October 2007
Spoken Spam for Penny Stocks Hits the Net
BUCHAREST, Romania √ October 19, 2007 √ BitDefender╝, a global provider of award-winning antivirus software and data security solutions, announced today spam emails for penny stocks containing mp3 files have started spreading over the internet.
Stock spam seems to have taken a technical turn for the bizarre with the advent of mp3 spam. This new wave of spam e-mails, detected by BitDefender today, contains mp3-encoded recordings of a synthesized voice promoting penny stocks. The mp3 attachments come with names like "gloria estefan" or "say your name,■ presumably to entice recipients into opening them.
According to BitDefender antivirus researchers, the spam e-mails seem to originate with the same person or group responsible for the earlier spat of PDF stock spam.
"The volume of such spam seems to be low for the moment, so this is probably a "trial run" to gauge the effectiveness of the new technique,■ declared BitDefender spam analyst Andra Miloiu. ⌠For the moment, we have the problem well contained, having added signatures for this spam type as well as blocking the relevant IP addresses.■
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Bitdefender is the creator of one of the world's fastest and most effective lines of internationally certified internet security software.Since 2001, the company has been an industry pioneer, introducing and developing award-winning protection. Today, Bitdefender technology secures the digital experience of around 400 million home and corporate users across the globe.
Recently, the company has won a range of key independent recommendations in the US, UK and across Europe, including ConsumerSearch, Which?, Stiftung Warentest and Taenk. Bitdefender antivirus technology has also finished top in leading industry tests from both AV Test and AV-Comparatives. More information about Bitdefender's antivirus products is available from the company's security solutions press room. Additionally, Bitdefender publishes Malware City providing the latest updates on security threats and helping users stay informed in the everyday battle against malware.