A new e-mail virus tries to pass themselves as one of your friends

Monday, June 4, 2018

In the last couple of days, we've noticed an increase in the number of viruses received by e-mail. So far, nothing new. What is surprising this time around is its capacity to legitimately pass as coming from somebody we know. 

Here's an example of what you could receive by e-mail: 

There are a couple of elements that make this virus stand out from previous viruses we've seen in the past: 

• It's in French. Most viruses are in english, which allowed us to detect them pretty easily. In this case, it's written in a pretty good French;
• It's adressed directly to your e-mail (and not a generic e-mail where you're in BCC). Although this is a strategy that's been used for a while now, so it's nothing new;
• The contact name in the FROM e-mail is someone you know. That means the virus had access to your contact information from somewhere (probably via an infected friend);
• The contact name in the bottom of the e-mail is from someone you know (and, of course, the same name that was used in the FROM e-mail);
• They put a small note at the bottom of the e-mail confirming that the e-mail is garanteed virus-free by Avast (sneaky...).

All these things put together create a great mix that increases the chances of someone accidently opening the attachment. We've already seen a couple of different versions of this e-mail, meaning that at least 3 different people around us seem to have already been infected, so be careful!