October 27th, 2009

Facebook password-reset spam is Bredolab botnet attack

Posted by Ryan Naraine @ 8:27 am

Categories: Anti Virus, Arbitrary Code Execution, Botnets, Browsers, Data theft, Denial of Service (DoS), Facebook, Locally Running Web Servers, Malware, Microsoft, Passwords, Phishing, Social Networking Applications, Spam and Phishing, Spyware and Adware, Viruses and Worms

Tags: Facebook, Spam, Attack, Virus Hunter, Cyberthreats, E-mail, Identity Theft, Security, Viruses And Worms, Online Communications

Virus hunters are raising the alarm for a large-scale spam attack that uses fake Facebook password-reset messages to trick PC users into downloading a dangerous piece of malware.

The malicious executable is linked to the Bredolab botnet, which has been linked to massive spam runs and identity-theft related attacks.

Here’s a sample of the Facebook password-reset messages hitting e-mail inboxes this morning:

According to Websense, the address of the sender is spoofed to display “support@facebook.com,” a trick commonly used to trick targets into believing it’s a legitimate e-mail from the popular social network.

The messages contain a .zip file attachment with an .exe file that connects to two servers to download additional malicious files and joins the Bredolab botnet which means the attackers have full control of the PC, such as steal customer information, send spam emails. One of the servers is in the Netherlands and the other one in Kazakhstan.