The KOOBFACE gang certainly knows how to bring on the Christmas spirit.

KOOBFACE has pushed a new campaign with the help of the new component that we saw deployed last month. The said component executes human-like behavior such as joining Facebook groups and posting messages on Facebook friends’ walls. This new campaign, on the other hand, boosts a timely theme.

The bait is basically the same for this run: posts supposedly published by another user are suggested to be a link to a video. Clicking the link leads to the fake YouTube page typical of KOOBFACE attacks, only this time the page is presented as a Christmas-themed video:

The file downloaded from the page is detected by the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network™ as WORM_KOOBFACE.X.

This isn’t the first Christmas-themed attack we’ve seen this year, as we’ve reported spam runs using Christmas in its social engineering ploy as early as September. And judging from what has been observed in the past years, this attack will not be the last.

Thus, as the same for any season, users are advised to be aware and demonstrate caution when online to help stay safe from online threats.

As the holidays kicks off, people are definitely going to be busy searching for the perfect gifts (with the greatest discounts) for their loved ones. However, the increase in number of shoppers during the holidays will most definitely be paralleled by the increase in cybercriminal attacks.

In the past, Trend Micro has blogged about how cybercriminals used Google Trends and rigged search results pertaining to popular searches. This season, cybercriminals will probably use the same tactic based on popular product searches. Some of the top searches in Google yield Wii, iPod, xbox, xbox 360, and iPod Touch. The said results also disclosed that gaming consoles and computer games are on the top of the list (specifically for the United States). No surprises there, really, as this industry is continuously booming.

Moreover, new games are set to be released in time for the holidays. The release of Grand Theft Auto IV last year spurred a spam campaign. Clearly, cybercriminals are always on the lookout for opportunities to infect users.

With that, Trend Micro advises users to be wary when purchasing online gifts and products. Make sure to visit only legitimate websites. Lastly, it is recommended that you install an antivirus product like Trend Micro Smart Protection Network™ that actively blocks malicious URLs to prevent accessing malicious sites and eventually getting infected.