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The Summer Olympics, the NFL, and the ongoing Presidential campaigns all present ripe content for spammers and the malware they try to deliver to victims.
Getting malware onto a machine depends on how well the criminal can deceive the recipient into clicking a link or otherwise taking some action. Social engineering to engender trust in spam regularly taps popular culture and current events in an effort to encourage people to make the wrong choice.
Security vendors noted the latest tries by criminals to grab machines for their purposes. MX Logic said a spike in spam in July reversed a four-month downward trend.
They expect the increase to continue through August, even though political spam has been at an unusual low point by MX Logic's reckoning. The company expects that to change, as spammers send out links to purported videos that bring in malware instead.
In 2007, NFL-related spam brought along malware disguised as a real-time scoreboard. MX Logic noted that compromised machines and added them to a Storm botnet; they expect football spam to rise as the preseason gets underway.
McAfee said Internet users should be aware of the likelihood of malicious intent behind some Olympic-themed content. Offers of free downloads of Olympic-related software, as well as spam containing links or attachments on the Olympic theme, should be viewed with suspicion.
The goal of the criminals behind these attacks remains a financial one. They want whatever information they can steal from others to sell or use themselves. A little skepticism will help defeat these attempts, along with an up to date security package too.
About
the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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