WHATSAPP users who use the web version of the app have been warned against a dangerous new malware campaign, which hopes to trick messenger users into installing an executable file. Criminals hope to trick WhatsApp users into opening the email – and downloading the attached virus. Cybercriminals circulating malware have set their sights on WhatsApp users, researchers have discovered.
The malware is being distributed in emails, which look as if they have been sent from an official WhatsApp account, researchers at Comodo Labs have revealed. Criminals hope to trick WhatsApp users into opening the email – and downloading the attached virus. Messages from the criminals contain
suggestive subject lines including, "you have obtained a voice notification", "an audio memo was missed", "a brief audio recording has been delivered" and "a short vocal recording was obtained".
Some WhatsApp users are being sent other notifications too, including a fake notification about a new video note, Comodo has confirmed. None of these emails originate from a WhatsApp email address – but are "disguised with an umbrella branding", the security firm added. Each of these malicious messages contains a compressed ZIP file, which will unleash the hidden malware inside. The malware usually replicates itself into different system folders, adding itself into an auto-run in the computer’s registry.
"Cybercriminals are becoming more and more like marketers – trying to use creative subject lines to have unsuspecting emails be clicked and opened to spread malware," said Fatih Orhan, Director of Technology for Comodo and the Comodo Antispam Labs. "As a company, Comodo is working diligently in creating innovative technology solutions that stay a step ahead of the cybercriminals, protect and secure endpoints, and keep enterprises and IT environments safe."
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