News
Sophos: Spam campaign attempts to trick email users with offer of free Penguin Panic game
September 2008 by Sophos
Sophos is warning internet users not to be tempted by a malicious spam campaign which is distributing a Windows Trojan concealed as a game for the popular Apple iPhone.
Samples intercepted by SophosLabs carry various subject lines including: ‘Virtual iPhone games!’ and ’Apple: The most popular game!’. The spam emails contain an attachment file called ’Penguin.Panic.zip’. Unsuspecting users, who may be familiar with the Penguin Panic game for the iPhone, are advised not to open the attachment which contains a Trojan horse, designed to seize covert access to the victim’s machine.
Sophos experts note that the Trojan only works on Windows PCs and they have not yet seen versions that will run on Mac OS X, Apple iPhone or other mobile devices.
"Many people who enjoy playing the innovative and addictive iPhone games may be tempted to set a new high score at their desks this lunchtime," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "But this is just another ploy by hackers to gain access to confidential information - if you receive emails like this, exercise extreme caution. You should never run unsolicited attachments."
