Since the close of 2010, Symantec has been observing a recent spam attack that is designed to distribute malware. On the arrival of the new year, Internet users often send best wishes to their friends and families through email or make use of online greeting card services. The spammers have exploited this likelihood, since the email messages in this spam attack appear to contain Happy New Year wishes in the form of an e-card, but in fact are distributing malicious code.

Below are some sample subject lines observed in this spam attack:

Subject:  New Year Ecard Notification
Subject:  Have a funfilled and blasting NewYear!
Subject:  Welcome 2011!
Subject:  Happy 2011 To U!
Subject:  Sparkling wishes on the New Year
Subject:  Happy New Year Wishes!
Subject:  Have a Happy New Year!
Subject: New Year 2011 Ecard Special Delivery

The message text urges the user to...

Recently, Symantec observed a phishing website that spoofed a popular email service brand. There wasn’t much to ponder on the phishing page or even with the brand that it was spoofing. Also, phishing websites attacking email service brands are not uncommon. But, the domain name that was used in hosting the phishing site was what made this particular phishing attempt interesting.

The phishing site’s domain name belonged to a popular government educational institute in India. Phishers are known for compromising legitimate websites and hosting their phishing sites on them. However, websites belonging to government, military, or educational institutes are usually more secure and are seldom compromised. In the past six months, several colleges and schools in India have been attacked by phishers. These include colleges that offer education in engineering, health sciences, management studies, gemological studies, and commerce. Let’s have a look at the statistics...

Halloween is drawing near, so the spammers are busy laying out bait in the form of Halloween jackpots, sweepstakes, gift cards, e-cards, personalized gifts, online contests, and even print products and costumes. Perhaps this is one of those seasons during which people—both young and old—celebrate with full gusto. Unfortunately, this type of popular event brings with it a whole host of malicious circumstances on the Internet that people are being enticed to fall for. For it is common knowledge that where people show some vulnerability, spammers are not far behind!

Below are some of the subject lines being used in the latest spam messages:

Subject:”xxxxx” Halloween Series Campaign Vol1
Subject: Halloween Treat Bags, Home Decorations, and More
Subject: Open this! $1 Million Prize
Subject...

“It can’t happen to me”

Hunters and gatherers. Most people think of cybercrime against business to be the work of hunters such as cybercriminals who target then infiltrate a company to steal from it. Reading the newspaper, it’s easy to convince yourself that these hunters are after big game and a small business does not have to worry about these targeted attacks. Maybe; however, we’ll talk more about that later. The majority of cybercriminals can best be described as gatherers. They throw wide nets and take advantage of whatever victims land in those nets. Small businesses really must watch out for the gatherers.

Because the barrier of entry is low, there are many gatherers. A gatherer doesn’t have to be a criminal genius. They don’t even need advanced computer skills. They really don’t need to know much at all—except where to buy a toolkit. Toolkits allow criminals with limited skills to get...