iPhone 5 emails infect Windows PCs with malware

Filed Under: Apple, Malware, Mobile, Spam

Apple's iPhone 5 is due to be revealed to the world tomorrow, which makes today the perfect opportunity for cybercriminals to take advantage of the excitement and exploit it for their own ends.

Journalist Abram Wagenaar was one of those who has received a malicious email, claiming to be from Apple and giving details of the new "Apple iPhone 5GS". He posted a screenshot on Twitter of what he found in his inbox.

iPhone 5 malicious email

Clicking on links in the email takes you to some Windows malware (lucky Mac fans are being ignored by the hackers on this occasion) which Sophos detects as Mal/Zapchas-A.

Apple product announcements are always big news. And I think we have to accept that it's likely that whenever Apple is scheduled to reveal new technology that cybercriminals will try to exploit the interest.

After all, we saw a very similar attack using an iPhone 5 disguise during WWDC this year. On that occasion, it turned out that Apple *didn't* announce the iPhone 5, but the bad guys were still eager to take advantage of pre-announcement hype.

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About the author

Graham Cluley is senior technology consultant at Sophos. The readers of Computer Weekly voted him security blogger of the year in 2009 and 2010, and he pipped Stephen Fry to the title of "Twitter user of the year" too. Which was nice. He was also named "Best Security Blogger" by the readers of SC Magazine in 2011. You can subscribe to Graham's updates on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and circle him on Google Plus for regular updates.