Researchers warn of increase in holiday-themed malware attacks
GFI Software’s security research lab today issued a warning regarding Halloween-themed malware attacks as the holiday approaches. GFI Labs, the dedicated malware research center of GFI Software, warns that cyber criminals are using the Halloween season to lure unsuspecting adults and children into allowing malware onto their PCs.
Data from GFI Labs’ ThreatNet, a monitoring system that retrieves real-time data from tens of thousands of machines running VIPRE® antivirus software, shows an increase in the number of Trojans circulating in the pre-Halloween period this year. Eight of the top 10 threat detections currently spreading on the internet are Trojans, up from six during October last year. Furthermore, three of the top 10 threat detections from last year’s Halloween season are still on the list, highlighting the lasting impact of this type of malware long after the holiday is over.
According to GFI Software, a leading IT solutions provider, consumers should be on the lookout for new iterations of the following common types of attack:
- Halloween Tweets, “likes” and posts on various social media sites that can be used to lure users to malicious websites.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning, in which links to malicious Web sites show up in search engine results for holiday items.
- Halloween-themed attachments posing as invitations, greeting cards or documents. Clicking on these creates a significant risk of downloading rogue security products or other malware.
- “Typo attacks” which take advantage of the increased Holiday traffic to commonly misspelled URLs. Malware writers set up spoofed infected sites and download locations to trap unsuspecting web users who misspell URLs and end up in the wrong place.
- Sites that offer contests attempting to get visitors to subscribe to questionable subscription services that are billed to their cell phone monthly.
“Like any holiday, Halloween presents opportunities for malware distributors to gain an extra edge over an unsuspecting public,” said Tom Kelchner, Communications and Research Analyst at GFI. “Users should be more careful than ever when interacting with web sites unless they are positive that it comes from a trusted source.”
About GFI
GFI Software provides web and mail security, archiving and fax, networking and security software and hosted IT solutions for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) via an extensive global partner community. GFI products are available either as on-premise solutions, in the cloud or as a hybrid of both delivery models. With award-winning technology, a competitive pricing strategy, and a strong focus on the unique requirements of SMEs, GFI satisfies the IT needs of organizations on a global scale. The company has offices in the United States, UK, Austria, Australia, Malta, Hong Kong, Philippines and Romania, which together support hundreds of thousands of installations worldwide. GFI is a channel-focused company with thousands of partners throughout the world and is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.