Websites offering "news" on Haiti earthquake infecting visitors with rogue antimalware, "donation" spam scams already filling mailboxes.
Bad news are always good news for cybercriminals! The tsunamis, hurricane Katrina, Air France disaster, Michael Jackson's death were all abused in the past and now the Haiti earthquake is being used by them to exploit people's concern and compassion.
As people tend to search for info on the recent tragedy online, cybercriminals have been quick to post many websites claiming to have exclusive news or video footage of the Haiti earthquake, but in fact attempt to infect the visitor with malware, usually one that promotes rogue antimalware products (more on these here http://www.eset.com/threat-center/blog/category/rogue-antimalware).
The second attack is arriving in the form of spam e-mail calling for "charitable donations" for the disaster-stricken island or sometimes also in the form of a direct plea from someone claiming to be a victim, asking for help. These e-mails usually contain links people are meant to click, which again either do as mentioned above, or ask visitors for their credit card details, or to transfer funds directly to some account, while the "donation" unfortunately never reaches Haiti and the credit card details are retained for future abuse as well...
ESET recommends computer users to only use known and legitimate news sites for getting latest information, and to be very cautious when approached by unknown "Charities". As we do not wish to discourage charitable donations in general, we recommend users do that through Charities they know and may have donated to in the past (see a guide on the topic here: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1004 and a list of Irish Charities here: http://www.indexireland.com/society_and_politics/charities/). |
|
About ESET
Founded in 1992, ESET is a global provider of security solutions for corporate customers. ESET develops software solutions that deliver instant, comprehensive protection against evolving computer security threats. ESET pioneered and continue to lead the industry in proactive threat detection. ESET NOD32® Antivirus, their flagship product, consistently achieves the highest accolades in all types of comparative testing and is the foundational product that builds out the ESET product line to include ESET Smart Security.
ESET has headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia with branch offices in Prague, Czech Republic; San Diego, USA; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. ESET‘s solutions are available in more than 160 countries worldwide. In 2008, ESET opened its new development center in Krakow, Poland and was ranked by Deloitte Technology Fast 500 as one of the fastest growing technology companies in the EMEA region. In Ireland it is distributed by Reflex IS / ESET Ireland. For more information, visit ESET Ireland www.eset.ie or call 1890 32 22 32
|
