MCLEAN, Virginia, March 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Commtouch® (NASDAQ: CTCH), a leading provider of
Internet security technology and cloud-based services, warns that
cybercriminals are using the public interest in the election of
Pope Francis as the latest bait in malware, phishing and spam
attacks. Commtouch labs have identified a drive-by malware campaign
that disguises as a bogus CNN breaking news alert.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120501/529254 )
The e-mail links to a manipulated Website that, when opened in
the browser, infects the user's computer with the Blackhole Exploit
Kit, a popular tool among cybercriminals to deliver various kinds
of malware. Over the past 12 months, drive-by attacks - which use a
link to an infected Web site instead of including the malware in
the email attachment - have become a favorite delivery method for
viruses and Trojans. The current campaign uses a fake sender email
address consistently named "CNN Breaking News." The spam message
usually contains subject lines such as:
- Opinion: Family sued new Pope. Exclusive!
- Opinion: New pope tries to shake off the past
- Opinion: Can New-Pope Benedict
be Sued for the Sex Abuse Cases?
Commtouch labs have so far seen three significant waves of the
pope-related spam earlier this week. In those waves, more than one
quarter of all emails (27%) came from addresses in the United States, while other sources of the
attack included IPs from eastern European countries such as
Bulgaria and Serbia as well as
Brazil.
This campaign is part of a wider effort to use current news
events for distributing spam and malware. Currently, Commtouch labs
are tracking drive-by campaigns utilizing the attempts to solve the
financial crisis in Cyprus in the
same way. In addition to fake CNN alerts, the BBC has also been
used as an alleged source in email carrying subject lines such as
"BBC-Email: Cyprus bank-Levy
Passage in Doubt as EU Shows Aggression". Commtouch warns users to
be particularly wary of email news alerts at the current time.
Analyzing more than 12 billion transactions every day at a rate
of more than 138,000 a second, Commtouch and its Internet Threat
Analysis Team identify threats based on a comprehensive analysis
using Commtouch's GlobalView™ Cloud.
For more details on the new pope spam and other threats, visit
http://blog.commtouch.com/cafe.
About Commtouch
Commtouch® (NASDAQ: CTCH) is a leading provider of
Internet security technology and cloud-based services for vendors
and service providers, increasing the value and profitability of
our customers' solutions by protecting billions of Internet
transactions on a daily basis. With 12 global data centers
and award-winning, patented technology, Commtouch's email, Web, and
antivirus capabilities easily integrate into our customers'
products and solutions, keeping safe more than 350 million end
users. To learn more, visit http://www.commtouch.com.
- Blog: http://blog.commtouch.com/cafe
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/commtouch
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/commtouch
- Twitter: @Commtouch
Recurrent Pattern Detection, RPD,
Zero-Hour and GlobalView are trademarks, and Commtouch is a
registered trademark of Commtouch. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
Company Contact:
Brian Briggs, Chief Financial
Officer
Commtouch
+1-703-760-3444
brian.briggs@commtouch.com
U.S. Investor Contact:
Christopher Chu
Grayling
+1-646-284-9400
commtouch@grayling.com
Israel Investor
Relations Contact:
Iris Lubitch
EffectiveIR
+972-3-5664007
Iris@EffectiveIR.co.il
Commtouch Media Contact:
Matthew Zintel
Zintel Public Relations
+1-281-444-1590
matthew.zintel@zintelpr.com
SOURCE Commtouch