IT security and control firm Sophos is warning users to be wary of spam messages using the untimely death of music legend Michael Jackson to harvest unsuspecting computer users' e-mail addresses for future spam campaigns.
Approximately eight hours after the King of Pop's death yesterday, SophosLabs witnessed the first wave of spam messages taking advantage of the breaking news in the subject line and body of the e-mail.
In these messages, the spammer claims that they have vital information about the death of Michael Jackson to share with somebody - ie, the user. Sophos experts note that the body of the e-mail does not contain any call-to-action links - such as a URL, e-mail address or phone number - and the 'from' e-mail address is bogus. However, the spammer can easily harvest recipients' e-mail addresses via a free live e-mail address if computer users reply to the spam message.
“Unfortunately, this type of huge news story is also the perfect vehicle for spammers to snare vulnerable computer users,” says Brett Myroff, CEO of regional Sophos distributor, Sophos South Africa. “The spammers are relying on curious users to reply to their bogus claims - but, if you receive one of these messages you just need to delete it.”
Sophos has also discovered cyber-criminals taking advantage of the death of 70s TV icon Farrah Fawcett to spread fake anti-virus software. “Users should certainly remain vigilant. Cyber-criminals have no respect for decency and the only thing they are interested in is making money for themselves and computer users' lives a misery," Myroff adds.
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Sophos South Africa
NetXactics, trading as Sophos South Africa, is a South African-based company focused on the provision of security solutions. It is the Master Distributor for UK-based Sophos, one of the leaders in the provision of Network Access Control and Endpoint, Email and Web Security and Control solutions for the corporate environment. For more information, visit Sophos South Africa at http://www.sophos.co.za.
Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises worldwide to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Our network access control, endpoint, Web and e-mail solutions simplify security to provide integrated defences against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, we protect over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with our reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognised for our high level of customer satisfaction, we have an enviable history of industry awards, reviews and certifications. Sophos is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and Oxford, UK.
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