"A
malicious spam campaign is on the rise targeting Skype users by sending instant
message which appears to come from friends in the Skype contact list," a
government advisory said to users on Tuesday, according to Press Trust of
India.
The
popular Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service was identified with
malevolent content and links, after which cyber security officials strictly
warned users not to click on such links which hints a fraud network.
In
the wake of the newly emerged threat, cyber security experts have recommended a
number of measures to tackle the spam. The authoritative body The Computer
Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which has been making efforts to tackle the
threat, said the spam "eventually controls the victim machine by opening a
backdoor and communicating to a remote http server".
"The
worm [is] reported as stealing user credentials, engaging in click fraud
activities and pose as ransom ware," the agency added. The advisory has
asked users to download the latest version of Skype from a trustworthy source
and update anti-virus software on their systems.
"Download
the latest version of the Skype from the trusted markets, install and maintain
updated anti-virus software at gateway and desktop level, use caution when
opening attachments and accepting file transfers, disable auto play feature as
a safe practice," the agency said."Use caution when clicking on links
to web pages and protect yourself against social engineering attacks," it
added.
Skype
users have been facing problems of malicious content since the beginning of
October. According to Trend Micro, messages like "lol is this new profile
pic?" have been lurking in the vicinity of cyber networks of Indian users.
A click on the message will lead to the download of malicious spam on a user's
system.
For further information
visit: http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/399883/20121031/skype-security-threats-india-spam-malware.htm
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