Cyber Criminals Spread Spam Related to Cataclysm

Security researchers at Sunbelt have cautioned that a fresh surge of bulk e-mails related to Cataclysm is hitting the gamers of the World of Warcraft (WoW) - an online gaming website owned by Blizzard Entertainment. Cataclysm is one of the US video game maker Blizzard Entertainment's registered trademark.

As the new Cataclysm WoW is currently expanding within closed beta checking and is anticipated to enter the market shortly, people on the Web are greatly enthusiastic about any news in connection with the subject. According to the Sunbelt researchers, hackers know about this and so gearing up to exploit the excitement and curiosity of the gamers.

Tom Kelchner, Security Researcher at Sunbelt, states that his friend Douglas got one message in a chat session from a person who employed the handle "BlizzalCOL" during the WoW game. He told him about the availability of the beta so the Cataclysm on the World of Warcraft map could expand, as reported by Sunbeltblog on July 13, 2010.

Kelchner further wrote that the message spread via an URL that took to Cataclysmtest.net looking like the login page of WoW.

He added that to determine the destination of the Cataclysmtest.net, he fed an unreal username and password to the site. Surprisingly, they were accepted, implying that the site was possibly stealing login information. Hence, it was a phishing site.

Another web-page pretending to be the authorized Cataclysm site receives its hosting service from a domain named worlofwarcraty.com. This fake site carries two options, letting gamers to download the just-started extension for MAC or PC.

When the users follow either of these options, they are encouraged to download cataclysm.exe. This is a PC Trojan that steals passwords. The researchers state that a single person registered both the domains utilized during the attacks and for that he employed fake and vulgar data.

Finally, cyber criminals find gaming credentials highly precious, as they can trade them for black and make big money. Symantec, another security company, stats that the cost of a WoW account can range between $35 and $28,000 based on the efficacy of the related numerical or alphabet's development.

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» SPAMfighter News - 7/26/2010