MessageLabs, the e-mail-filtering provider for the U.K. government, told ZDNet UK that targeted e-mails were sent to various individuals within government departments in an attempt to take control of their computers. The e-mails harbored an exploit for the Windows Meta File vulnerability.
The attack occurred over the Christmas period and came from China, said Mark Toshack, manager of antivirus operations at MessageLabs, who added that the e-mails were intercepted before they reached the government’s systems.
"The attack definitely came from China–we know that because we log the IP addresses. The U.K. Government was targeted but none (of the e-mails) got through. No one was affected. They were attacked, but they (the government) didn’t know about it until we told them," Toshack said.
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