Australians are being targeted online by a spam campaign claiming that a large scale nuclear explosion has occurred.
Australians are being targeted by a spam campaign claiming Australia has been hit by a large scale nuclear explosion.
The spam campaign, reported by
IT News, contains an attachment in a ZIP file. The spam says that the attachment contains images of the attack; in reality, the attachment is a virus designed to steal information from your PC once you load it.
Graham Cluley, technology consultant for network security firm Sophos, says that the potential catastrophe of a nuclear attack could trick users into loading the attachment without thinking.
“Rather than use a real life event, the hackers have turned to fictional explosions and conspiracy theories in the hope they will strike a nerve with potential victims who will then click on the attachment without a second thought,” said Cluley.
Head of technology at Sophos, Paul Ducklin, agrees. “With the recent startup of the Large Hadron Collider, urban catastrophes are topical.”
“This seems more relevant to people instead of spam that’s selling Viagra from Canada. The real point is that it’s a really cheap and easy way for them to raise the awareness of it just by using .com.au,” said Ducklin.
Online users from England are being targeted as well, with Sophos confirming that a second story sent out claiming a nuclear power station had exploded in London.
Source:
IT News
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