Swine Flu Outbreak Continues

Based on the lack of coverage in recent weeks, some people may think that the swine flu epidemic has slowed down for a while. However, there have been many reports of deaths caused by swine flu in different countries around the world in the past couple of weeks. The general public is continuing to monitor news of this disease very closely.

Spammers have been swiftly capitalizing on the fear of a pandemic in the fraudulent email they have been sending. We observed spam disguised as if it was sent from a public health agency or media outlet. The spammers are sending viruses embedded in links in the message body, such as in the example below. Users are redirected to the file “information.PDF.exe” if they are enticed to attempt the download of the image. Symantec has detected information.PDF.exe as Downloader.

From: "Ministério da Saúde" <xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx>
Subject: Controle da epidemia da Influenza 'A' (H1N1). Leia !

Translation:

From: "Ministry of Health" < xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx >
Subject: Controlling the epidemic of influenza 'A' (H1N1). Read!

From: "Swine Flu Death" <info@xxxxxxxx.xxxx>
Subject: Swine Flu's merciless cut on a 14 yr old

From: Details Removed <xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxx>
Subject: Presidente Alan Garcia Infectado con Influencia AH1N1 Gripe Porcina

Translation:

From: Details Removed <xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxx>
Subject: President Alan García Infected with Avian Influence AH1N1 porcine

*Note: My thanks to blog contributors Sooz Thomas, Hitomi Lin, and Ching-Yu Hsu.