Security Advisory for your customers eCard invite and Greeting Card SPAM is on the rise
I thought I should pass on this tidbit of information that was raised by the internal IT team at Microsoft regarding the issue and the fact that it is not a virus so it is not detected by traditional antivirus software. The bad news is that the only way to be certain to clear it off your system is to wipe and reimage your machines. At least that is the instructions they are giving us.
Here are more details:
Description
It’s on the rise again….the popular greeting card scam is being leveraged as a vehicle for seeding malware. Many will recognize it, as this social engineering angle certainly is not new and can be dated back to the mid to late 1990’s however please be advised that miscreants are running this sting again as we have received many reports lately.
Affected Users
Because there are no attachments included in the email, just URL’s to malicious sites, the email could successfully bypass security checkpoints and be delivered to your in box.
Impact
Looking closely at the URL’s you will typically see one pointing to an executable file which is malicious. As of late the files are containing Trojans or spyware designed as a back door to your system or to collect personal, corporate confidential information and data for monetary purposes. Another tall tale sign in these spamming efforts are misspelled words or improper English in the emails.
Information & Support
As this is not a virus, so traditional antivirus software will not detect it. Like with any suspicious email, simply don’t open it and delete it unread.
It isn’t a virus, but it does contain your typical host of mal/spy/adware, and opens your machine up to bot usage. There is no cure for it through official channels at this time. You should do a wipe and load if you are affected. Data is not compromised.
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spam,
malware,
adware