MX Logic Warns Users of Surge in Malicious Political Emails...

MX Logic Inc., a provider of managed email and Web security services, has issued an Internet threat warning alerting businesses and consumers about an expected surge of potentially dangerous political spam, which may begin hitting inboxes as early as next week. Extra caution should be exercised with any politically-oriented email that directs recipients to external Web sites or audio and video files.

MX Logic said that as email has become the de-facto communication tool for so many Americans, both political parties are expected to send an unprecedented amount of political emails to voters in the coming weeks. Contributing to the volume is a legal loophole in the CAN-SPAM Act that allows politicians to send political email without limits. As a result, the company expects spammers to launch a record number of malicious emails disguised as political email.

"This is clearly going to be a close Presidential race, so we fully expect both camps to start ramping up their email campaigns over the next several weeks," said Sam Masiello, vice president of information security at MX Logic. "Of course, spammers are anticipating this increase as well and we believe many of them will try to disguise their malicious messages as political email."

MX Logic said that as the recent CNN spam outbreak demonstrated, disguising malicious messages as legitimate email from well-known or trusted sources is a successful way to circumvent out-of-date email filters and lure recipients into opening, reading and inadvertently downloading viruses or enlisting their PC into a botnet. The company tracked more than 835 million fake CNN messages over a two-week period in August.

MX Logic experts offer the following tips:

- Update antivirus software: Businesses and end-users who are not protected by a continuously updated managed security service like MX Logic should update their antivirus and antispam appliance or software at least daily.

- Do not follow imbedded links: As a general rule, you should avoid following any imbedded links included in email messages. Instead, use your browser to visit the official Web site and search for the specific content.

- If it sounds unbelievable, it probably is: Spammers often use controversial or provocative content and rumors to lure users into following imbedded links or downloading files. Go directly to the Web sites of trusted news sources to verify any claims.