Reported malicious Android application and email related to London Olympic Games 2012

Introduces tips to protect the PCs from these kinds of threats

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 9 (Whowired)--AhnLab, Inc. (KRX:053800)(http://global.ahnlab.com), a leading provider of integrated security solutions today warned increasing phishing and scam threats on SNS, mobile, and email, using social engineering techniques. Social engineering technique is a term that describes a non-technical intrusion to infect victim's PC or cyber system that relies heavily on human interaction and often involves tricking other people to break normal security procedures.

AhnLab recently identified the malicious application for Android based mobile device, disguising itself as the 'Official London Olympic Games 2012.' The application is repackaged and distributed in the third party app market. Once installed, it sends the text messages to the premium rate call number without user's permission, while sending the general information of infected smartphone to the attacker.

AhnLab also identified the distribution of emails with crafted document attachment designed to exploit the zero-day type of vulnerability of the software including MS Office, Adobe reader and Flash Player. The subjects of the mail are 'Win tickets to the 2012 London Olympics' and many similar others, and the attached malicious documents are disguised as the guidebook for London Olympic Games 2012.

In the end of July, with the kick off of Black Hat, one of the famous security conferences in the world, AhnLab reported phishing email that was distributed under the name of Black Hat 2012. It requests to reset the ID and password, and it contained a blank username and password and a URL to sign-in to the page.

Tips to protect your PC from the threat

 As the security threats using the social engineering techniques are increasing, AhnLab suggests tips to avoid these kinds of threats:

1. Don't trust the list of friends in SNS or email.

May sound harsh, but according to the survey, only 20% from the list is your friend who is recognizable and 80% is whom you don't know for precise. A lot of fake URLs and phishing sites are distributed by fake name of your friends.

2. Check one more time when it's important to you.

Today, fake information and rumors etc. are mainly spread via SNS and email. If it's an important information to you, then check other media or other channels and prove that information is accurate.

3. Check the URLs more carefully.

Don't just click on the address that was forwarded to you by SNS. Make sure it is published by certified and trusted user.

4. Check up the reputation of apps.

You really need to check up the reputation of apps before download them. It is good to avoid to use the third party app market to keep your mobile device clean.

5. Be careful when you accept someone as your friend on SNS.

There are a lot of fake IDs who want to be your friend. Only accept the ones you trust.

6. For businesses: Adopt anti-pharming solutions.

Pharming is one of the hackers' favorite techniques that redirecting a website's traffic to another, bogus web site. It can be conducted either by changing the hosts file on a victim's computer or by exploitation of a vulnerability in DNS server software. In other words, although the user inputs precise web address, it simply leads victims to malicious web pages. Since it is extremely hard for users to notice, the businesses, especially banks and financial institutions need to adopt comprehensive security solution with strong anti-pharming feature, like AhnLab Online Security, to protect their customers.

About AhnLab, Inc.

 Headquartered in South-Korea, AhnLab Inc. (KRX:053800) develops industry-leading security solutions and provides professional services that are designed to secure and protect critical business and personal information. As a leading innovator in the information security arena since 1988, AhnLab's cutting edge products and services have been fulfilling the stringent security requirements of both enterprises and individual users. AhnLab's products and services include anti-virus solutions, network, mobile and online game security, security management and consulting services. Today, AhnLab boasts a network of sales and research operations in more than 20 countries worldwide.

Contacts

AhnLab, Inc.
Changmin Song, +82.31.722.7563
Corporate Communications
seemefly@ahnlab.com