H1N1 Flu Situation Update spreads malware

Security experts are warning people to be on the lookout for an email that claims to update citizens about the swine flu because it is really just a masquerade malware file.

The malicious file is called the Novel H1N1 Flu Situation Update.exe and is spread through emails in the hope that fear of the swine flu will lead people to open it in the belief it has important information.

Ironically those who open it end up with a different type of infection: a keylogger on the operating system.

Security firm, F-Secure’s agent, Mikko Hypponen, said that the when opened the document will open a Word file making users think they have accessed a real file and leaving them unaware of the malware they have just unleashed on their computer’s operating system.

According to F-Secure, the malware is a Trojan that is known in the security community as Agent-AVZQ.

This is the first security breach to be reported that contains malware, but before the current threat, junk mailers were using the swine flu epidemic to convince people to head over to pharmaceutical companies online that offered less than reliable products.

Malware emails and spammers often use news events to pique viewer’s interests and convince them to open a file which is why it is important to always carefully look at the sender’s address before ever downloading an email file.