Beware Of Media Defender Malware
More on the social malware front today, this one is set to generate fear in the e-mail recipient, no one wants to get a message from Media Defender, and when they do, they are going to open the attachment.
It is not news that Media Defender and the RIAA/MPAA and others are on the internet looking for people who are using P2P systems and Bittorrent systems to download movies. A new chunk of social engineering leading to malware delivery uses the fear of being caught downloading to deliver malware to your computer. Trend Micro reports that:
Trend Micro Advanced Threats Researchers Ivan Macalintal and Paul Ferguson report that Internet spammers have turned to file-sharing scare-tactics. This is to entice would-be victims to open a malicious attachment, threatening the unfortunate recipients with interrupted Internet connectivity or legal action. Source: Trend Micro The use of the Media Defender header from their web site, along with using the names of the more popular remaining sites like BTJunkie, Sumo Torrent, Mininova, Yotoshi and others leads to a larger amount of credence in the fear click on the link reaction that people are going to have. With news that the ISPs are working in conjunction with copyright owning companies, snooping on the internet, and deep packet inspection to determine what you are downloading, along with the general fear that surrounds getting anything from Media Defender, this is an excellent chunk of social engineering.
The attack is believable and credible given what is happening on the internet today, and no one really wants to be involved in a RIAA sponsored lawsuit. What will be interesting to see if this has an influence on the number of people downloading via the P2P networks or not. Some might get this warning, never click on it, and move away from the P2P networks considering themselves well cautioned. But many are going to click on the link, and become infected.
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About the Author:
Dan Morrill has been in the information security field for 18 years, both
civilian and military, and is currently working on his Doctor of Management.
Dan shares his insights on the important security issues of today through
his blog, Managing
Intellectual Property & IT Security, and is an active participant in the
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