Spammers exploit G20 summit to peddle malware

Security firms are reporting an upsurge in spam using social engineering about the G20 summit to transmit malware.

Symantec Hosted Services has seen a tripling of spam using G20 tags in the past month, and expects to see much more as the summit in South Korea begins. The typical email will contain a PDF file and a title such as:

'G20 services'
'Seoul Summit Development Issue Report'
'Key info for G20 Seoul Summit'
'[G20] Draft Communique of the FMM&CBG meeting in Gyeongju'

"This is a well organised campaign with plausible fake emails, but the use of PDF files should give recipients cause for concern," wrote Symantec Hosted Services malware data analyst, Mathew Nisbet in a blog post.

"An attached PDF file is always a warning sign. It is a common file format, widely used in business, but one that can be exploited by attackers. Always be wary of any unsolicited email that contains an attachment, whatever the attachment is."