Spam Surge Trojan.Peacomm threat level increased
Today Symantec Security Response raised the risk level of
Trojan.Peacomm to a category 3 threat, due to the speed and volume
in which it is being aggressively spammed across the Internet. The
Trojan, which was first spotted January 17, 2007 has been raised to
a higher category following a sustained increase in new versions of
the attack which appeared over the weekend as the malware author
responded to improvements in protection made by security companies
by adjusting his tactics.
Trojan.Peacomm is one of a number of spamming Trojan horse programs
Symantec has seen lately that appear to originate from Russia and
are clearly aimed at making money for the author by pumping up
penny stocks. The victim is enticed through social engineering
techniques to open an attachment, which typically appears to be a
video clip on a recent, newsworthy event.
The email itself will have no message body, but will have one of
several subject lines such as "A killer at 11, he's free at 21 and
kill again!," "Fidel Castro Dead," "Re: Your Text." For a complete
list of subject lines, please click here.
Symantecs new technology, Symantec Online Network for Advanced
Response (SONAR), which is included in Norton AntiVirus and Norton
Internet Security, helped to detect an increase in activity around
supporting files dropped by Trojan.Peacomm early last week, before
the threat was seen in the wild.
We will closely monitor further information related to this threat,
and will provide updates and security content as necessary
To reduce the possibility of being affected by Trojan.Peacomm,
Symantec Security Response advises users to do the following:
Keep antivirus and IPS detection signatures updated.
Never click on attachments or web links from unsolicited
emails.
Regularly apply security patches and updates to all major software
installed on the computer.
Use a security solution that contains antivirus and client firewall
technologies, such as Symantec Client Security or Norton Internet
Security, to protect against today's known and tomorrow's unknown
threats.
If you are unaware of the security status of your PC, please take
one of the following actions:
Run LiveUpdate
Virus Definitions are available via the LiveUpdate or the Security
Response Website.
Existing Customers
If you have an older version of Norton Internet Security and would
like to upgrade to Norton Internet Security 2007, please click
here
