Cybercriminals are using the bait of a ‘video’ — claiming to show Democratic Party’s presidential nominee Hillary Clinton exchanging money with an Islamic State (IS) leader — to distribute malicious spam e-mails, according to cyber-security solutions provider Symatec.
While the e-mail’s subject says “Clinton Deal IS Leader caught on Video”, there is no video in it, just malware. “Adding to the enticement, the e-mail body also discusses voting, asking recipients to ‘decide on who to vote [for]’ after watching the non-existent clip. The spam e-mail signs off with the name of an unknown group called ‘Lets Save America’,” the company said.
Attached in the e-mail is a malicious Java file. If executed, it infects the computer with a remote access trojan (RAT). A RAT is multi-functional and cross-platform, making it possible to infect various operating systems.
While a majority of the recipients targeted are in the U.S. (85 per cent), the message has been delivered to other countries as well.
