Symantec Security Response has discovered a mass-mailing worm using Michael Jackson's death as a bait. The worm sends out spam emails with the subject “Remembering Michael Jackson” and an attachment named “Michael songs and pictures.zip.” The .zip file contains another file called “MichaelJacksonsongsandpictures.doc.exe,” which is a copy of the worm that is executed on the user’s machine when the file is opened.
Symantec has detection for this worm as W32.Ackantta.F@mm. It is important to keep in mind that W32.Ackantta.F@mm spreads not only through email, but also via removable drives using autorun.inf.
Below is a snapshot of the email that W32.Ackantta.F@mm sends out:
This week has seen the tragic deaths of three iconic American super stars: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. As always, events such as these seem to be prime targets for spammers and malicious code authors alike.
Internet users should expect to see a flurry of threats seeking to play upon the emotions and curiosity of the public around these events. If you’re looking for news, videos, pictures, or any information regarding these individuals and their lives, Symantec recommends that you only visit sites you’re familiar with and trust. Don’t click on every link you see related to this story and always keep your security solutions up-to-date.
For example, Symantec has observed spam that appears to be a spoof on CNN that actually contains a link to a malicious Web page.
Twice a year, Symantec produces the Internet Security Threat Report, a comprehensive report outlining the major trends in Internet security over the previous six-month period. One security concern that is of interest to many people is the growth of spam and spam-related issues. Symantec monitors the source and volume of spam from around the world and uses this information to discuss the major trends in the spam-related landscape.
One trend that has been relatively steady is the largest country of origin for spam messages. In the second half of 2006, around nine out of 20 spam messages were sent from the United States. This highlights that although some other countries are gaining notoriety for being spam havens, the United States is still the number one spam distributor in the world. In fact, spam from the United States outnumbers spam from the second closest country, China, at a rate of seven to one. So although countries like China, Russia, and Brazil are touted...
While we often report on the number of infections we’re seeing for a threat and what our honeynets are catching, we haven’t often shared the numbers on the amount of malicious code we’re seeing via Symantec’s antispam solutions. With Trojan.Peacomm still very much on the prowl and repeatedly blasting spam in short bursts of five to ten minutes, we thought we’d share some of our statistics on the malware we see being spammed around the globe. All of the numbers below are from December 22, 2006 to January 22, 2007.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, step right up and feast your eyes on this!” The special today is a cure for a little ailment called “spam.” Well, not all spam. Just spam with certain polka-dots on them. Call it a flavor if you will, and why not? I mean, you’ve got Heinz touting 57 varieties (in reality, there’s much, much more), so why not different flavors of spam? Dr. Seuss might even serve it up with some green eggs if you let him.
I digress. The spam du jour is of the self-inflicted kind. No, not the kind that you get after you sign up for a random online sweepstake. No, not even the kind you randomly pick up just for having an email account. The spam we are talking about is the kind that you get because your email appears on a Web site that you might maintain.
Imagine if you will, that one day you decided that you wanted to put up a Web site. What goes on this site? Well, first there are the usual pictures and maybe some prose. Then sprinkle in...
