Hackers tried to trick users into downloading the Storm bot Trojan by unleashing a flood of Fourth of July spam bearing links to malicious sites As predicted, hackers tried to trick users into downloading the Storm bot Trojan Friday by unleashing a flood of Fourth of July spam bearing links to malicious sites, several security companies reported.The spam campaign, anticipated earlier in the week by MX Logic Inc., used messages with subject headings ranging from “Amazing firework 2008” and “Celebrating Fourth of July” to “Light up the sky” and “Spectacular fireworks show,” said U.K.-based Sophos Plc. in an alert posted to the Web Friday.Links in the spam led to hacker-controlled sites that trumpeted a video clip worth downloading. “Colorful Independence Day events have already started throughout the country,” the malicious sites claimed. “The largest firework happens on the last weekday before the Fourth of July. Unprecedented sum of money was spent on this fabulous show. If you want to see the best Independence Day firework just click on the video and run it.”The file pitched to users was an executable: “fireworks.exe.” Users who agreed to the download didn’t receive a video, but instead infected their Windows-running PCs with the Storm Trojan horse, which hijacked the system and added it to the existing collection of compromised computers making up the Storm botnet.“You’re not going to be feeling in the mood for celebrations if this malware infects your PC,” said Graham Cluley, a Sophos senior technology consultant, in a statement. Security researchers at F-Secure Corp., the SANS Institute’s Internet Storm Center (ISC) and a href=”https://www.computerworld.com/action/inform.do?command=search&searchTerms=Trend+Micro+Inc.”>Trend Micro Inc. also reported the Storm spam and infection attempts.Storm’s backers have regularly used holiday-themed spam to dupe users into downloading the Trojan and self-infecting their PCs. Last year, the bot was behind a massive surge in spam during July, and it has been linked to campaigns around Christmas and New Year’s.Earlier this year, Microsoft Corp. researchers said that their company’s Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) had beaten Storm into submission, a claim contested by third-party security experts. Related content news analysis Companies are already feeling the pressure from upcoming US SEC cyber rules New Securities and Exchange Commission cyber incident reporting rules don't kick in until December, but experts say they highlight the need for greater collaboration between CISOs and the C-suite By Cynthia Brumfield Sep 28, 2023 6 mins Regulation Regulation Regulation news UK data regulator warns that data breaches put abuse victims’ lives at risk The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has reprimanded seven organizations in the past 14 months for data breaches affecting victims of domestic abuse. By Michael Hill Sep 28, 2023 3 mins Electronic Health Records Data Breach Government news EchoMark releases watermarking solution to secure private communications, detect insider threats Enterprise-grade software embeds AI-driven, forensic watermarking in emails and documents to pinpoint potential insider risks By Michael Hill Sep 28, 2023 4 mins Communications Security Threat and Vulnerability Management Security Software news SpecterOps to use in-house approximation to test for global attack variations The new offering uses atomic tests and in-house approximation in purple team assessment to test all known techniques of an attack. By Shweta Sharma Sep 28, 2023 3 mins Penetration Testing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe