The Indian government has asked the Skype users in the country to be cautious about ‘malicious spam’ that has been ‘lurking’ in the vicinity of cyber networks of users of the popular internet-based audio-video communicator. Security experts have suggested several measures to counter the spam.
A government advisory to Skype users says: “A malicious spam campaign is on the rise targeting Skype users by sending instant message which appears to come from friends in the Skype contact list”.
The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the body mandated to tackle such threats, says the spam attacking Skype users “eventually controls the victim machine by opening a backdoor and communicating to a remote http server”. “The worm [is] reported as stealing user credentials, engaging in click fraud activities and pose as ransom ware,” the agency added.
Cyber security experts have suggested a number of counter-measures to tackle the malicious spam. The experts have suggested users not to “follow unsolicited web links or attachments in Skype messages and install latest security updates to Skype”.
“Download the latest version of the Skype from the trusted markets, install and maintain updated anti-virus software at gateway and desktop level, use caution when opening attachments and accepting file transfers, disable auto play feature as a safe practice.
“Use caution when clicking on links to web pages and protect yourself against social engineering attacks,” the agency advised internet users in the country.
Source: Indian Express
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