Posted on 06/20/2006 5:32:25 PM PDT by bwteim
Worm lures victims with 'Naked World Cup'- World Cup malware targets English speakers
By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
June 20, 2006
Soccer purists can breathe a sigh of relief. There is no Naked World Cup.
IT professionals, on the other hand, may want to be a little more vigilant, as a new e-mail worm is on the loose that preys on the intense worldwide interest in the international sporting event.
Called Sixem-A, the worm began circulating earlier this week, and has just recently been blocked by antivirus vendors. So far, the worm has been detected at only a handful of companies, but it is the first World Cup 2006 malware to target an English-speaking audience, said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with Sophos PLC.
Victims receive messages with subjects like "Naked World Cup game set," or "Soccer fans killed five teens," and are encouraged to click on an e-mail attachment, which appears to be an image. In fact, this attachment is malicious software that disables antivirus products, attempts to download more malware, and also forwards itself to e-mail addresses saved on the victim's computer.
Malware has become an unsavory part of the World Cup tradition. In 1998, World Cup-themed malware wiped out hard drives and four years later, the VBSChick-F virus tried to take advantage of the World Cup hosted in South Korea and Japan.
Scammers are already looking to score on the next World Cup, telling would-be victims that they've won a lottery connected with the 2010 event, to be held in South Africa, Cluley said.
Widespread interest in any topic creates opportunities for "social engineering" attacks, where people are tricked into helping the attackers, said Cluley. "People are just as hungry to watch the games and get content as they are to get videos of Pamela Anderson or Paris Hilton," he said. "The bad guys have moved from nubile girls to fit young men."
World Cup fans have already seen malware disguised as a downloadable game plan and tickets for this year's event, which is being held in Germany.
For your ping list.
For your IT security ping list.
Stupid is as stupid does...
If it's dependent on a high level of interest in the World Cup, we have no risk of it spreading in the US despite our relatively high concentration of English speakers.
LOL. I bet IT admins have a time with stuff like this.
LOL. Hey, you did leave off your sarcasm off tag didn't you? ;)
Besides, I imagine there are more than a few non-soccer fans who still WOULD click on an email with "Naked World Cup game" in the subject line.
Now if the headline said "Naked World D-Cup" I probably would be the humbled owner of this worm.
Safe - virus free
Now if they had a Nascar version of soccer.....ummmmm, maybe.
Not sure I'd want to see the naked version, though.
There have been no reported outbreaks of the virus in the US where World Cup interest is at an all time low :-)
ping
I'm wondering if your typical NASCAR fan just isn't smart enough to write a malware program. Just a thought.
Doubtful. Not a lot of interest in this country for seeing RonaldoPele ChastaLalas nekkid. And if that ever happened, we would have a 100% legit "Naked Crazy People" Ping.
Dude, have faith.
They say a monkey can reproduce Shakespear, given time.
Well I'm sure Billy Bob and Booger can do that in less time than it takes to crank one round of wedge in - or out!
On a more serious note, I'd match the "typical" Nascar fan against any other sport fan you can come up with.
What say ye?
I'm sure there's a bunch of giggly turd worlders with a PC and a Dream high fiving each other over that one. :-)
SFW
I could grep those soccer balls all day long, awk them hips; strip them symbols and ping her 127.0.0.1.
But that's just me.
SFW
I could grep those soccer balls all day long, awk them hips; strip them symbols and ping her 127.0.0.1.
But that's just me.
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