Commtouch Report Names Big Brands Misleadingly Utilized in the Distribution of Malware

Commtouch Report Names Big Brands Misleadingly Utilized in the Distribution of
                                   Malware

PR Newswire

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 12, 2012

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Commtouch^® (NASDAQ: CTCH), a
leading provider of cloud-based solutions for security companies and service
providers, today reported that its security analysts have seen substantial
continued blending of big brand names with malware.  In its July 2012
Commtouch Internet Trends Report, researchers named the following top seven
brands that were abused in various third-party email attacks:

  o Amazon – Order confirmation emails that didn't describe the order, but
    only the balance
  o AT&T Wireless –Wireless bill summaries mentioned large account balances
  o Citi – Offered the ability to view your Citi credit card online, showing
    extremely high balances
  o Classmates.com – Emails thanked the recipient for joining and provided
    links to confirm 
  o Craigslist – With varying email subjects, messages included plausible
    sounding Craigslist posts
  o LinkedIn – Emails mixed pending LinkedIn invitations with messages
    awaiting responses
  o Verizon Wireless – Bill summary emails that copied the AT&T Wireless
    approach

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120501/529254 )

Movie Ticket Hoax Hides Malware on Dropbox

A further example of a blended email/Web malware attack includes usage of the
well-known Dropbox storage/sharing network. The Spanish emails offer free
movie tickets. Clicking on the links leads to several redirects and scripts.
One of Dropbox's features allows users to create publicly available folders,
which essentially turns Dropbox into a free hosting site. The use of the
popular service in this way provides a powerful platform for malware
distribution.

"It's clear that attackers continue to increasingly exploit the comfort level
that people have gained with big online brands – and they're doing so in
craftier and craftier ways," said Haniel Ilouz, vice president of global
engineering at Commtouch. "Not only are easily recognized brands utilized, but
clever fake collaboration between sites such as Facebook and Digg show the
ever-innovative approaches attackers deploy."

The Commtouch report also details spam statistics, zombie hotspots and the top
10 malware. The report is compiled based on a comprehensive analysis of more
than 10 billion transactions handled by Commtouch's GlobalView™ Cloud on a
daily basis.  To view the entire report, visit:
http://www.commtouch.com/threat-report-july-2012.  

About Commtouch

Commtouch^® (NASDAQ: CTCH) safeguards the world's leading security companies
and service providers with cloud-based Internet security services. Real-time
threat intelligence from Commtouch's GlobalView™ Cloud powers its Web
filtering, email security and antivirus solutions, protecting thousands of
organizations and hundreds of millions of users worldwide. Visit
www.commtouch.com.

  o Blog: http://blog.commtouch.com/cafe  
  o Facebook: www.facebook.com/commtouch
  o LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/commtouch
  o Twitter: @Commtouch

Recurrent Pattern Detection, RPD, Zero-Hour and GlobalView are trademarks, and
Commtouch is a registered trademark of Commtouch. U.S. Patent No. 6,330,590 is
owned by Commtouch.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.

Company Contact:       Israel Investor Relations Contact:
Ron Ela                Iris Lubitch
Commtouch              EffectiveIR
650-864-2291           +972.3.5664007
+972.9.8636813 (Int'l) Iris@EffectiveIR.co.il
ron.ela@commtouch.com 
U.S. Investor Contact: Commtouch Media Contact:
Christopher Chu        Matthew Zintel
Grayling               Zintel Public Relations
646.284.9400           281.444.1590
commtouch@grayling.com matthew.zintel@zintelpr.com

SOURCE Commtouch

Website: http://www.commtouch.com