In the past we have seen malicious attacks pretending to be shipment notifications from various parcel delivery services. Now the New York State DMV has become the latest “brandjacking” victim for a series of malware attacks.
Here is what the fake message looks like:
Ticket-064-211.zip is the name of the malicious attachment, and it is being identified as a variant of Trojan.FakeAV—one of the most prolific risks seen on the Internet today. Every day, bogus antivirus and security applications are released and pushed to unsuspecting users through a variety of delivery channels. Many of these programs turn out to be clones of each other. They are often created from the same code base, but presented with a different name and look, which is achieved through the use of a "skin".
Here are some of the best practices to protect yourself from malicious email attacks:
- Be selective about the websites where you register your email address.
- When entering personal or financial details online, ensure the website has SSL encryption (look for things like HTTPS, a padlock, or a green address bar).
- Avoid clicking on suspicious links in email or instant messages as these may be links to spoofed websites. We suggest typing Web addresses directly in to the browser rather than relying upon links within your messages.
- Do not open spam messages.
- Do not reply to spam. Typically the sender’s email address is forged, and replying may only result in more spam.
- Do not open unknown email attachments. These attachments could compromise your computer.
- Always be sure that your operating system is up-to-date with the latest updates and use a comprehensive security suite. For details on Symantec’s offerings, visit http://www.symantec.com.