"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul"

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) German composer
(March 21, 1685, J.S.Bach was born)

Waledac.V uses false news to spread

PandaLabs, Panda Security's malware analysis and detection laboratory, has detected a new variant of the Waledac family of computer worms, Waledac.V, which uses false news stories about terrorist attacks as bait to trick users.

The worm spreads in emails with subjects such as:

The links included in the emails take users to a false Web page resembling the original Web page of the Reuters news agency (image here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/3370104792/). There is a video on the Web page. On trying to play the video, users are asked to download a plug-in (which is, in fact, Waledac.V).

To make it more credible, the bottom of the page includes a Google search link that refers to an old search about cities attacked in the past (image here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/3370104886/ ) and a Wikipedia page (image here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/3369280677/ )

"Waledac has been one of the most active families over the last few months. It has caused a significant number of infections by exploiting events such as Valentine's Day and the U.S. presidential elections", explains Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs.

To avoid falling victim to this type of attacks, PandaLabs reminds users they should ignore emails from unknown senders, especially if they report sensational or spectacular news.

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