Trojan horse exploits crisis in Burma 
(02/10/2007)
Using sensational news subjects to trick people into clicking links is one of the oldest tricks in the book but it still works. Hackers are taking advantage of people around the world hungry to hear about the latest situation in Burma and support the pro-democracy movement. An email which claims to be a message of support for monks and other protestors from the Dalai Lama in reality carries a malicious attack designed to infect the recipient’s computer.
Computer users should be wary of a malicious email which claims to be a message of support for monks and other protesters in Burma from the Dalai Lama. In reality, however, it carries a malicious attack designed to infect the recipient's PC.
The email reads as follows:
Dear Friends & Colleagues, Please find enclosed a massage from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in support of the recent pro-democracy demonstrations taking place in Burma. This is for your information and can be distributed as you see fit.
Best wishes.
Tenzin Taklha
Joint Secretary
Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
When users open the attached document (filename: hhdl burma_001.doc), it attempts to exploit a Word vulnerability which in turn tries to drop a Trojan horse onto the victim's PC. Sophos has detected the malicious document is Exp/1Table-B and the Trojan it tries to install is Agent-CGU.
To add even more credibility to the message and to encourage a greater number of victims to open the attachment, a link to official website of the Dalai Lama was included.
"The Burmese regime is said to have tried to stop news from coming out of the country by shutting down internet cafes and controlling computer users' access to the net. People around the world are hungry to hear about the latest situation in the country and support the pro-democracy movement, and may be tempted to read this so-called letter from the Dalai Lama," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
"Using topical news stories to trick unwary computer users into opening and downloading malicious code is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it's obviously still working or the hackers wouldn't waste their time on it. We should all use our common sense and question the legitimacy of emails sent out of the blue."
Related topics: Hacking and intrusion prevention Virus, Worm, Email security, spyware and malware
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