The old saying “no news is good news” takes a bit of a twist as criminals use fake emails from CNN to trick people into downloading malware onto their PCs.  Once downloaded this software will then make the PC part of a botnet to be used as the criminals see fit.  The emails look very convincing, see below, and will no doubt catch many users unaware.

To protect your networks you should

• Ensure you have the most up to date Anti-Virus installed and up to date on all workstations.
• Ensure that you have the latest browser and Operating System patches installed and applied on all workstations.  Don’t forget that some patches do not come into effect unless you reboot the system.
• Block incoming emails into your network with the below subject line.
• Educate and warn users about the threat and ask them not to click on any links in suspicious emails.