New malware campaign disguised as news of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's death

A new malware campaign is making the rounds of the Internet, taking advantage of curiosity and sympathy surrounding the passing of Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA).

 

Trend Micro said the attack appeared to target specific recipients, using a news item about Yauch's death as a social engineering lure.

 

"We have found an email sample that leverages Yauch’s death to entice users to download and open the malicious attachment. The message appears as a news item from a non-profit organization that features the late musician’s recent passing," it said.

 

It said the email contains a .DOC file attachment, which is supposed to contain the complete story.

 

But users who download and open the .DOC attachment are actually executing a malware detected by Trend Micro as TROJ_DROPPR.JET.

 

"This Trojan file drops another malicious file, detected as particular TROJ_SWYSYN.SME, that connects to possibly malicious URLs," Trend Micro said.

 

It said this latest attack should alert computer users to be wary of celebrity news items, which it said had been a staple bait in cybercriminal attacks.

 

Similar threats include the string of clickjacking attacks that used the demise of Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, and even Lady Gaga‘s supposed death, it added. — RSJ, GMA News