The spam song

Spam that is embedded with a music file could herald a new wave of malicious attacks warn email monitoring firm, Email Systems

The unsolicited emails arrive with an embedded Midi file that plays annoying music the second the email is either previewed or opened.

Although spam is increasingly used to send malicious files, such as Trojan Horses or other malware, the purpose behind these emails is not clear.

They are being sent from the Far East, as relatively simple HTML spam emails. Written in what appears to be Chinese, when translated the seem to be a variant of the 419 scam for Far Eastern internet users. However the primary difference is the addition of music.

Email Systems warned that this appears to be an attention-seeking tactic. But it said whilst this latest addition to the spammers’ arsenal of  appears to be relatively innocuous, it opens the door for other highly undesirable possibilities such as pornographic or offensive voice-recordings embedded within emails which the user would unwittingly ‘play’ in front of friends, family or colleagues just by receiving the email.

Neil Hammerton, CEO of Email Systems, said: “Whilst the music itself is fairly harmless, it is a sign that spammers are increasingly willing to embed information within the spam emails being distributed.

"What is worrying with this latest trend is that many users who have not muted the volume control on their PC may become the unwitting targets. At the very least, these musical mails has the potential to make the recipient appear to be the object of ridicule amongst colleagues – and the potential is there for the effect to be far more than that of just ridicule."