Cybercriminals have already taken advantage of the whirlwind
of excitement surrounding the birth of the Prince of Cambridge, warned internet
security experts today.
Malicious emails promising the latest video news - but
instead deliver Trojan software into PCs, including one known to steal online
banking information, are being sent to unsuspecting people.
Yahoo! News confirmed to have seen one example of a spam
email titled ‘The Royal Baby: Live Updates’ and purporting to lead to live CNN
video coverage of the birth.
“The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed their first
baby — a son and a future heir to the British throne — into the world. CNN has
all the latest details of this momentous occasion,” the email says.
The email claims to come from a company called ScribbleLive,
a popular media marketing service.
Clicking any of the links in the email will prompt users to
upgrade their Flash player plugin, but in actual fact, users will be
downloading a Trojan known to be used to steal personal details, including
online banking information.
Security expert Graham Cluley said, “ It’s very likely that
we will see more of this kind of attack. There are several common tricks
hackers use – it could be asking you for a username and password to see photos
of the baby, or making you complete an innocuous-looking survey.”
Social networks are another fertile ground for hackers to
sow dangerous material. At the time of the announcement of the birth, 23,500
tweets mentioning the Royal baby were sent per minute.
“People should be careful what they’re clicking on Facebook
and Twitter,” said Cluley.
“Links can be automatically generated to include the
trending hashtags. There are also a lot of joke pictures doing the rounds – if
you get into the habit of clicking on them as soon as they’re posted, you’re less
likely to be careful about where they come from.”
This is not the first time that the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge have been used by hackers to spread viruses.
When their engagement was first announced, hackers were
quick to hijack the most popular search engine image results – with the result
that clicking on an apparently innocent picture of the couple led to a warning
message asking users to download fake antivirus software, which was in fact
malware designed to take over PCs and steal data.
In 2011, a story posted on Aol.co.uk about a ‘Pregnant Kate
Middleton’ children’s doll was found to have been infected by hackers. Visiting
the page would attempt to run malicious software in the background without
users’ knowledge.
Yahoo news!
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