Indian Skype users cautioned against 'malicious spam'

Indian users of internet-based audio-video communicator 'Skype' have been asked to remain alert and cautious after a "malicious spam" was uncovered to be associated with the service.

"A malicious spam campaign is on the rise targeting Skype users by sending instant message which appears to come from friends in the Skype contact list," a government advisory to 'Skype' users in the country said.

Cyber security experts detected presence of the malware content in the vicinity of cyber networks of Indian users who used the popular Voice-over Internet Protocol ( VoIP) service.

India has a large number 'Skype' users communicating with their friends, relatives and other contacts both within the country and overseas.

According to the government agency tasked with countering such threats, the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the communications and information technology ministry, the spam "eventually controls the victim machine by opening a backdoor and communicating to a remote http server."

The agency said the worm was reported as stealing user credentials and engaging in click fraud activities and posed as ransom ware.