Trojans pose as London bombing video

12 Jul 2005

Within days of the terrorist bombings in London, hackers were spreading messages that posed as amateur video of the attacks, Symantec is warning users.

Dubbed "Spexta" by Symantec -- but called DONBOMB.A by Trend Micro and Delf.h by Kaspersky Labs -- the Trojan horse arrives as an attachment to a message with the subject heading "TERROR HITS LONDON."

The fake London bombings video, supposedly an .avi video attachment, is actually the Trojan, which installs when the file is opened by unsuspecting users, said Symantec. If successfully installed, the Trojan then turns to a list of Websites to download additional code that turns the compromised computer into a spam relay, or so-called zombie for distributing junk mail.

Hackers and scammers often use current events to distribute their malicious wares and publicize their schemes, playing on people's curiosity. When tsunamis pounded Southeast Asia late last year, online scammers jumped on the news to flood the Web with Email ploys, for instance.

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