Threat Outbreak Alert: Fake Bin Laden Pictures E-mail Messages on May 13, 2011

Source: Security Intelligence Operations

Cisco Security Intelligence Operations has detected significant activity related to Portuguese-language spam e-mail messages that claim to contain  pictures of Osama Bin Laden  The text in the e-mail message instructs the recipient to open a .zip attachment to view the pictures.  However, the .zip attachment contains a malicious .scr file that, when executed, attempts to infect the system with malicious code.

E-mail messages that are related to this threat (RuleID3407 and RuleID3408) may contain any of the following files:

fotos_bin_ladem_178348.zip
Fotos_bin_ladem_JPG.scr

Fotos.exe

The Fotos_bin_ladem_JPG.scr file in the fotos_bin_ladem_178348.zip has a file size of 171,008 bytes.  The MD5 checksum, which is a unique identifier of the executable, is the following string: 0x16938E7E1B7D1255D9424CD83A2026D0

The Fotos.exe file has a file size of 147,456 bytes.  The MD5 checksum is the following string: 0x42CDC861A38BDE79A6E7AE87ABB2DD30

The following text is a sample of the e-mail message that is associated with this threat outbreak:

Message Body:

Os Estados uninos divulgaram enfim as fotos do Bin Laden Morto.
impressionante…
ve ai

Cisco Security Intelligence Operations analysts examine real-world e-mail traffic data that is collected from over 100,000 contributing organizations worldwide.  This data helps provide a range of information about and analysis of global e-mail security threats and trends.  Cisco will continue to monitor this threat and automatically adapt IronPort systems to protect customers.  This report will be updated if there are significant changes or if the risk to end users increases.

Cisco IronPort Virus Outbreak Filters protect customers during the critical period between the first exploit of a virus outbreak and the release of vendor antivirus signatures.  E-mail that is managed by Cisco and end users who are protected by Cisco IronPort web security appliances will not be impacted by these attacks.  Cisco IronPort appliances are automatically updated to prevent both spam e-mail and hostile web URLs from being passed to the end user.

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