Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity
    • IT Management
    • Networking
    • PC Hardware

    Dancing Skeletons are Latest Storm Botnet Trick

    By
    Lisa Vaas
    -
    October 31, 2007
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      This Halloween, do not fall for Dancing Bones, “the most amazing dancing skeleton.”

      Spam advertising the Halloween-themed site is leading users to a dancing skeleton game that installs a Trojan, which gives crooks remote access to victims PCs.

      Sophos and other security firms are warning that spam bearing the following subject headers is the latest incarnation of the ecard campaign, also known as the Storm worm botnet, which has been reinventing itself time and again in the malware scene since it first showed up in January:

      • Happy Halloween
      • Dancing Bones
      • The most amazing dancing skeleton
      • Show this to the kids
      • Send this to your friends
      • Man this rocks

      Sophos is reporting that the page serves malicious JavaScript (detected as Troj/JSXor-Gen) that attempts to trick users into downloading a number of infected files through a link to a “halloween.exe” file that the firm is detecting as Mal/Behav-146.

      Furthermore, the sites authors have been working to improve the graphics. When Sophos most recently refreshed the site on Oct. 30, it rendered as a more attractive—and hence more convincing—image.

      Why do we continue to click on spam? Click here to read more.

      Researchers also note that the malware-serving site further tortures visitors by playing the song “Boom Boom Boom Boom! “ from the Vengaboys. “The Russian Business Network [a Russian ISP thats notorious for hosting illegal or shadowy businesses] has shown that there is truly no limit to their depravity,” said TrendLabs Robert McArdle in a posting.

      Earlier in October, Sophos reported that spammers were distributing Halloween-related e-mails in an attempt to garner personal information from recipients. In those earlier spam e-mails, what Sophos called “painful” puns were used to lure targets into entering personal information in exchange for a $250 MasterCard gift card—a deal that “could raise the living dead,” the spammers promised.

      Check out eWEEK.coms Security Center for the latest security news, reviews and analysis. And for insights on security coverage around the Web, take a look at eWEEKs Security Watch blog.

      Avatar
      Lisa Vaas
      Lisa Vaas is News Editor/Operations for eWEEK.com and also serves as editor of the Database topic center. Since 1995, she has also been a Webcast news show anchorperson and a reporter covering the IT industry. She has focused on customer relationship management technology, IT salaries and careers, effects of the H1-B visa on the technology workforce, wireless technology, security, and, most recently, databases and the technologies that touch upon them. Her articles have appeared in eWEEK's print edition, on eWEEK.com, and in the startup IT magazine PC Connection. Prior to becoming a journalist, Vaas experienced an array of eye-opening careers, including driving a cab in Boston, photographing cranky babies in shopping malls, selling cameras, typography and computer training. She stopped a hair short of finishing an M.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She earned a B.S. in Communications from Emerson College. She runs two open-mic reading series in Boston and currently keeps bees in her home in Mashpee, Mass.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×