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Dancing Halloween Skeletons Hide Malware

Fake discount shops are not the only ones that represent a threat

Oct 29, 2011 08:19 GMT  ·  By
Dancing skeletons might hide a piece of malware
   Dancing skeletons might hide a piece of malware

GFI Software released a list of tips and Halloween malware spotting techniques to make sure unsuspecting internauts don't fall for any colorful scams. Halloween malware doesn't come only as fake online stores that offer fabulous discounts but also as other nasty stuff that will use any means available to make sure our computers are infected.

“Major holidays always present a big challenge for the public and security software companies, but Halloween has become a particular flashpoint in the calendar. The combination of things that people will search for online at this time of year presents multiple opportunities for scammers to try to compromise personal data and corrupt computers,” revealed Jovi Umawing, communications and research analyst at GFI Software.

“It is paramount that people are vigilant and approach anything with a Halloween theme with caution, so that genuine emails and websites can be enjoyed, and the tricks, don’t undermine the online treats.”

So what other celebratory elements may be the ones to hide malicious threats?

First of all, the popular gift cards which people might receive via an apparently harmless email. They can promise attractive vouchers which can be used for shopping, but to get in their possession, we are asked for tons of personal information that can later be utilized by the cybercriminals to access our savings.

Fake party invitations are also common as they can come in the form of a link or an attachment which once accessed, it unleashes a horde of malevolent elements that seamlessly record our every move. The invites can also hide phishing campaigns which ask for our private data as a response to the request.

Invitations received through social networking websites are just as bad as they can easily point to the same pieces of malware.

Finally, dancing skeletons and other funny content received by mail will in many situations masquerade a Trojan. Watch out for halloween.exe files that come as attachments as most certainly they will deploy some bank-account-stealing virus.