14 DAY TRIAL // A few days ago, a report signed by F-Secure revealed the first Christmas threat supposed to attack your computer: a dangerous ecard attempting to install a hidden infection on our systems. Although it was a single report, security company Symantec has informed today that an avalanche of eCards might start anytime soon, as the attackers have always attempted to find potential victims using ecard spam.
"These eCards are purportedly sent from a legitimate source and try to lure the victim to click on the link to view the eCards, which have underlying tricks to try and infect the computer. With the Xmas bells starting to ring, here is the first incidence where Xmas ecards have started doing the rounds," Jitender Sarda of Symantec wrote.
This season, the attackers are trying to use some new techniques in order to lure victims into installing the adjacent ecards. For example, a message sample provided by Symantec includes the "no worm, no virus" tag, which is supposed to make the users believe that the attachment is clean. Obviously, after the download and the execution of the files included in the attachment, your computer may be infected with a downloader, that is usually meant to deploy additional infections on a system.
There's not much to do in order to remain protected, a poweful antivirus technology should be enough. But, don't forget to keep it up-to-date with the latest virus defitions, as it is extremely important to identify and block out every new threat.
"Please be aware of this and other suspicious emails that are circulating. Do not open any links in emails that have been sent from a sender that you do not know; in fact, it is often best if you don't even open an email if you do not recognize the sender and are not expecting the email in the first place," the Symantec official added.