Cyberoam had warned of
massive spam attacks on Valentine's day
By VARIndia Correspondent
Cyberoam's
Internet Threat Response Team had issued warning for the Internet users of increased
spam attacks with Valentine's Day e-mail greetings. Spams were included as
attachments and
links in emails leveraging message subject lines such as 'I Love You Soo Much;'
'Inside My Heart;' or 'You… In My Dreams;' 'My Valentine Sunshine;' and, 'Be My
Valentine,' to exploit unsuspecting targets. Once these attachments were opened
or the links were clicked, malware were instantly downloaded.
According
to Cyberoam partner Commtouch, the Valentine's Day spam campaigns began mid-January
in mid-level volumes and were generated from zombies. The messages were only around
2k, many with hyperlinks to an IP address, an indicator of a zombie-attack. The
success of these attacks were dependent on social engineering techniques that
were targeting a younger demographic, particularly students and teenagers that
would use the Internet to buy discounted Valentine's gifts, flowers and send e-cards.
"Spammers are renowned for tying large-scale spam attacks to significant holidays
and events, so it's important for organizations to warn employees and students
against opening emails from people you don't know," says Digvijaysinh Chudasama,
VP Sales, Cyberoam, India , "As these attacks can happen at any time of the year,
we strongly recommend that all organizations ensure their security solutions are
up to date to recognize and block potentially harmful files. Organizations should
also look to set user-based policies for Internet access to ensure that employees
and students aren't able to visit Web sites that could be potentially laden with
malware."