Criminals take advantage of Virginia Tech tragedy

Dinah Greek, Computeract!ve 19 Apr 2007
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Hackers are using what they claim is film footage of the massacre at Virginia Tech University to trick people into downloading a Trojan that attempts to steal personal information.

According to IT security and control company Sophos, this is just another attempt at using the tragedy that occurred at the American university on Monday to con people.

Fraudsters have already set up fraudulent charity websites , some appearing less than 36 hours after the worst shooting spree in US history.

This latest attempt uses the Trojan Mal/Packer, which arrives in spammed emails offering cameraphone footage of the shootings in which 32 people were murdered by final-year student Cho Seung-hui, who finally shot himself.

The messages carry a photograph of the gunman and claim to link to a Brazilian movie website carrying movie footage of the campus shootings. However, clicking on the link downloads a malicious screensaver file (TERROR_EM_VIRGINIA.SCR) that installs a banking spyware Trojan horse.

The Trojan attempts to steal passwords, usernames and other information from online bankers – putting them at risk of identity theft and enabling cybercriminals to raid their bank accounts.

Experts at Sophoslabs discovered the spam campaign yesterday evening. They pointed out that it is the latest attempt by criminals to take advantage of a high-profile tragedy.

Past malware and spam campaigns exploited disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami, and the Paris Concorde aircrash and terror bombings in London.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, said: "It's pretty sick that cybercriminals use tragic events like this in their attempts to make cash, but sadly it's not the first time and unlikely to be the last. The hackers have no qualms about making money out of other people's misery.

"It is of paramount importance that everyone treats unsolicited emails with suspicion, and thinks twice before they run an unsolicited program or click on a link.

"Regular anti-virus updates, firewalls, security patches and a good serving of common sense is a must."