Spammers target guilty conscience to get users to download malware

By: Arun Radhakrishnan

Commtech, an Israeli security firm announced that it had detected several spam targeting users with mails that impinge on their conscience to get them to download malware.

An excerpt from Network World

    “Preying on people’s guilty conscience with a virus is an ingenious trick of social engineering,” says Rebecca Steinberg Herson, Commtouch’s vice president of marketing. “The e-mail messages are written generically enough to fit almost every possible transgression one might wish to hide, ensuring people will open the attachments.”

    Some common subject headings for the malware e-mails include “I’m monitoring you,” “You’re being watched” and “The tape of your conversation.” Commtouch says that the malware is sent in the form of a password-protected, compressed file that appears to be an MP3 sound file.

Users need to remain cautious when opening mail from unknown sources. The immediate impact of the malware was not known but the firm added that they could be used to turn PCs to aid botnets.