14 DAY TRIAL // As if the situation in Burma wasn't bad enough already, spammers are exploiting it for their own inscrutable purposes. There is not a lot of news coming from there and people are anxious to know what is going on. A lot of them are supporting the democratic regime, and the situation in Burma is unclear to say the least. I was really wondering how come the Storm virus didn't do anything special this week and I was thinking what will spammers come up with next, but, seriously, I couldn't have foreseen this.
They're using the name of the Holy Dalai Lama of Tibet to trick people into clicking on links and getting viruses. This is very, very low! But, nothing surprises me anymore, as these guys have stooped lower more than once before.
"The Burmese regime is said to have tried to stop news from coming out of the country by shutting down internet cafes and controlling computer users' access to the net. People around the world are hungry to hear about the latest situation in the country and support the pro-democracy movement, and may be tempted to read this so-called letter from the Dalai Lama," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "Using topical news stories to trick unwary computer users into opening and downloading malicious code is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it's obviously still working or the hackers wouldn't waste their time on it. We should all use our common sense and question the legitimacy of emails sent out of the blue."
The spammers are sending e-mails in the name of his Holiness, the Dalai Lama of Tibet and asking for support in the recent demonstrations. The messages also have an attachment that will infect you with a Trojan downloader, and later on with another virus, if you are not protected. You have been warned. Get an anti-virus and stay secure!