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Fake email supposedly sent by Delta Airlines.

If you get an e-mail from the American airline - ‘Delta’ where you are asked to confirm the purchase of a ticket you allegedly purchased using your credit card, it is quite possible that this is a cyber-attack designed to tempt you into clicking a link, which in turn will infect your computer with malware.

The malware, is a variant of the malicious Zeus, which is known for several years and aims to take over the victim's computer and steal valuable information from it.

The pattern is actually a direct phishing attack that is characterized by a relatively high level of sophistication, which is optimized for the victim’s profile in order to lure the recipient into running the malware. This is an innocent looking email supposedly sent by Delta Airlines. The subject line of the mail is carrying an order number and confirmation e-mail that states that ‘your credit card order was executed’ and the flight details and the cost of the ticket. The recipient is asked to click on the attached link in order to print the e-ticket.

It seems that the source of the malware is in Russia since the malware contains characters in the Russian language and similar attacks were previously established from Algeria. The pattern of the Zeus code is different in the present case in the way that previous attacks used to send fake offers to download screensaver to the victim’s computer.

With over 90% of all direct phishing attacks performed via email, targeted phishing is a new type of sophisticated scam. This time it is used in gathering specific information and personal data on the victim and organization in order to look relevant and innocent. The e-mail that contains the tuned phishing, can reach the victim by using his name, position or rank in the organization instead of using a general appeal as was common in phishing attacks. The high amount of e-mails sent shows the desire of the hackers to hit as many possible number of users as possible.

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