Spam News

Waledac returns to spread malicious love

Monday, February 9, 2009

The Waledac botnet is apparently using another upcoming holiday in an attempt to spread spam emails with embedded malicious links in a seemingly innocent Valentine's Day message.

Users who receive the spam email may see a link for a Valentine e-card that is coupled with the message "I Love U," according to a web security organization.

Once clicked on the link, users are taken to a site that shows a picture of two puppies holding a traditional Valentine's Day heart on a string from their mouth, states the organization. A message below the picture urges users to design a personal card for their "sweetheart" and offers a "Valentine Devkit" for download to assist in the process.

The Devkit is the new Waledac variant.

A similar phishing attack was reported last year during the Christmas holiday season with the Waledac botnet sending out messages with holiday greeting cards. At the time, security officials commented on how similar the attack was to the Storm botnet, which reportedly disappeared a couple of years ago.

It is widely believe Waledac is an evolved version of Storm.