Security news
Security news24 December 2007
Santa's virus striptease goes down a Storm, warns Sophos Mrs Claus goes wild with holiday strip show malware
Researchers at SophosLabs™ have warned computer users that hackers have wildly distributed an email on Christmas Eve pointing to a website containing a malicious Santa Claus-themed striptease.
The emails, which have many varied subject lines including "Your Secret Santa", "Santa Said, HO HO HO", "Warm Up this Christmas" and "Mrs. Clause Is Out Tonight!" attempt to direct internet users to the same website containing images scantily clad young women in a Santa suit. The images and “Download for free now!” button both linked to an executable detected as by Sophos as W32/Dorf-AE (a worm also known as Storm).
"Despite its disguise, Dorf-AE isn't much of a Christmas present. Users who visit the striptease website risk infecting their PC and allowing hackers to gain access to their PC's resources and data," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Heartless hackers and virus writers can attack at any time of year, and every computer user should be on the lookout for unusual emails and be wary of ever clicking on unsolicited links they are sent via email."
Sophos advises companies to be as suspicious during the holiday season as they would be at any other time of the year.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can control network access and defend against the threats of spam, hackers, spyware and viruses.
About Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com
