime

Cybercrime is one of the most successful and lucrative industries of our time, growing by double digits year after year.

Over the last decade, cyber crooks have developed new and sophisticated ways to prey on an explosion of Internet users, with little danger of being caught.

Meanwhile, consumers face greater risks to their money and information each year.

A few famous exploits illustrate different eras of cybercrime:


“I Love You” worm’s false affection: $15 billion estimated damage
Emails with the subject line “I love you” proved irresistible in 2000. Millions of users downloaded the attached file, which was supposedly a love letter but was actually a virus. This infamous worm cost companies and government agencies $15 billion.


MyDoom’s mass infection: $38 billion estimated damage

This fast-moving worm, which first struck in 2004, tops McAfee’s list in terms of monetary damage. It delivered enough spam to slow global Internet access by 10% and reduce access to some websites by 50%, costing billions of dollars in lost productivity and online sales.


Conficker’s stealthy destruction: $9.1 billion estimated damage

This 2008 worm infected millions of computers. It went a step further than the other two worms on our list, downloading and installing a variety of malware that gave hackers remote control over victims’ PCs.
Some of the most common and nefarious scams include:


Fake antivirus software

Selling fake antivirus software is one of the most insidious and successful scams in recent years.
Cyber criminals play on users’ fears that their computers and information are at risk, displaying misleading pop-ups that prompt the victim to purchase antivirus software to fix the problem.
When victims enter their credit card information, it is stolen and, instead of security software, they wind up downloading malware.


Phishing scams

Phishing, or trying to trick users into giving up personal information, is one of the most common and persistent online threats. Phishing messages can come in the form of spam emails, spam instant messages, fake friend requests, or social networking posts.


Phony websites

In recent years, cyber crooks have become adept at creating fake websites that look like the real deal.
From phony online banking to auction sites and e-commerce pages, hackers lay traps in the hopes that you will be fooled into entering your credit card number or personal information.

For your own peace of mind, consider subscribing to an identity theft protection service such as McAfee Identity Protection, which offers proactive identity surveillance, lost wallet protection, alerts when suspicious activity is detected on your accounts, and access to fraud resolution agents. For additional tips, visit CounterIdentityTheft.com.


Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him explain how to protect yourself from identity theft on CounterIdentityTheft.com. (Disclosures)

[InfoSecIsland]

73,000 malware strains created daily in 2011

The number of threats in circulation has risen in comparison to last year. In the first three months of 2011, PandaLabs identified an average of 73,000 new malware strains, most of which were Trojans. Moreover, there was a 26 percent increase of new threats compared to the same period last year.



While PandaLabs observed a quarter-over-quarter increase of new malware in 2010, the rise was not nearly as notable as the one experienced over the last several quarters.

Trojans remain the most popular type of threat to computer systems, and now account for 70 percent of all new malware. This is unsurprising considering it can be incredibly lucrative for cybercriminals to commit fraud or steal money from Internet users through the online banking channel.


“The proliferation of online tools that enable non-technical people to create Trojans in minutes and quickly set up illegal business – especially when it can provide access to banking details - is responsible for Trojans’ impressive growth”, said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.

Not all kind of Trojans grow at the same pace. Taking a look further at the subtypes of malware, PandaLabs found that Banker Trojans have decreased, bots have remained steady, and fake anti-virus or rogueware has descreased in popularity. However, the number of “downloaders” has increased significantly.

Downloaders are a subtype of Trojan that, once it has infected a user's computer, connect through the Internet to download additional malware. Hackers often use this method because the downloader is lightweight – only containing a few lines of code - and can go completely unnoticed unlike other Trojans.

[Net-Security]