'Ghost email' could signal attack

A spate of ‘ghost mail’ email messages worldwide may indicate that hackers, crooks or virus writers are preparing an attack, security firm PandaLabs has warned.

A ghost mail is one where your address appears in both the sender and recipient fields of the email, even though the message did not originate from you.

Panda said an address-spoofing technique is used to bypass email filters and hide the true origin.

Messages in the latest spate do not contain malicious code, but they indicate that your email address is included in a database being used by a cyber-criminal of some sort.

'The most likely scenario is that a group of hackers are checking the validity of email address databases,' explained Luis Corrons, director of Pandalabs. 'By sending these messages they can determine if the addresses are active or not and remove those that are no use.

'On the other hand, what most surprises users is that the message comes from their own address. This is not a mystery in itself as those responsible are trying to evade mail filter systems that users may have installed, as nobody filters out their own email address.'

The company is advising people to ensure their security solutions, including anti-spam, anti-phishing, anti-virus and anti-spyware software, is up to date.

Corrons concluded: 'We don't know when the attack will take place or what type of attack it will be. What is certain is that someone has gone to too much trouble to just leave it at that, and so in this case it is best to take preventive action.'