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Spammers exploit hype around iPhone 5 release to launch malware attack

Cyberoam has announced the July 2011 Internet threats trend report, prepared in collaboration with its partner, Commtouch.

In this quarter, spammers launched the most glaring exploit surrounding the iPhone 5 release by using text and forged images together to reflect popular rumours about the new device ie, slimmer, faster, bigger display, better cloud integration etc, to lure unsuspecting users.

All images and links in the e-mail would then point to iPhone.gif which actually turned out to be a malware called iPhone.gif.exe. Clicking anywhere on the link would download the malware file hidden inside a compromised legitimate site.

Other highlights from the July 2011 report included numerous malware outbreaks based on SEO poisoning, fake IRS ‘rejected payment’ e-mails, and malicious scripts embedded in Adobe PDF files. The World IPv6 day on 8 June raised the profile of the replacement for IPv4 but also highlighted the potential threats that will accompany its introduction.

Click here to download Q2, 2011 threat report

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