Blackhole exploit kit (BHEK) spam attacks remain to be a prevalent threat up to this day. In fact, it is one of the top five consumer threats for 2012 due to its use of software vulnerabilities and social engineering tactic of leveraging companies like Verizon, Citibank AT&T, and Western Union among others. Furthermore, there are…
Read MoreChloe Ordonia
Anti-spam Research Engineer
The upcoming London Olympics is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated sporting events of the year. It is also a favorite social engineering ploy among cybercriminals. Just recently, we found an Olympics scam in the form of a lottery that promises a free travel package to the event. Some online crooks, however, played it differently…
Read MoreWe’ve been seeing a particular social engineering lure in spam runs in the past, where spammers leverage the death of a known celebrity or political figure. Recent examples of this include the death of Steve Jobs, and Amy Winehouse. In this spam run using Gadhafi’s death, however, a more compelling lure is being used to…
Read MoreOur team recently came across a spam run that leads to the download of a ZBOT variant that uses a domain-generation technique. The spam run involves messages that arrive in users’ inboxes as Facebook friend request notifications. The message bears a link that the users must click to approve the friend request. Clicking the said…
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