New Spam Using CNN Headlines to Lead Victims to
Virus-Laden Sites
University of Alabama at Birminghams Spam Data Mine
offers video, Website help
Aug.
6, 2008 - Throughout July and into August, spam messages using fake news
headlines have been luring visitors to virus-laden Web sites that will
infect the unwary Websurfer with a simple clink on any of the links.
Beginning last night a new twist has made it much more likely that
visitors will fall prey, according to the University of Alabama at
Birminghams Spam Data Mine, which has quickly released a video (see
link below) to help people understand how to avoid the threat.
The latest twist on the spam messages is that they
now sport a CNN.com logo, and instead of using made up headlines, are
copying the headlines from other video news services around the Web.
UAB's Spam Data Mine, which collects millions of
email messages used to provide investigators with spam intelligence and
determine new attack methods, reports that nearly 10 percent of all
e-mails received last night had the subject "CNN Top 10 Spam".
And, they pointed to more than 25 Web sites that
had been hacked to infect their visitors. Several major anti-virus
providers were unable to detect the spam as of this morning.
To learn more about this threat, watch the video on
this page and view the article by Gary Warner, UAB's Director of
Computer Forensics
click here.
Just be certain not to click on any of the links,
warns Warner.
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